Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“Oh, uh, I haven’t given that a lot of thought, actually.”
“I guess there’s time. Might want to actually find a flat before we talk about who lives in it after the … contract is over.”
She was glad when the train pulled into the station, ending the practical – and oddly sad – conversation as they made their way down the waterlogged streets until they came to a door.
“A bookshop?” she asked, smiling up at him.
“The best one London has to offer.” He beamed as he reached for the door.
“That is quite a claim.”
“It will live up to it, trust me.” He followed her in after lowering the brolly, putting it in a designated spot just inside the door.
Pandora was immediately met with that distinct, layered aroma of old books. She’d always thought that aged paper had the same scent as fallen leaves – rich and slightly musty.
The store was absolutely labyrinthine, with endless bookshelves crammed into the small space, forcing shoppers to walk single-file between them. The shelves bowed with the weight of all the tomes stacked on them.
“Fair warning,” Victor told her. “Nothing in here is in order, save for by genre. It’s hell if you’re looking for a specific book, but heaven if you are just here to browse and find a buried treasure.”
They walked through the stacks then, reaching for books, discussing favorites, choosing a few to sit down with in the only two chairs at the very back of the store.
They seemed to forget all about consulting the questions Pandora had jotted down the night before, when sleep had been elusive. Little things she felt that real lovers would know about each other.
Instead, they just talked.
About books and artists. About the things they each loved or hated in stories.
Pandora tried desperately to defend the use of miscommunication in romance novels, insisting that sometimes people were too hurt or too insecure to express themselves the way some readers would want, that it was actually more realistic to have people miscommunicate than it was for them to have fully adult and productive conversations all of the time.
Victor railed against “plot armour”, where the main character was constantly thrown into increasingly dangerous situations but somehow managed to survive, despite having no real skills to speak of.
“I hate it more when a character is put in one of those situations and just magically develops new powers that so conveniently can be used for that specific problem. I hate-read a whole YA series once that had it happen so often it was hilarious.”
In fact, Pandora and Victor got so wrapped up in casual, in-depth conversation that they seemed to accidentally learn more about each other than they would have, had they followed Pandora’s list.
She couldn’t help but watch his profile as he spoke long and deep on topics that mattered to him, his face animated with his clear passion.
Pandora knew her gaze was likely too soft and lingering, but she couldn’t seem to make herself care. She hung on his every word, feeling like it was a rare and special treat to have someone who seemed as quiet as Victor open up so much for her. She actually felt a little frustrated each time he batted a question in her direction, wanting to be able to focus fully on him. But he seemed just as invested in peeling back her layers as she was in exploring his.
“Victor,” she said when he finished speaking, watching as he turned to look at her.
“Yeah?”
“What are you studying?”
“Victorian English Literature,” he told her, not surprising her in the least, given his passion for the subject. Until, of course, he spoke again. “But I am working on my thesis on literature that focuses on vampires.”
Pandora felt like the floor had just opened up beneath her: she was falling into it, her belly swirling, her mind racing.
Vampire literature?
He was doing a thesis on vampire literature?
How, how, had she ended up not only having a crush on, but also entering into a fake-dating-and-marriage scenario with the one man who might be able to pick apart her family’s odd habits and eccentricities, and conclude they were the very creatures from his books?
“Pandora?” Victor’s voice sounded far away while her head was spinning off in a million different directions.
“Yeah?” Her voice came out in a squeak. Then, trying to calm herself down, she said, “I, uh, didn’t realize that was a topic for a thesis.”
“I don’t know if it’s been done before. I think that’s what will be so compelling about it; publishing takes forever, but I’m hoping it will be out in the summer.”
“Why vampires?” Pandora asked, hoping Victor didn’t pick up on the panicked rasp in her voice.
“I think they’re the most complex of all the possible supernatural creatures that have been created in literature. The fact that all vampires start out as humans, how their death and new life explores immortality and morality. I think an argument can also be made for vampirism being an exploration of the human psyche and our innate dark sides. Plus, from a more academic standpoint, it is interesting how many different cultures had depictions of vampires at the same time.”