Falling For The Christmas Thief

Chapter 26: Cute Is An Understatement

8.12pm
Tuesday
15th December 2015

Kylie ate her meal as Aunt Tilda convinced Uncle Herald there were no ghosts in the house. She glance at the clock on the wall and then shifted her gaze towards the kitchen window. The wind howled and snow was falling heavily again. She wouldn't be suprise if Aiden didn't come, in fact she would be glad. Its not like she wanted him to get hypothermia despite his continuous effort to visit her every night.

The clinking sound of cutlery caught her attention and she looked at her sisters. Carlia and Leslie were busy playing with their food awhile ago but now they were using their spoons as swords.

"There are no ghosts in our house, Herald," Aunt Tilda said, slicing the chicken. "Even Father Bernard was so sure that there's no such thing in this house. This house was blessed by him himself before we live here. It must have been the wind. Nature just wanted to scare you back for being rude and all. Its karma."

"No, its not karma. I don't care whether this house is blessed or not. How do you even explain the opened window? I'm sure the ghost opened it to get into the house," her uncle protested.

"Kylie must have left it open before going to sleep. The air must be so stuffed that she just needed some fresh air. That's why she opened it. Right, Kylie?" Aunt Tilda muttered, looking at Kylie with pleading eyes. The girl just glanced at her aunt in confusion then at her uncle. "Kylie?"

"Yea, fresh air. I wanted fresh air and some moonlight because its dark and too stuffed in my room. I can't sleep so I opened the window. I didn't want to turn on the lights because I was afraid it might wake you up."

"But by opening the window, you're just welcoming the spirit into the house. It might be wandering in the house as we speak. Maybe there was some sort of demonic cult here before we came."

Aunt Tilda just shook her head, exasperated by his rants. Her aunt then muttered, "I think what we need is to be relaxed. We're thinking too much lately and its affecting our minds. And I forgot to inform you, Father Bernard invited us to his grandson's wedding. Its on the 17th, this Thursday. We should both go."

"What about the kids?" Uncle Herald said, gesturing towards Carlia and Leslie. "We can't just leave them here for the spirit. It might possess them and that's not what I want."

"Enough, Herald. There's no spirit in the house. No one is going to get possessed and the kids will be safe. I'll call Devina to come over and watch them. That way, Kylie won't be lonely because she's got someone about her age around."

There was a thump upstairs and Kylie jumped from her seat, startled. Her sisters threw their cutlery on the floor and ran towards Kylie, hugging her.

"What was that?" Carlia asked, in a low voice.

"That's the spirit," Uncle Herald announced. He picked up his walking stick and left the kitchen. She heard his footsteps as he ascended the stairs, praying that it wasn't Aiden. The last thing she wanted was Uncle Herald beating the boy up into a bloody pulp. Kylie tried shaking her sisters off her but they refuse to budge. She just closed her eyes and waited, the only thing she could do.

After a few minutes, Uncle Herald came back downstairs. He stood in the middle of the kitchen and sighed. He looked disappointed, very.

"There were no spirits for me to beat up, Tilda," her uncle muttered. "And the window in Kylie's room was open again."

"Oh, I left my window open again this afternoon. I love the fresh air."

"See, I told you. There were no spirits," Aunt Tilda said with a reassuring smile. Carlia and Leslie let go off Kylie.

"Yep, I think we need some relaxation. We're going to the wedding," Uncle Herald muttered. "Too bad though. I wanted to beat it up so badly."

"What? Why do you want to even beat it up?"

"Life goals," Carlia squeaked.

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8.34pm
Tuesday
15th December 2015

She walked back into her room, tired. Kylie checked her phone and saw that she have no messages or calls. She was expecting Monique to call or perhaps text her but there was nothing. Out of the sudden, there was a shuffle and she reverted her gaze towards her cupboard.

"Aiden, is that you?" Kylie whispered, paddling barefoot towards it. She opened the cupboard and-

"Boo," he said, covered with some of her clothes. She just glanced at him with boredom and scanned him. She shook her head and laughed at him. "What? Why are you laughing?"

"You look ridiculous in that hat," Kylie said, sitting on the floor. He frowned at her as she clutched her stomach, still laughing. "You should keep that. You look so cute."

"Did you just called me 'cute'?" he inquired, narrowing his eyes. She nodded and continued laughing. He shook his head and crawled out her cupboard towards her. "Fine, I'll keep this with me then. Anyway, 'cute' is sort of an understatement for me. I'm more than cute."

"Yea, whatever you say. You're just being a pain because you can't admit the truth. Besides, cute is a better compliment than ugly," she said, raising an eyebrow. He was in front of her now and laid his head on her folded legs. She tensed at first then relaxed, ruffling his hair. He stared up at her with kaleidoscope eyes before closing his eyes.

"Aiden, I have a favor to ask you."

"Hmm?"

"I'm not sure you would approve but you might like the idea."

"Go on."

"I bought some Barbie dolls yesterday at a toy store. And I tore its limbs and head off this afternoon. I was hoping if you could get into Callyssa's place and hang it around her room. You know, to creep her out."

"Hmm, I'll do it. But it comes with a price," he said, opening his eyes.

Aiden's mouth quirked up into a smile and she just stared at him, lost in his bluish green eyes. She didn't even realise his hands reaching up until they cup her face. They gently slid up and wound themselves into her hair. He pulled har hair band off, letting her hair fall. His hands then reached for the back of her head and slowly he brought her face down.

"I want you to-"

"Kylie, can you put me into bed?" Leslie said, interrupting. Her sister was rubbing her eyes, standing framed at the door. Her hands fell to her sides after that and she looked at them. "I'm- who are you?"

"Leslie, I can explain," Kylie said, standing up.

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