The Wolf Came on Christmas (Johanna and Alexander) novel Chapter 73

Chapter 73-1

$25 Points

I decided to put Álvaro’s claw back into my pocket. It was a symbol of my victory over him, anyway. But something still had me quite troubled, so I sat for a moment to think, in front of my desk. Someone was hiding something from me. And what if my life depended on it?

I couldn’t stay without knowing. May the world forgive me for acting behind his back, knowing that for the moment my trust rested on Alexander, but I couldn’t keep overlooking all that I didn’t know. I took the memory card out of the cell phone and put it in the laptop’s reader. While Andre went and brushed his teeth in the bathroom to come back and sleep with me (that is, in less than five minutes), I loaded the recording into an sss along with the following message:

“Eric;

“Hi! I don’t have anything to send you yet. I’m having a complicated few days; I have visitors. But yesterday I was channel-surfing and found a German film that gave me some ideas, even though it wasn’t subtitled. I recorded a bit of the audio because I feel there’s something important in there I can use in the plot. I can’t find a dubbed version anywhere. Would you do me the favor of finding someone to make me a good translation? The recording is short. I’ll thank you so much. I truly feel there was something magical in it and I need to know what it

said.

I’ll wait for your reply.

Love, Han.”

My editor wouldn’t mind doing me the favor. We had a good relationship.

I looked at the written message for a moment, but I don’t know what I was thinking as I waited for my body to deign to move to press the mouse button and send it. Maybe my hand was fighting not to do it, or maybe the pill had begun to take effect. I wasn’t very sure whether taking them on an empty stomach was good or bad, but my pantry supplies were at the limit and for some reason I didn’t feel like, eating. I think thinking that the children needed food more than I did made me react in a way I had never experienced before.

Like a mother. Like their mother.

When I managed to process all that-what I had just thought and the meaning those silly ideas had for me-the click was almost frantic and the system returned a thank-you message. The sss was sent. Andre entered the room shortly after, when I was lowering the

screen.

We lay down in my bed together, and I let the little one curl up beside me. Alexander had

112

Chapter 73-1

+25 Points

decided that Sasha would stay with him for the moment, and that he would take care of the baby so that I could rest better. I closed my eyes, expecting the repetition of everything I had seen in those last hours (starting with the panther’s attack, its fangs and gleaming eyes; and ending with the tiger’s corpse in the trunk of Sheriff McCord’s patrol car, or the feline, elegant face of the mountain lion) to haunt me in nightmares. Perhaps the good thing about taking the pills was that they knocked me out quickly enough that I couldn’t find out anything else again.

I woke up again when everything was dark.

Sasha was in bed with me, in my arms. I tried to move my right arm to get more comfortable and the wounds pulled sharply, making me groan. It was strange to feel pain again, after not even remembering that I had long lacerations on my back and shoulder almost down to the elbow. I don’t know how the baby got there, but I wasn’t going to complain about it either. Andre wasn’t there I didn’t sense his breathing behind me or his shape in front of his sister when I reached out to look for him. I couldn’t bring myself to worry about him, I don’t know why. I didn’t feel that he was in danger.

–

It also wasn’t that I had fully woken up.

I let my head fall back onto the pillow, and I know the digital clock on the nightstand showed a strange number the last time I looked at it.

Comments

LUCK DRAW >

E

Vote

528

0

Chapter 73-2

Chapter 73-2

+25 Points

I woke up again, and it was still dark. Again, only Sasha was with me and there was no sign

of Andre.

The digital clock had changed dates: it was four in the morning, the next day. The pills were working in irregular intervals. I got out of bed intending to go to the bathroom, yawning, and thought about taking a shower. Strangely, I still felt a strong smell in my hair, maybe the stench of sweaty fur from when my head had rested on Alexander’s furry shoulder at that moment when he carried me back to the cabin. Maybe it was the unconscious memory of that smell that made me wake up.

I shivered. I looked back over my shoulder, and Sasha was still sleeping in the middle of the bed, nicely tucked in. I placed both pillows around her so she wouldn’t move, and got up.

The pill might not have helped me sleep as much as I’d hoped, but it definitely helped me relax a little. I didn’t feel so sore anymore (the discomfort in my arm wound was another matter, but at least my whole body didn’t hurt anymore), and although my stomach felt very empty, I didn’t feel like eating. At least it cleared my head and let me see things objectively.

I remembered the argument I had with Alexander in the kitchen, and I felt bad for him. I had no right to treat him that way, and yet he endured everything patiently. If he put up with me talking to him like that – a complete stranger – I could only imagine how much strength it had taken him to endure the pain caused by his wife’s rejection. And I was amazed at how well he was hiding everything he felt in those moments, when his world was already hanging by a thread too thin to repair.

-Hans, you know I love you like a father, but you should respect me. I hope you’re aware you can’t speak to your leader like that.

Adult male voice #1:

-I can’t respect a leader I can’t follow!

(longer pause)

Adult male voice #1:

-Rex is on his way here, he’s having some trouble with the storm, but he doesn’t have many

< Chapter 73-2

+25 Points

hours of travel left. We talked on the phone, and when he arrives, I don’t think you’re going to like what he has to tell you.

Adult male voice #2:

-He hasn’t given me any good news lately. What difference would it make?

Adult male voice #1:

-Probably, a lot.

END OF FILE.”

Comments

LUCK DRAW >

H

Vote