Westwood Road

The warm glow of the fire mixed with the warmth that it emitted was a comforting distraction from the darkness that was creeping up. Summertime was always one of Amilia's favorite seasons. The nights were longer, it was always warm out and she got to stay out longer. Not to mention that her adoptive parents always took her to some exciting places. Places that always seem to take Lia's breath away and this place were no different. This time, they were staying in a cottage not too far from the beach. Surrounded by forests and wildlife. It was breathtaking, serene, tranquil.

Earlier that day, they had ventured into town to do a little bit of grocery shopping for the week. As her father forgot to load food into the car before they left. He said he did, but when Amilia and her mom opened the coolers, they found that he stocked them with beer, cheese sticks, and ice cream. The man was a scientist, and yet he couldn't do some simple grocery shopping. Lia and her mom had a good laugh about it though and teased the man for a good ten minutes as they unloaded the car. Then made sure to buy actual food items that they could survive off of.

"I'm going to head to bed. It's getting too late for me." Amilia's father said as he slowly stood on shaky legs, successfully snapping Lia out of her thoughts. An empty beer bottle in his hand. Her mother had gone to bed about an hour ago, leaving Lia and her father to joke about and just watch the waves as they lap at the sandy shore. "Don't stay up too much longer. We don't know what sort of monsters lurk in these forests." He teased and patted Lia on the shoulder comfortingly before he headed up towards the cute cottage they were renting for the week. "Hm, just a little longer," Lia mumbled in response as she wrapped her arms around her jean-clad legs a little tighter as a gust of wind blew by. Carrying the smell of the ocean with it. This will be Amilia's last summer before a year full of tests come her way. Senior year was a terrifying year and Lia could feel herself freaking out about it as she still didn't know what she wanted to do with her life after school.

The sound of a twig snapping caught Amilia's attention and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Turning towards the sound, Lia's lips set into a frown as she stared into the darkness. She couldn't make out anything, but, she did have the strange feeling of being watched. Slowly, she stood up and wrapped her arms around her waist. Shivering ever so slightly as a gust of wind blew by and caused her hair to dance in the wind. Closing her eyes, Lia brushed her hair behind her ear once it died down and opened her eyes again. Then, another sound was heard and this time it was right behind her. Turning quickly, a gasp escaped from her lips as she saw a man she hadn't seen before.

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Parties weren't Cristian's thing. At least, not anymore. When he was younger, he loved to sneak out and drink with his friends. Find a girl to spend a few hours with, do a little something to feel something different. Now that he's older though, he's numb to the whole idea. Sure, sex is still great and he doesn't mind delving into something to snort or smoke, but he's old enough to drink and make his own choices now. He didn't feel the thrill that he used to in his younger year and that fact in its self was a given. Christian grew up. He was a made man now, he had responsibilities, he couldn't go around making stupid choices. He didn't need to sneak out and he certainly didn't need to go behind his parents' backs. He was a free man in a sense. He could fuck, drink, and smoke what he pleased. Within reason.

Going to this party though? That was something that wasn't on his agenda to ever do. No, Cristian hadn't even planned to attend it, but, a job was a job, and since he was still working for his old man he needed to follow through. Even if it was babysitting his younger brother and making sure that the brat didn't do anything stupid, like a rat on the family when he was intoxicated or something like that. As long as the kid was breathing at the end of the night and didn't talk about the family business, then things were fine. Things will be fine. Hopefully.

Raising a red solo cup to his lips, Cristian took a couple of slow sips from the drink. The beer doing nothing for him anymore. No bitter taste, no burning as it slides down his throat and into his stomach to dissolve into his bloodstream. He was practically immune to the shit. He'd have to down a keg or two of beer to feel something. That, or something harder like tequila or maybe scotch. Something that had a backbone. Lowering the cup, Cristian looked around the living room. Packed with teenagers who thought that they were being rebellious by throwing a party when no one was home. Drinking underaged or smoking something funny. Little did they know, that their daddy's boss was making around in the house with a couple of other men to make sure that shit didn't go downhill.

Turning to head back to the kitchen for a refill, Cristian felt someone bump into his arm. He looked down to tell the kid to watch it but stopped. Something was wrong, a sort of warmth seemed to bloom in his chest. Maybe the beer was bad? The lack of warmth in his vision felt fuzzy for a moment before clearing and becoming vivid. Like some sort of cheesy romcom thing. Sneering, Cristian quickly turned his back to the girl. He understood what was happening and he wanted nothing to do with it. His eyes kept going blurry and then refocusing as the chemical imbalance ran rampant in his system. No, this was not something that he wanted. Air, he needed air.

Stepping onto the back patio, Cristian took in a couple of deep breaths to try and cool himself. Shit, all this time he was almost certain he'd be alone forever. Now, he finds a kid who caused him to see color. Who could bond with him on a deeper level? Fucking hell.