Woot woot, chapter 20 just arrived. This chapter will be filled with summer fun, because quite honestly where I am it's still snowing and the snow is trying it's very hardest to stay around. Lately I've been very ill so please excuse the lateness if there's any.

Please enjoy, and hey! Easter is coming tomorrow really soon. :) So for all of you people out there that celebrate it I hope you all have a very happy and sunny Easter day. Don't eat too much chocolate, I don't want my dear readers getting sick! (But make sure you hoard those Easter eggs from your siblings if you have any. The lives of candy depend on you.)

Chapter 20

Sadie came in with a dazed expression on, her eyes focused off in another world as she closed the door behind her and stood there, unmoving. Alice and I looked up from our conversation, waiting for her to say something.

Alice glanced at me, and after I shrugged, she asked her sister, "Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah…" she sighed.

"You sure? You look a little off."

"Nah. I'm fine." she finally smiled, walking towards her room, still dazed and her body swaying as if she was a ghost.

Alice and I watched her go down the hallway, her being genuinely curious and I being wary.

"That's just freaky." I said once her door was firmly shut closed.

Alice shrugged lightheartedly, "Ah, she's full of surprises and weirdness. Nothing unusual. Kind of like you!" she smiled at her jab.

I smirked at her before flicking her shoulder, and she laughed, trying to grab my hand before I could flick her again.

Sadie continued to be all dreamy and...ghostlike, in a sense, for the following week. But she finally snapped out of it when the heatwave came that June. Oh. My. God. It was like being at the foot of an active volcano. That's how hot it was. You could literally see heat waves sizzling on the pavement outside and on the roof of Alice's car, and anything metal outside you better avoid, or be prepared for burning. If you wanted cool air as well as be outside, you had to stand completely still, not even breathe, and wait for a gust of calming wind to swirl through the backyard.

I have never been so bothered by temperature before. I didn't know I could, but the heat caused me to shed off the robe and just walk around in my pants. Even Alice changed into a breezy beach dress so her clothing wouldn't stick to her body. Sadie would not stop complaining, and was lazy as ever.

"Ugh! How hot is it outside again?" she moaned, wiping sweat off her upper lip as she hung upside down on the couch. Her woven sandals nearly fell off her feet as she lazily swung them.

"Almost a hundred and seventeen degrees Fahrenheit," Alice said with her head buried in the freezer, her voice slightly echoing, "that's the record this month."

"You've got to be shitting me." Sadie griped as she tried reaching for her glass of water.

"Language, young lady." I scolded.

"Sorry."

Alice finally made some sort of of frozen treat with orange juice and cups by sticking a popsicle stick into the middle and leaving it in the freezer. Thankfully, that quieted down Sadie for a while, but once that was gone the now fifteen year old was face down, flat on the floor with her music in her ears, absentmindedly flipping through songs until something reminded her of winter.

"Why is she complaining, there's worse things than a heat wave." I muttered, folding my arms.

Alice closed the freezer and looked at me. I stared back, still unamused.

"What?"

"At least you're somewhat resistant to temperature. You can control that." she chided gently.

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, I get testy when it's hot like this. Why wouldn't I? Anyone would, even an age old spirit like me.

Alice and I moved outside a few hours later, tired of the indoors when it was truly a nice day outside. One thing I did like about hot weather was that there was no way I would see Frost around. I wasn't sure if he would melt or get sick or something, but knowing that he can't be around during then felt like Mother Nature was allowing me vacation from him. First his immense hate when I first met him, and now the loser would not stop talking to me. Annoying brat.

Alice's voice shook me out of my thoughts, and I looked over at her. She was lying on the grass with her eyes closed shut, the wind blowing through her hair gently. Blades of grass somehow wove into her now bright, blood red hair. She looked like a summer elf.

"Sorry?"

"I was wondering if you knew any place we could go to that would be cooler. Like a pond or something?" she looked at me through squinted eyes.

I thought for a while. Ponds weren't usually the best place to swim in. Not only was it mucky and gross if you touched the bottom, but some sprites like to live there, and if humans happen to come across them and their nests, they're most likely to cause trouble. The last time I wandered into their territory I nearly lost my sanity from their incessant laughter.

"There's a quarry I've found a long time ago...Is that something that strikes your interest?"

Alice's soft smile told me indeed. Sure enough when Sadie was informed to get her bathing suit and whatever she needed for swimming, she was ecstatic. Nearly bouncing around the house finding her sketchbook and her sunhat. If anything she was the one bringing all her stuff while Alice had nothing besides the bathing suit she had on and her hat.

I had forgotten exactly what the quarry looked like over time, and I could tell Alice and Sadie loved it when we got there. The water was as blue as the Caribbean sea, the skies clear without a single cloud in sight. There was a nice patch of trees that shaded one part of the sandy side that Sadie made a beeline to, as well. The quarry was of almost a square shape, nearly half a mile long and about two thirds of a mile wide. On three sides of the quarry was solid rock, like a wall that touched the sky. Flora guarded the entire place, whether it'd be trees, bushes or overgrowth of flowery vines. It almost gave off a tropical feel.

Alice cheered as she took off her dress and ran towards the water. I smiled as she jumped head first into the water, and she resurfaced a moment later with a happy sigh. I looked over at Sadie and noticed she was focused incredibly hard on her drawing, her music in her ears again.

I made my way over to her casually, my hands behind my back. I bent over to look at her drawing. For the time being it was just lines and shapes, some darker than others.

Sadie noticed my presence and stopped her music, looking up with a smile, "Hi, Pitch!"

"Hello. What are you drawing? You look so engrossed in it."

She pointed to the quarry itself, right where the rock grew into the sky and one could barely see the green on the surface.

"I'm drawing that, but I'm going to be putting a face in the rock once I'm done. I'm going for something surreal...ish."

"Well, I'm glad you have a heightened interest in art," I ruffled her hair, "it's very nice seeing it in you."

Sadie smiled and turned back to her drawing, sketching in more lines and ovals in the center of the rock wall.

"Hey, Pitch!"

Alice was jumping up and down in the water, "Come on! The water's nice!"

I shook my head at first, but Alice gave that puppy look that always was capable of getting me to do things for her. With a sigh, I waded in, sucking in my chest at how chilly the water is.

"God! This is not what I had in mind." I grumbled, not liking the feel of my pants becoming heavy with water.

This is not what a Boogeyman would be doing. Good God, this water was cold at first! But after dunking my head under and meeting up with Alice in the sunlit part of the quarry, the water was much warmer than the shaded area. She laughed and floated on her back, watching me tread water.

"I take it you're not that into swimming." she grinned.

"Look at me!" I gestured to myself, "Do I look like the summer spirit or the Boogeyman? I'm like a shark in this water."

"Ooh, scary," she laughed, twisting herself around until she floated on her stomach and stared into the water like a dead man.

That gave me time to roll my eyes before she surfaced. Out of nowhere, she splashed me right in the face, causing me to splutter and cough. Once I wiped the water from my face, I saw Alice stifling a laugh. I gave her a wide grin, making her eyes widen.

"You're going to regret that."

I felt younger. I felt like I was human again when we were swimming around avoiding splash attacks. With anyone else I would never even think of sticking a toe into water, but Alice was an exception. She swam as if she was meant to have fins rather than legs, and our splashing stopped after we just swam around underwater. I had fun watching her move so elegantly through the water. Her slender legs bent back and forth as she curved in circles, arching her back as she shot around a rock and through underwater grass. Her hair swirled around her like a halo, contrasting against her basic blue bathing suit.

She looked over at me, her eyes open underwater. Noticing I was watching, she smiled, little bubbles floated up to the surface from her closed teeth. I grinned back, watching her swim around me like she was a dolphin.

I floated back up to the surface, needing to refill my lungs with air. Never before have I felt so calm from swimming before. Underwater was like another world, more blue and lively than above the surface.

But Alice didn't resurface along with me.

I peered down, waiting to see even bubbles rise up, but nothing met my eye. I glanced over to Sadie, who was now in the sunlight with her belly on the ground, getting a tan on her back. She wasn't worried where her sister was.

"Alice?" I called out.

Almost immediately, she popped out with a gasp, way beyond where she was before. She treaded water near the rock wall, waving a hand over to me.

"Pitch! Come here! I found something!"

Diving underwater, I followed her voice. I resurfaced close to her, and she smiled in greeting. She pointed a finger to a cave at the floor of the quarry, right into the rock wall we were near.

"I found an air pocket through there. You want to check it out?"

Sure enough, we did. I followed her through the tunnel that slowly arched upward into the air pocket she told me was there, and it wasn't like any other air pocket people would think.

There was nowhere to get onto dry land, so we had to tread water in order to keep our heads above the surface. The light from outside seeped through and made the water seem to glow, reflecting off of the dark rock ceiling. But within the cracks of the ceiling, were glittering rocks, unidentifiable to see whether they'd be precious stones or not. But what was more breathtaking was the drawings on the ceiling. They were etched into it, deep enough to feel against your fingers. Changing from geometric patterns to pictures of constellation beings, like Orion and Gemini, it covered the entire surface until it was two inches below the waterline.

"Isn't it cool? It's almost like temple engravings." Alice sighed, craning her neck up to see the giant star in the center of the ceiling.

"Romantic, too." I grinned at her, making her blush, "Is that why you brought me here? For privacy along with this?"

Alice laughed shyly, "Fine, you caught me."

I gently kissed her, holding her close so she could take a break from treading water. Her legs wrapped around my hips, her hands weaved into my hair and pulling gently.

I pulled away, breathless, "We should go back. Sadie might get suspicious."

Alice moaned into my neck, causing a hungry growl to rumble in my chest. "Let her wait. We're finally alone."

And who was I to not grant her that pleasure?