12 Seconds (#1 in Military series)

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

That night Julia's dreams turned to nightmares.

After the strange events of the day, Julia had gone to bed in their small cottage expecting her usual pleasant dreams of vast deserts and brilliant sunshine.

But soon the deserts turned into warzones and the sun gave way to darkness; casting fear across her entire being.

Fire lit up the night sky in the distance and it seemed to be getting closer, as if it had a mind of its own and charged towards her.

"No," Julia cried as she turned and tried to run but her body felt heavy, as if carrying some heavy load upon her back, and she couldn't get away.

Her feet were becoming lodged in the sand, dragging her down, as the warmth from the fire cascaded across her back.

"Jules! JULES!"

A voice riddled with fear and worry was screaming her name but the voice felt warm, as if a friend was calling her with panic.

"Who's there?" Julia shouted but the voice was gone, leaving her to the flames.

"-JULIA!"

Julia was dragged from her nightmare by a hand shaking her awake.

Snapping her eyes open, she flew forward and wrapped her arm around the intruders neck, tightening her grip until the insurgent was grabbling behind his head, trying to get her to release him.

"Julia!" A voice choked and she looked down to see her older brother caught in her grasp, his hands yanking at her arm which was crushing his windpipe.

Recoiling with shock, Julia dropped her arms and covered her mouth in horror; what had she just done!?

She had almost killed her brother because- Julia frowned, why had she reacted like that?

She remembered the nightmare and her name being called but what she saw afterwards to make her attack her brother she didn't know.

"Rhys!" Julia gasped as he scrambled away from her bed and rested back against the wall, "I'm so sorry! Rhys?"

Rhys and Julia were so alike with their same reddish brown hair and blue eyes; they shared their father's straight noses and their mothers full lips.

It looked odd on a man to have full lips but Rhys seemed to manage it with his ruffled hairstyle and broad jaw.

But the look in Rhys's eyes wasn't fear or hatred; it seemed almost pitiful. As if he knew something she didn't which was impossible because Rhys couldn't keep a secret if his life depended upon it.

"Dad wanted me to tell you that you have to go shopping for mums party this evening," Rhys gasped, still trying to get his voice back.

Julia nodded her head and watched him stagger out; she hoped he didn't bruise. His girlfriend would never forgive Julia.

* * *

Rummaging in her bag, trying to find her purse, she walked into the kitchen after having a shower to find the entire room grow silent.

Looking up through her lashes awkwardly she found Rhys and her father watching her peculiarly.

"I said I was sorry!" Julia exclaimed, assuming that Rhys was telling their father about her attempt to kill him, "I had a bad dream that was all,"

Julia frowned when they shared a second, more worrying, look.

"What was it about?" Her father asked slowly as he turned around and carried on making the tea.

Julia narrowed her eyes; he never asked about her dreams before, "I was in the desert," Julia started and the way his shoulders tensed she guessed that that wasn't a good thing, "And there was an explosion-"

"-Listen, don't worry about that," her father suddenly exclaimed, turning back and pushing a list into her hand, "Here's a rough list of everything we'll need for this evening. Do you need any money?"

"No," Julia shook her head taking the list and stuffing it in her bag, still confused as to why they were acting so weird.

But she just put it down to nerves about the surprise party; her mother hated surprises but this one was special because her oldest brother Thomas was coming down from London for the first time in four years!

Then again, it might have been longer since Julia couldn't remember anything since her eighteenth birthday.

Julia cursed the car accident every day for robbing her of her memories but she just persuaded herself that she hadn't missed very much.

After all, all she would have been doing was working in a library and living in Bishop Green; she should be thankful to forget such a boring time!