The sun was shining tanning her skin, the sand on the beach was steaming under her feet, and the drink in her hand tasted like sunshine. Lilly stretched out on her reclining chair and let her neglected underarms get some sun.
The waves from the beach splashed on the shore in rhythmic waves, she wanted to jump in the warm waters to cool off.
"Lilly." A voice said from a distance. She ignored it, it was too hot to talk. "Lilly. Refresh on the drink?"
Without opening her eyes she moaned and nodded her head, "Yeah." The sounds of ice cubes hitting glass and liquid being poured came next. "You can go now."
"I'm not going anywhere."
Worst waiter ever. "I said I'm done."
"Lilly, open your eyes."
"No, I want to stay on the beach."
The waiter mumbled something incoherent but she didn't care. The sun was shining, the waves were crashing the new drink tasted even better than the last one. "Lilly open your eyes! Now!"
Lilly groaned and opened her eyes to yell at the waiter but as soon as she did the beach went away, the sun was no longer shining, the waves turned into cold howling wind, her drink was gone and worst of all the waiter was Mason.
She looked around, they were still in the truck, though she felt dizzy and confused. Lilly propped herself up against the seat, her head throbbed. "What happened?"
Mason let out a sigh of relief and sat back against his own chair, running his, bloody, hand through his now tangled hair. When he saw Lilly's look or horror and shock he put up his hand to stop her from moving to help him. "It's nothing, from the glass." Lilly looked to Mason's window, there was definitely a dent where his hand could have hit, the glass around it shattered. "The car skidded off the road after the hex bag was opened. We tumbled down a hill into a ravine, you hit your head against the window."
That explained why she was dreaming she was on a sandy beach drinking alcoholic beverages and basking in the steaming glow of the sun. "How long?"
Mason shrugged, "Fifteen, twenty minutes ago maybe."
She nodded and looked around, the car had plowed into a tree trunk and the hood was crushed in to what she would consider irreparable damage. The windshield was cracked and the icy air from outside was pouring in. She was sore all over and her head throbbed like two boulders were rolling around inside of it, crashing against her skull constantly.
What happened? The last thing she remembered was looking for a cell phone under the seat of the car and pulling up a hex bag? When the memory came back she swung her wild gaze back to Mason, who was shivering in the corner of his seat. "The hex bag! It made us run off the road!" Mason nodded his head once, "But why did it take so long? We've been in the car for hours?"
Mason nodded his head again, "It was a hex bag that activates when opened, but by then it's too late to do anything about it." He let out a breath, the steam coming out of his mouth was so thick it could have been smoke. They were freezing to death. "Bloody rabbits foot killed in a cemetery, dried leaves of a four leaf clover, and dirt from the cemetery where the rabbit was killed. It was meant to cause bad luck and ultimately death."
"But it didn't work, we're not dead."
Mason laughed, "Not yet, we're going to freeze out here though. A slow and painful death is still a death."
Lilly nodded slowly, it was true they were going to freeze to death if they stayed where they were, but the storm was not letting up and even she knew that they had a better chance staying where they were waiting for someone to drive by then braving the elements.
Mason sat up and reached out to her, "Do you still have the bag?" Lilly looked around her feet and found the dark velvet bag at her feet. She picked it up with her gloved hands and passed it to Mason. "Stay here." He opened the truck door.
"Wait!" She reached out and grabbed his leather jacket, "Where are you going?"
Mason closed the door and sat back down in his seat, "We need to outlast the storm." So he was thinking the same thing she was, "I can't turn on the car the cabin will fill up the carbon dioxide. The next best thing is a hex for warmth." He played with the bag in his hand, "It will only last a few hours, hopefully by then someone will find us."
Lilly nodded and without another word Mason opened pushed open the door of the car and stumbled into the wind. Before he closed the door she called his name. "Don't go too far, I don't want you to get lost."
He nodded his head once before closing the door and walking off into the trees. Lilly wondered what he was looking for, she hadn't even looked into other hex bags then the simple ones Jake and Hailey had been teaching her.
The wind howled outside and she swore the car moved forward slightly. This was the strongest storm she had ever seen, and for a moment real fear overtook her. It must be the hit to her head to make the realization come so late after the fact but she and Mason could die out here if they were not found in time.
Or what if Mason was knocked over from the wind when outside the car? What if he fell down another hill and broke his leg? What if he died outside trying to save them and she was left alone to slowly freeze to death over night in the car?
She was hyperventilating now, how could she let Mason go without her? She should have offered to go with him in case he needed help! What if he found everything he needed and couldn't find his way back?
She moved from her seat and climbed into the driver seat and turned on the high beams. If Mason couldn't see the black truck he would definitely see the LED headlights. Proud of her thinking she settled back into her seat and pulled the collar of her coat closer to her face. She only dressed for winter driving, meaning coat, sweater and leather gloves. Her boots were not warm, she had nothing on her head and really her coat was for fashion not function.
Mason was worse off. He was only in his leather jacket and maybe gloves? She didn't really pay attention to what he was wearing, though knowing Mason he was not dressed for the weather. She needed to stop worrying, Mason grew up around these woods he knew how to survive, they did in the summer when the Sine Anima were chasing them.
Then a realization hit her, Mason had said they turned to head to Willow Creek and they were less then ten miles out, meaning they were in Cleo's neck of the woods, or worse come to worse the hunting cabin they stayed in in the summer.
She wondered how to call Cleo, could she even call Cleo? The woman just showed up out of nowhere and offered her assistance. Lilly decided that telepathically was her first decision. She just thought of the name Cleo and said it over and over again in her mind until she was silently screaming it. Nothing. She began saying the name out loud at first softly until her voice was so loud she was almost screaming, still nothing.
Almost in tears she sat back in her seat and closed her eyes, wishing everything was a dream. Outside the truck she heard footsteps and her door swung open, Mason standing beside her. "Were you yelling?" He was shivering.
Lilly nodded her head but moved over quickly so he could slide in beside her. When he was inside the door he slammed it shut, "Are you ok?" He nodded his head though she could see that he was trying not to shiver. "Did you find everything you need for the bag?"
"Ye-yeah." He reached into his pocket and pulled out leaves and roots, though he was shaking so much most of the ingredients fell to the ground. "Get 'em." Lilly nodded and picked up everything, Mason handed her the bag, "Th-throw everything in." She tossed everything into the bag and closed it. Mason shook his head, "Open, use this." He handed her his lighter.
Lilly took it and frowned, "You want me to set the bag on fire?"
"N-no. Imitate the fire with the affinity, when it-ts controlled blow it into the b-bag."
Lilly nodded her head and manipulated the fire. When she had the flame controlled she gently blew the flame into the bag. For a moment the flame burned orange but it quickly turned to white. Mason reached out and tied the bag around her neck. "There, you'll be w-warm."
Lilly touched the bag lightly with her finger tips, "What about you?"
He shrugged, "I'll feel some of the warmth, pr-promise." He gave her a reassuring smile but she knew he was lying.
Lilly rolled her eyes and climbed carefully out of her seat and sat down on the floor of the truck, "Come here." Mason, who looked a little confused did what he was told and sat down next to her on the floor. Lilly reached over and pushed him down, she lay down beside him wedging herself between the front seats and Mason's hard body.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
Lilly grabbed his arm and threw it around herself, "We're going to share this heat and when it runs out we're going to freeze to death together." Mason nodded his head and closed his eyes. She felt his body shaking but after close to twenty minutes he was warm again.
"Thanks..." he finally mumbled, his stutter gone.
Lilly smiled and tightened her own grip around his body, "As much as you annoy me, the thought of you dying is very unpleasant."
He chuckled, "Couldn't imagine a life without me then?"
"Mason, though you are a thorn in my side and are the bane of my existence there is still some sick part of me that doesn't want to see you suffer."
He nodded his head and let out a sigh. His eyes were closed and it looked as though he was about to fall asleep. Lilly wanted to as well but knew if they fell asleep and the hex wore off and they didn't notice they would freeze to death. She nudged Mason with her knee, "Mason. Mason wake up!"
HIs eyes cracked open and he groaned. "Why? I'm tired. I had to drive this girl home today and she made me listen to ninnies boy bands."
Lilly ignored the jab at her taste in music and pulled him closed, "We have to stay awake, which means we need to talk." She knew he wasn't much of a conversationalist so she decided to start off the conversation, "Have I ever told you the story about how Amie and I got locked in the school change room one night?" Without him answeing she told him the story.
It was only the previous school year that it had happened, Amie had just got the newest Iphone but couldn't find it. Lilly stayed with her one Friday after school to look everywhere for it. Their search eventually brought them to the change room.
They went through every locker, all the showers, into the garbage and the dirty towel hamper. Amie was in tears about her phone and Lilly was adamant that someone would have found the phone and taken it for themselves.
Once she talked Amie down they went to leave the change room to find that the door was locked, from the outside. They had tried pushing the door open but it wouldn't budge, and no one was around that late on a Friday to hear their calls and bangs, and Lilly's Jurassic cell phone wasn't picking up a signal.
They pounded and pounded until their hands hurt and their voices were horse. It had been close to seven hours they had been trapped in the changeroom and accepted that they were going to be stuck in the room until the first gym class on Monday morning.
After midnight they heard someone calling their names, it was Amie's dad. They began calling and pounding again and finally they were found. Their parents were all sobbing because they thought something terrible had happened and they were dead.
"So where was the phone?"
Lilly almost forgot that Mason was there while she was telling the story, "It had fallen into the bottom of her backpack, we had it the entire time."
Mason laughed, "That sucks."
Lilly nodded, "So are you going to share a story with me."
"Nope."
She groaned, "Why?"
"Because I want to hear you talk."
There were so many stories she could tell Mason about her life before she met him and the other members of the Coven, but there were even more questions bouncing around her head than stories. One in particular was burning in her head.
"Why did you stay at the school?" Mason gave her a puzzled look, "Today when you knew a storm was coming you were still at the school, you who should have skipped out early to party with New Sean. Why did you stay?"
Mason sighed, "I told you, I had things to do."
"What things?"
"My things." Mason bolted up and turned to look at her, "We're not dating anymore, Lilly. I can do things without telling you what they are, who I was with and why I did it." He threw up his hands in frustration, "Why do you care so much about what I do?"
Lilly grabbed at him to pull him back down into the heat but he brushed off her touch. Angry and frustrated herself Lilly folded her hands over her chest, "You are just the weirdest person. You do things that don't make sense, one moment you are an ass the next moment you're pleasant. I am curious about what you would have left to do at the school after exams." She sighed and reached out to him, "Please Mason, it's getting colder I can feel it. Please, please lie back down."
Mason let out a breath and lay back down beside her, though this time he was lying on his back, not his side with his arms wrapped around her. It was all she could hope for at the moment, she was sure eventually he would turn back around and hold her.
Why did she want him to hold her? She shouldn't want him to hold her, she was with Ace. She was happy with Ace! He was wonderful to her, he spoiled her, he made her laugh and most importantly he was stable. She wondered where Ace was right now, was he worried about her because she hadn't responded to any of his messages? Did he wonder how she got home from the school in the snowstorm?
Hell did anyone care about where she was? It had to be after dark now and she should have been in Boston a few hours ago, or at least in Willow Creek. Would her parents be calling around looking for her? Would they even know who to call? Or would they be braving the storm to drive out to Willow Creek to find her?
And then there was Mason's family, were they looking for him? Did they even know he was driving her home or were they expecting him even sooner? There was a better chance that someone from Willow Creek out looking for them was going to find them over someone from Boston.
"I stayed for you."
Lilly whipped her head around at the sound of Mason's voice. "What?"
"I stayed for you. I stayed because I knew you wouldn't make it home in your car in this weather." He turned around to face her, "I stayed because I care about you, Lilly."
She bit her bottom lip, "You have a weird way of showing it."
His eyes never left hers while he spoke to her, "After what happened in the summer I had no idea how to deal with...anything." He avoided saying his emotions, "I knew I liked you but you left me when I needed you." He let out a breath, "I was confused and when I saw you again everything bubbled to the surface as this...mean, sarcastic attitude and once I started I couldn't stop."
She nodded her head, not in accepting his behaviour but finally understanding where all the hostility was coming from. "What about Ace? You're pretty nasty to him too."
Mason laughed, "Because Harrington and I have not liked each other since we met freshmen year, and now he's always around, always-"
"With me." She finished his sentence with a whisper, "Are you jealous of him?" Mason didn't say or do anything. He just looked at her with those blue eyes. "Why are you jealous?"
"Because he gets to do this." She felt Mason's hand gently bring her face closer to his, then his warm lips locked against hers. With one moment and one kiss all the memories from the summer they shared came flooding back to her, pushing Ace and their frozen doom to the back of her mind.