Scuffle In The Dawn

I never liked our new house when we first moved in and my younger brother hated it too. At first he refused to go into the house and he screamed badly. He suffers with autism, he said it looked scary and bad he even used the word evil which was not a normal word he would use.

As we moved our stuff into the house I noticed my brother was staring at the entry to my room, this too was unusual, he kept muttering to himself constantly and I couldn't catch what he was saying. That night we were awoken by a barrage of wails, which were coming from mine and my brother's room. I bolted upright and noticed he was bawling his heart out. He was sobbing and pointing at the doorway to our room. I rushed over to him as I heard my parents and sister come rushing down the stairs. He carried on until my mother put her arms around him trying to convince him that it was a bad dream. He then began to speak. This shocked us because we only ever heard him mutter but now he was actually speaking. His words were directed at me "He hates you Liam he blames you and he wants you dead." My parents became speechless as did I. Those words his first were the most chilling I have ever heard but they were nothing compared to future events that were yet to come.

A few days later I noticed my brother smiling the first time he had done since we moved in. He was playing in the lounge actually talking and interacting with someone or something. He held his hand out and walked around with his invisible friend until he came to a stop. He looked surprised and called out in his usual mutters looking for someone, as quickly as he turned around to see where his friend was he twisted on the spot and spoke again. "Duck Liam quick he is going to get you." The next few seconds seemed to blitz past us as the glass bowl that held our fish began to levitate. It awkwardly began moving in one spot before heading straight towards me at incredible speed. I ducked just in time to see the bowl fly above me and shatter on the wall. My parents then once again tried to console my brother on what had happened.

Naturally they blamed me of course, they refused to believe me but I was saved again by what my brother said. "She tried to stop him but she failed she couldn't stop him, she couldn't stop him." He repeated it over and over again. My mother and father burst into tears. The house was having a bad effect on his problem and surroundings.

They sent me to my room along with my brother while they cleaned up the mess.

We waited for my brother to speak again but he didn't and by the time we had gotten ready for bed we were too tired to wait for him to speak again and so we drifted off into a peaceful night.

The morning came and it was early and I felt a nudging on my shoulder. It must have been my mother waking me up because it was a woman's voice that I heard. Too tired to open my eyes and too tired to care I outstretched my hand which she took and pulled me out of bed rather quickly and led me into the lounge where all of a sudden she let go of my hand. Shocked by this I opened my eyes to surprisingly see my brother at my side looking up at the centre of the room. I followed his gaze to notice an abhorrent scene. A woman's figure was standing tall and slender holding her arm outstretched and dripping with blood. Across from her was an overbearing large male wearing a dark overcoat that surpassed his knees wielding a sharp long knife.

"You can't protect them forever dear I am afraid that you are not strong enough, now hand the boy over and I will leave I swear!" He became angry, his eyes flashed red and he began to walk forward holding his knife high in the air. He was about to deliver the final blow to her when something clicked in me. It felt like someone was manipulating me like a puppet on a string. I lunged at him putting all my will behind it and slamming him into the wall. The knife arched in the air and the women grabbed it and with hawks precision struck the man in his head. He began to fade becoming more and more transparent until he was gone completely. The women turned to us and kneeled before us and spoke to us "He will never try to hurt you again my children. As long as you are in this house I will protect you." And she too began to fade. My brother's last spoken words were "It is over Liam. I love you."

He never spoke again and we never speak to our parents about it. Though we never could explain how a knife got through the thickness of our door without us touching it.

My brother still plays with the women that saved us, holding out his arm for her to take. I call her Felicity meaning bliss. She is like a second mother and makes sure my brother and I am safe at all times. I think in her own way she is making an impact on our lives keeping us safe and keeping my brother happy.

I never found out why that man hated me and quite frankly I don't want to know but my brother and I will never forget our scuffle in the dawn.