A V I V A

I snap my head around to where the figure is, but as soon as I do, it disappears. My face crinkles in confusion, but I shrug it off and decide it was just my wild imagination.

A gust of wind passes by, as if someone had just ran past me. I whirl around again, my eyes landing on the shadow. It's in the shape of a man, way taller than I am.

This time, it stays in its place and makes no sound whatsoever. I shudder. I've never seen this creature before, but I still get the feeling of deja vu.

♡ F L A S H B A C K ♡

"Daddy, can I go play on the swings? Pretty pretty pretty pleeeeease?" I pout at him.

He chuckles and boops my nose, making me giggle. "Sure, sweetheart. Just don't run off."

I give him a toothy grin before nodding and running over to the swings. There were only two left without kids on them, so I take one of them and sit down, swinging my legs. I push off and start to swing back and forth but something else distracts me.

Standing there, was a weird boy. Is it even a boy? I'm pretty sure it's a boy. But he looks like. . . a shadow. I think he's looking at me, but I can't really tell because I can't see his face. Well, I don't think he has a face. It's a shadow!

I should go say hi. It looks lonely, with everyone just walking right past him. So, I jump off the swings and make sure Daddy could still see me. I march right up to the shadow and stick my hand out, grinning at it.

"Hi! I'm Aviva. What's your name?" I ask, tilting my head.

I beam when it slowly shakes my hand, except I can't feel anything but cool air. It doesn't say anything, either. Hm, it must be shy.

"Do you want to play Tag with me? It's my favourite game." I laugh, noticing its head move up and down in a nod.

"Great. Sky blue, sky blue, everyone's out except for y-o-u!" My finger points on the shadow.

"You're it!" I giggle, running away from the shadow.

Why is everyone staring at me so weirdly?

"Aviva! Who are you talking to?" Daddy calls from the bench he's sitting on.

I point to the shadow, who hasn't moved. "My new friend, the black shadow!"

Daddy looks around. "What friend? Shadow? What are you talking about, little Cupid?"

"Right the-" I deflate when I realize the shadow is no longer there.

Did it not want to be my friend?

"Come on, Aviva. We should go home, now. Before Mummy gets mad at us both," Daddy takes my hand and drags me back onto the pavement.

I look back once more, my eyes widening when I see the shadow waving at me. I smile, and then wave back.

I think it really is shy. Or maybe it's scared of Daddy for some reason.

♡ F L A S H B A C K O V E R ♡

I stare the shadow with no expression. I have seen it before, when I was just five years old. Dad thought I went nuts when I told him about it.

Now that I think about it, what creature was this? A Ghost? No, it can't be. Ghosts aren't shadows or pitch black. They're basically just translucent Humans that float in the air, choosing whether or not they want to show themselves.

So what was it?

"I remember you," I whisper, knowing very well that it could understand me. "From the park, when I was five. People thought it was just my imagination."

It doesn't reply, but instead comes closer to me.

And then it vanishes. Again.

I wait for another few minutes, waiting for it to make another appearance but it doesn't show up again, so I make my way back down into my room.

However, I don't remember turning the lights off. I squint through the darkness, noticing my open window and an outline. Flicking the lights back on, my brows shoot up at the sight of Alec sitting on my window sill casually, a playful smirk on his lips.

"What the frick are you doing here?" I growl, stepping towards him.

"Hey, Cupid." He says, ignoring my question and jumping to his feet.

"Did you just come through my window?" I ask, wondering how the hell he managed to do that when my room is on the third floor.

Alec shrugs and looks around my room, taking in the white and maroon theme. "Cool room."

I'm not really in the mood for small talk.

"Answer my damn questions, King." I snap, glaring at him coldy.

"Yes, I did just come through your window. What am I doing here? Oh, I was bored. Thought I'd visit a friend." He explains, laying down on my chaise.

I scoff at him, closing the window so that no more cold air could get inside. Friend? Who said we were friends? This boy really needs to get his head out of the gutter.

"We are not friends, Alec."

He winks. "You're right, we aren't. We're definitely more than friends."

I gape, then clench my jaw. "What do you want?"

"What are those potions, over there?" Alec points to the shelf on the other side of the room, full of potions.

"For my work," I tell him in a duh tone.

He shrugs, sitting back up. At the moment, I don't even care that he's here, right now. I'm still fazed by my encounter with the shadow in my balcony. Why did it come back? And why am I the only one that sees it?

"Um, Cupid? You look like you've just seen a Ghost, are you alright?" Alec's voice breaks through my thoughts.

Well, he's kind of right.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So why are you actually here?" I ask, hoping to change the topic.

Alec sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I needed to escape from home for a bit."

So he came here? Doesn't he have other friends?

Nevertheless, I sigh and grab my laptop, then motion for Alec to move over. I climb onto the chaise next to him and pull my blanket over us, then put the laptop in between. I open up Netflix and let him choose the movie.

He finally sets on Anchorman and I give him a high-five, grinning at his choice. Halfway into the movie, I become curious.

"So, do you have any siblings?" I ask him in a whisper so I don't end up waking everyone else up.

Especially Mom. I totally forgot about her 'rule'. If she knew the one person I wasn't supposed to talk to was in my room, watching a movie with me, she'd freak and turn into an evil Witch.

Alec nods slightly. "Yeah. Two brothers. One is twelve and the other is twenty one," He scowls when he mentions his older brother. "What about you?"

"I have a twelve year old sister. She's the most annoying Elf on earth, but she's also very sweet at the same time." I smile softly.

"Are there any other Cupids in your family?"

"No, I don't think so. There's only five Cupids in the world, including me. I haven't met any of them, though." I explain, examining my nails.

"Hey, are you doing anything tomorrow after school?" I ask Alec, glancing up.

"No, why?"

"Do you want to hang out with us? We're going to get icecream. I'm bringing my sister, too."

His lips curl into a slow grin, and I realize I haven't seen him smile very often.

"Sure, I guess. Do you mind if my little brother tags along? He doesn't usually get out of the house." Alec requests, his dark eyes sparkling.

"Of course. At least Faith won't get bored, and she'll meet a new friend." I smirk.

"Carl is a quiet kid, he doesn't have many friends. I don't think he likes having friends. . ." He trails off, frowning.

I already have a feeling Carl and Faith will get along perfectly.

Before I know it, my eyelids start to get heavy. I snuggle more into the blanket and close my eyes.

"Falling off to sleep already, Cupid?" Alec chuckles quietly, and I hum in response.

"Before you do, can I come over tomorrow night, as well? I-"

"Stop talking, Alec. Why are you even asking if you know you're going to come even if I say no?" I laugh and open one eye.

He laughs with me."You know me so well, Cupid. Goodnight,"

I roll my eyes and shut the laptop, setting it aside and pushing Alec off the chaise. He lands on his butt with a thud! and glares at me when he stands, walking over to my window.

"Night, Alec. Don't get yourself killed when you jump off my window."

The last thing I hear before passing out is, "Dream of me!"

♡♡♡

Hey, guys! How'd you like this chapter? What's up with that mysterious black shadow? If you want to find out, stick with me, my fellow readers!

Don't forget to vote and comment!

❤ Chloe