I had woken up before Louis, indulging in the sight of his peaceful sleeping form next to me for a few moments before I carefully maneuvered my way from under the covers without waking Louis.

One of the conditions of letting me go camping was that I still had to take my pills once I woke up, Dad even going so far to pack all three capsules in a tiny container in my bag. I grabbed a bottle of water from a bag of Louis', swallowing the pills one by one until there was one left.

"I want some candy." Louis mumbled sleepily next to me, his pretty eyes barely staying open as stared at the last pill in my hand.

He was shirtless and his hair was completely untamed, sticking up in some places and matted down in others. He yawned as I took my last pill, Louis pouting as he realized he wasn't getting any "candy".

"I would rather not see what my pills do to someone perfectly healthy like you." I told Louis, watching as he shrugged and pulled the warm blankets back for me. After closing the water bottle and setting it to the side, I happily crawled back under the covers with Louis, giggling as he wrapped his arms around me and nipped at the skin on my neck.

"I'm a vampire, fear me." He joked as he buried his face into the crook of my neck, making me laugh.

"Stop laughing, let me suck your blood." Louis continued his vampire charade, his hands lifting my shirt a little so his fingers could tickle my sides. I couldn't help the squeals and loud laughter from escaping me as I begged Louis to stop.

He eventually did, pulling my breathless self on top of him so my head rested on his chest. I felt the beat of his heart against my cheek, strong and steady and so different from mine. Almost as if he could read my mind, Louis took my cold hand in his and pressed it flat to the hard muscle of his chest by my head, his heartbeat seeming to get faster in pace at my touch.

"My heart can't do that. We should trade." I joked weakly, Louis seeming to take no humor in my poor health. His hand rested on top of mine on his chest, his fingers lightly squeezing mine as his eyes stared into my soul.

"If we could, I would." He told me, my head shaking no.

"You don't want this life." I mumbled. "Getting breathless from walking through the forest, always having cold hands and feet, not knowing what the next day holds." I sighed and felt my bottom lip tremble. I bit it quickly to hold back the tears I knew would form, my eyes closing tight.

"I would take it if it meant you could finally live. Live crazily and like there is no tomorrow, and then wake up and do it all over again for the rest of your life." Louis whispered, making me open my eyes and look up to him.

"Y-you...you would do that?" I asked, completely shocked when Louis nodded.

"In a heartbeat." He said before kissing the top of my head, holding me close and draping the blankets over us so I could be warmer as he held me.

I wasn't too sure how long we had just laid together, but eventually Louis urged me to get up and start packing my stuff. He claimed he still had lessons to get to in the Rift, and his already impatient teacher would kill him if he was late.

Once again, it was Louis' duty to take the tent down and mine to pack the bags and get everything else together. Louis grumbled the entire time about how he wished he was telekinetic so the entire process would go by faster, which made me ask why he hadn't learned it yet if he so easily learned other talents.

"It's a talent you need to be born with. Lots of mental talents require you to be born with them, like telekinetics. Personally, I think it sucks, but that's just the way it is." Louis explained easily, his face paling immediately after he asked me what time it was.

"The demon will kill me." Was all he muttered before he started to rush around and get everything together in a blur. Like literally, Louis was rushing around the campsite at blinding speed, picking things up and putting them away. In the blink of an eye, I had bags in my hands and Louis was hurrying to get us back to the cabin.

Instead of making me run and tiring me out, Louis had quickly assembled a cloud like the one he had caught me with so long ago and helped me up onto it. It was like a roller coaster as he ran and the cloud obediently followed, making me laugh as Louis hurried in order to get to his lessons in time.

Eventually we reached the cabin, the cloud slowly dissipating as Louis helped me down and set me onto the back porch. He left a sweet kiss to the back of my knuckles before planting another onto my lips.

"I'll be back later, alright?" He promised, and I nodded quickly, my hands already pushing him back towards the forest. Louis only chuckled as I told him to not be late, giving me one last kiss before running back into the woods to get to the Rift.

---

I had tried to entertain myself the best I could the whole day until Louis came back from the Rift, but it was hard.

I had finished my book finally and then lounged on the couch, flipping through channels on the television to see if there was anything interesting on. I soon found a marathon of superhero movies, deciding to settle for that while I waited. Dad had already left for work, leaving me a note behind saying he was working a night shift tonight. The note excited me a little, that meant when Louis came back we would be all alone.

After the movie marathon, I was a bit disappointed to find the clock still only read 12:30 in the afternoon. I had searched the house to try and find something to occupy myself with, only to end up tidying up the cabin for Louis' return.

And he did come back, when the clock read 5:30. His eyes were wild and seeming to crackle with sparks and his hair was a bit messy as I let him inside from the back porch. He was holding something small in his hand as he came in.

My hand reached out for his to lead him over to the couch, but Louis passed by me and headed straight for the kitchen. He walked by me quickly, refusing to touch me. I was confused and a little hurt until Louis placed the thing in his hand on the counter, his body immediately sparking and crackling with literal electricity afterwards.

All the appliances in the kitchen began to blink and beep wildly, whirring to life from the electric charge Louis gave off. His eyes were bright and shining, and his hair was sticking up with static electricity. Sparks would branch off of his skin and crackle with a neon blue light.

Louis looked around the kitchen until he found what he seemed to be looking for, rushing over to a kitchen outlet and pressing his hand to it.

"Louis?" I asked, but was soon silenced as I watched in amazement as the crackles of electricity left Louis' body and traveled to the outlet in the wall. When Louis stepped back, he was back to normal, no electricity at all around him.

"Now I can hug you." Louis smirked before rushing over and hugging me tight, lifting me off the ground a little. I giggled before looking to the counter to see what Louis had been holding before, my eyes spotting a small battery.

"A battery?" I asked, Louis nodding before kissing me sweetly.

"Makes a circuit to keep the electricity inside me until I can control it better." He explained, pulling another out of his pocket to show me.

"That's cool." I remarked, laughing softly as Louis kept kissing my face in a gentle assault, planting wet kisses to my cheeks and forehead and nose before I pushed him away. Louis smiled before grasping my hands tighter, pulling me back to him.

"Whenever I'm like that though, you can't touch me, okay?" He spoke softly, whispering to me as he brushed his thumb over my cheek. "I could seriously hurt you if I can't control it."

I nodded silently, Louis staying quiet for a moment as he pulled me in for a tight hug. Neither of us said anything as I thought about how much stronger Louis was compared to me, and not just physically.

He could actually run without getting breathless, sure, but if he somehow lost control of his talents it could have serious consequences on me should I stand too close next time. What if he couldn't control the electricity running through his veins next time? Weak hearts and electrical charges didn't really mix.

Louis seemed to be thinking the same thing as kissed the top of my head, his heartbeat faster than normal as the side of my head pressed against his chest.

"I would never hurt you, Mira. Ever."

---

Louis agreed to stay the night since Dad wouldn't be back until late morning. We had spent the evening watching movies: I would choose one and then he would choose one and so on.

I had chosen one of my favorite Disney movies: Peter Pan, which made me notice how strikingly similar Louis both looked and acted like the boy who never grows up.

Louis had chosen a superhero movie I hadn't seen before, and by the time both movies finished several hours had past. Louis looked exhausted, probably from his training earlier in the day, which made me suggest we go to bed.

Louis offered to take the couch downstairs while I slept in my room, and after gathering a few blankets and pillows for him he kissed me goodnight and wished me sweet dreams before watching me go up the stairs to my room. I changed into pajamas and brushed my teeth, jumping into bed and drifting off to sleep before I realized it.

I woke up screaming for the second time in a few days.

My bedroom door swung open as Louis came in, a worried frown on his face as he quickly approached my bed. He sat on the side of it, turning the lamp on so it would be easier to see my frightened state.

I must have disturbed his sleep. His hair was disheveled, bright eyes not losing their luster despite the puffy eyelids that surrounded them.

My sweaty palms gripped the blankets tight as my chest quickly rose and fell. It was the same nightmare from a few days ago with my dead parents and the people in black capes.

The nightmare felt so real, more like a memory than a concoction of my imagination. It scared me more than usual, like the men were actually going to kill me rather than me waking up before they could land a hit.

My dark eyes looked to Louis for some sort of help, watching as he released my hands from their death grip on the covers. He pulled the blankets up higher, tucking me in like my dad used to.

"Shh, you have to relax. It was just a dream." Louis urged me, my weak heart still pounding from adrenaline. I don't know how, but I guess Louis could tell because he leaned in closer, brushing some dark hair from my sweaty forehead. I swallowed down the remainder of my fright before trying to take deep breaths, mentally willing my heart to slow its rapid pace.

"That's it," Louis smiled. "Wanna talk it out? That usually helps."

I took a moment to collect myself before starting.

"It was just a nightmare, one I've had before."

"Before?" Louis asked, eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"Yeah. It's always the same one. Men are chasing me through a forest, I trip, and then they attack me. I usually wake up before I get hurt though..." I mumbled, Louis looking like he was trying to figure out the meaning of my recurring nightmare.

"That's strange. But you're okay now?" Louis asked, and I hesitated in saying yes. It would take a while before I fell back asleep, my body too scared to experience that traumatic scene again.

"I don't think I'll be able to go back to sleep for a while." I sighed, rubbing my eyes. Louis bit his lip before turning the lamp off, giving me a small smile afterwards.

"I think I can help you with that."

Soon we were both encased in total darkness, my eyes taking a while to adjust to the lack of light. Louis was still smiling, but he had his hands held out. He took a deep breath before moving his hands in circles around each other, a bright light beginning to form between them. I gasped at the wonder, sitting up and watching on in amazement.

Louis gave me a wink before ceasing his movement of his hands, a bright blue orb of light resting in the palm of his hands. With just a small blow of breath from his lips, the blue light dissipated and spread, only this time turning into hundreds of glowing butterflies. They were beautiful and bright, glowing softly as they slowly glided around my bedroom.

It was soon Louis' turn to watch me as I reached my hands out to the glowing butterflies of light, smiling happily as several landed and rested on my arms and hands.

Louis reached out his arm and got one to land on his index finger, bringing it closer to me. It seemed to glow brighter than the others, it's wings a colorful collage of shades of blue.

I giggled as the beautiful butterfly floated from his finger to the tip of my nose, but just as it touched my skin on my face, an overwhelming drowsiness fell over me. I suddenly couldn't keep my eyelids open, Louis gently pushing me back down to the bed and tucking me in. I yawned as the rest of the butterflies as well as the one on my face floated down to my pillows and sheets, lighting up my bed in a serene azure color.

Sleep-aid butterflies? I wondered, my mind drifting off to a peaceful sleep just as I felt cool lips press a kiss to my forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Mira."

A/N: ITS SPRING BREAK YAY TIME TO RELAX AND UPDATE SORCERY MORE!!!!

Dedication goes out to @Nevermind_MP for his fangirling in the comments. Your comments are always a wonder to behold.

Sorry for the late update I was studying for my SAT and it was so stressful and just ugh. But I took it today so no more studying yay!

Comment and vote and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon! -Maddie