The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 60

From what I knew about him, I mean. I also thought it might just be a silly question to start a conversation and not sit there twiddling our thumbs, but by then I was already quite sure that Alexander was anything but a bland man (wolf). When I focused on giving him an appropriate answer (or perhaps the most polite way not to answer), I suddenly ran into his light eyes and all the curiosity that could be expressed printed in that almost crystal-blue. Let’s say I couldn’t stay quiet, or refuse his question. I couldn’t. It wasn’t in me, it’s just that…

Again, it was like looking at Andre, only in a much bigger version-intimidating and stripped of childhood innocence. Curious, and without bad intentions.

I cleared my throat, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks.

“Oh, you know… most of the time it’s not very complicated, everything revolves around the romance of the moment,” I began, and picked up a little adhesive patch to peel the wax paper off the back. I would have to deal with a Hello Kitty bandage for the moment. “Pretty, withdrawn girl, ignored by her friends and with a very original personality, falls in love with the handsome, taciturn, mysterious-looking boy she occasionally sees in the huge house next to hers. Everything gets complicated when she discovers he’s a ghost trapped in that house because he’s cursed, and all that… and the only way to break that curse is by solving a series of challenges. Obviously, it’s the story of an impossible love-once she manages to decipher the mystery, he’ll depart to the Afterlife.”

I swallowed, a little impatient, afraid Alexander might think it was utter nonsense. I don’t know why I cared so much about what he thought of my work, when I give it to hundreds of people once it’s edited and I don’t feel ashamed of it. Damn. I think it felt a bit poor to boast about in front of beings so impressive by comparison.

“But you should see how fascinated girls are by that-the hope that the boy will be freed from his curse and eventually return to his beloved. I’m trying to resolve that in the third volume of my saga, I’d like to give the couple a good ending or leave them more or less settled.” That’s when I laughed. “I know some of them will hate me otherwise. I don’t want to live my own version of Misery.”

I assumed that since he didn’t laugh with me, he didn’t know anything about Misery. But in reality Alexander had gotten lost in thought several sentences back.

“She falls in love with a ghost? Seriously?” he asked.

Well. Back to embarrassment and lack of substance…

“Well, if people have fallen in love with vampires, zombies, and serial killers, why not ghosts?”

1/2

<Chapter 60-1

+25 Points

I replied, trying to avoid any allusions to falling in love with a werewolf, so the conversation wouldn’t become more uncomfortable than it already was. “You know, the trend when I

started writing this was ‘the more dead, the better.’ I think it has to do with the impossible and the struggle that realizing a romance like that implies. That’s leaving aside how… cheesy the idea might sound.”

He nodded slightly and tilted his head so I could place the skin patch over his eyebrow.

“I understand,” he accepted, somewhat reluctantly. “So there really are people who fantasize about those things.”

“I suppose. That’s why it sold a few million copies.”

…but it seems you’re not particularly a fan of that genre, are you?”

I don’t really know where that question came from, but it wasn’t a secret.

“Not much. I prefer warm blood,” I answered, and laughed, a little nervous.

“It’s understandable. It seems young people nowadays don’t know how to value a bit of good pulse.”

“Or body heat.

That time, we both laughed. What a way to stave off a possible hysterical attack. It was nice and unexpected.

Comments

LUCK DRAW >

Vote

528

2/2

Chapter 60-2

Of course he understood that by “you all” I meant those who were more than human.

+25 Points

“…I know of a few who have dared,” Alexander answered, with mischievous frankness, maybe pride, masking the weight of the stress he still carried on his shoulders. “Of course we try not to stand out-there’s a physical advantage above average that can expose us. And all those performance drug tests… a well-meaning lab tech could discover a strange combo of unknown hormones. If they had to do an X-ray of your head, someone might find a row of hidden teeth under your normal ones that shouldn’t be there. Well, it’s not something that would be discovered in a routine exam, but all it takes is for someone who shouldn’t to notice one peculiar little thing for a second too long. And a secret stops being a secret when someone outside the involved parties knows it, so…”

“That’s why you don’t pair up with people who aren’t

your kind.”

The conclusion slipped out of my mouth on its own, and I went very still for a moment.

I noticed it. I saw his eyes darken for a brief instant, and the next moment he had recovered (or pretended to recover) his earlier mood. I swallowed. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ishida looking at us again, this time with a kind of seriousness that wasn’t very flattering.

“One could say that. I understand it’s safe, but it’s not fair,” Alexander finally answered.

“No one said it was fair. It just… makes a lot of sense and is acceptable.”

For a brief moment it occurred to me to ask about Anya-what she did for work. Somehow, among all the bad news Rex had given over the phone, I sensed she worked at a school. Maybe she was a teacher. But I didn’t want to go that far; asking something like that at such a critical moment might have been another problem. And on top of that, just remembering that poor woman was undeniably dead made my hand tremble.

I hesitated before placing the last patch, but I managed to do it.

And I think Alexander realized what I was feeling (and somehow, what I was thinking), because although his gaze stayed very focused on me, at that moment it became more intense, almost scrutinizing. I think he was about to say something, when Ishida stepped in and spoke to him in Japanese. He said something Alexander understood, because he replied in the same language and they continued talking like that, leaving me out. I didn’t mind too much, but it felt rude coming from the Hattai.

Comments

LUCK DRAW >