Winter's Kiss

Chapter 1: Late Night Request

The crispy cool breath of the night kept Rachel Rose tightly huddled in her blankets. It was the middle of winter. It never snowed where she lived, but it was still incredibly cold nonetheless. The winter months held her most rare and precious memories she had from childhood, the times where her grandparents were still alive and living with her. It was on nights as cold as this one where she'd put on her warm clothes, water-resistant boots, her beanie and a scarf, and run around the garden, pretending she was a dragon. The air was so cold that when she breathed out of her nose, it looked like she was breathing out smoke.

Her grandparents are the ones that told her stories. They weren't your typical Prince-Charming-meets-and-marries-the-girl-of-his-dreams, oh no, not one of those boring tales. Her grandparents told her stories of evil knights, kings and queens fighting over which land they'd like to conquer, dragons fighting to protect the princess they'd sworn to keep under they're watch for years to come, mystical talking bunnies that, if they ate a specific fruit on a special tree, could talk different languages, magical ball room dances in the garden under the moonlit evening, heroic fights that broke out between kingdoms of light and dark. Rachel loved these stories and the romance that came with it, especially the story of how the dragon protected the princess of the tower and soon both fell in love and lived happily together.

Rachel loved dragons. After hearing the heroic tale of how the princess killed a man that threatened to slay the dragon she'd come to love, she wanted a dragon of her own, 'a guardian angel' she called him, to fall in love with and to care for for the rest of her life. But after her grandparents were mysteriously murdered, she decided to put away the fantasy and concentrate on life. Real life. The here and the now. She had no time for fun and games, no time to relax.

Rachel had finally graduated a year ago, and now lived happily in her cosy apartment. She was working at a nearby coffee shop, the Humming Haven Café, which paid her exceptionally well. Rachel wanted to take a gap year. She still couldn't decide on what she wanted to become; a fashion designer or a baker. She loved to make her own clothes, design dresses and sketch new looks for herself and her friend, Alisha. She had won a few contests that contained prize money, and she won every first prize. She was praised in the fashion world by famous designers, and some magazines had started to ask her if she would let them interview her. Every time they asked she would turn them down; she was a very shy person and was scared she'd mess something up or make a fool out of herself. If she couldn't do interviews and make speeches publicly, what good of a designer was she? And as for being a baker, she has no experience with running her own store. She could work for someone, but it wouldn't really be as fun as working for yourself. She loved to bake, and she could bake anything; cookies, bread, pastries, tarts, you name it. But that was only her backup. And right now it looked more of a better option than her fashion designing.

Her ringtone cut through the comfortable silence of her room. The song "That's not my name" by The Ting Tings played loudly, causing her to jump awake and make failing attempts to reach out for the phone and see who the caller ID was.

She blinked rapidly, trying to get her eyes used to the lighting before answering the phone. She was too tired to recognize the ringtone and put the two-and-two together. Once her eyes focused, she read Alisha's name in cursive pink above the call option buttons. She groaned and pressed the green button and put the phone to her ear. She squinted, looking for her alarm on her bedside table to look at the time. 02:58.

"What the hell do you want? It's three in the morning and it's my day off from work. And I was having an amazing dream."

"Well aren't you a ball of sunshine?" Alisha's voice held a tone of amusement. She didn't sound tired at all. "Morning to you too. I'm sorry I woke you from your 'amazing dream' but I have a major favor to ask."