Chapter Five: Everyone Has Lost Someone

Winter sat on her couch with her twin brother July as he scrolled down a costume store's web site, trying to find a last minute costume. Winter sat balled up beside him munching away on chocolate chip cookies. "Oooh; how about that one?" She said as she pointed at a ghost costume on the screen with a cookie in hand. July glanced at her with a slight glare and then shook his head with a heavy sigh. "What am I going to do!" he cried and he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "You could always make a costume, July." Uncle Craig stated as he walked into the living room, fully dressed: something out of the ordinary for a Tuesday night. Winter looked at her uncle as July followed suit. "Where are you going?" July asked with a displeased face. "To the McMillan's house; a family member of theirs has just moved back into town and I plan to go meet the boy's parents." Their uncle stated as he put a jacket on. "Another one?" July asked with a groan as he dropped his head on the coffee table. "What is that supposed to mean?" Winter asked with a laugh. "I can't take more than one McMillian boy at a time!" "You hang out with him and his brother all the time July!" Winter said in disbelief. She looked over at her uncle, then glanced down at herself; she looked at her long sleeve 'Dead is the New Black' shirt and ripped jean shorts. Winter than glanced at her uncle again, then her brother and came to a decision. Winter put her box of cookies down on the couch and stood up. "Give me a second to get my boots from my room and I'll go with you." She said happily as she ran up the steps to her bedroom to grab her black boots and some knee high socks.

July groaned as he looked over at his uncle again and let a sigh out. "What's this kid like?" he asked as he sat back up. "He's nice, kind of shy from what I remember, but the last time he was here he lived with Joss for a school year and he actually became pretty tight with Vlad." Uncle Craig said as he waited by the door for Winter to come back down stairs. "You can come with us next door if you'd like to meet him." Uncle Craig offered. "Nah, I think I'm good. I'll meet him at school later." July said as he turned his attention back to the laptop screen and groaned. "I'm telling you July, just make a costume!" "No; I'm going to buy an epic costume and be awesome this Halloween!" July said with determination and got up from the couch. "Where are you going July, its 6:30!" "To the costume shop in town." He stated as he grabbed his jacket and exited the house. Winter laughed from the steps and Uncle Craig just shook his head with a chuckle. "You ready?" "I guess" she laughed again and walked out the door with her uncle.

Winter stood on the front porch of the McMillan house in her jean jacket and boots waiting with her Uncle for someone to answer the door. Winter rang the bell again and tried to glance into the house through the windows by the door, but everything was too blurry. "I'm coming; give me a minute!" A voice came from inside that sounded annoyed. Winter giggled and glanced at her uncle. "He has no patience I swear!" she said with a scuff as the door opened. "Her there buddy!" Uncle Craig greeted when Henry opened the door. Winter just smiled as she waved at him. "Hey you guys. What can I do for you?" He asked politely. "Came to meet you aunt and uncle." Uncle Craig stated happily "I also figured it'd be good for Winter to meet your cousin, Joss was it?" Uncle Craig asked as he honestly tried to remember the kid's name. "Ok great, come on in!" Henry said with a laugh. Uncle Craig walked in and took his jacket off, hanging it over his arm as he made his way into the living room. Winter stood beside Henry, starting to feel a little regretful for coming over. "Come on, let's go to me room." Henry stated as he motioned his head toward the back of the house. Winter nodded her head and followed him to the steps that lead up to where his room would be.

"Why are we going up to your room?" Winter asked as she followed Henry down the hall to his door. "My cousin is up here already waiting for me. "He laughed as he opened the door to reveal a boy no taller than Henry lying on his bed with a comic in his hand. Winter walked in behind him and took her jacket off, throwing it on Henry's computer chair and then sitting on it. "Joss, dude we got company." He said as he knocked the comic out of his hands on to his face. Joss sighed and placed his hand on the comic that now rested on his face. "You can be my cousin all you want, but if who I think is in this room, I am going to kill you."

Joss groaned as he pulled the book off his face and looked over at the female sitting at the computer desk, both of her hands resting on her lap. Joss' face turned red in embarrassment when he saw an unfamiliar girl sitting in the room with them. "Uh, sorry about that." He told her uncomfortably as he scratched the back of his head as he fully sat up on Henry's bed. "I'm Joss by the way." he said as he shifted a little uncomfortably on the bed. Winter laughed and leaned back in the chair. "Who'd you think I was?" "Oh, just one of Henry's friends that I'm not exactly fond of." "You sound a little agitated." "I am; I'm also not too crazy about attending school with him again this year." "Well, I hope you won't mind school with me." She smiled. Joss couldn't help but smile back at the female, she seemed so friendly. "What's your name again?" "Oh, that's right! Sorry 'bout that. I'm Winter; it's nice to meet you Joss." Winter giggled as she waved her hand at him in a greeting. Joss laughed and waved back.

Winter, Henry and Joss sat up in his room for over an hour just talking about movies and video games before Winter actually paid attention to what Joss looked like. "I'm gonna go grab snacks from down stairs, I'll be back; you guys want anything in specific?" Winter glanced at Joss for a moment and then back to henry. "If you've got cookies that'd be great." She laughed. "You and cookies, you need to cut down on the cookies Winnie!" "We are not going there with that nick name again!" Winter scolded as he left the room. "Seriously; he calls you Winnie, like Winnie the Pooh?" Joss laughed. "No not like Winnie the Pooh!" Winter huffed. "I didn't like the name Win, so….. He started calling me Winnie." Winter said feeling a little embarrassed. Joss laughed "Its ok, my little sister uses to call me Jossie, so Winnie isn't so bad a nick name." Joss said with a sad smile. Winter look at joss as he brushed his dirty brown hair brown his honey eyes. Sorrow swam through his eyes at the mention of his sister. Winter stood up from the chair and walked over to the bed as she looked down at him. "What happened to her?" Winter asked as she took her place beside him on the bed. Joss glanced over at her, his eyes brimming with tears. Joss blinked them out of his already blurring vision and whipped his cheek quickly. "She…. Um…. She was killed in her sleep when she was six…." He said, completely unable to look at Winter. "I'm sorry… I understand how you feel…" "Do you really?" Joss looked at her, disbelief and anger filling all his features. "The only way to understand this feeling is…. Is to lose that special family member." Joss let out a heavy sigh and looked away from her. "You still have your brother…... you couldn't possibly understand this pain."

"And that's all I have…." Winter looked down at her lap, her hair covering her features. Joss looked back at her, confusion covering her face. "I came home to my father's massacre and my mother rambling like a mad person from the shock…" Joss took immediate attention to this, his eyes wide in how amazingly stupid he was to assume she couldn't understand what it was to lose a family member; she just lost two. "When I went to go visit her in the hospital she kept saying that something dark killed my father, or that it was a vampire that killed him… she said she saw it briefly before she ran off to hide… so she could never give a description of the person….. She continues to swear that it was a vampire…" Winter took a deep, shaky breath as she rubbed her eyes with her sweater sleeves. Joss's eyes sharpened at the mention of vampires 'These creatures are getting too out of hand…' Joss mentally growled as he reached out his hand to rub Winter's back when she suddenly stood up. "Um…" She sniffled and took a breath. "I'm gonna head home… see if my brother is ok." She said and left abruptly.

Henry was coming back up the steps as Winter came racing down them. Winter stopped before knocking Henry down. He looked at her worried and stood in her way temporarily. "Winter, what's wrong; did Joss say something?" he asked, concern overcoming his features. Winter shook her head "I just need to get home Henry." She said through a shaky voice and pushed passed him, running down the steps and around the corner, heading straight for the front door. Henry watched as she left, then turned his attention back to the steps ahead of him and continued to ascend them.

Winter rushed into the house and headed straight for her bed room. When she turned the corner to go into her room July was coming out of the bathroom and she bumped straight into his chest. Winter looked up at her twin and then busted into tears as she cupped her face with her hands and dropped her head. "I miss mommy!" she cried as her brother pulled her closer and rubbed her back. "Did someone say something to you Winter?" Winter contemplated her answer; she could tell him the truth, that yes Joss made a comment that upset her but if she did July would go over to Henry's place and cause a scene over it and she didn't want to do that. Being July's enemy is not something you would want to be; it's a dangerous position to hold. So instead she shook her head no and hug him tightly. "I want to see mommy…" she said through soft sobs. July rubbed her back and shushed her. "We'll go visit soon." He said softly and walked her over to her room.

"You going to be ok?" he asked as he helped her sit on her bed. Winter nodded her head as she rubbed her red eyes and sniffled once again. "I should be. I just need a nap I guess….. Or some TV." she giggled and folded her legs on the bed. "Well, you just call for me if you need me, alright?" he said as he gave her a kiss on the forehead headed for the door. Winter smiled and nodded her head as her brother shut her bedroom door. Winter looked over at her night table and grabbed her TV remote and started flipping through channels, hoping to find something that would take her mind off her parents. Finally Winter came across an old movie she hadn't seen since eighth grade when her class finished reading the book; the outsiders was on and her eyes lit up momentarily before another family memory invaded her thoughts. She could remember coming home from school, excited about the movie she had just seen, wanting to share the experience with her parents. As she sat watching the movie, she could remember her father's voice telling her the parts of the movie he remembered when he saw it in the movies with her mother. She could remember July 'yucking' at them being gushy towards one another. Winter began smiling at the memory as one of the final scenes came on when all the brothers began doing cartwheels and other acrobatic moves in their front yard; then a moment of realization hit her, she would never her to see her parents act that way towards one another, she and her brother could never tell them to 'get a room' ever again. Winter hugged her legs and put her head down between her knees as she squeezed her eyes close, wishing she could go back to that time.

"Winter?" a voice came into the room in a low tone, but it was soft, as if tell her it wasn't there to harm her. Winter groaned and rolled over in her bed. All her lights and even her TV had been turned off and she was tucked away under her blankets. Winter opened her eyes a little, just barely to really make out a person's face but just enough to make out their figure. "Winter?" the voice repeated as Winter began to raise her head a little, opening her eyes just a little more. She could see that the large windows leading out to the balcony was opened. Her curtains blew in the wind lightly as the moon light illuminated the ledge of the windowsill. Winter sat up more and rubbed her eyes so that her vision was clearer. "Who's there… July, that you." She questioned as she stretched out her arms and yawned. Winter suddenly felt a weight on the bottom of her bed and realized right away that it wasn't her brother and immediately turned her night table light on.

"What the hell!" she screamed when she turned the light on and saw Vlad jumping up from the bottom of her bed. "Sh!" he told her in a hasty sort of sound. Winter looked over at her door for a moment, and once she'd decided that no one was coming to check on her and her outburst she turned her attention back to Vlad. "What the hell are you doing in my room at…." She glanced over at her alarm clock and narrowed her eyes. "3 in the morning." She growled a little. "I was coming to check on you." "Why are you checking on me so late at night?" "Henry called me earlier to tell me you left his house in a huff, but I was kind of caught up at home and couldn't leave." Vlad gave a sheepish smile with a shrug. "That doesn't explain why you're here at 3 in the morning Vlad. Couldn't you have come by tomorrow in the morning or something?" "I wanted to see you tonight and make sure you were ok." He told her as he sat back down on the bed and looked into her silver eyes. Winter looked back at him and took a deep breath. "fine." She said a little reluctant.

"So what happened earlier that you left Henrys so upset?" "His cousin made a comment that I couldn't handle hearing." Winter looked down at her lap and sniffled a little. "What did he say?" "That I couldn't possibly understand the feeling of losing a family member so dear to you…." Winter look a deep shaky breath as she blinked back tear. "I lost the two most precious family members anyone could ever loose." She looked up at Vlad in that instant, her face flushed, eyes red and streaming with tears. "I lost my parent. Sure one of them is alive, but she isn't….. Not really…." "He always acts like he's the only one who's lost family." Vlad said as he looked out the window he came in through. "You know him?" "Yeah, he's got a problem with me…. Not too sure why to be honest." Vlad sighed and looked back to Winter with a warm welcoming smile and grabbed hold of her hands. "Its ok Winter, Joss doesn't think before he speaks sometimes and tends to forget he's not the only one with tragedy in their lives. Some people don't have parents anymore. He as at the least his parents…" Vlad said softly as he gripped Winter's hands. She looked at Vlad's dark eyes and squeezed his hands back as she leaned forward toward him. 'God, it feels like my heart is going to break free from my chest any minute…' Winter thought as she leaned closer to Vlad. Vlad noticed this and started to lean in as well, but for a whole other reason completely.

The smell of Winter's blood was much sweeter and stronger when she was sad and Vlad was almost to the point of no return. He was just a moment away from biting Winter when he heard and sound coming from outside her room. Winter's neck nearly snapped at the speed that she turned her head to look at her door. Winter pulled her hands away from Vlad's and pushed him off the bed. She got off the bed and lifted the blanket. "Under, now!" she whispered loudly. Vlad looked at her shocked and quickly got under the bed. Winter jumped back in bed and through the blanket over herself just in time for July to walk in and do his nightly checking of the house. Winter turned around and lifted her head to look at her brother and smiled. "What're you doing in here?" she asked as she sat up with a stretch, trying to give the illusion that he woke her up. "Just checking up on you, making sure you're ok." "From what, vampires under my bed waiting to suck my blood." She giggled and July laughed at her.

Vlad's face twisted in uncomfort. The sad thing is that there really was a vampire under her bed and it did want to suck her blood. It just wasn't interested in killing her. "Ok, well go back to sleep, we got school in the morning." July stated as he left the room, closing the door behind him. Winter waited a moment to make sure her brother was gone before she got off the bed and lifted the blanket to see Vlad laying on his stomach, face down on the ground. "You ok?" she asked quietly. "Vlad turned his head and just looked at her. "Vampire under the bed, really?" "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it." "Why vampire? "You're pale enough, why not." Winter laughed as Vlad pulled himself out from under her bed. "Are you at least feeling better?" "Yeah… thanks for coming to see me so late…. At night. Does your aunt know you're out?" Vlad gave her another sheepish grin as he scratched the back of his head. "Take your ass home Vlad." Winter said bluntly with a shake of the head. "I'll see you tomorrow at school." She said with a laugh as she walked with him to the balcony windows.

Vlad climbed up on the window's sill and looked back at Winter with a smile. Winter giggled. "You are so crazy, Vladimir." His name came out her mouth so smoothly that it felt like silk to his skin. She even managed a Russian accent to pronounce it properly. Vlad's pale face flushed red but he smiled back at her. "You're crazier." "How so?" "You allowed me to stay in your room at such a late hour." Vlad smirked at her as he sat on the trailing of the balcony. Winter walked over to him and grabbed his hand. "Well then….." she leaned in close to Vlad and had a quick flash of images, than smirked. "Your ankle won't get hurt, don't worry about the fall, just focus on the landing." "What are you talking about?" Vlad looked at her in confusion. Winter giggled and kissed him on the cheek and pushed him off the balcony before her brother could come out and see him. Winter wondered back into her room and locked the windows before going back to bed. She picked up her cell phone and checked her messages. Winter giggled at the message on her screen that read "you are a hell of a lot crazier than I thought you were, season girl." :) "I could have told you that." She whispered into the dark of her room and put her phone back on her night stand.