Page 4 of Something Like Daybreak
“Yes! That was us too, wasn’t it? It seems so long ago now. Wouldn’t it be nice to experience that again?”
“It depends,” Victor said with a smirk. “I also remember forcing myself to eat terrible black licorice while listening to you read because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
She knew him too well. Instead of letting humor distract them from the subject, she continued to search his face for an answer.
“What about Jace?” he asked, surprised that it was his chief concern.
“I don’t know,” Rachel replied, “but he also died young. Maybe this will appeal to him as well. After all…”
“Souls travel in groups,” Victor repeated.
“That’s right. I don’t see the harm in asking him. At the very least, it’s fun to imagine what could be. Won’t you consider it, darling boy? We have a chance to be happy. Even happier than we are now.”
Or he could continue to sit in a clearing while trying to think himself out of a box.
“Please?” his mother prompted.
“I’ll look into it,” he promised.
He already felt tempted, but his heart had one concern that refused to be silenced. Jace. What would he think? Victor intended to find out. Tonight.
Chapter Two
Jace waited in the entryway of his childhood home, indulging in some nervous pacing until he felt Victor arrive. Grinning to himself, he ran to the guest bathroom to check his hair—which of course was exactly how he’d imagined it—before rushing out the front door. Then he stopped and stared. Victor was older, somewhere in his thirties, which was the age he favored as of late. Although he had made a few changes.
Victor’s hair was shaggy, even the sides that were normally kept short. Locks of hair wound around ears that were pierced with numerous rings in the upper cartilage and round stretching gauges in the lobes. His face was more leathery than usual, his arms covered in tattoo sleeves. And he was leaning against a motorcycle, a cracked and worn leather jacket slung over one shoulder.
“How’s it going, jailbait?” Victor asked with a smirk.
Jace hesitated. “My parents are going to kill me if they find out about this.”
Victor shook his head. “I’m actually here for your older brother.”
“Huh?”
“Meaning that I was hoping to go on a date with an adult.”
“Oh.” Jace laughed. “Let me uh… See if he’s home.” He darted inside and came out looking as he had shortly before his death. Early thirties, flight attendant uniform. He’d worn normal clothes back then too, but he always had fun roleplayingwith Victor. “You can’t park there,” Jace said when leaving the house again. “You’re blocking the driveway and I need to get to work.”
Victor stood. “Or you could stop chasing a paycheck and spend the night with me.”
“I don’t know,” Jace grumbled. “You look like trouble.”
“And you look like dessert. So let’s have dinner together first.”
Jace grinned and walked over to kiss him. “What inspired the new look?” he asked when leaning back.
“I felt like trying something different. What do you think?”
“I love it. Except for the lip piercings. Those felt weird when we kissed.”
“No problem,” Victor said as they vanished. “Did you have somewhere in mind?”
“Yeah,” Jace said, eyeing the motorcycle. “Are we taking that?”
“Nah,” Victor said. “It’s just for show. You know I can’t drive.”
His face twisted up momentarily, as if he felt embarrassed by the confession. Which was odd, because usually he was proud to shirk societal norms.
