Reapers - Thirteen Brothers

XXVIII - Draught

The smile didn't leave my lips as I stepped to Vincent and got on the tip of my toes to pick up a snowflake from his hair. Rolling his pale eyes, he turned away from me and bent down, gesturing for me to come closer.

"What are you doing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

With a deep sigh, he glanced at me over his shoulder with a look that said I'd totally hate doing this but I'm doing it anyway. "Because it's your birthday Marion Aramis Rayne, I'm offering you a ride and I'm not asking twice. Now would you hurry up before I change my mind?"

I shook my head, forcing back a laugh before I stepped to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Is my birthday cake at home?" I teased.

He hoisted me up on his back and grunted irritably as he stepped slowly. "Don't push your luck. I'm not that much of a saint," he growled though I could see that he was trying not to smile.

No one had remembered my birthday-even Dad-for a good ten years now. We only commemorated Mom's death anniversary every eighth of December. I had never once celebrated my birthday, got a present or spoke of it to anyone. I had no idea how Vincent knew about it-the Archives, perhaps-but it just touched my heart that he took the little effort.

"Oh, crap. You're making me cry," I said making it sound like a joke, laughing hard as I buried my face onto his strong shoulder. I would rather die than sob like a three year-old in front of him.

"Well don't. Or I'll drop you in a sinkhole." A lighthearted snigger came from Vincent's lips as he walked leisurely across the grass strewn thicket. "Ready?" he asked, straining his left leg, crouching low.

"For what?"

"For this," he replied with a grin, kicking off the ground like a missile. It felt like my lips and eyelids were peeling off my face.

"Aaahhhhh!!!"

I let out the longest scream if my life as our surroundings turned all white with vague streaks of yellow and green. Vincent wasn't running. He was doing quick lithe leaps as though there were some sort of springs under his shoes that enabled him to jump from a half-mile block to another with so much ease. I couldn't even see in his face that he was straining or tiring. Behind us, all he left was a gentle gust of wind that hardly even ruffled the dried leaves scattered on the ground. My heart was doing flips while it rammed violently against my chest. I felt the urge to scream just like when I first rode a rollercoaster. It felt so surreal and exhilarating and scary at the same time.

I felt him slowing down. No. It was like breaking a fall, gliding slowly through the air as though we were parachuting down.

"Would you look at that..." he breathed as we landed on something.

We found ourselves on the very top of the belfry of an old dilapidated church about a hundred feet from the ground. As far as I could tell, we were still in Centralia. Like a playful child, Vincent hung on to the pole with one hand while keeping one foot lodged on the tiled roof. In front of us, the sun was just about to rise and we watched that for a while, feeling its faint warmth against our faces. It was breathtaking against the thin veil of falling snow.

"It's kind of funny how you still do normal things like this. You know... like watching the sun rise. Going to school. Driving a car when you clearly don't need to," I murmured smiling as I propped my chin over his shoulder.

It took Vincent a moment to answer. "We haven't always been like this. We used to work in the shadows; unseen by humans. But a few years back, I pointed out to Vlad that we could probably do a more effective surveillance in school. Honestly, I just suggested that because I was selfish," he whispered with a reflective smile.