His Firsts | ✔

My breath ghosted in between my lips in the early morning gloaming. Here I stood, planted outside of the cabin like a mesmerized statue. Snowflakes from the night before had dusted barren trees in glittery white. A winter wonderland beckoned me forward, dangling a chance to roam and explore, an offer I've never received until now.

I've never even touched snow before until now.

Prior to this year, unless I was required to test my abilities in an outdoor setting, the scientists - the people that once manipulated my life on strings like expert puppeteers - would've never considered exposing me to the outer world.

The real world, where everything and everyone was, as I had been warned, at risk from me.

However, since my grand escape, I no longer have to be tucked behind locked windows and iron bars. I was no longer chained down with obligations as a subject of supernatural studies. That was far behind me now.

While standing next to me, Sierra tilted her head to the side, her hands set against her hips. "How do you want to celebrate our Christmas?" Cheer radiated from strong vocals. All of a sudden, her features lit up with a toothy grin, and then a pair of warm brown eyes met mine. "Do you want to build a snowman squad?"

"I've never built a snowman before," I confessed, as I wrung my gloved fingers out of anxious habit. "I think I know how, but I'm new to this."

"Hey, that's okay." To steady me, she caught my shoulder and squeezed it. "I can always help you. Just follow my lead, all right?"

"Okay."

"A snowman is made up of three parts: the body, the chest, and the head." As she spoke, Sierra crouched down and gathered lumps of snow. "First thing's first, you gotta make a circle." Her gloved fingers worked to mold whatever she had collected into a sphere. "Then, you roll it."

She demonstrated by nudging her newly formed snowball forward. The further she pushed it, the more it expanded, until its mass and height grew enough to reach her knees.

"I think I get it now." I stroked the giant snowball with delicate care, caressing the bumpy and solid edges with newfound awe.

"See, you just needed me to show you, that's all. You're smart. Always have been and always will be." Sierra flashed a thumbs up. "Wanna help me complete step two of the snowman plan? Basically, we need another snowball on top of this one."

I smiled.

Together, we proceeded to build our snowman squad. To serve as decoration, chunks of coal and crooked carrot sticks were piled high inside of a weaved basket. A maze of footprints trailed behind us everywhere we walked. By the time we finished Snowman #4, my fingers were numb to the bone, despite the usage of gloves, and my face was flushed pink from our efforts brought forth into the supreme cold.

"Wow," Sierra exhaled. "We've really made quite the family. Wanna make another one?" When she glanced in my direction, however, her expression morphed into that of concern. "Are you okay?"

Before I could dismiss her worries and insist that we resume our snowbuilding activities, she seized my cheeks with her hands, her hold on me tender, and bumped foreheads. Quickly, her face was zoomed into my vision.

I almost choked on my own spit.

"Sierra-"

Her eyes glowed a toasty golden hue, an indication that she was scanning me. Rays of amber light washed over me once, twice, and then they blinked into nonexistence.