The Fade

Chapter 1

"Alexander!" I scream hysterically, my head spinning with dizziness as he throws me over his shoulder.

He chuckles. "Man up, buttercup!" He calls, holding me in place as he sprints towards the ocean.

"No! It's too cold!" I screech, gasping in horror as he simply tosses me into the waves.

Falling under the lukewarm salty water, I immediately hold my breath, swimming to the surface quickly for breath. Breaking the surface of the sea water, I gasp for air, wiping my eyes before opening them.

"Ass! You know I can barely swim!" I angrily slap the red patch of burning flesh on his shoulder.

"Ouch!" He whines, giving me a slight glare.

"Man up, buttercup." I retort mockingly.

He rolls his eyes at me, strolling past me towards the beach. Mom sits on dads back, applying another layer of sunscreen to his tan. She's the type of mom that is overprotective, but we love her anyway. Even if she sometimes does get all up in our business, not that I hide anything from her. Mom is basically my best friend, I mean she's strict but she's comforting and understanding.

"Alex, do that to her again and I'll hold you down as she feeds you rotten fish." Dad voices, partially muffled from his position.

I share a glance with Alexander, to which he screws his face up with disgust, still grinning like dads joking.

"He's grinning!" I announce, quickly moving to moms side to avoid Alexander's grasp.

"I definitely was not!" He defends, like a high school girl.

Poking my tongue out at him, I sit on my towel and apply a thin layer of sunscreen, not particularly needing it due to always tanning perfectly. I guess it's a gift, the rest of my family burn like they're vampires. Obviously vampires don't burn, they're practically indestructible unless you have canima venom and mix it with some vervain.

"Sweetie leave him be." Mom warns dad, ignoring his attempt to move from beneath her.

Dad grumbles under his breath but otherwise agrees, knowing better than to argue with mom. Alexander gets his childish side from our dad.

"Move over." Alexander sighs, moving to sit next to me.

"There's no more room." I say, noticing the sand just under my leg at the edge of the towel.

"Then sit on my legs." He whines, simply picking me up and taking my spot.

"Put me down!" I shout.

Alexander places me on the lower half of his legs, folding them to make it more comfortable. I suppose most people would find it strange as we're brother and sister, but I guess being best friends makes us closer in a way, this is normal for us.

"You're so bony." I complain.

"Says the girl that weighs half of me." He mocks.

"Not my fault people in this family don't like meat." I retort pointedly.

True fact, we're vegetarians. I don't know why, mom says it's healthier for us so whatever. I can't deny that the smell of burgers and chicken are simply beautiful. I've come close to eating meat a few times, but then I think about moms wrath if I do, and I chicken out.

"It's healthier!" Mom chimes in, rolling her eyes.

"Then why is he so bony? He's like one of those starved kids on tv." I say, smirking internally as Alexander stills behind me, most likely offended.

"I work out everyday!" He splutters.

"Sweetie stop taunting your brother, you know how sensitive he gets." Mom muses, purposely annoying Alexander.

"I'm not sensitive." He denies coldly.

"Some girls like sensitive guys, but then again you refuse to date. Speaking of, are you gay?" I question curiously, getting side tracked as I stare back at him.

His green eyes blink for a second, staring at me like he isn't sure how to respond.

"No, I just...I'm not talking about this with you." He abruptly snaps.

My eyes widen as his icy tone, my body roughly hitting the sand as he suddenly stands and storms off back to his car. My eyes follow after him, confused and slightly hurt. Did I say something wrong?

"Don't take it to heart, he doesn't like to talk about it." Mom gives me a small smile, although it doesn't reach her eyes like it normally does.

Does she know what's wrong? Why do I feel like they're hiding it from me?

"So, what do you want to do for your birthday?" Mom asks, beaming brightly at me.

The change of topic doesn't deter me from worrying about Alexander, he's usually calm and a goofball, plus he's never snapped at me like that. Still, I give mom a smile knowing she's excited about my birthday next week.

"I was thinking about going camping, or visiting those mountains Dad used to talk about." I say with a small hopeful smile.

Moms eyes fall slightly. "Mountains?" She questions with a frown.

"Yeah, the Ash mountains in Africa, Dad has a picture in his office." I tell her, frowning slightly.

Surely she's heard of him talking about the mountains? Or even seen the beautiful picture on his laptop screen?

"The mountains are surrounded by tribes, and wolves that don't like to associate themselves with humans." She says with an apologetic smile.

My heart falls slightly. "What about camping? We used to go to the forest in Seattle-"

"Someone bought a couple of years ago, a pack actually. We can't trespass, plus, it'll be too cold anyway." She reasons.

Sighing, I give a small shrug. "Then I guess you can pick, if you want?" I offer.

Mom flashes me a bright smile, one that I know too well. Immediately I groan, knowing exactly what she has in mind.

"No, anything but that." I plead.

"It'll be fun! You'll be fine, don't worry." She grins, dismissing my distaste.

Great, loud music and people I barely know all wishing me happy birthday. Not my style, who I am to let her down though?

"Then I guess we need to go shopping." I force a smile, silently praying my birthday will come and go as quickly as possible.

"I can't wait!" Mom claps, completely in her element as her eyes glaze over.

Something that happens when she's deep in though about something, meaning she's mentally setting out my birthday party in her mind.