“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 her items on her dresser before she turned to gauge her cousin’s reaction.
“You know, it’s sometimes creepy how well you know me,” the redhead said as she rolled off the dark purple comforter.
“You’ve got to admit it comes in handy,” she smiled down at her cousin, picking up her beige pouch, after placing her purple travel case in the corner, swinging the strap over her head and onto her shoulder.
“I guess so.”
They walked out of the guest room across the hall and into Alexa’s room where she picked up her cell phone and film camera.
“You’re taking that with you?” Jayden asked incredulously.
“Of course, you never know when inspiration might strike,” Alexa stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Jayden just nodded her understanding.
They made their way back down the wooden stairs, and into the kitchen so that they could leave a note, in case they lost track of time, so that Alexa’s mom knew how to find them.
When they got there, the whiteboard already had writing on it, two different kinds of handwriting. One note was from Jean:
*Girls, Gone to work, dropped Gabriella at her dance lessons, please pick her up at one. Mom*
The other was from Isaac who had disappeared. Alexa tried not to let it bother her that he had bailed on their birthday, but it was hard to shake that deep hurt that settled in her heart:
*Dorks, At Olivia’s*
‘Well, that explains why the house is so quiet; we must have taken longer than I thought’ Alexa thought to herself as she picked up a marker, writing a quick note on the leftover space.
*Gone into town be back with Gabs later, A.*
After writing the message Alexa left the kitchen for the front door. She took her blue denim jacket from the hanger above a table with a round bowl that held keys. She swung her arms around her head, bringing the jacket around her shoulders, Alexa slipped her arms through the sleeves and flung her hair back and out of the collar of the Denim jacket.
As she settled into her jacket, Alexa couldn’t help but wonder if her twin had liked the leather jacket and the metallic, crimson bike helmet she had gotten him as his gift. The redhead ignored the twinge of pain she felt when she remembered he hadn’t even bothered to thank her after his initial quick reply of gratitude that morning.
The redhead picked up her leather handbag, another gift from her mother for her sixteenth birthday a few years earlier, from the table next to the front door. Alexa fished her keys out from the clear glass bowl, where all the keys were kept.
“Let’s go,” Alexa gestured toward the door with her head, her straightened auburn locks swinging with her. Alexa opened the mahogany door and moved aside to let her cousin walk out before her.
Jayden nodded, straightening her purple jacket, and left the house waiting for the redhead on the brick landing outside. Said woman closed and locked the door behind her. They both walked down the three brick steps and toward the blue convertible standing in the driveway.
The midnight blue Aston Martin Vanquish Volante had two doors, was able to fit four people comfortably, and had an Am29 v12 engine, with a manual transmission. And had belonged to Alexa ever since she had turned sixteen, and the girl cherished it having been the last gift her father had ever given her.
Alexa unlocked her car and slid into the driver’s seat once she had the door open. Jayden herself slid into the leather passenger seat. Both females pulled their seatbelts into place, buckling them in. Alexa started her car, reversing out of the driveway and turning into the road.
They drove down the street listening to the music playing softly in the background. Each lost in their own thoughts. The newly eighteen-year-old continued to drive toward the town.
“I didn’t know you guys lived so close to the forest, it was a huge surprise when I got here and literally saw it was your backyard,” Jayden said as she leaned forward in her seat to stare out of the windscreen at the thick, tall trees.
“Black Pines Forest,” Alexa said as she turned her eyes to gaze out of her own window before quickly returning to the road, a strange feeling of longing filled her stomach and made her uncomfortable.
“So, was it just me, or were things a little frosty between you and Isaac?” Jayden asked.
“Oh, you noticed that huh?”
“It was kind of hard not to notice, I don’t think he spent more than ten minutes in the same room as you this morning. I thought things got better after your…” The brunet trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
“I thought they did too, but he went right back to it about six months after,” Alexa felt herself grow irritated when she felt the tell-tale signs of tears pushing at her eyes.
“I don’t get it, it has only been two years, but he was acting this way the year before that too,” Jayden observed how her cousin suddenly became very quiet, and how hard she was gripping the steering wheel.
“It feels like the Great Wall of China was just suddenly dumped between us three years ago and there’s nothing I can do about it.” The newly turned eighteen-year-old finally admitted.
Jayden felt that there was nothing she could say that would comfort her so obviously hurting cousin, so she kept her mouth shut after that. However, she could clearly see the pain this separation was causing the female half of the twins. She decided maybe she should discuss things with the other half of the pair.
“It should be about twenty minutes before we reach the bookstore, you’ll love it there,” Alexa said after a few minutes of silence.
“You live a few ways away from the rest of the town.”
“Yeah, mom wanted the privacy after my dad…” The redhead trailed off her throat closing up, and the pain of her loss throbbed in her heart, even after two years.
Jayden said nothing, just placed her hand on her cousin’s thigh in an effort to comfort her. The small family of three moved to the small town after a tragic accident took the girl’s father. Alexa hadn’t really recovered from the incident, being the closest to the patriarch of the family.
It didn’t help that the one person she could relate to from birth had distanced himself the year before for no apparent reason, or the fact that he was determined to keep said distance now.
They finally arrived at their destination having spent the rest of the drive in silence. Alexa pulled into a parking space and switched the car off. The cousins made their way into a bookstore called “Charlene O’Connell’s Bookstore.” A little bell on the top of the door rang with a high-pitched jingle. The rush of warm air made the girl’s cheeks flush.
Alexa took in a deep breath, letting the smell of the leather and, both the old and the new, pages of the books, as well as the freshly brewed coffee, fill her senses with its warm familiar touch. It gave her a type of high that nothing else could and allowed her troubles to just melt away.
Opening her eyes that she didn’t even realize she had closed she made a large gesture toward the tall stacks filled with books. The bookcases were old and almost as tall as the ceiling, each had a ladder attached to it so that a person could get to the books on the higher bookshelves.
“Have fun.” The redhead said and wandered off in a different direction in search of books that interested her. Jayden walked among the bookcases, her eyes reading the titles and the authors of the books.
Alexa had become lost in a world of fantasy, mystery, and (although she would deny it if anyone asked) romance. Her heart yearned for a connection like the ones she would read about, that total completeness that true love brought to its bearer, and it ached at the feeling of emptiness that echoed after that thought.
The girls inside the bookstore remained completely unaware of the sinister presence that gazed upon them from across the empty street. Muddy eyes gleamed in ominous glee as they observed the redhead browsing books.
“Soon my love” he grinned ominously, relishing the innocent smile on his prey’s face, a dark chuckle escaped his pale lips. Yes, soon…
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
“It’s Gabriella, she’s gone.” The older brunette huffed, out of breath. Alexa and Isaac both felt the lead drop into their stomachs as the sentences left the newcomer’s mouth. All thoughts of the previous argument were quickly forgotten as the situation suddenly became direr than the twins were prepared for. “What do you mean she’s gone?” Alexa felt the slow build of panic set in making itself a home in her heart, squeezing it as hard as it could. She took in a sharp breath before she moved toward her cousin, her hands outstretched ready to grasp the older woman’s shoulders tightly. “I mean she’s gone. We can’t find her, and we have looked everywhere.” The brunette admitted, barely wincing as nails dug into the flesh of her shoulders, hazel eyes locking onto widened cobalt. Alexa closed her eyes and let out a worried sigh before she took in a deep breath and opened her eyes with a determined look upon her features. “Okay, let’s split up and look for her. Jayden, you come with me; we