Ayla's Supernatural Love Dungeon

Chapter 11

Adelina handed Kyra a check.

            “Here’s your last check of the year. It has both your Thanksgiving and Christmas bonus.”

Kyra’s eyes widened.

Adelina studied Kyra’s expression of terror and laughed. “You’re not fired. You told me the first day that I hired you that the last two months of the year were challenging on you mentally.” She grasped Kyra’s shoulder, and a warm smile graced her pale lips. “Your mental health matters to me. So, I’ll see you next year.”

For the first time, Adelina kissed Kyra on the forehead. The forehead kiss reminded Kyra of a loving mother. Something…she hasn’t had since she told her parents when she first started hearing ghosts. The warmth and care poured into that touch of affection had Kyra on the brink of tears and wanting to hold Adelina like a child holding onto their mother. All too briefly, the kiss ended and Kyra opened her eyes, not noticing that she had even closed them. As Adelina headed to the back-room Kyra saw a faint outline of blue Fae wings.

Kyra opened the check and saw a small note inside the envelope. She read the note first. The cursive writing was written in Adelina’s hand and read “This should get you through until next year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Kyra.” Attached to the note was a few hundred-dollar bills. Kyra felt her chest warm up and swell. She quickly pulled out her phone, took a picture of her check, and deposited it into her bank account.

            Rae sat on the couch and watched Kyra. Kyra stared at her phone and pondered on what to do. She could get started on her Christmas shopping or she could set up her Christmas tree and decorate for the winter holidays. The idea of Christmas shopping won out. Eyes glued to her phone she went to sit down on the couch. Rae started to panic.

            “Wh-what are you doing?” Rae said flustered.

Kyra continued her motion to sit on the couch. Rae hurriedly moved to the other side and panted heavily. “You almost touched me!”

Kyra ignored Rae’s outcry and tapped the Amazon icon on her phone. She browsed for something gothic for Raven. Nothing caught her eye as something Raven would like until she caught sight of a gothic stuffed animal. The plush was a purple fox and everything about it screamed Raven. Kyra immediately added it to her cart and continued shopping. She added a few more things to her Amazon cart before she finalized her purchases.

            Kyra then played Christmas music through her Bluetooth speaker and sauntered off to the hallway to find her Christmas decorations. Rae followed her to the hallway. Kyra guessed he was over the ‘almost touching him’ incident. She pulled out a box from the hall closet that was labeled Christmas Tree and two more boxes labeled Christmas Decorations. She hauled the Christmas tree box to the living room and then went to grab the last two boxes.

She assembled the white artificial Christmas tree in the corner next to the bay window. She sang along with her favorite Christmas songs. Rae laughed and sang too. Kyra grabbed the purple ornaments and placed them on the tree. Despite how hard the winter holidays were on her because of the increased amount of ghost presence, Kyra loved Christmas. She loved the decorations, and the fresh snow that covered the streets, but her favorite was the Christmas lights. The lights glowed from within a tree, like little fairies hiding behind the branches. For her, the lights held all the magic during Christmas.

            “You seem much happier now,” Rae said. His smile softened and his voice lowered to a whisper. “I didn’t realize how much I missed your smile. Your genuine smile. The kind of smile that stretches across your whole face and your eyes sparkle.”

Kyra’s heart flipped at Rae’s statement. She covered up her flattery by distracting herself with other decorations. She hung her stocking on the wall next to her electric fireplace entertainment center. She hung garland and more Christmas lights around the bay window to outline the tree.

            Kyra stood by the kitchen and sipped her hot chocolate as she admired her decorated home. The area where her tree was glowed in faint purple and white from the Christmas lights. The garlands were purple and silver.

            “Beautiful,” she said, proud of her handiwork.

Rae, who stood next to her, stared at her with half-lidded eyes. “Yeah. Beautiful.”