A crystal of snow is a wonderful thing
With texture as fine as a butterfly's wing;
With network of atoms like filmy spun lace,
Or petal arrangement of fair flower face. – by M. Lucile Ford
Delicate and feathery,
Crystal clear and white,
Six-point stars come tumbling,
Softly in the night. – by Regina Sauro
Part 2: In the Snow
Justin stood ankle deep in the show with his head cast sideways as he glared at Sasha. They were in dark sweaters, jeans and boots, knowing if they walked out in the nude they’d still be fine. Only, being nude in the cold would draw too much speculation and they were trying to fit in and live normal lives, in the best way possible.
They were at the neighborhood park which was covered in show and Christmas decorations. There was a small arch with a gazebo where people could relax and the lake was frozen solid, inviting skaters of all ages to rip the benefits.
“Ok Sash, now you know that I love you unconditionally and support you, but this is not what I had in mind. An extreme sport in the wee hours of the morning on a cold wintery night is not my idea of celebrating Christmas.” Justin voiced and Sasha giggled in return.
“Oh come on. It’s only sledding. It’s not an extreme sport Justin. Lighten up. We don’t go out in the daytime, not that we can’t. That’s when everyone else is doing it. At least, this way we have the entire slope to ourselves.” She explained, causing Justin to scowl as he flicked the tip of his tongue over his razor sharp fangs.
“Sweetie, we can levitate and fly. Why would I want to go down a snow mountain at high speeds on a sled?”
“Because J, it’s fun…come on!” Gripping his hand tightly, Sasha pulled Justin with her to the sled so he could sit in front before she climbed on behind him and held onto his waist tightly. “Stop complaining babe. You’ll enjoy it.” She whispered as she made herself more comfortable around him.
“Only for you.” He whispered back, a gush of wind slapping his cold skin, causing him to squint as they got ready to push off.
Turning around to give Sasha a wink, Justin dug his hands into the show and gave them a strong push forward, his strength lifting them off the snow before they landed back down with a thud and went sailing down the steep slope. “Hang on!” He shouted and Sasha did just that, the speed at which they were traveling causing her to shut her eyes momentarily.
It wasn’t long before the couple got into the swing of things, hooting and hollering as they sped down the steep hill on their sled. When Justin saw that their ride was coming to an end, he decided to put his own little twist to their enjoyment.
“Sash!” He called out to her receiving a muffled ‘yes’ from where she was sitting behind him. “Grab on and don’t let go.” Justin voiced and Sasha’s eyes widened in confusion.
“What?” She screamed out before Justin suddenly shot up. Gasping, Sasha’s grip around Justin tightened as she looked down in shock, their sled sliding down the rest of the hill without them. “Justin what are you doing!?”
Without warning, they were airborne, the speed at which Justin soared through the sky taking Sasha off guard. She clung to him as she tried to gather her bearings, his speed picking up as he weaved through the tall snow covered trees in the park.
“Oh my gosh, J slow down, we’re going to crash into a tree or something.” Sasha voiced only to hear Justin’s deep chuckles in return.
“This is much more fun than sledding.” Justin admitted, flipping around mid-air before he gripped Sasha and pulled her from his back into his embrace. Turning on his stomach, he looked down at her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist as his eyes darkened until they were completely black. “Tell me you’re not enjoying this much more.” He cooed and she rolled her eyes playfully at him before turning her head to the side to see where they were going.
“You better pay attention before you crash into a tree or something.” She warned again and Justin smirked.
“Oh relax…if you’re so worried then I’ll fly higher.”
With that said, Justin shot up through the trees until they were soaring in the clear sky, the moon and stars their only form of light from how high they were elevated.
Sighing with contentment, Sasha didn’t bother to say anything else as she enjoyed the ride. She could easily break away from Justin and fly next to him but having him carry her was much more fun, comforting and intimate. Not to mention romantic. Sometimes, she felt like there was no way she could survive being human if it meant giving up perks like these. And other times, she craved to feel her warm blood flowing through her veins and the beating of her still heart.
“Let’s go ice skating…the lake is frozen up and it would be fun.” Sasha voiced, watching as Justin diverted his attention to her briefly, his eye color lightening to a deep blue as he held her intense gaze.
“You can’t be serious.” He responded unenthused. Vampires didn’t skate…well, he for sure didn’t. “We don’t even have skates.”
“Our boots are fine.” She shrugged in his arms and he growled lowly, not really liking the idea.
“I have a better idea…let’s head into town. I can see you’re hungry. Your eyes are darkening.” He pointed out.
“Come on Justin…later…but first…” Drifting off, Sasha rooted herself out of Justin’s embrace, taking flight and speeding off, leaving him behind.
“Hey! Sash! Where are you going?” He laughed out before he took off after her.
They looked like large objects speeding through the night’s sky as they bantered with each other. Giving Justin a hard playful shove which sent him sailing in the opposite direction when he caught up to her, Sasha took off again, heading down towards the gazebo in the neighborhood park.
Just when she thought she was home free, a pair of ice cold hands gripped her around her waist from behind causing her to scream out loud.
“Ah, let me go Justin!” Sasha giggled as she struggled to get out of his hold but to no avail. He was stronger and had her pinned from behind as they dropped from the sky at an alarming rate.
“Not a chance sweetheart. You just shoved me…that wasn’t very nice.” He hissed coolly against her ear.
“Oh my gosh, Justin let go…we’re falling!” Sasha said in horror, but he simply ignored her, knowing she hated when he did that.
“Aw come on, it’s only a little pain. You’re immortal, you can handle it.” He joked.
Still struggling in his arms, Sasha shrieked when the ground got closer and closer until…smack!
They both landed with a bang in the snow next to the gazebo, the impact making a thwacking sound.
Sasha felt the air leave her lungs as she groaned before rolling over to her side so she could get up. “Fuck Justin…why do you always do this shit?!” She hissed angrily, her hair and clothes now covered in snow. She quickly dusted herself off as she glowered at him.
Next to her, Justin laid on the heap of snow laughing heartily as he rolled over to face her with a large grin on his face. “Crash landing is always fun.” He mused but Sasha didn’t find him funny.
“Humph.” She huffed as her fangs descended. Gathering some snow in her hands, she rolled it up and smacked him right in the forehead with the snow ball. Sticking out her tongue at him, she hopped up on her feet and leapt inhumanly high, landing in the middle of the frozen lake, sliding over the thick ice smoothly.
Scrambling to his feet, Justin rushed after his wife but stopped at the edge of the ice bed, looking out to where Sasha was skating around doing little tricks the best way she could since she didn’t have any skates on.
“What am I going to do with you?” Justin asked in amusement as he kept his eyes on her every move.
“Join me?” She suggested before sliding over to him and pulling him onto the ice with her, ignoring his protests.
Trying to keep his balance, Justin tensed when Sasha gripped his hand with hers and led him around the frozen lake. Finally regaining his composure, he smiled and squeezed her hand affectionately as he allowed her to lead them.
The couple skated around for a bit, both enjoying each other’s company as they did twists and turns while laughing and making fun of each other whenever they would slip and fall or trip over their feet.
“This is a lot more difficult without skates.” Justin joked and Sasha nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, but I’m having fun.” She admitted, skating away from Justin for a bit before she came back over to him.
“Me too.” He grinned while his blues pierced her dark orbs. “We should celebrate like this every year.” He suggested, loving the white Christmas that they were sharing together.
They never celebrated that holiday. This was a first for them. After all of the years they were together on earth, going through time and watching the world as it changed, they still shared firsts together and he was grateful for that.
No one had a set knowledge of how vampires came to be. All Justin knew was that he was changed by one centuries ago, then, he met Sasha years later and fell in love with her, changing her into a dark creature of the night as well so she could be with him forever in order for them to never be lonely again. Their love for each other was deep, passionate, and intense and only grew with time. They were all each other had and traveled the world together living the best lives they could while occasionally encountering others of their kind. Some were pleasant, some weren’t. But, Justin and Sasha were of the rare set that actually respected human life for the most part. That was why Justin liked living among the humans. It gave him a sense of normalcy. Besides, they never stayed in one place for too long…a few decades at most before they moved on to somewhere else…
“See, I told you I had a few ideas in mind.” Sasha beamed with pride, interrupting Justin’s thoughts.
“Ok, here’s another one…let’s rob a store.” Justin suddenly blurted out, his serious nature taking Sasha by surprise.
“You can’t be serious.” She muttered, the both of them stopping to stand before each other in the middle of the lake.
“I’m dead serious babe. The thought just crossed my mind. It’s exciting, spontaneous and besides, it’s not like the cops can take us in or anything.”
“Justin we’re not bad guys or robbers.” Sasha giggled, not taking him seriously.
“True, but we are vampires, which is a million times worse and I think it would be fun if we raised the enjoyment up a notch. Besides, you could just…satisfy your hunger one time.”
“Ugh, Justin you’re so evil sometimes. We may be monsters…but we’re not sadistic monsters.”
“You know you want to…come on. This will be our own little spin to getting in the holiday spirit.” Justin snickered deviously and Sasha relented, figuring that it would be a rush to have that experience even if she knew it was wrong.
“Fine, what the hell.” She replied and that was all it took before Justin gripped her by the hand and lifted them off the ice until they were airborne again, taking off into the night towards the city to partake in their next activity.
Sure they were mostly good vampires who even developed a vegetarian diet of hunting animals simply because they had respect for human life, but, sometimes they couldn’t deny what they were and even if they knew it was bad, a vampire could only be so good.