Marla's Sister

I started writing this last night. Ideas flew through my brain a mile a minute. As always, I appreciate your feedback.

Marla shot up in bed when she heard her phone ring. Peering through her window, she noted it was still dark outside. She grumbled and reached for the phone.

"Hello?" She asked.

The voice on the other line sounded frantic. "Mar. Mar. Mar. It's Nicole".

Marla's eyes widened. She hadn't talked to or seen her sister in nearly 4 months. She preferred it that way.

"Nicole...what's wrong?" Marla asked.

"I just wanted to tell you I love you. I had a dream you died. And Marla? My dreams have been coming true". Nicole said, and hung up.

No. Not again. Can't she just leave me alone? Thought Marla.

Marla knew Nicole was crazy. Well, "crazy" is the label she was given by society. "Schizophrenic" was the label given by Doctor Brown. Every few months, Nicole came back around, either showing up at Marla's door or calling her obsessively and saying weird, scary things.Now wide awake, Marla decided to shoot her parents an e-mail. She whipped out her lap top and began to type.

 Hey- I heard from Nicole tonight. She said something about me dying in her dreams.

The second Marla closed her laptop, there was a knock at the door. She took a deep breath, pulled herself out of bed and stumbled to answer.

When she opened the door, she saw Nicole, who charged toward Marla, wrapping her arms around her and sobbing. "Make it stop make it stop" Nicole was saying, and then, suddenly and angrily, "they are gonna get you! You need to run away! Get OUT of her Marla! Leave! GO!"

Shocked, Marla quickly reached for her cell phone and texted her mom-

Nicole's here. She's scaring me. Get her away.

5 miles away, the text was received by Michelle, Marla's mom. With tired eyes she read the text, and then rolled over to wake up her husband, Eric. "We have to go to Marla's house. She says Nicole is there". She explained.

"Again?" Eric asked, sighing. But he didn't hesitate. He was already up and putting his shoes on, reaching for the keys to their minivan.

They drove to Marla's in silence and then let themselves in with the key Marla made them. When they walked in, Marla was sitting on the floor with red eyes and scratches on her arms.

"Marla...honey....what happened?" Michelle asked, joining her daughter on the floor.

It took Marla a minute to answer. She was staring straight ahead at the wall and didn't seem to even notice that her parents had walked in.

"Nicole was here". She said, blankly.

"And where is she now?" Michelle asked gently.

Marla couldn't answer. She could never answer.

"Marla," Eric began "Nicole is not real."

"Yes she is. How can you say that? She's my SISTER! She was here. She called me and then she came over and she was yelling and she told me to run away! That they were out to get me! Then she attacked me! I'm so scared!". Marla began to cry again, but no tears were coming out.

Michelle and Eric looked at each other and sighed.

"That's what you said last time". Eric answered.

Marla took a deep  breath and looked up at her father. He looked so sad, and so defeated. "Why does this happen to me? Why am I so crazy?" She asked them.

"It's not your fault, Mar." Michelle assured her. "But you have to take your medication, and you have to keep seeing Doctor Brown . It's part of our deal."

Marla nodded. "I don't want to see Nicole anymore. Or any of the others. I hate this!"

"We will fix it Kiddo. It's going to get better. You are exhausted. Go back to bed." Eric suggested, helping his grown up daughter up from the floor.

Michelle and Eric watched Marla as she dragged her feet to her bedroom and climbed into bed.

Hours later, Marla woke up and rolled over to check her phone. No calls, as usual. She picked up her laptop to begin her work for the day. She opened her e-mail and saw a new one from her mom.

 

Sweetie, everything is fine. Deep breaths. Take your meds.

That's weird...thought Marla.  Of course everything is fine. Why wouldn't it be? Nicole is the crazy one, not me.

Marla shrugged, but went into the bathroom anyways with her mom's instructions in her mind. Although she hated taking them, she had to admit that when she did take the vitamins Dr. Brown prescribed, she did feel better. She wished Nicole would take the same advice.

"Hey Nicole!" Marla shouted out loud. "Come take your medicine!".

The apartment was silent. No trace of Nicole, of course. Again, Marla shrugged, and climbed back into bed.

Editors Note: I promise next time I'll write a happier story.