Winter Legacy -3.9-

Shayne stood outside holding the flash light up to his face and making spooky noises. The tension in the house was too much for him. He felt guilty for letting Cupid take the whole blame for the party, but his father scared him and Cupid wasn't as soft-hearted as Shayne was.

Soon Shayne got bored with the flash light and crawled into his sleeping bag where nightmares of vampires and victims haunted his dreams.

He woke with a yelp when Rudolph shook him. 

"Keep your panties on Shayne." Rudolph grinned at his youngest. "It's time for your party."

"Dad? You scared me half to death."

Snowie's girls were the first guests to arrive. They had begun to look forward to coming to their cousins' house.

Chanel was the only one there to wish Shayne a happy birthday, her sisters immediately disappeared around the side of the house where the water slide was.

Somehow the girls ended up spending the night, at Cupid's suggestion they crammed into the kitchen and spread their sleeping bags on the the floor.

As tiles go, sleeping on the kitchen floor got cold and Cupid--the instigator--retreated to the living room.

The teens got up early, had breakfast and piled onto the school bus. Cupid was the only person who came home, the newly teenaged Shayne followed Jasmin home. Cupid got some left over autumn salad from the fridge and sat at the dining table with his father, his eyes zeroed in on the plasma juice but he decided not to comment on it. 

"You broke my mom's heart." He said, taking his father aback.

"I did something stupid Cupid, I was unprepared for the challenges and responsibilities of being heir, which is why I wanted to make sure that you are ready. Honestly Q, I got married and had a child because I had to, and then I met Sylvia..." Rudolph's voice trailed off.

"You didn't want me then?"

Rudolph looked at his son, "I wanted you, I needed you and I love you, don't you ever doubt that for a second."

Cupid smiled at his father who punched him playfully in the arm. "I'm going to bed now."

Cupid flipped open a book he had to read for school. He read until his eyes got blurry then he realized that his father, who went to work at three, never came downstairs.

"Dad?" he called and flung the book on the table.

Rudolph was having the worst time of his life, an unseen force had a grip on his neck. Rudolph gagged, his stomach growled as if empty, his skin boiled, the worst part about it was that he couldn't even scream for help. Rudolph's eyes rolled back as powdery skin fell away from shriveled muscles and hallow bones.

"Dad, you're..." Cupid pushed his father's door open and paused looking around the room. Rudolph was nowhere to be found, perhaps his vampire stealth allowed him to leave undetected. Cupid's eyes fell on the pile of ashes. Cupid blinked stupidly.

The Winter boys headed up to the graveyard to do something Cupid didn't expect to do for a while. The night was freezing cold and the last place they wanted to be was the cemetery. 

"Do you think we'll see a ghost?" Shayne asked.

"Shut the fuck up!" Cupid breezed past his brother and slapped him in the back of his head. The weight of the responsibility on Cupid's shoulder was more than any teenager should have to bear, he was just happy that Shayne was a teenager now and could fend for himself.

The boys stared at the craggy headstone erected between Claus' and Regan's graves. Shayne began sniffling, it eventually turned into a full out sob. "Shut up man!" Cupid shouted, he had been fighting back his own tears but his brother's open show of emotion had his bawling. 

After they'd cried all they could, Cupid but Shayne in a cab and sent him home, there was something important that he had to do for sanity's sake.