I blew out the candle sticking out of the cupcake Mason bought for me. "Happy birthday!" he hollered. I smiled before taking a bite.
"Fifteen, finally!" Chris laughed, joking with me about being the last of the group to have their fifteenth birthday. I chuckled while looking down. Justin reached over to smear a little bit of frosting on my nose with a cheeky snicker.
"You guys are the best." I took another bite of my cupcake. The weather outside was freezing, but I was curled up by a fireplace with Justin, Keegan, Chris, Sean, and Hayden around me. Mason sat by my side, holding a blanket around the both of us.
We talked around the fire and told stories. All other lights were off, and the orange color was the only thing casting a warm glow onto our faces. My eyes watched the dancing flames as something kept poking me in the back of my mind. The group around me burst into laughter that I joined in on, but I had completely missed all of the previous conversation.
What am I forgetting? I asked myself. It felt like there was something I should be doing. I shook my head, lowering my gaze from the fire.
"Millie?" Mason whispered to me. I whipped my head in his direction. The rest of the group wasn't paying attention, but Mason seemed to have noticed how distracted I was. The others began to laugh once again, but Mason only continued his worried stare into my eyes.
I swallowed hard. "I'm fine." My eyes lingered a moment longer on his expression as shadows from the light flickered on his face and dark, curly hair. "I just feel like I'm forgetting something."
Mason gently rubbed my back in a caring way. "I understand, we all get that feeling from time to time."
But this seems different.
Snow fell all throughout the night. I had trouble falling asleep because whenever I would start to fall into a deep unconsciousness, my eyelids would fly open, as if I momentarily remembered. It would then slip from my head.
It was exactly four in the morning. I was able to get just barely an hour of sleep before waking up in a sweat. I couldn't handle the sleepless night, and my room was starting to burn up. A nauseous feeling erupted in my stomach. I need to get some fresh air.
I slipped on a couple warm layers and my winter boots. The wind hit my face and nipped my uncovered face. I made sure to close the door slowly and with extra precaution so my parents didn't wake up. Even if the wind was clawing at me, it felt somewhat soothing on my burning cheeks.
Without any control, my legs carried me toward the barns. My head hung low to keep the sharp snowflakes from pelting my face.
The toe of my boot bumped into a surface. I slowly rose my head to face the old silo. I was staring directly into the gap. My whole body began to shutter.
Henry.
"Millie?" I heard his voice echo off the metal walls inside.
"Y-yeah?" My voice couldn't help but quiver. I then began to realize just how cold I really was. My teeth chattered and I was losing feeling in my hands.
Henry stepped into the moonlight that leaked over the darkness inside. He narrowed his eyes at me. "Why are you out here when it's so cold?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "I wasn't feeling that great."
"If you're sick, you shouldn't risk getting worse by being out in the cold."
"Are you worried?" I tried giving a small smile, but my shaking jaw just made me seem pitiful. Not to mention, my lips had grown numb. "Can... can I come in for just a little bit? To get away from the cold?"
Henry hesitated. A small sigh escaped his lips. "Fine. I'm just warning you."
"You know, you say that," I started as I stretched my leg into the silo. "But you don't seem more than your words."
My feet landed on the ground of the silo, and I already felt better without the wind. I let out a slow breath, meeting Henry's stare. This was the closest I had ever been to him. The moonlight casted shadows across his face from his sharp features.
"What?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Nothing. I'm just feeling warmer." A cold chill ran through my spine, shuttering my whole body. "Jeez, don't you have a furnace or something in here?" I joked.
Henry only cocked his head to the side. "How come you just randomly showed up at this time after not for three years?"
I bit the inside of my cheek. "I was... scared?" I admitted. "Last time I came, you were pretty harsh towards me."
"I just didn't want an innocent person to get hurt."
I took a step closer to Henry, but he only cowered away into the shadows. I reached for his arm, expecting my hands to slip through since he was a shadow person. However, my hand wrapped around his wrist. He turned towards me with widened eyes. His skin was so cold; almost as cold as the winter wind.
"I can feel you?" I asked, my voice coming out breathy.
"When I'm in my human form, yes." Henry pulled his arm away. "But that doesn't mean you should."
