Read Blind the Stars (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 3) for Free Online

eyelid to expose an eye, unseeing.
    “What
pill? What did she take?” Pike is beside me. He has the blanket off of my
sister and he’s holding her up, propping her chest against her arm while he
puts his ear to her back.
    “She’s
got to be alive,” I say. The sick feeling is back.
    “It’s
shallow, but she’s breathing. And there’s a faint heartbeat.” He lies her down
on her side instead of her back. “Do you think you’d have any expulsion pills
down here? To make her throw up whatever it is she’s taken.”
    “I-I
don’t know. I can check.” I get up, but spin in a circle. In the bathroom. I’ll
check there first.
    I
rush toward the back of the cellar and fumble in the darkness. The light goes
on and in the brightening bathroom, I find little pink pills to induce
vomiting. I take the vial and run it back to Pike. He holds out his hand.
    “How
many?” I ask.
    “One,”
he answers.
    I
place one in his palm. With one hand, he opens Dory’s mouth and with the other,
he places his palm up to her mouth. He closes it for her and rubs her throat.
The pill goes down because in less than two seconds, she’s leaning over the
side of the couch, throwing up. A few minutes seem like hours, but she stops
getting sick and color returns to her face.
    “Dory,
what did you do?” I wipe her face with a corner of the blanket. The part that
touches her body goes from blue to pink with her rising temperature.
    “I-I-”
she tries to answer. Her eyes are slow to open and she holds her hands to her
head. Her wrists are limp and they don’t stay still, trembling as she tries to
steady them. She puts her hands down into her lap and looks up at me. Her eyes
are bloodshot and tears streak from them. She turns and her eyes narrow. “What
did you do? Why don’t you just leave me alone!”
    “You
tried to kill yourself! I saw you take something before we left. What were you
thinking, Dory?” My voice is shrill and I know I shouldn’t yell. Not at her. I
only saw her take one pill. She must’ve gotten more once we were gone. Pike
gets up and goes to the kitchen. He comes back with something that he sprinkles
on the carpet. The vomit disintegrates. Just like in The Hollow. I shiver and try
not to gag at the memory.
    “I
didn’t-” she shakes her head slowly. Right to left. Left to right. Her voice is
slurred. “I took a pill. To help me sleep. I can’t sleep if they’re watching.
That’s all.” She points to a vial on the floor. I reach down and pick the
bottle up. It was prescribed for insomnia, or at least that’s what it says on
the label.
    I
open it up and pour a few tiny white pills onto my hand.
    “Those
definitely aren’t sleeping pills.” Pike stands beside me, looking over my
shoulder. “Sleeping pills are green. Those are something else.”
    I
let the pills slide back into the container and I put it in a table drawer. It
seems like it’s too dangerous to have around, but if they are something else,
we may need to identify them.
    “I’m
tired,” Dory says, closing her eyes again. “I want to go to sleep.”
    I
look at Pike who nods. It’s out of her system. I return the blanket to cover
her body and it stays pink. I watch her sleep from the bottom of the couch
where I’m sitting. Pike sits across from us in one of the chairs. His eyes sag
and then close. He opens them, they close again. This time they don’t re-open.
He’s tired. And so am I, but I’m too scared to close my eyes. I bring my knees
up to my chest and then lower my head onto my sister’s legs. I place a pillow
on them to get more comfortable. I’ll stay awake as long as I can, but we all.
Need. Sleep.

5
    We
wake up about the same time the next morning, whatever time that is. Dory is up
before me, the pillow flat on the couch where Dory used to be, my body outstretched.
It feels good to have gotten some rest.
    “Good
morning.” Dory’s sing-song voice catches me off-guard and she places a plate on
Pike’s lap. He rubs his