Huddled in the corner of the cold, eerie alley, Alicia clutched the wound where the blood poured out like a waterfall.

“How did I let this happen?” She whispered to herself, through downpours of salty tears.

The open gash stung, as she pressed her sweaty palm on it to stop the bleeding. Her hand was covered with the red liquid before a minute had passed. Footsteps began sloshing in the puddles. She peered through the black hair that covered her frightened face. Her nightmare was coming towards her. Her nightmare was holding a knife,

She jumped to her feet, paining shooting through her body, like a pole in a thunder storm. The footsteps came closer. A man dressed in an over sized t-shirt, and baggy blue jeans appeared.

“What do you want?” Alicia whimpered, “Have you come back to cut me up again?”

“If you just tell me where the coward, you call your brother is hiding, then maybe I wont cut you up again!” The man's voice boomed like a sports caster's.

“I will never tell you where Jake is!” Alicia cried.

The man began stalking towards her. She tried looking for a way out but everything was blurred. She was losing to much blood. She collapsed on the cold cement, body shaking, struggling to stand up again. It was no use, she was too weak from the loss of blood. The man stood over her limp body, knife in hand. He knelt beside her, grabbing her collar, he yanked her upwards.

“Where is your brother?” He asked, brushing the cold knife along Alicia's cheekbone. Her words came out slurred, too slurred to understand.

Suddenly, the blurred outline of what looked like an adult male, pounded down the creaky alley. Something shimmered in his muscular hand. It was a knife. The stranger held the knife to her attacker's neck. Alicia squinted to see the stranger's face. It was no use, all she could see was his blurred features. Alicia's attacker didn't move. He kept the brisk piece of metal against Alicia's paling cheek.

“ Let go of my sister!”, the stranger bellowed.

Alicia recognized that voice. She's known that voice since she was little. It was her brother.

Unconscious.

She felt groggy and tired. She opened her eyes and peered around the room. It looked like a hospital room. It was a hospital room! She darted up right.

Where am I? What happened? Where's Jake?

Wobbling, she climbed from the over sized bed. But she was too weak, she slumped onto the hard ground. A woman in a white uniform rushed in.

“Miss, what are you doing? You need to stay in your bed!” the nurse, the world's busybodies, ordered.

“No I have to find Jake! I have to make sure he is okay!” Alicia screeched.

“Jake? Who's Jake?”

“Jake is my brother. He got into some trouble and went into hiding but yesterday, yesterday in the alley he saved me!”

“No he didn't, sweetie. You weren't in an alley yesterday”

“Yes, yes he did and yes I was!”

“Your brother was killed 3 years ago!” A look of confusion crossed the nurses eye. “You went into a coma from the shock of your brother's death. You two had gotten into a car crash.”

“What? But I was in the alley and I had gotten st-” Alicia froze. She grabbed her stomach. It had stopped bleeding. She lifted her shirt. There was nothing. No scar. No scabs. Nothing. It was like it never happened.

Curled over on the ground, Alicia clutched her stomach. Hands trembling, she handled the place where there was suppose to be a deep scar was nothing.

Jake is dead?

“The dream was so vivid, so real. It couldn't have been a dream. But was it?” Alicia breathed, aloud to her self.

Footsteps thudded down the hall. A woman's face appeared in the doorway, a man followed. It was her parents.

“Oh sweetie, your awake!” her mother, happy and ecstatic, cried, with a look of I'm-so-happy to-see-you! She collapsed down next to Alicia.

“Mom, is it true? Is Jake really dead?” Alicia sobbed.

Her mother's face was suddenly forlorn, tears of sorrow began replacing the tears of joy. She peared up through the auburn hair that covered her face. “Three years to this day,”

Alicia stared at the ground. The room was silent for along time.

“How? How did it happen?” Alicia asked, breaking the cold silence.

“It was a deer!”, Alicia's mom whispered, “You two where driving to the church. Your father and I were renewing our vows. A deer ran in front, and you know Jake, he would never hurt another living creature. The car flew into a ditch. He died at the scene and you went into a coma.”

Alicia peered at her mother. She could believe the words her mother spoke. Today, June 13, 2013, the day she opened her eyes was the day her brothers had shut his, three years ago.

Lying on the cold tile of the hospital room, sobbing, Alicia clutched her chest. Her heart breaking in all different ways. She wished she could just curl up and fall back into a coma. But she knew that was never going to happen and she knew her brother was never going to come back.