Through my Eyes: Between Us

A/N: I keep making up all kinds of excuses to not feel so ...lazy, I guess, and not edit stuff... I just typed this one and whatever part that got changed happened as I copied it from my notebook to Word...

I wanted to say something else but I´ve forgotten atm ...mmmm

***

“Where did you graduate?” I asked Nichole. It was just the two of us in her apartment. Marisa was running late, she was with a group for some project and they’ve been held up for longer than expected. I had been invited to another movie night; it was about a couple of weeks after the last one. I was on the couch in front of the television; Nichole was behind her drawing table, leaned over it, I had turned half way to ask my question. She looked up and raised her eyebrows in question

“You didn’t graduate from Burgeoys; you must have graduated from somewhere to get into college” I explained, I had wondered about normal unimportant things like this a long time ago, or so it felt, and it had come back to me in the virtual silence we´d shared as I waited. I wondered if she´d just printed a diploma or get herself a new student record or something

“I took a test” she said as her eyes went back to be fixed upon her table

“So, no graduation and no diploma”

“Yes and yes”

“Eh?” I adjusted on the couch to face her; I saw her kept making strokes with some kind of chalk on what I guessed was paper on the table

“Yes to the graduation and yes to the diploma”

“What school..?”

“The one I went to take the test” I thought I saw the faintest one shoulder shrug on her

“What school was it?” I asked the question that had been interrupted; curious to know that she hadn’t immediately gone to the backpacking part of her time away; a part of me told me about the nag that caused me.

“A public small school” she said still focused on her task, changing the chalk she was using. I looked back to the T.V considering; trying to imagine what kind of place it had been and why and when this had taken place. It didn’t really seem to matter to her but she´d done it and by then she´d been free to do whatever she wanted so she must´ve wanted it just not from our fancy school

“Why did you say the other day you didn’t get to apologize?” I turned back again to see her after a while; she didn’t look up at me but shook her head

“Marissa will come home at any minute; not here” her calm voice said as I was about to press the matter

“Ok” I accepted her words. The truth was that in these talks one of us ended shouting or running away

“She doesn’t know anything about you, does she?” I narrowed my eyes at Nichole; I was almost sure she could see me even if she was supposedly focused on her work

“What she needs to know”

“That means your name and the age in your ID only?” I raised my eyebrows; not even her name was her real name, not even what everybody though was her age was her real age…

“Does she know everything about you?” this time she looked up at me for a second as she changed the chalk stick again. I sighed…I knew what she was referring to “Do we know everything about her?” Nichole said in her soft voice almost as an afterthought, almost as if to say it was ok I had reservations towards her; or so I made myself believe but I doubted Marissa had secrets like ours

“We know she was born in Milan, that she´s a painter, started as an amateur…about her family that she´s the youngest child and only daughter” I listed a few things; Nic nodded “Do you know her family?” I asked

“I´ve seen Anton”

“Never met him?” I raised my eyebrows; she pursed her lips a fraction, considering her answer, I knew.

“Not exactly”

“How´s that?” in my mind you either met people or didn’t; she looked at me with what seemed to be humor

“He didn’t like me”

“How you know if you never met him?”

“When Marissa came to find me at the place we were departing for our first trip; he came along with her…he said I was… -she narrowed her eyes a little- stealing her sister away; I didn’t completely understand him; he was speaking really fast and Marissa didn’t want to tell me the rest”

“Oh…-I could almost see the man shouting at her in quick Italian; making gestures like Marissa does sometimes when she´s upset- then I guess you did meet him”

“If that is meeting someone, yes” she looked down at her work again and for a moment if almost felt like the time we spent together before. I found it strange how it seemed that even after one of us had ended up being upset when we last talked the next time it was like we were almost friends somehow but not really; there was a wall between us; I could feel it there, invisible but solid, a double wall.

“Does she know about Camille?” I asked after a little while and she took her time

“I need to focus on my work” she finally replied without inflections. It was an evasion; I scoffed

“Please, you can do that with closed eyes” irritation leaked in the words; she raised both eyebrows looking straight at me

“I cannot work with my eyes close” she tilted her head a little in what I thought was humor

“You know what I meant… You´ve worked as you listen to me before… as you listen and reply –I emphasized the word- I´ve seen you”

“This one´s not for Mike” she said and I almost laughed. She couldn’t pretend she´d been sloppy at how she made her work for our arts instructor. I had seen her; I was sure

“No, but I´m sure you´re still you” I said confident; she looked up at me without moving her head up, only with her eyes and then focused back on her work

“I think… -I pondered out loud- that she does know about Camille but hasn’t met her, why?”

“Why would I introduce Mii to Marissa?”

“Why not? Mii is important for you; Mari seems to be the closest person to you since… -I was going to say me but that…- anybody” I finished; she only shrugged and then I thought of something…they had always been so careful when it came to Camille

“I mean you let your psycho… -mother? No, that didn´t sound right and Nichole wouldn’t take it kindly- guardian around her, she´s like the most dangerous person that can be around your sister, don’t you think?” I finished sure that what I said was true, she nodded slowly making a motion with her arm as if she was erasing something “then why?” I insisted

“Not here” it was barely a whisper with a hint of pleading. I sighed; ran my hand through my hair

“The good people, no, let´s say, the harmless ones are the ones you keep away” I mumbled turning back and drinking from my glass of water

“She´s a necessity” I heard Nichole´s reluctant voice

“What do you mean?” I turned back again; she was sat up with eyes closed

“Camille… -she started still with eyes closed but then stopped, opened her eyes that had unlike what I had imagined a fierce look in them, leaned forward with a serious expression- this is between us” she told me; I knew my eyes grew twice their size

“Of course; you know I´d never say anything, I haven´t …”

“I know” her usual monotone came back and she seemed to relax although she hadn’t exactly looked tense or rigid before, she went back to her work “Mii and I are sisters” she said

“I know” I said as I laughed

“No, not half-sisters, sisters. She´s a lot like me” she grimaced. That was crazy yet it made sense; the younger girl was like a small version of Nichole except she was happy

“But she´s… -Nichole´s mother had died years before Camille even existed…but then…Strassberg was in a way Nic´s mom…I felt a frown forming on my face- how´s that possible?”

“Nat stole things from Alex…-she stopped abruptly- from the crew –she corrected herself, looked at me,  I nodded, I remembered reading that- I thought it had been papers, information or even money but it was something more valuable…it was Camille”

“What? But she´s like …what? Six or seven years younger than you”

“Eight. And she wasn’t exactly Camille… fertilized eggs” there was some reluctance in her voice and something in her partially hidden eyes told me she might´ve been regretting telling me this

“Wow –I exclaimed shocked as I tried not to think who was behind that crew- but how…?”

“You should know better than me how in vitro works” I could see a raised eyebrow and hear the slight teasing in her voice

“So Strassberg´s Camille mom too?” I frowned and heard the disgust in my voice

“Sheryl gave birth to Camille”

“That´s incredible” I blinked, not the being born like she did, that was standard but the length that Karl had taken to have another child was … incredible

“If you consider us –she motioned a chalk-like stick between she and I –it´s not as weird” I could tell that she didn’t want even the idea of her little sister being ‘weird´to be thought but it was true, there was something far more strange and incredible in us…death

“Does she…?” I looked at her hand

“She was never an experiment like me, not exactly –she said, I felt sad. Of course, I had been the cause of what happened to her hands- she´s just a girl, an extraordinary girl” she said barely above a whisper

“I´m sorry” I whispered back. It must’ve been hard for Nichole. Her little sister was just like her but Mii had a family, safely, love while Nic had been sent away, beaten and forced to commit crimes

“I´m not. She´s got to be happy and safe” Nichole said in her usual devoid of emotion tone but I knew, I was sure, she meant it, she adored that girl and that she didn’t think of resenting the kid´s good luck said a lot. I could´ve gotten up and hug her but if I attempted that she might move away of break some of my bones so I just smiled

“She does look happy even with the psycho there… but why is she a necessity?”

“Camille´s… extraordinary…I cannot send her to regular doctors for example”

“But if she´s like you, she wouldn’t get sick” I said at once

“No –I thought I heard a smile in her tone but none was visible on her face- but she can still get hurt and she does…like other kids she gets health checks”

“Did you get those?”

“Yeah…” she dragged the word

“Why? You said you didn’t get sick?”

She nodded “You´re a doctor, wouldn’t you want to check a person who´s different?”

“I guess…” I said not knowing what´d be the right answer, I didn’t know how different they were and if feeling curious to learn it would place me in the same category as the psycho and the mad scientist

“Mii needs someone that actually makes her eat her veggies and not over exercise when she´s hurt and Sheryl just can´t do that” she rolled her eyes; I smiled. She cared so much for the girl but it was so unsettling that Strasberg was the one who got to be the authority figure, the business woman, somehow the mother. She didn’t deserve any of that and Nic, everybody trusted her, that hurt

“Who makes you eat your veggies and not over exercise when you´re hurt?” I joked instead of voicing my thoughts. She shook her head fighting a smile

“So Strasberg´s kind of related to Mii, too?” maybe that´s why she was trusted although that felt wrong

“Nope, only I have the psycho´s genes. Mii´s all Karl and Miriam´s… I guess Camille´s not exactly like me after all…”

“Oh, I´m sorry. I didn’t mean…” I started, she shrugged

“If you take away the fact that she´s a psycho and all that…she´s quite brilliant, organized, she´s got a high IQ, she´s quite healthy and possesses a photographic memory… I don´t know why she was told her genes were not good” she mused

“Maybe because of the psycho part?” I scoffed. Did she admire the woman? Did she feel affection for the woman? Nichole only shrugged uninterested; that sparked some anger that I pushed away as I thought of a reason why Strasberg would´ve been told that her genes were not good…my grandpa had led all that, from his behavior there and if I thought well, in everything else, he really liked control, maybe he´d liked controlling people as well, obviously he´d like that I sighed.

“Photographic memory, really?” I distracted myself on this as I furrowed my eyebrows “Do you…?” if she had that, it made sense why she´d been the best student in school and the detail in her drawings and… I stopped my reasoning as she shook her head; I raised my eyebrows. If they had wanted to make a super human that would´ve been something to include

“Not, not like Nat´s… just sort of a good memory” she sounded hesitant as if it made her embarrassed which was weird but then she´d never bragged about her abilities, she usually hid them away so I dropped it

“Does Mii know?” I spoke after a while; her eyebrows furrowed a little but she slowly shook her head “Will you tell her?” I thought this was important. She nodded slowly

“Eventually” she sighed

“What do you guys tell her now?”

“To her it´s normal, natural to be good at ballet and at school” she touched her neck but seemed to realize it and made it like she´d been massaging her neck area

“Jumping from a three story building like you is natural?” I raised my eyebrows; she had to know she was different

“Mii doesn’t do that; she doesn’t know it´s possible –she said it like it was obvious- I do not think she´s…. exactly like me but she knows she´s special, not the extent of it but even if she wasn’t…made like that she´d still be extraordinaire” there was an edge of defensiveness in her vice, it made me smile how protective she got and how talkative she was when it was about Camille

“Of course –I agreed- she´s you in happy version” I wondered for a second if she´d get mad because she stared at me for a second and then she was fighting a smile and she was good at it, if I hadn’t known that her face expressions were so subtle I wouldn’t have noticed

“She´s happy” she concluded and I could see it made her happy

“And a good dancer” I added

“Yes, she´s amazing –her half-smile appeared freely- she´s gotten so much better since you last saw her”

“I bet, she seemed to like ballet” I said remembering how we´d sneaked out of Burgeoys and how we´d barely avoided meeting Strasberg as we were at the recital

“She enjoys it… I think she´ll be a dancer in the future” she was looking at her drawing and I could hear the smile in her tone. It was nice to listen to her talking about the future with hope; she´d never done that. Camille really was her only happiness. “Or so she says” Nichole shrugged

“You´ll both have Art related careers” I smiled

“At other times she says she´ll be a vet” she told me. I chuckled; I remembered Aaron wanted to be a vet too

“She likes animals?” I was in the middle of asking when the door opened

“Ahg! Josh, Nini, I´m so sorry for being late! It was hell” Mari complained and sat next to me. She kissed me lightly then turned on her side to see from me to Nic and back “What are we talking about?” I wasn’t sure if the whole conversation was in the between us part but Nichole lifted a large piece of paper before I said anything, it was a ballerina, it was Camille

“Another ballerina –Mari smiled- you were talking of your baby sister and not doing your project” Marissa rolled her eyes. Nichole shrugged and I concluded that Marissa, unlike what I thought, knew of Camille

“That´s Nini´s sister, Camille –Mari told me- before I knew the of her I thought this one –Mari pointed to Nic- was heartless but she clearly loves the little girls, talks to her every night, isn’t that cute? –Mari asked no one in particular as Nichole went back to focusing on her drawing table- I guess, she´s like you on that –Mari told me, I furrowed my eyebrows- you both adore your family” Mari beamed at me and I smiled back

“I guess” I said

“Have you ever met her?” Mari asked me

“He met her” Nichole replied for me

“Aw, Nini, really? I wanna meet your love too” Mari pouted a little

“I won’t bring my sister to our dorm. She´s busy”

“With what? She’s a kid!”

“School, ballet lessons, piano lessons and her own friends” Nichole replied dismissively

“What happened to kids being kids?” Marissa frowned; I chuckled; Nic shrugged

“You should beg for mercy for her; I looked up for that school she goes to, a prison, lessons all day –she made a gagging sound- Laura went there, it´s tough… spare her”

“Camille´s smart; she´s getting a good education”

“Sure, I get it but come on!  -Mari continued-  she´s gotta be a kid… like did you…? Ok, wait, what did you do when you were a kid? Did you go to that school?”

“Carina, my sister´s fine –Nichole said in her soft voice- and I´m not a kid anymore so it´s fine” Nichole was patient with Marissa but like with me she didn’t seem willing to answer at least with me there

“Tell me, Nini or I´ll ask Josh” she pouted; Nic raised an eyebrow

“He must know something” Mari said

“Am I that interesting that you want to make your boyfriend talk about me? You´re weird carina” she said with a raised eyebrow and a teasing tone that made Mari blushed slightly

“Nini! –she sighed dramatically- my point stands though; children need time to be free like… ok, Josh, don´t tell me you had that kind of busy childhood too?” Mari frowned

“I enjoyed my music lessons” I started chuckling at her expression

“They were worth it –she pecked me on the lips- but that was it, right? Tell me you were normal” she made a sad face and I opened my mouth to talk but my expression gave me away so she didn’t let me talk “No! geez! You people… -Mari threw up her hands- tell me what else you did?” she asked me

“Just a few extra lessons…”

“…and they are…?”

I sighed “Guitar and piano lessons… stuff like karate…a bunch of other stuff”

“No wonder you´re so smart and talented” Mari said softly

“I had to take math and physics tutoring…” I said maybe in an attempt to comfort her

“I just flunk like a normal kid” she frowned but then laughed

“What did you do? –I asked- what was your childhood like?”

“I ran around, played with other kids, laid on my belly as I watched cartoons, watched the clouds to find shapes, made Anton to give me piggy rides… didn’t do homework until it was absolutely necessary and just what was necessary –she laughed a little- just normal stuff, had fun” she winked

“I watched the clouds too” I said remembering Aaron and I doing it after some of our lessons, it was usually us and Paisley, the dog always followed him even if it was supposed to be mine. Marissa smiled brightly at me

“It´s your turn Nini, what was your childhood like?”

“I´m going out” Nichole walked towards the door

“What? Why? No! it´s movie night, ragazza!” Marissa protested; Nichole shrugged opening the door “No! you must have a good reason”

“Russel” Nic winked and smirked

“He´s cute. Sorry –Mari said my way- but you have a date with Josh and me”

“I´m sure you two won´t mind alone time. You´re welcome” Nichole inclined her head slightly

“Well…” Marissa looked at me; I shrugged

“See, all settled. Bye people” Nichole got out

“Bye” I said

“But you didn’t tell us!” Mari said as the door closed. I was sure Nichole heard it and I was almost sure she was just escaping from answering about her childhood

“Well… -Mari turned to me grinning- seems like we have the place to ourselves”

“Yeah…” I took a strand of her long black shiny hair

“What do you wanna do?” she moved closer to me

“Mmnh –we kissed- whatever you want”

“Normal stuff, please –she teased- of normal young people” she poked her tongue out at me; I chuckled

“What do you think I´d want to do?”

“With that busy childhood you had you ought to become weird”

“Or drop all that and turn wild” I joked

“Oooh –she threw her arms around my neck- I seriously like that”

“Yeah?” I was glad she got, we got distracted; I thought for a moment Marissa would ask me if I knew what made our mutual friend so busy during her childhood…she did have a sad one.

Over the Moon: The Wicked Wolf

awesome pix that I found in some FB page, I think the name below it it´s the name of the artist...a very talented one based on this pix

Over the next couple of weeks Olivia and Alejandro walked together whenever they had closing shift together and whenever they went home. During those two weeks Olivia started to feel less concerned about the incident that chief of police had assured they were investigating and taking care of.

Olivia was glad that she´d started to be friends with Alejandro since she didn’t know anybody in town and it was nice to have someone to walk with on the way home, to sit with when they found each other in the bus and to talk about nothing in particular.

Like Alejandro had said, there wasn’t much to see in the small town or any worthy attraction unless you were into hunting, hiking and fishing but Olivia had no interest in getting in the woods. It really didn’t matter though; Olivia entertained herself in gardening, something she had never done but the big garden of the old Belcourt house was in desperate need of fixing after years and years of being neglected. Ale had helped her to get rid of the tall grass that covered most of the back yard and didn’t let go through it to the rotten once white fence.

On one of her days off Olivia had been doing her best to weed the places where Ale hadn’t reached with his tools. She’d been emptying the pots of dead plants and put in the garbage the ones that had broken. That day, after lunch and once Ale was out of his shift they´d go shopping for seeds and a shovel, some fertilizer for the soil.

Neither of them knew much about gardening which was why Olivia had bought a book about it and once they went to the store she got a few things that it recommended. Olivia was asking Ale to help her turn the hard soil in her garden when she saw a man sitting on her porch. She froze. The man quickly looked up and aggression was plain on his face as he registered the man next to Oli. In quick strides he came closer as Oli frantically dialed the chief of police´s number that she´d memorized.

“Help! –She said to the phone- this is Olivia Ventura from the Belcourt house. The man I reported is back” she cried as Ale dropped the bag he was carrying on his side and stepped in front of her with the shovel as a shield

“I´m sending a patrol this second” the chief said

“Get away from her, Carbonell” the long haired-man snarled

“Back off, Daniel –Ale scoffed- don’t you see she´s terrified? She just called for help”

“Do you know him?” Oli gasped hiding behind Ale

“His brother´s my sister´s boyfriend” Alejandro rolled his eyes and right then a police patrol appeared; two officers came out of it, including chief Covin.

“These cops are efficient” Oli thought a little relieved.

“Daniel, back off!” Chief Covin commanded the young man. The man stood rigidly then, his hands into fists at his sides, he was still glaring at Alejandro through his lashes. Covin made a sign to the other officer who went to get Daniel but he reacted so fast that the officer ended up pinned under him. Oli let out a squeal.

“Daniel! Leave Bailey alone –Covin growled and the young man obeyed, letting go of the officer- don’t you see you´re scaring her” Covin shook his head and the young man focused on Olivia behind Ale and made a frustrated sound with his nose.

“Alejandro, you can go home –Covin said- it might help matters” he continued with a meaningful look that didn’t go unnoticed by Olivia. She instinctively grabbed Ale´s arm and Daniel dropped to the floor as if in sudden pain.

“Great” Ale said exasperated as Oli still held onto his arm and hid her face on his shoulder as the snapping sounds reminded her too much of that night when she´d been kidnapped

“Alejandro, please…” Is the chief of police pleading to an 18 year old, Oli thought for a second being distracted of the sounds of pain Daniel was making.

“Oli –Alejandro said as he adjusted his glasses- you´ll be fine. I promise. Daniel won´t hurt you, he´s like… like an ugly huge puppy” he said with some sarcasm laced in his voice as he looked back Oli stole a glance to where the convulsing man had been to only find out the huge dog snarling. She grabbed Ale´s arm tighter

“I won´t go if you don’t want though” ale leaned down to see into Oli´s frightened eyes; at this the dog leaped and knocked Ale to the ground sending his glasses away. The police officers came closer as Covin produced a gun.

“Stop!” Oli found her voice when the dog was about to bite Alejandro´s arm. To her surprise the dog stopped, allowing Alejandro to get up. The dog whined as if he´d been hit.

“See, like a puppy”Ale said sarcastically and the dog bared his teeth at him

“It almost bites you!” Oli gasped

“And it would have if you hadn’t stopped him”

“That animal´s not mine!” Oli made a disgusted face and the dog whined low

“Yes, it is –Ale rolled his eyes- I can assure you he’ll do anything you want”

“…Leave me alone?” Oli glanced from Ale to the dog that whined again and lowered himself until his belly touched the ground and he even looked dead. Alejandro laughed out loud

“Oli –Alejandro grabbed her shoulders and the dog snarled going back to standing position- I better let chief Covin to tell you what´s wrong with his nephew”

“Nephew?!” Olivia gasped horrified glancing at the chief

“I promise you´ll be fine… tell him –Ale nodded to the dog- to roll and he will, trust me” Ale promised and Oli shook her head

“What´s going on here?” her voice strangled and scared

“I can explain it Miss Ventura –Covin spoke up- but it´s better for Alejandro´s safety if he leaves. I´ll shoot the wolf if it goes violent”

“You didn’t do it before” Oli said not believing

“I´m a police officer, I will protect you” he promised, she nodded. Ale waved goodbye

“Damn dog” Ale muttered and said dog barked startling Oli

“Miss Ventura, why don’t we get inside…”Covin said with patient voice

“No way, none of your or your dog will get in my house…and you… you should be looking for your creeper nephew, you let him go away” she said angrily

“My …nephew is right there” Covin motioned towards the massive light brown dog with amber eyes

“Are you out of your mind?” Oli shrieked

“Daniel shift back –chief Covin commanded. The dog whined and lowered himself until his belly touched the ground- you got yourself in it now do it!” the man said with commanding voice. The dog rolled showing its back to them and like before it started to whine and growl and shake violently

“Is it ok?” Olivia couldn’t watch; it was lie it was dying

“He is, sort of” the chief said and Oli opened her eyes to make sure but as she did her eyes caught sight of a human male gasping for air on his knees and hands where the dog had been

“What the…?!” she gasped, her legs trembled

“Miss Ventura, that idiot is my…nephew, Daniel Covin –the chief explained as the other officer brought a blanket to cover the naked young man- he´d come to apologize for his past actions and to explain what happened but clearly it´s too difficult for him so I´ll do it”

“He was the dog” was the only thing Oli could say. Now she totally got why her grandma hated that place, maybe she´d been kidnapped too.

“Yeah, well, he was, is a wolf, as shifter –the chief scratched his cheek- he´s not violent, usually, but –he inhaled deeply- he´s recognized you as his mate so he feels very aggressive towards other males…”

“I´m not associated to him in any way!” Oli exclaimed. Daniel´s expression fell

“Miss Ventura –Covin spoke with placating voice- do you know anything about wolves?”

“What? Well, for starters they´re animals –she said with emphasis- not humans…”

“This one´s a werewolf” Covin motion to Daniel

“Is he like trying to bite me to turn me or something?” Oli covered her neck scared

“No, that´s not how it works, even if he bit you which he won’t you wouldn’t turn into a shifter but …is there anything else you can think about wolves?”

“I don’t know! I don’t watch animal planet!” she spat. The police officer snickered and Daniel looked embarrassed

“Wolves –the chief said after sparing a threatening glare to the other officer- live in packs and choose a life-time mate for whom they´d give their lives…Daniel is a werewolf and goes by the same rules, you, Miss Ventura, are his mate”

“I am not a character from a myth! Go choose someone else. I´m not a dog and I don’t want to be.”

“He cannot choose someone else and it´s really not a myth, you just saw it´s not. I could make Daniel do it again –at this the guy looked up at his uncle with a semi scared expression- but at the moment he suffers too much when he changes…”

“This is crazy. I don’t want anything to do with this. Take him away from me” Olivia said decidedly. Daniel´s face looked pained as he took a step forward

“Get away from me –Oli pointed a finger in his direction- I´m asking for a restraining order and real cops” she hurried to her house, got in, locked the door and slid down against the door where she stayed long after the men left. She´d heard some banter and what sounded like the cops dragging the younger man to the police car.

“You were right about this place, grandma…” she muttered much later when her stomach growled. I´d go out of here right this second if I had anywhere to go she thought bitterly.

The next day Olivia had the earliest shift and Alejandro would be there. She´d planned to ambush him there and ask him about this whole thing. He´d been too calmed about it… She couldn’t wait for their shift to be over and when it did she pushed Ale through the back door

“We need to talk” Olivia told him

“About yesterday?” Ale adjusted his glasses

“No, about last year –she rolled her eyes- of course about yesterday”

“Didn’t they tell you?”

“That guy´s a dog and is crazy… what… no, how… what do you know of that?”

“Again, didn’t they tell you?”

“Well, do you think I´d want them near me? That guy´s a stalker and they police is protecting him and no one but me seems upset about that”

“But you aren’t upset by the fact that he turns into a dog?” Ale pointed out adjusting his glasses with a finger

“I can’t even start to think about that!” Oli threw her hands up “I mean, that´s so weird but he´s stalking me, he could be a rat for all I care as long as he stays away from me…” her voice faltered at the end

“It might be upsetting, I know” he patted her shoulder

“Do you?”

“Well, not exactly like you but like I said his brother, well, his cousin, is my sister´s boyfriend so…I´ve seen these things…” Ale shrugged

“His brother´s like that too? Did he kidnap your sister too?”

“What? No! Did he…?” Ale stammered. Oli shook her head

“Your sister…?” she prompted

“We´ve lived here our whole life, we´ve grown knowing them, not that they were like that, they´re secretive about it but when Joel decided my sis was his one and only he told her and at some point he got all weird like Daniel, we, my bro and I saw and Karen, my sister had to explain the whole thing to us…”

“What did they tell you?” Oli asked eagerly, Ale shifted uncomfortable

“Eh….I´m sorry but they´ll have to tell you. It´s not my secret to tell”

“But I know the secret!”

“Yeah, but not the details and only Dani can give you that…”

“Do you know the details?” Oli sighed

“Yeah, some, but Karen´s asked me to keep it to myself” he said apologetically.  Oli sighed once again but nodded.

“Wait, are you like them?” Oli stopped him as they walked back to get their things

“No” Ale said at once

“Ok, good…ah… Do you know if they´re dangerous? Like biting and turning me like them?”

“Nah, well, Joel would never hurt Karen, I´m sure of that and they don’t turn people….they´re… ok, I can´t really tell you stuff but I can tell you that if Dani’s really thinking you´re his one he won´t hurt you”

“Is he like…your friend or something?” Oli furrowed her eyebrows

“No…no, I mean, I know his family, he knows mine… we hang out but we are not like tight, he can be annoying as hell and I bet he thinks the same about me”

“Sounds like you´re friends”

“More like annoying distant family related people” Ale rolled his eyes.

Olivia was more than a little disappointed when Ale told her he had other places to go for the day so she just decided to go grocery shopping and then walk home. She´d just finished putting the boxes and cans in the cabinets when she heard a car coming closer and a few minutes later someone knocking on her door. She peeked through the window and froze

“Go away! –she shouted through the door- I filed a restraining order” not trusting them she still called the police, at least they´d take him away

“Please, hear me out –Daniel pleaded- I´m sorry about last time… I thought you knew…”

“Go away!” she shouted

“Please…”

“No! Go away! Leave me alone!” Olivia said angrily and heard the man leaving as a car came; it was chief Covin

***

A/N: 

* I listened to the audio version of the Little Red Riding Hood´s tale to make sure of the tittle, there they call the bad wolf, the wicked wolf... so that´s where this tittle comes from.

*I have so many pictures for this story, it´s like it´s destiny lol but it seems I see forests, wolves, Red Riding Hood everywhere! 

* It´s often refered to the wolf as the dog in this chapter and it´ll b like that in the whole story probably, that is due to what Ale said about the wolf being Oli´s "dog" we´ll see what the wolf thinks about that later

*Posting´s really good for bad mood...

*Back to listening to Harry Potter´s audiobook where I found another "dog/werewolf" reference ha! it´s fate!

Though my Eyes: Sunday Morning

 A/N: my eye hurts but I´ve been dying to post smthg... Unedited. Up and down kinda post. 

Saku if u ever get to see this: thx for your last comment on this one, some parts of them were kinda funny. I agree in what you said about Nichole being a bit nicer because of his last freak out. 

*************

Whenever I had time I liked to go running in the park, usually this was on Sundays. After high school I hadn’t practice any more karate but I missed the exercise but I didn’t think I could commit to a gym, it wasn’t like me, so I ran and occasionally worked out a little at home. I knew Aaron missed the karate too; sometimes when we were together we practiced a little but we always ended up being too playful and then stopping altogether.

In the end the best exercise I could get was through running. I preferred the mornings when there weren’t as many people to bump into. Sometimes I found Nichole there, we didn’t talk and she often stayed after I left. It was both strange and familiar. Strange because it felt we purposely avoided talking especially after the going to Crystals house but it also felt familiar because we often stayed quiet when we were friends before.

After finding out that she could hear me I started to wonder if she avoided my trail, from how far she could hear me; some other times I wondered why she didn’t take another trail but maybe like she´d said I wasn’t that important so probably it wasn’t worth it to change trails. However, I noticed some times when we found each other she ran at a slower pace than me after I had spotted her, as if waiting for me.

The Sunday a couple of weeks after the last movie night I saw her running, I was sure it was her ahead of me. I didn’t slow down or sped up, I kept my pace, maybe I´d catch up, maybe I wouldn’t,  maybe she’d turn to another trail, maybe not. In the back of my mind I wondered if she’d heard me. I wondered if she felt that I was sort of looking at her, she was after all in my line of vision. It was early so it was just the two of us. After a little while, maintaining my pace, I caught up to her.

“Hey” I could not avoid greeting her.

“Hi” I thought I saw the start of a smile but then it was not there. She kept her pace. I noticed that maybe for the first time she wasn’t wearing a sweater or a long sleeved shirt; she wore a white tank top with her dark gray leggings and her sweater tied around her waist. Bare shoulders and arms, I had never seen that. She still had the black gloves; that made me sad. She could do so many things yet she couldn’t take those off.

“Did you hear me?” since I was already next to her I might as well ask I thought. She nodded twice, yes. “Even with those?” I motioned to my own earbuds; I had one out and one on. She had both on, she nodded again.

“How far away did you listen?” I voiced my curiosity; she took out her right earbud, the one closest to me

“Why do you want to know that?” she glanced my way, there was not any identifiable emotion in her voice. I shrugged

“Just curious, it´s interesting” I said, she slowly nodded twice but didn’t say anything for several minutes

“From five to ten minutes before you caught up to me” she finally said in a soft voice. That had been pretty much since I had started to run, we´d been apart about the length of a soccer field

“That’s a lot! Did you know it was me?” she just nodded her answer this time “How?”

“I already told you that” same tone, no inflection, not a reproach just a fact. She had told me that it was like hearing a family member coming closer, sometimes you could identify them

“Do you hear other people?” it seemed that it was ok to discuss the things I already knew so I´d ask about it as long as she kept answering or maybe even after that, she nodded her answer again. “Now?”  I asked, I couldn’t hear anyone but the two of us and the birds chirping, she nodded “I don’t listen anything”

“I know” almost a whisper

“Do you know them?” I asked, she´d compared this to knowing your family´s steps. A tiny wrinkle on her forehead appeared, she shook her head no and the wrinkle disappeared

“Then how…?”

“I hear them”

“You said it was like listening to your family´s footsteps”

“Yeah, that´s knowing, not listening”

“So you would listen to anybody even if you didn’t know them?” I rephrased, she nodded

“How far do you listen?” she looked at me and raised her eyebrows

“Wanna test me?” her lips became a line, she looked the other way, placed her earbud back on and for a moment I didn’t get it; I had pretty much asked the same earlier and then I got it. Tests, experiments, I think  fascination with it was what she always got, why Alexander, Karl and Strasberg treated her like a lab rat, as she´d said once.

“I didn’t mean it that way –I spoke a little louder, she had her earbuds on and then I felt a little stupid, she´d hear me before with those- I´m sorry” I spoke normally, maybe a little softer, quietly. “I was just curious, I´d never…” I said she lifted a hand to stop me

“I know” she still looked away, her voice quiet. I furrowed my eyebrows, she´d always spoken in a monotone, a quiet monotone, sometimes just barely above a whisper.  What if all voices, all sounds were too loud and she compensated by making her voice quiet like when you can’t hear, you speak louder. Maybe that´s why she was always, before at least, in the woods, like escaping she’d said, maybe she escaped from sounds too. It must´ve been overwhelming, like a loud party 24/7 since… forever?

“Am I loud?” I made my voice quiet. She´d said once she heard me because I was loud, I thought she´d been teasing but maybe she´d told me what she actually thought. She raised an eyebrow at me. Maybe I was. She had her headphones on and she still heard almost a whisper “Do I… -I started normally but then spoke quieter- do I speak too loud for you?” this time she raised both eyebrows and took out her earbud again as if to listen to me better, this confused me

“You heard me from afar, you hear people around, clearly, for what I guess… so close things must sound louder –she stared at me- is my voice too loud?” I asked, she still stared at me but suddenly she looked ahead, I could see the corners of her mouth tugging up

“What if it was?” she said after a couple of minutes, there was a tinge of humor in her voice

“Ah… I don’t know –my voice went quieter- I…” I didn’t know what to say… I won’t speak in more than whispers, perhaps. The memory of me shouting at her stabbed me. I saw her half smile make an appearance.

“Your voice is fine” the smile colored her voice and reached her eyes

“It doesn’t bother you?” still in quiet voice, she shook her head “how is it? –I asked- closer sounds don’t bother you…? You did say…”

“I go like a bat –back to her monotone- a loud sound knocks me out”

“What?!”

“Josh, if that was the case; I’d be knocked out all the time. Your voice, in its normal volume is… fine… it´s really ok” she shook her head

“But….” How? I was going to ask but then she might think of tests and experiments again

“Not like a bat, like a dog” she rolled her eyes

“Like a dog?” I furrowed my eyebrows

“Loud sounds don’t knock them out but they still have a fine hearing” she explained

“I see…ok” I said thinking it was such a weird way to explain it, a cat she called herself and now a dog. I could´ve laughed.

“If you´re going to speak use your usual volume” she said and edge of irritation in her tone. I stayed quiet for a while.

“Marissa doesn’t know about what you did during the weekend” I broke the silence. I had been wondering why she´d let Marissa give her a penalty for skipping movie night. She didn’t say anything “right?” I prompted.

“She doesn’t need to know”

“Why didn’t you tell her you were away because of Karl´s death?”

“It doesn’t concern her or you” her monotone sounded harsh even though it had no inflection

“It does concern me” my voice did have inflections, for a second her lips moved into a line but she relaxed them quickly

“Is that so?”

“Yes, his death and Alexander´s are linked, as well as Strasberg, the journal, Burgeoys, you and me”

“Me and your accident” she corrected, wow, she did not want to be linked to me. Ouch

“Same thing” I said stubbornly

“In spite of how much it concerns to you or not, it does not concern Marissa and I´d like to keep it private”

“She’s your friend, why not let her know you were home comforting your sister?” I don’t even know why I was saying this but to me this was the logic thing to do

“I don’t mourn Karl. I don’t need to tell anybody if I don’t want to”

“If I hadn’t been there you wouldn’t have told me right?” it bothered me

“That is the most likely” she said at once, blunt and harsh honesty

“Why not? I was, am, your friend”

“Josh, I killed my father! Do you think I want to talk about that?”

“You didn’t kill him” I said flatly she scoffed

“You were there…”

“He got shot by…”

“Yeah… that didn’t kill him”

“You didn’t kill anybody… -I insisted, she stared at me as if she couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth- You never trusted me” I said randomly. It made me so angry and bitter, why did that made me feel that way?

“That´s how you see it” I couldn’t tell if she was asking or making a statement

“That´s how it is, you just left” I was starting to get tired of the running; she didn’t reply “even now it´s like you´re not here” I shook my head

“What do you want from me?”

“The truth! And explanation, a clear one”

“I already told you why I didn’t go back to you that night and why I left after Karl and Alexander died” she said in her quiet voice like remembering that night, it leveled me, I didn’t want to start shouting like that again

“You left many questions unanswered…” we´d gotten to the part where I usually turned right, to turn back and she kept going, it meant we´d been running for an hour

“Do you want to know …now?” she emphasized the last word

“Yeah, now is as good time as ever”

“There are things that are better unsaid” she used one of her phrases from before, one that used to make me back down but it was different now

 “You owe me this” I reminded her, she didn’t say anything just fixed her low pony tail, drank some water

“Shoot” for some reason her word made me feel like she felt that I was actually going to do that, to shoot her. I thought of what I wanted…I wanted to ask a lot of things

“Why didn’t you tell Marissa?”

“I don’t owe you that” she reminded me this time and I sighed

“At the funeral –I started again- you acted like I wasn’t there. I know you knew I was there… why didn’t you talk to us?”

“I didn’t talk to anybody”

“We went to pay respects to your father… I was there, I knew who he really was and you didn’t care what it might have meant…”

“You didn’t have to go, you didn’t have to do anything for him” she interrupted me with her flat tone, my jaw set, I couldn’t help but make my hands into fist, this was inconsiderate

“I didn’t want to go either -she continued in a slightly sad tone- I wouldn’t have been there if not for Camille. She´d lost her father…”

“I couldn’t just stay home, that would’ve been rude –I said- no one else knew what really happened, he was my father´s business partner… that meant we had to be there, I thought friendship was a larger reason to at least spare us a glance” I reproached

“It´s not fair that you had to be in the lie; that is something I regret. I didn’t know you were coming to see Alexander that day. If I could´ve avoided you being there to witness I would´ve prevented it”

“And I would’ve known nothing, right? You would´ve just disappear”

“Would you rather know all the horrors that you witnessed and now know than to have been free of them?” she stared at me, a little wrinkle on her forehead. I had thought about it. What if I was like before, what if I didn’t know of who Alexander was, who the little girl was, what Nichole did, would it be better to be ignorant?

“What happened can’t be changed” that was the conclusion I got every time I thought about it. She nodded

“You did have control over your actions on the funeral” I said her shoulders slumped a little

“I did”

“You purposely avoided me”

“Yes”

“Why?”

“Think about it –there was emotion in her voice- your lovely family would´ve wanted to give me their condolences on a man that I had killed. They would´ve seen me wondering how and why I was there, why I hadn’t say anything about who I was, why I hadn’t been presented at your party, why I was now the heiress of this man, the niece… I was someone…I am someone that had caused grief to their family… and they don’t even know …” her voice got quiet

“They would´ve meant well”

“I know –she breathed in deeply- they would’ve given their condolences to a murderer, one that might’ve killed them, one that murdered some of their family and …you –her voice a whisper, she breathed in again- I knew you´d read that journal, the list, you knew exactly who I was, there is no way you would´ve been able to hide your thoughts. I didn’t want to see you see the monster” she breathed like she was tired.

“Do you want to sit down?” I was tired too

“No”

“I just wanted to know your side of the story… I didn’t have the intention to judge you”

“I didn’t want to tell the story”

“That´s like accepting whatever I might have imagined, no chance to defend yourself from that woman´s accusations” I referred to the journal

“She was right. I am the things she said I am”

“You….-I sighed with frustration- It doesn’t feel likely that you are, not anymore not even then, you were made to do those things…”

“You were better without me”

“Stop that! Why not tell your side of the story? That´s all, it might make things better, give you closure, it´ll put things behind us”

“It´s still true the fact that I am a monster” she said, I took a calming breath

“You didn’t give me a chance to react, to speak; you just assumed I´d feel a certain way; that is not fair” I went from a different angle

“Speaking there wouldn’t have been the best”

“No, but ignoring me afterwards wasn’t either. You didn’t have to, I don’t understand, why?”

“I didn’t want to talk about any of that”

“You could´ve said that”

“You wouldn’t have listened” she had a point there

“You took it to the next level when you didn’t come back to school”

“I didn’t want to be there”

“But why? You seemed happy there, you said we´d graduate together” it was stupid but I had felt betrayed

“You knew I wanted to leave before you were there, Burgeoys was a prison to me, a place that I had been sent so that Karl didn’t have to see me, but convenient enough that I could still go out and do his dirty work. Yes, in a way I had been almost normal there but come on, I think you knew the rumors… even when I left there were others… It might´ve seem like I didn’t care but believe me years of the same end up having a toll on people, even people like me…. Nat sent my things to the fire…my memories… there was nothing for me in Burgeoys”

“Apparently no one either…” anger and bitterness in my voice

“I couldn’t make you any good, Josh.  You would´ve wanted to know about your grandma, about the uncle you never knew, about the little girl… even now you still want to…” she wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. She was crying. She was right. I did want to know those things but mostly…

“The little girl…”

“I don’t remember Josh!” she wiped her tears away

“Look, I´m sorry…”

“Why it´s not your fault I don´t remember or that I had to kill people” she was angry

“It did happen because of me” I sighed

“You were dead” she sighed

“And I should´ve stayed that way…” we were closer to the main trail were many people ran. She stopped abruptly and so did I

“Don’t say that” her eyes were fierce, they had the gaze that drills a hole in my skull

“It would´ve…”

“No” she pretty much growled. I blinked, this was confusing, she didn’t have any problems in leaving, not answering, saying she didn’t want to talk to me, being curt and mean and then she went and acted like my life was so important. It hadn’t been the first time

“You are so confusing” I ran my hand through my hair, she didn’t say a word; instead she started to run again, entering the main path…

“Will you go silent now?” I caught up to her

“As you´ve pointed out, I owe you this, I doubt you want to discuss in public crowded spaced though”

“About owing me… I´m sorry it feels like I´m forcing you but…”

“No –she interrupted me as she stopped abruptly again- you don’t get to apologize for that, you either use it or don’t but you don’t get to apologize” she panted lightly

“Do you get to do that?” I said dryly

“No” she whispered and walked out of the park. I didn’t follow; my car was parked just outside. I could see her shoulders going up and down quickly as she crossed the street; it was most likely due to the running, we´d run, mostly jog for a long time. Once she got to the other side of the street; she wore her sweater and quickly got lost among the people there.

What had she meant, that she didn’t think she had anything to apologize for? No, she´d said I´m sorry the last time; she´d sort of said she was sorry I had to know these negative things but then… why…

“You are so confusing” I mumbled scrubbing a hand over my face as I walked towards my car. 

Over the Moon: Red Riding Hood´s Home

A week later from the kidnapping event Olivia had another closing shift meaning walking all the way home alone, no bus or ride for her. Unlike the before she was scared this time.

“Hey, would you like us to walk together?” Alejandro, the guy who helped in the kitchen offered; she smiled feeling grateful.

“If you’re not detouring from your way” she said kicking herself mentally and hoping he’d still walk with her

“I think we live close –he shrugged- I´ve seen you on the bus often”

“Really? I´ve never seen you” They started to walk

“I´m always at the back and you always keep it to yourself” Ale shrugged again

“Ah…” she smiled

“So, Olivia –the guy broke the silence that had settled between them- you don’t talk much… -she only smiled- Where do you come from?”

“I moved from the city about a month ago –she said, he nodded, everybody knew that- to my grandma´s house, I think it was her grandma´s house, you know it´s the very old run down house…the one that makes you think of Red Riding Hood´s grandma´s house but in need of fixing” she rolled her eyes. Alejandro looked at her for a second and he laughed.

“Ah, so you are a Belcourt” Ale said as if confirming something, Olivia raised her eyebrows in question feeling a little uncomfortable

“You knew my grandma?”

“Nah, but in this town there are properties of families that were like the founders or something –he made air quotation marks-, so everybody kinda recognizes their names… if someone lives there, they´re part of that family”

“Really? Who are they, the families?”

“Well, the Belcourt –he motioned to her- Regnier, Martin, Landry, Dupont, Burgeoys, Covin…”

“Are you one of those?”

“Nah, just Ale, Alejandro Carbonell” he extended his hand to shake hers

“Well, I´m just Olivia Ventura. Oli” she smiled. They shook hands

“No Belcourt?”

“Nope, my grandma gave my mom her dad´s last name and my mom gave me hers –Olivia shrugged- I like the Belcourt one though, sounds…”

“Mysterious” Ale said in a low whispering voice, Olivia chuckled

“I was going to say wealthy” she said

“Oh, that too, I agree –he nodded to himself- So, you´re living alone in Red Riding Hood´s granny’s old house?”

“Yup, how about you? Old house too?”

“Old yes but tiny in comparison but I´m not on my own, my brother and sister live there with me and our grandma, she raised us”

“Aww and now you stay with her? That´s nice” she smiled

“Well, not like we don’t want to get out of here –he twisted his mouth- at least I want to…”

“Why? This seems like a nice place” except for the kidnapper Olivia thought

“I guess but there´s nothing here but forests and the same people except the snob kids of that school in the middle of the woods” he scoffed

“There’s a school there? I thought these woods were too thick?”

“They are but there´s a road up the hill to that place. They´re in prison or something like us too, I guess” he said sourly

“Where do you want to go?”

“To the city, I don’t want to live in an old house anymore or to be around the same people I´ve been with all my life”

“There´s nothing much there either but rude people and less trees” Olivia shrugged

“So you wanted to live here?” Ale inquired

“Not really, I mean I didn’t even know this place actually existed until I went through my grandma´s stuff when she passed away… it´s a place to live so it´s fine by me”

“Do you like it so far?”

“Yeah, I guess. Most people´s nice…” to her surprise they were already at her place, the white massive old house. “Thank you very much for walking with me Ale”

“No prob, Oli” Alejandro saluted

“Be careful on your way home” He´d have to go back about a third of the way. He waved. Olivia sighed relieved once she was inside the old house and behind locked doors. 

****

A/N: just a tiny one ...the tittle haha

Saku, thx for your last comment and sorry that this one´s not answering your questions but it´ll come haha

Through my eyes: The Others

A/N: A tiny little one. It´s ofc unedited however... some things that Josh said changed today just like ten-fifteen mins ago which is whoa! but I think I like it better this way.

Sorry Josh for ignoring you for so long

Saku, two things you said are happening here, one in your last TME comment -I was laughing so hard at it bc u were so right- and one that you said when I showed you some image lol (I wonder if you´ll remember about that one) 

Well....I have to say this story is being some kind of challenge for me, I´m really not used to not fantasy-ish stuff but I really want to see what happens and if I can make something at least decent. 

oh! some italian: 

-Buona notte: good night

-Ragazza: woman

****

It was Wednesday night. Marissa had invited me to another movie night; it was the week after Alexander´s anniversary. She and I arrived to the place first just like the first time and like that time the back of the place had papers and cardboards, plastic bags with scraps of color papers scattered everywhere and the ottoman and the sides of the table where the T.V was had small piles of books that seemed to be different from the ones from last time, at least the ones on top. I thought the coffee table had new doodles and letters but I couldn’t be sure of that.

“Do you want anything?” Marissa asked going to the back of the room where they had a mini fridge

“Water’s fine” I replied, she took three bottles out; she let me know that we´d be joined by her roommate which didn’t surprise me at all; a part of me felt that it´d be strange but then I was curious to know what´d happen…curiosity killed the cat, huh? A while later Nichole came in, she didn’t seem surprised to see me, I guessed Marissa had told her about me being there.

“People” Nichole greeted with a little nod

“Nichole” I replied with a nod of my own

“Ragazza” Marissa used her Italian; Nic showed the ghost of a smile at this. Once again she´d brought food, Mexican food. When I tried to pay for my share, because she´d brought for me as well, Marissa said Nic owed it because she´d gone away last time cancelling movie night. I told her I had cancelled too.

“You had a good reason –Marissa kissed my cheek- Nini didn´t. She didn’t explain, she gets a penalty for that” Mari narrowed her eyes at Nichole.

“Not complaining” Nichole left the food on the coffee table and went to her room. She hadn’t told Marissa the reason why she didn’t stay to movie night the week before. It made sense, Nichole never explained anything.

“What are we watching?” I asked Marissa

“The Others; have you seen it?”

“No, I don’t think so”

“Good –she smiled as Nichole opened the mini fridge even though she´d brought three cans of coke with the food- I got your water here” Marissa said to Nichole

“Thanks” Nic came back wearing pajama pants and a sweater. The movie started. We ate as we watched it.

At some point I started to wonder about the movie plot and then I wondered out loud “So, why does the mom think the kids will die if they see the sunlight?”

“Shhhh… You´ll see” was Mari´s reply. Both her and Nic had seen this movie once before, apparently it was another of Marissa´s favorite.

“Are the maid and the butler the bad guys? Are they… dead?” I tilted my head as I asked after a while. I don’t like mysteries especially when I´m the only one that doesn’t know. I thought I saw the corner of Nic´s mouth twitch up at my questions but I couldn’t be sure

“Wait, you´ll see, it won’t be fun if I tell you” Mari silenced me again

“What´s wrong with the father?” I asked later at another scene of the movie

“Josh, wait until you see it- Marissa shook her head- no more talking” she put her finger on my mouth. I stayed quiet, still wondering

“So, wait, are the kids dead?” I couldn’t help but say at some point later in the movie; I was starting to get frustrated at this

“Wait, you´ll see in the end” Marissa shook my hand

“Tell me” I insisted

“It´ll ruin the movie” she replied

“No, it won´t”

“You won’t be surprised”

“I want to know” I insisted

“Yes, they are” Nichole spoke for the first time, it was her casual voice but I could hear a hint of humor in it.

“Nini! –Marissa scowled- you ruined the fun!”

“You´re welcome, carina” Nichole bowed her head a little with a smirk. Marissa pouted

“What happened to them?” I asked

“Nini, don’t tell him!” Marissa warned

“What if I do?” Nic smirked again

“I won’t talk to you anymore” Mari pouted; Nic smiled mischievously

“Sounds good to me –she said smugly; then to me- the mom killed them”

“Really? Why?” I asked eagerly

“Nini!” Marissa scolded swatting Nichole on her shoulder

“You´re not supposed to talk to me –she reminded Marissa who huffed and back to me- I don’t know exactly why she killed them I don’t get that part” she told me, I furrowed my eyebrows

“So they’re ghosts?”

“Yup” she replied her head turned my way

“So the woman that the girl saw wasn’t a ghost?”

“She´s like the medium the owners of the house hired to contact the ghosts” she replied, this time not looking away from the T.V

“Nini –Mari complained- you´ve spoiled the whole movie!”

“Sorry, carina, but not everybody wants to wait ´till the end”

“But Nini… Now it won’t be exciting” she said the last part to me. Nic knew that I, as always, had many questions when watching movies. Knowing the ending didn’t spoil it for me, I rather know the ending first anyway but Marissa didn’t know. We had different ways of watching movies. Maybe next time I should bring a movie I’ve seen and she hasn’t I thought.

“It´ll still be fun for me –I assured Mari as I hugged her a little closer to me- I just like to know. Sorry for not following the no talking during the movie policy” I smiled and kissed the side of her head, she sighed

“Why do I like people that don’t know how to watch a movie?” Mari faked indignation as she rolled her eyes

“It´s just different… but sorry” I chuckled

“I´ll forgive you if you stay tonight” Mari said lowering her voice, almost a whisper. I doubted it made any difference, I was sure her roommate had heard it

“Are you sure?” I whispered back

“Always” Mari kissed me and once the movie ended Mari stood up, took out the movie. I helped her clean the table of the food containers and then she took my hand and led me to her room. It was strange to know the other person might be able to hear us

“Buona notte, Nini” Mari said; Nic had moved from the chair to the tall stool in front of the drawing table

“Buona notte, carina” she was drawing something and didn’t look up from it. Mari pulled me in her room

“Night Nichole” I said, Mari closed the door before I heard if she´d replied or not

“Why does she call you carina?” I asked Marissa as I took my shoes off.

“Italian for pretty, a pet name or something” Mari shook her head a little and motioned her hand in a dismissive gesture like she didn’t like it but when Nic said it, it seemed she did like it, maybe she didn’t like that I asked about it but then I didn’t have time or desire to think about it because she was kissing me with her sultry mouth, my hands on her. I vaguely wondered if Nic would mind, Mari wasn’t loud but she wasn’t exactly quiet either but then again I didn’t have time or desire to think about that

Over the Moon: Moonlight

He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.

 ~ Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

At ten at night the streets of Woodhills were already deserted on a weekday. Most houses’ lights were off already and some street lamps threatened to turn off at any minute, some already had turned off.

Olivia Ventura, the newest waitress of the local diner had moved to Woodhills less than a month ago from the city about three hours away from this little rural town surrounded by woods. She was not afraid of walking alone at night especially at ten pm, even in this lonely place; she´d been out at later hours back in the city where you could really get dangerous stuff happening to you. She wasn’t scared of her haunted house either, not that she had heard anything there, it was just in serious needs of repairs… her grandmother, the former owner of her current residency cautioned her to never to go to that haunted house, or to that decadent town as she called it.

Olivia´s grandmother, Cindy had tried to sell the place but it was such an old property that it was somehow bound to them, to her family and she, as the only living member of that family, was entitled to it… it had been a blessing when money for rent wasn’t available anymore after both her grandmother and mother had died in the space of three years.

Grandma Cindy surely didn’t like the country. She insisted Woodhills was a decadent place but she’d never lived there. From what Oli could see it was not decadent just that they all seemed happy to go to bed early and keep their evergreen plants everywhere. It was actually a nice little place, nothing like the city and all its places to go but people were still friendly and polite, most of them, Oli thought.  There was no crime in the town or so she thought until in the blink of an eye some unknown person had swept her up her feet and carried her on his shoulder at such speed that he had to be an athlete. She was so shocked that she couldn’t even scream.

This person had taken her to the greener part of the town, the thick woods where she´d heard you could get lost if you didn’t know your way out.

“What do you want?” Olivia gasped as soon as the person let her stand on her feet on the darkest of caves. Her heart pounded and her skin had goose bumps the air was cold there. She tried to see but she couldn’t

“I don’t have any money” her voice faltered, she was a woman that had been taken to the woods, to a cave, isolated from people, surely this person did not want money. Oli swallowed hard as she hugged herself and felt tears stinging her eyes. She was scared but couldn’t even muster the strength to scream for help.

The chilly wind must´ve cleared the sky of the gray clouds that covered the moon; the cave must´ve had some kind of opening to the sky because the moon light shone inside giving Oli enough light to distinguish her captor. A man, a young man of very long black hair and grimacing features, unshaved, very tall and lean. She was small, small and skinny, she couldn’t take him, she had no weapon and he was covering the entrance of the cave.

As Olivia looked around the place to find something to use to escape the man started to remove his clothes. Oli gasped stepping back until her back touched the cave wall.

“Please don’t hurt me” she hugged herself tightly and then the man just fell on the ground convulsing violently, moaning and grunting. Oli was terrified. The man still crept towards her; she squatted down trying to be invisible, closing her eyes tightly and making herself small as she cringed at the sounds of snapping bones as if the man was throwing himself on the rocks as he kept moaning and grunting in pain. Without wanting Oli peeked through her lashes but she saw only darkness, it made it all worse. After the man´s pained sounds there was silence for a second and she wished the clouds that covered the moon would go away.

“Someone help! Help!” she could barely speak. The sky cleared and she could see again. Where the man had been a huge animal stood, a dog looking animal that seemed like some kind of wolf with the size of a Great Dane or even bigger, it had long teeth and glowing yellow eyes. It moved closer making huffing noises and showing his teeth in a menacing manner.

Olivia couldn’t see pass the animal; had it attacked her captor? That´d be great she thought but now she´d be also killed by the wild animal. Tears spilled from her face as the wolf or dog came closer and closer, his nose flaring, sniffing until his nose touched the skin over her cheek. Oli gave a muted cry and the huge animal backed up and lowered himself to the ground with a low whine. Olivia loved dogs, she´d seen all kinds of shows related to dogs, had read about how to handle them, at some point had wanted to be a vet but she was seriously terrified and couldn’t remember a thing about any of that information; she just had to get out of there. So, carefully she stood up, started to slowly walk around the cave, her back touching the wall… When she was about three feet away from the exit the wolf-dog jumped in front of her, snarling, not letting her go, he growled and came closer making her crouch down again as she sobbed.

The night felt infinite and then like a blur once Oli was running through the woods at sunrise the next day once she could go out of the cave, there was no sign of the wolf or the man, not that she looked back. She´d fallen a lot, her feet stumbling and bumping against the rocks and roots of the enormous trees, her knees and palms were bleeding, her dress was dirty and she felt like she could faint at any moment but it didn’t matter, she had to find her way out and by some struck of luck she did.

She came out of the woods near a lonely path very close to her house and that´s where she went. Once inside she closed the windows and locked the doors and ran upstairs to her bathroom, got rid of her clothes, got in the shower. There was dirt all over her, her face tear-stained, her hair had dead leaves and mud, her cheeks were scratched from the tweaks that she couldn’t avoid as she´d frantically ran out of the woods. She took a long shower cleaning herself thoroughly as if that could wash away the night spent in that cave.

Once the sun was fully out and up high in the sky, Olivia walked to the bus stop and took the one that´d take her to the town’s police station. The chief himself took her report. He seemed very concerned and though she´d feared that he wouldn’t believe she´d seen a wild animal that had kept her captive too, he made her describe what she remembered of the man and even comforted her when she cried as she told him how the weird dog had saved her in a way. In the back of her head she thought it sounded ridiculous but the policeman didn’t comment on that. He assured her that they´d look for the man and make a report about the animal in case it attacked other people. Once she was done he gave her his card in case she saw the man again and offered her to call her boss at the restaurant who happened to be his sister Leah so that she could take a day or two off. Olivia refused, she´d rather work than be alone. 

**

A/N: what´s going on?! lol My poor Olivia haha 

This was the first scene I saw when I started this story, and it kept showing itself to me over and over when I fell asleep and when I woke up... I wrote a sort of outline after that and then it just kept bugging me so I wrote a character´s profile and then I couldnt resist the temptation to make it happen in Woodhills!! lol lol (That is Ashley´s hometown btw, from my other story DL so... there´ll b some info about the place haha no Ash, Josh or Nic though, I hope)

Over The Moon

Prologue

Coalesce: vb. To unite or come together in one body or mass; merge; fuse; blend.

“Jerk!” Olivia muttered as the guy who bumped against her just went by without even stopping. She was hoping her cellphone wasn’t ruined, she´d been checking the time to see how late she´d be to work when the guy had bumped into her.

The cellphone had fallen and slid away from her reach stopping at the boot of a very tall man who she thought would step on it but he stopped right before stepping on it, quickly bent and picked it up as she came.

“Yours?” his brow was lifted a little. His amber eyes almost made her look away

“Yeah. Thanks” she said once he gave it to her. He smiled a lopsided smile and then walked pass her sprinting at the bed of a gray pickup truck with great agility but then his legs were so long, he was so tall, although most people were tall in comparison to Olivia.

“Cute” Olivia thought as she rushed to her job, ten minutes late.

****

A/N: these things will be at the end for this one unless I really wanna say something in the beginning ha! So, new story! yay!! it´s almost finished, I mean, it is finished, the ending´s done I just need to fill some gaps and I have to say I love it...Well, I love all my stories, they´re fun to make even though they keep me away at night and wake me up early and make my wrist hurt when they insist in being written.... This will be my very first story with a prologue hahaha I had planned this one to be ashort story but it became kinda long... The A/N is getting longer than the post, huh? I might post the first "chapter" of this story this week, today, or not...idk. 

p.s. Unedited as always. It wouldn´t be me if it was hahaha (right...)