Wish

Down

"Great," Ethan said, grinning as he stood up. He walked over and stooped down, arms extending in a gesture to help Grayson arise from the chair. Grayson looked up at Ethan and studied his dark hair, chocolate eyes, and prominent jaw. Grayson often wondered to himself, did he look exactly like Ethan? Or did he look different?

"Are you okay?" Ethan asked, pulling Grayson from the chair and grunting with the effort. "You seem awfully quiet."

Grayson looked down at his feet, where his toes were tingling from the surprisingly cold wood planks. That was one thing about the night that he never did understand. It could seem so peaceful and quiet, yet it could be so dangerous and cold. Night was when storms would ravage the world and the frightening creatures would come out to play.

"I'm fine," Grayson said. "Just a little tired. Let's go get our bikes, I'm not walking there at this time of night." Ethan nodded in agreement and the two entered their garage, where Grayson slipped on his slides and they swung their legs over their bike seats, racing down the driveway and into the dark, empty street, their legs burning as they fought to pedal harder to beat their twin to the spot.

Grayson laughed as Ethan sped past him, a strangled scream erupting from his throat as he rose to his feet and spread his hands to the sky, completely at the mercy of his bike. Grayson didn't follow in his footsteps, he was just enjoying the night breeze weaving through his hair, cooling his scalp and spreading goose bumps on his skin. Summer scents clung to his hair and skin, and he couldn't get enough of it. He slit his eyes to protect himself from the wind and he could barely see anything except for the faint outline of Ethan somewhere ahead of him, swerving like a mad idiot in the street.

Grayson loved this. He loved the tenseness gripping his muscles and the insane feeling that any time, at any moment, something could jump from the forest and chase after him, teeth snapping and growls louder than thunder. When he was biking through the night, he couldn't look behind himself. He didn't want to know if something was chasing him. In this situation, being oblivious to his surroundings was much more desirable.

But he looked up into the sky, and in the sky, he saw stars. Thousands of them. Real or not, he knew they'd always be there.

The wind whistled past his ears in a steady roar. His shirt was flapping, the thin threads almost threatening to snap. But he couldn't feel any of that. All he could feel was the comfort the stars gave him.

"Grayson!" Grayson snapped out of his mind, his eyes searching in the darkness for his brother. He saw his brother holding his bike on the side of the road, hair a mess and face displaying his readiness for adventure.

Grayson pressed the brakes on his bike, bringing it to a skidding halt in the gravel on the side of the road.

"Come on!" Ethan urged, waving his hand desperately at Grayson. Grayson dropped his bike, racing after his brother that had disappeared into the forest.

"Ethan, wait up!" Grayson yelled, pressing his lips together in frustration as his voice only bounced off the trees back to him. He could barely hear someone crashing through the forest, probably Ethan. Grayson followed the sound as fast as he could, his eyes throbbing as they failed to adjust to the light-swallowing darkness of the forest. He felt rocks and sticks roll under his shoes and he mentally kicked himself for wearing slides.

"Grayson, hurry up!" Grayson heard Ethan yell. Forests were so strange. Someone could be so close, but the trees and bushes refracted the sound and made it seem like that person was millions of miles away, practically unreachable. But Ethan wasn't millions of miles away, and before Grayson knew it, he was crashing into a warm, solid body. Ethan.