At the same time in a quaint brick house just beyond the borders of that very same forest, home to all kinds of species including the supernatural kind, a girl and her cousin were bonding after a long separation.
“I have missed you so much Jay, I can’t tell you how much I wished to see you these past two years.” Alexa expressed.
“Me too, my dear cousin. I regret that I didn’t come to visit, I wish I had.” Jayden replied.
They had not seen each other since the day they had to say goodbye, due to Alexa and her family moving to a small town in South Dakota. They had lived together when Alexa’s family had taken Jayden in after an accident stole her family, this was the farthest and longest that they had been apart and still, they were closer than ever before.
“Look at you, you look great for someone your age,” Alexa teased her cousin halfheartedly as she walked back across the room, her feet brushing along her silver plush carpet, to where she had dropped her hairbrush.
“You make me sound like I am ancient, I am only twenty-one, besides you’re one to talk, I think I see a grey hair,” Jayden teased.
“Hey! I am eighteen today, show some respect.” Alexa defended.
“Of course, forgive me, Your Majesty, I didn’t mean to offend. However, it does not call for the wrong statement of my age,” Jayden replied, mock offense and dignity sounding in her smooth voice.
“No need to sulk,” Alexa continued her teasing. Said girl sat down at her dark wooden dressing table and brushed out the new knots in her damp hair.
“Now I sound like a child,” Jayden complained, picking up a hand towel to help dry the rest of her cousin’s auburn locks, which had started to curl uncontrollably from being wet.
“First you’re too old, now you’re too young, there’s just no pleasing you, is there?” azure eyes rolled playfully
“Nope,” the ‘p’ is pronounced with a pop. The two girls laughed at the other’s antics.
After that Jayden helped dry and straighten Alexa’s shoulder-length red hair, which was layered so that her bangs started from short to long, framing her face attractively. Once that was completed, Jayden sat down and Alexa opened her jewelry box, took out her silver hooped earrings, and placed them in her ear, with two blue stud earrings joining in her secondary holes in each ear.
A silver heart-shaped necklace with white gems hung from her neck, accompanied by her silver wristwatch and silver ring with a ruby in the center, a ruby believed to protect the wearer from evil.
The two then made to leave the room when a thought popped into Alexa’s mind.
“So exactly what are you doing here?” she questioned
“Are you complaining?” Jayden questioned in return
“No, of course not, I am just wondering.” They made their way out the door and toward the wooden stairs.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m your birthday present, or would it have been more obvious if I had been in a gift-wrapped box?” She grinned.
“I think maybe just a ribbon tied into a bow would have been obvious enough,” Alexa replied with a small smile on her own lips. Jayden giggled as they walked down the stairs and into the open area in the front of the house. There were three doorways, one which led to the kitchen, one led to the family room, and the other led to the study.
They turned and walked toward the doorway that led to the kitchen, where they could smell breakfast wafting through. The smell of bacon, eggs, and coffee evoked a loud growl which emitted from the redhead’s stomach. A light blush filtered across her cheeks at the sound.
“Oh, there you are, my dears, breakfast is ready.” Jean Winters greeted the girls with a warm smile, emerald eyes twinkling.
“Did you like your surprise, Alexa?”
“I did.”
“Good because it took a lot of bribery to keep your brother’s mouth shut.”
“Damn straight it did,” the deep baring tone of said male’s voice joined in the conversation from where he was sitting at the island counter.
The girls soon joined him, each sitting at an empty spot. Facing both brunette male and female. Alexa’s mother walked around the table dishing up breakfast for her three children and her niece.
Alexa took the opportunity to study her small family of five. She couldn’t believe how much her family looked like a family. All with rich mahogany curls and tanned skin with the only variation between them being the eyes, two had green, one blue, and the other honey-colored. The eighteen-year-old girl couldn’t help but feel as if she did not fit in with their picturesque likeness, being the only one with her coloring.
Even her father was more darkly colored than she was. She thought with a sad smile, ignoring the pain that followed.
“So, for how long are you visiting Jayden?” Alexa asked, picking at her toast.
“I am not exactly visiting per se.”
“What do you mean?” confusion showed on her face when dark eyebrows drew together on the redhead’s forehead.
“It means she’s staying dumbass.” Her brother butted in once again.
“Isaac, language! That is no way to talk to your sister,” his mother scolded him, her hands on her hips over her disturbingly pink floral apron.
“What? It’s the truth, why do you think Mom has been redecorating the guest bedroom?” Isaac said defensively
“I don’t know, it could’ve been because she wanted a change, you know how she is, always needing a project.” Alexa shrugged and continued eating.
“Isaac put that thing away and finish your breakfast.” The woman nodded toward the cell phone in her son’s hand. Isaac only huffed in response and continued typing away at the screen, unbothered by his mother’s request.
“Isaac,” Jean’s voice adopted a warning tone. “I said stop playing on your phone and eat your food, I did not cook for nothing. And we have guests who came a long way to spend time with you and your sister on your birthday.”
“He’s not playing Mom, he’s talking to his girlfriend,” Alexa unhelpfully added as she ate her breakfast.
Isaac’s face flushed, his greenish-brown eyes widened, and his dark brown eyebrows rose in either shock or embarrassment. Then he glared at his twin.
“She isn’t my girlfriend, how many times must I tell you, she is just a friend nothing more,” He ran his tanned hand through his short chocolate curls. His face was slowly losing the rosy hue that had settled in his cheeks not moments before.
“But you want her to be,” Alexa replied mischievously, a small grin gracing her features.
“I do not!” Isaac replied quickly, a defensive tone could clearly be heard, and the roses came back to life in his cheeks.
“Do too.”
“Do not!”
“Do too.”
“Do not!”
“Do too!”
“Do n-”
“Enough!” Jean chastised; irritation clearly shone in her bright green irises.
“Put the phone away, this instant Isaac,” She pointed at him.
“Yes Mom.” he complied.
He looked up and glared at his redheaded sister as she laughed quietly behind her hand.
“And you, young lady, will stop aggravating your brother, am I understood?” She directed her irritation toward her daughter, who stopped laughing almost immediately.
“Yes, Mom,” Alexa replied obediently, sharing a look with her cousin, who only smiled back.
“At least I have an interest, I don’t see you parading around a boyfriend,” Isaac stated under his breath, but he wasn’t as quiet as he thought he was.
“Mommy, what’s a boyfriend?” Gabriella asked innocently, her little six-year-old mind curious over a new word she didn’t understand.
“Well, Gabby, uhm, a boyfriend is… well it’s someone who loves and protects you, someone who you might marry someday,” Jean stumbled over her words unsure of how to explain the idea to the child.
“Oh!” The little brunette’s crystal blue eyes grew as if she had just learned a big secret.
“Then how come Ally doesn’t have one?” Her cute face scrunched up in confusion as she whipped her head between her family members.
Alexa took a sharp breath, unfortunately not thinking about the fact that she was drinking coffee at that very moment, she started coughing roughly. Jayden reached back to slap her flat palm against her cousin’s back. Once she could breathe again, Alexa turned toward her baby sister, who still had her innocent confusion on her face.
“I don’t have one because boys are stupid!”
At this declaration Isaac, who had been silently chuckling at his sister’s situation, burst out laughing, a loud, deep, and joyous sound. His twin sat there dumbfounded, having not heard her other half laugh in such a long time.
“Oh, so why don’t I have one?”
“You’re too young,” everyone said together in unison.
Jean cleared her throat loudly to catch their attention, a smile on her face, and she ran a slightly tanned hand through her youngest daughter’s hair.
“Jayden, would you be a dear and help Alexa set up the Christmas tree later, we’ll decorate it together tonight.”
“Of course, Aunt Jean,” Jayden smiled warmly at her aunt and got up to help do the dishes once she was finished.
“Sometimes I am glad my birthday is three days before Christmas,” Alexa said happily, giving her sister a hug, the little brunette giggled loudly.
“You mean our birthday,” interrupted her twin. Setting the new headphones, he had received from his mother over his ears with his music ringing loudly for all to hear.
Jayden and Alexa soon made their way back up the stairs to unpack the few possessions she had with her, most of her belongings were still on their way to their small town in South Dakota.
“So, we’re going camping in two weeks,” Alexa piped up.
“I know, but why in winter?” Jayden asked, packing clothes into a draw.
“The forest is beautiful this time of year.”
“Won’t we freeze?” Taking more clothes out of her purple travel bag.
“No, we pack all the things we need, from tents to gas heaters and thick blankets, just make sure you pack a warm coat, gloves, and earmuffs.” Alexa handed her some shoes to put away as she explained.
“Okay.”
“I can’t guarantee there’ll be no frostbite,” Alexa teased.
“I suppose it would be on yourself if you did end up with frostbite.”
“Or a wicked cold,” Alexa added, with a nod her auburn locks bouncing with the movement.
“It’s going to be so fun,” Jayden smiled excitedly.
“Yes, yes it is.”
“So, what’s a fun thing to do around here?” The brunette asked her cousin, as she placed a photo of herself and Alexa on her nightstand. “Well, there are tons of places we could go to, we could go anywhere, except shopping,” Alexa stated as she laid down on her stomach on her cousin’s queen-sized bed. “You never could stand the mall; you know you’re not normal right?” “Yup.” Alexa stated happily, making a popping noise on the ‘p’. “Not that it would help anyhow, we don’t have a mall here in Black Pines,” she stated smugly. “No mall?! How could there be no mall?! Just what kind of backward town did I move to?” She exclaimed with exaggerated horror, face twisting in emphasis. Alexa giggled which caused the twisted expression to fall from the older woman’s face as she smiled and shrugged. “Oh well, guess there has to be something else to do here. Hey, how about you take me on a tour of the town, and maybe pop into a bookstore while we’re there?” Jayden asked as she placed the last of
Slender fingers brushed across the spines of the books like a long-lost lover as she passed them, picking out the ones that she found interesting and skipping over books that weren’t. But all good things must come to an end and after what felt like mere minutes of being lost in the world of books, Alexa finally left the fictional world to find her equally book-loving cousin so that they could pick up Gabriella from her dance class. She had to almost literally pull Jayden away from the shelves so engrossed by the magic of the words. The old lady who owned and ran the bookstore was not behind the desk as she normally was, so Alexa had to ring the cute silver bell that sat on the desk. “I’ll be with you in a minute dear,” she called from somewhere in the back, and if you listened carefully enough you could hear her humming a soft melody. Eventually, she popped her head out to look at her two awaiting customers, she smiled warmly, her wrinkled face scrunched up due to her smile, showing
The two girls looked at each other mirroring the confusion on their faces before Jayden just shrugged, what a strange little town her aunt had moved them to. Alexa shook her head and walked back to her car, quick to open the convertible’s trunk and place their packages inside. Suddenly she shivered as if a ghost had walked right through her setting her internal alarms off. Alexa whipped her head around as she scanned the area but found no wrong upon her sweep. She couldn’t place her finger on it but she was certain that someone had been looking at her, the back of her neck still tingling at the feel of the sinister gaze. Shaking it off when she spotted no one out of the ordinary she quickly joined her cousin, who had gotten into the car whilst Alexa had put their things away. The eighteen-year-old then pulled out of the parking spot and made her way toward the dance school, where her sister was just beginning to finish her lesson. Dull brown eyes shrunk back into the darkness of a t
Her heart jumped into her throat, and her insides twisted in fear as the world seemed to spin out of control swerving the convertible from their lane to the other in an attempt to avoid colliding with the oncoming vehicle, Alexa was almost sure her car would flip putting not only her life but the lives of her passengers at stake. The screeching tires woke the sleeping driver who jumped in his seat and jerked the steering wheel until he was once again back in his own lane. He hadn’t even slowed down as he sped away from the convertible, sitting awkwardly on the shoulder of the road facing the wrong direction. Alexa sighed in relief as she watched the car disappear in the horizon, her muscles finally relaxing as the adrenaline wore off. She twisted in her seat to look back at the frazzled six-year-old just to make sure she was okay. “Everyone Okay?” The redhead asked, and after receiving a nod from the little girl turned back to face the road. “Yeah.” Jayden shakily confirmed, her ow
Morning came much too soon for those who went to bed far too late. And it wasn’t long before the Winters family were piled into the maroon SUV and were off on a three-day journey to attend a carnival in the next town over. And just as they were leaving after a fun-filled time, in that very town someone else was arriving. Aiden who had spent a lot of time wandering from place to place, traveling the world stepped into the human town set on completing the orders given to him. There had once been a time in his youth many, many years ago when he had ventured out to broaden his horizons, against the wishes of his father, a rebellious son as all those who had come of age before him had been. He had stayed away for ten years learning to cope with the disappearance of his mother before finding his way home and back amongst his pack mates, now he just ran errands for his father. This was one of those times when he found himself in the neighboring town to attend a meeting with another pack.
Two weeks had passed since Alexa and Isaac’s birthday. The new year had come and gone with a bang, quite literally, as Isaac had accidentally set a tree on fire with a failed attempt to set off his own fireworks. Poor Jean had to explain to her friend the Sheriff and the small fire brigade that manned the town. But the family had enjoyed every minute of it. The small family had gone and had enjoyed the carnival. It had been their last day at the carnival and Alexa had somehow gotten tricked into volunteering for the dunking station, and it was surprisingly Gabriella who had landed the lucky shot, soaking the teen from head to toe. Alexa was now helping her mother pack for their camping trip. The gear had already been packed into the maroon SUV. The family was saying goodbye to electricity, proper beds, cell phones, or in Isaac’s case his sound and gaming systems. Ever since their birthday Alexa noticed how different Isaac was acting. He had distanced himself even more from her and
The redhead turned back toward the car, finally registering the sounds of her mother yelling at the stubborn eighteen-year-old boy, who was still sitting in the maroon car. She watched on at the scene before something else caught her gaze. Gabriella felt giddy at being outside, and the six-year-old ran around the clearing, laughing to her heart’s content. She spread her tiny arms out wide as if she were flying like a pretty bird. Her feet kicked up the thin layer of snow blanketing the floor. Alexa smiled at the carefree spirit that her sister was. She continued to watch the little tycoon who was undeterred from her task, even when Jayden came to stand next to her. Jayden’s honey-colored eyes stared at the commotion going on between mother and son. Feeling unsure at how the man refused to enjoy this precious time with his family. “Isaac Charles Winters, get out of that car this instant or so help me I will ground you for a month!” Jean had, had enough. She couldn’t take the treatme
Isaac sat there staring up at his redheaded sister in horror. The boy was surrounded by candles, but what had shocked the girl so much wasn’t the candles themselves but that they were floating. There were other things around Isaac, things that he was sure she wouldn’t even recognize. Alexa had a look of utter terror as she stared into her brother’s eyes, his eyes which were his but in the same way not his at all. Instead of the familiarity, she would often feel when staring into her brother’s eyes, she felt a cold shiver travel down her spine. His eyes, which she thought she knew best, were not their usual hazel nut instead they were glowing a bright green color. The redhead pulled her eyes from his and looked around the tent and the more she saw the more she began to freak out. When Alexa looked back at her brother his eyes were once again his usual hazel color, and that was the last straw for the azure gazed woman, who just abruptly pulled back from the tent nearly tripping in her