When The Ocean Cries

".....rouble..... call out......Nadia....."

"Nadia."

"...... member.......time......just call out....."

"Nadia, wake up!"

Nadia jolted up from her dream. The same one that'd haunted her for years now, one she could never remember when she woke up.

She looked towards her room door, where her sister was incessantly screaming her name. She ran a hand through her hair and felt the bedside table for her glasses.

"I'm up, Noelle; you can stop screaming now."

"Nadia, we're going to be late to school! Mason just texted and says he and Piper are by the path already. And who goes back to sleep on a school day?" Noelle whined outside her sister's door.

Nadia rolled her eyes and got out of bed. She looked down at her attire and realized she was already dressed for school. The opened Kindle on her bed told her she'd drifted off while reading. She shut her Kindle and grabbed her bag before making her way out.

"Took you long enough."

Nadia winced at the sight of pastel highlights in her sister's hair. Her sister's constant need for stimulation could be overwhelming at times.

"Did you not just dye your hair back two weeks ago?" Nadia asked.

"I got bored with it and wanted to spice it up. Now come on, I already packed up some breakfast for us to eat on the go."

Noelle grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the house, Nadia screaming at her to lock the door before she proceeded down the dirt path that led to the entrance of the forest. They'd never quite understood why they lived so remotely, but neither minded so they never asked.

Just by the entrance was a beige convertible with two occupants waiting for them.

"Took you two long enough, did you make a detour to Narnia on your way here?" Mason joked.

"Buzz off you impertinent hag." Nadia shot back.

"I miss the good old days; you know when people used to greet each other with actual greetings." Piper exhaled.

Noelle giggled and hugged Piper tightly.

"Good morning, Piper. Did you sleep well?"

"Good morning, Noelle, and yes, I slept beautifully; thanks for asking."

Mason started up the car and drove them all towards Titan High, their school. Once on school property, Noelle hopped off and waved them goodbye as she ran to catch up with her friends. Nadia sighed and slumped back in the car seat.

"Finally, good riddance to her and her bloody ugly hair," Nadia said.

"Come on now, it's not that bad. It's very, Noelle."

"Piper, stop defending her. It is atrocious, and that is that."

"The bell goes off in 5 minutes, how about we saved the discussion of Noelle's life choices for lunch, eh?" Mason interjected.

The three walked to their class together and settled into their usual seats as their homeroom teacher walked in. Ignoring his ramblings, Mason leans forward and taps on Nadia's shoulder. Nadia leans back slightly, her eyes still trained on the teacher.

"Are you ready for our calculus test fourth period?" He asked quietly.

"More or less, you know how awful I am at calculus. Is Piper?"

"The most prepared I've ever been for anything." She chimed from behind Mason.

"I think we have a free period before it, let us go over a few things together then."

Meanwhile, down the hall, Noelle was taking notes in class when she felt a chill run up her spine and a whisper pass her ear. Noelle froze up, her pen falling from her grasp and rolling onto the floor.

She was sitting at the very edge of the classroom; there was no one after her. She reached out slowly to touch the wall behind as though to confirm it had not shifted. She let out a sigh of relief when she encountered no extra space.

She picked up her pen and carried on taking notes, but she couldn't fully ignore the way the hairs on the back of her neck stood. This was not the first time she'd had such bizarre experiences.

Like Nadia and her dreams, she'd been haunted by whispers and shifting shadows for nearly 6 years now. She had tried telling their mother, but she was always brushed off. For a while, the hauntings lessened, but they never truly went away.

She eventually stopped talking about it, the hauntings returned to their usual routine when she did. You'd think that after having dealt with it for years she'd no longer be phased, but she was still as spooked by them as she'd been the first time she'd seen a shadow through her bedroom window at 10.

The whispers didn't disturb her for the rest of class and she slowly relaxed, pushing the incident to the back of her mind.

At lunch, she sat with her friends as they discussed random topics when she saw something whiz past behind her. She whipped her head in that direction and her eyes widened with horror at the sight.

Just two tables away one of the shadows that haunted her stood, its body hunched over Nadia. Her body acted before her mind fully processed it.

She practically flew from her table to Nadia's and jerked her sister away from it, gaining the attention of all the nearby students. Nadia snatched her hand back and glared at her.

"What the hell Noelle?!"

"Nadia, I know you hate my hair and you don't like us talking while we're in school, but please, I need you to come with me to the bathroom right now," Noelle said with an urgent tone in her voice.

"What could be so important that you need to tell me? And what on bloody earth are you looking at?!"

Noelle's eyes were transfixed on the shadow. It was the first time she'd seen any so clearly. It was tall and lanky; its face had no defining features, but she could tell it was looking at her. Her mind was in chaos as warring emotions filled her.

On one hand, she was terrified of what the shadow wanted with her sister; they had always been fleeting and never once approached her, let alone her family. But on the other hand, she felt relief. Relief that all she'd experienced had been real and not symptoms of a possible mental illness like her mother suggested. Relief that she'd been right.

Nadia snapped her fingers repeatedly in front of Noelle's face before she got a reaction. In the short moment she took her eyes off of the shadow, it vanished. Noelle dragged Nadia out and into the nearest bathroom, locking the door behind her.

"What has gotten into you Noelle? Are you high or something?" Nadia demanded.

"You were right, Nadia; something did happen to us when we were 10. Something mom isn't telling us."

Nadia's scowl dropped, and her eyes filled with worry. She grabbed Noelle by the shoulders and pulled her close.

"What happened back there, Noelle? What did you see?"

"Remember when we were 10 and I would tell mom I saw a shadow move in the corner of the room or how I'd say I heard someone whisper?"

"Yes, I remember; mom started putting meds in your water because she thought you were having hallucinations until you stopped talking about it altogether. What about it?"

"Mom did what?!"

"She was worried about you, but knew you would protest to being drugged. That is not important right now, what about the shadows and whispers?"

"Right, sorry. All this time, the, shadows, they've always kept their distance from me. Sometimes they'd be outside my window or at the corner of a room watching me. But today, it came close, closer than it ever has."

Noelle didn't realize until then that she was shaking slightly. Nadia took her hands off her shoulders to hold Noelle's shaking ones.

"Is that why you freaked out in the cafeteria? Because they moved closer to you?" Nadia whispered even though they were alone.

"No, I freaked out because the shadow was standing right behind you. It looked like it wanted to do something to you, and I panicked and ran over to try and protect you somehow. I'm sorry for embarrassing you, but I didn't know what else to do." Noelle said, her voice cracking as tears welled up in her eyes.

Nadia pulled her in for a hug and rubbed her back soothingly.

"I'm scared, Nadia. I don't know what to do."

Nadia silently comforted her until the tears stopped. They remained like that for minutes until Nadia spoke.

"I have had strange encounters as well."

"You mean that afternoon 6 years ago? The time you swore there was a gap in our memory and that mother knew why?"

"No, well, yes, but aside from that, I have been having these weird dreams almost every single night since then."

"What do you see in them?"

"I see us lying in beds in an unfamiliar room. There are these two women muttering things I can't seem to decipher, as though their words melt into each other and become incomprehensible. And the little I do grasp, I forget when I wake up."

Noelle pulled away with a determined look on her face.

"We need to confront Mom about this."

"Absolutely not."

"Why? Something's haunting you in your dreams, and me when I'm awake. If we both go she'll have to take us seriously."

"Or she can put us both on anti-psychotics. You can confront Mom if you want, but I am going to find answers elsewhere.

"I'll come too then."

"No, if you want to be useful, you can try and get the keys to the attic. It's the only place in the house we've never been in. Maybe there are answers there. "

Noelle pouted slightly but agreed nonetheless. Nadia returned to her friends and Noelle to hers.

"What was that about? Noelle looked super spooked." Piper asked.

"I will explain everything after school; for now, let us put it aside. What were we talking about again?"

"Piper was showing us the archaic mirror she got scammed with," Mason replied.

Piper slapped his arm and glared at him lightly.

"I didn't get scammed, you pig! It's an antique; it's said to show you either a good omen or a bad one. It sounded intriguing, so I purchased it! What's wrong with that?"

"You nepo babies never cease to amaze me with your wastefulness with money. So, have you figured out what sort of omen you will get?" Nadia asked sarcastically.

"Let me have a try, perhaps it only works on attractive people," Mason said.

He then tried to snatch the mirror from Piper. They began a struggle, which led to the mirror falling and shattering on the table.

"Look what you did," Piper whined as she pounded on Mason's arm.

"You guys," Nadia called.

"Calm down, you ape. I'll buy you another fake prophetic mirror." Mason laughed.

"Hey, listen."

"It's not just some fake mirror you can find any-"

"For goodness sake would you both shut up and look?!" Nadia yelled.

Both stopped their bickering to see what she was talking about and froze.

From behind the broken mirror, crimson liquid began slowly seeping out. Piper opened her mouth to scream, but Mason covered it before it could escape.

Nadia grabbed a paper towel from her bag and began trying to wipe it away, but the paper towel didn't absorb a single drop. She tried pressing the towel down harder, but it remained dry.

"Why isn't it wiping? Why is it not gone?" Piper asked shakily.

"And why is no one else bothered? It's as though only we can see, it."

Mason slowed to a stop as the three realized that no one else could see it. A few people had walked by, but none took notice or showed any signs of alarm. Nadia picked up the mirror shards with the towel and wrapped them neatly.

"Do you think that was the omen?" Piper asked quietly, having calmed down.

"No, I think it's something far worse. Noelle saw something, too."

"You saying that isn't exactly helping my nerves."

"It's not meant to Piper. Something has been haunting my sister and me, and it may have just latched onto both of you as well. After school, let's meet at Mason's so I can tell you two the full story."

Mason and Piper nodded, and they both left Nadia behind at the table. She felt eyes on her and looked up to see Noelle staring with a look of worry. She pointed to her phone, and Nadia opened her messages.

'What happened? Piper looked quite frightened when the mirror broke.'

'You saw the broken mirror? Did you see anything else?'

'No, was I supposed to?'

Nadia shut off her phone and gave Noelle a look. Noelle nodded and looked back at her friends, acting like nothing had happened.

Once school was finally over, the three headed to Mason's Mansion to try and figure out what the deal was with the mirror while Noelle headed home alone.

Nadia gave them a rundown of what had been going and her friends were mortified.

"So you mean to tell us that you and Noelle are being haunted by demonic entities and elusive dreams, and you only thought to tell us AFTER they bloody turn their sights to us?" Mason asked.

"There is no easy way to tell this sort of thing, you know. How was I to know it would not scare you both off?"

"I'd prefer that option over blood pouring out of a flipping mirror and a shadow looming over our heads!"

"Okay, let's all just take a deep breath and chill out. What's done is done, so let's just find a way to fix it. There must be something on the internet about these things. Mason, why don't you examine the mirror under a microscope?" Piper suggested.

The two agreed and went to the small lab in Mason's home. Nadia and Piper sat on stools opposite Mason so he could work.

Mason placed the mirror under a microscope to get a closer look. Meanwhile, Nadia and Piper searched the internet for similar occurrences.

"Any luck on your end, Piper?"

"Nothing useful, sites say it was either a bad prank or it was a bad omen. I wasn't even superstitious when I bought it, I was just being silly and now,"

"Piper, please don't start crying; you'll have plenty of opportunities to bawl your eyes out later; for now, both of you come to see this."

Mason stepped away from the lens and let them take turns looking at the mirror. There weren't any bacteria or cells or anything.

It was just red.

"What the hell? What the fuck is this?" Nadia cursed.

"It can't be a bad omen, right? Magic and curses don't exist, right?"

Mason and Nadia looked at Piper, unable to produce any form of response. The three stared in silence until Mason perked up and walked out of the small lab briefly.

"Where is he off to? Did he piss himself? Nadia asked out loud.

Piper snickered; the joke seemed to ease the tension in her, if only a little. Mason returned panting and motioning for them to come. Both girls wondered why he was so out of breath, but followed nonetheless.

They went back to his room. Sitting on his desk was a large- and definitely heavy - book that hadn't been there previously.

"Mason, what is that?"

"After Piper started panicking about magic and omens, I recalled that my Dad got me this magic encyclopedia as a birthday present when I was 10."

Piper blew on the cover, causing the dust to rise. They all coughed and gave Piper a look.

"Sorry, they always blow off the dust on magic books in movies, right?"

They ignored her and opened the book. The table of contents alone was nearly 5 pages long.

"It's going to take forever to find a topic on broken mirrors," Piper whined.

"Found it. Chapter 15, page 114." Nadia said.

"Or not."

Mason flipped to the page and read aloud.

'...While a cracked mirror is generally viewed as a bad omen, it can also bring glad tidings depending on what comes out.

If the mirror produces a gold or white liquid, a blessing is approaching. If it is blue, the person shall be granted their deepest desire. If it comes out green, the person will simply have good luck. However, if it comes out black, the person will have bad luck. If it comes out purple, the person shall face their greatest fear.

But if it comes out red-'

"What is it, Mason? Why'd you stop?"

Mason did not respond. He was completely frozen, with fear evident on his face. They realized that his fearful eyes were focused on the window in front of them. Both Nadia and Piper followed his gaze and immediately wished they hadn't.

Staring back at them was a darkness that had engulfed all the light coming from the window. Near the middle of that darkness were a pair of blood-red eyes and long, sharp fangs.

Nadia stepped back and ran towards the door while Mason and Piper were rooted to the spot with fear, unable to move. Nadia pulled on the doorknob while banging on the door and screaming for help, all to no avail.

The door had no intention of giving way, and no one seemed to hear her screams. The next moment, she heard what sounded like glass shattering, and Piper's screams followed. She ceased her screaming and pounding, listening intently.

She turned slowly, her heart racing and her entire body shaking. On the floor was Mason, bleeding from the neck, while Piper was clutching her leg where four deep lacerations had been inflicted by the creature.

It stood over Piper, its claws dripping in blood. All of a sudden, Nadia no longer felt the ground beneath her.

It took her a few seconds to realize that the creature had moved in front of her and picked her up. She began to struggle and scream at the top of her lungs, praying and hoping that someone would hear.

The creature smiled wildly and spoke in a deep, nightmare-inducing voice, one that would haunt them for many nights to come.

"|If it comes out red, doom awaits your future! Our speaker will rise soon with the help of your blood. Then we shall retake what you have stolen from us.|"

Following its ominous statement, it sank its fangs into Nadia's collarbone and dragged them down. Nadia passed out from the pain before she could even scream.