A vampire named Citlali receives an email from an old lover who broke her heart centuries ago. The message says the immortal is dead and she left a key for Citlali in a bank in New York. But the same message had been sent to two other persons whose...
Lee insisted on going to the grocery store by herself and I stayed alone with Dovi and Citlali in the house. I opened the doors who led to the garden. It was the first day that the coldness of the air was not strong enough to compete with the warmth of the sunlight.
I imagined what the garden would look like in spring. And I surprised myself thinking about one or two plants that I would love to add to the scenery.
I passed my head through the door to call Dovi and Lali. "The weather is great. We can sit in the garden."
I rearranged the garden furniture to bring one chair closer to the sofa. I knew that Dovi would like to put their feet on the chair, leaving me all the space I needed to rest my own legs on the sofa or, more probably, on Dovi's lap.
Dovi joined me in the garden. I loved how their ample woolen jumper - that looked actually more like a poncho than a jumper - fell on their body. It made me want to hug them. And I did, several dozens of times a day.
They sat exactly as I had predicted, and I put my feet on their lap, with satisfaction. Lali smiled when she looked at us from the living room. She walked towards me and pushed me a little to sit behind me, my back against her chest. I pretended to be offended that she was stealing my space and turned around to kiss her.
"I chose a book," she said, holding it for Dovi to take it.
Dovi looked at it, smiled, and opened it at the first page. They started to read, and I closed my eyes, lulled by the tone of their voice and the appeal of the story.
At the end of chapter one, when they stopped for a second before starting the next one, I opened my eyes and, as sensing that I was calling for them, they looked at me.
"I love you, Dovi," I said.
Their eyes glistened with joy before an actual smile reached their face. "I love you too, Kai."
Citlali wrapped her arm tighter around me and kissed the crown of my head. And without even seeing her, I knew she smiled too.
(Total wordcount: 20 163 words)
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