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Lucy, at Christmastie, and is feeling very bitter about it He has published over thirty novels, all of thedohtside books, and his new series, the Secret Histories, featuring Shaent He has lived most of his life in a small country town, Bradford-on-Avon This was the last Celtic town to fall to the invading Saxons in AD 504 He has also worked as a shop assistant, bicycle-repair mechanic, journalist, actor, eccentric dancer, and mail-order bride He has never worked for MI5 Don&039;t believe anyone who tells you otherwise He is, however, secretly Superet your first; and htside, and I was drinking ood brandy in Strangefellows, the oldest bar in the world The place was crowded, the air was thick with good cheer, the ceiling trailed long streamers of the cheapest paper decorations rew so festive they could barely stand up Even so, everyone was careful to givemy drink I&039;m Leo Morn, and that&039;s a name you can scare people with Of course, h everyone told her I was a bad boy, and would come to a bad end Lucy sat on the stool besidewhile I talked She didn&039;t have a drink She never does

The le Bells" by the Sex Pistols, a sure sign the bar&039;s oas feeling nostalgic Farther down the long (and only occasionally polished) wooden bar, sat Tommy Oblivion, the existential private eye He was currently doing his best to convince a pressing creditor that his bill ht not be valid in this particular reality Not that far away, Ms Fate, the Nightside&039;s very own leather-costu on a tabletop with deirl reporter, Bettie pine Bettie&039;s cute little curved horns peeped out fro dark hair

The Prince of Darkness was sulking into his drink over the cancellation of his TV reality show; the Mistress of the Dark was trying to te of plasticslu about unionization Brightly gloinged fairies swept round and round the huge Christ in and out of the heavy branches at fantastic speed in soain one of the fairies would detonate like a flashbulb, fro and rejoining the chase

Just another Christmas Eve, in the oldest bar in the world Where dreams can come true, if you&039;re not careful Especially at the one tiood rand old tradition of eating and drinking yourself stupid, anda fool of yourself over past loves

Alex the bartender noticedto be asked Since he knows ood sense to insist I pay in advance for every drink; but even nasty mean-spirited Alex Morrisey knows better than to disturb me on Christmas Eve I saluted Lucy with my new drink, and she smiled prettily back My lovely Lucy Short and sweet, pleasantly curved, tight blonde curls over a heart-shaped face, bright flashing eyes and a s white dress she&039;d been wearing just before she left me forever Lucy wassharp as a tack, sweet as forbidden fruit, and honest as the day is long What she ever saw inon seventeen Of course, I&039;m a lot older than her now

I only ever see her here, on Christmas Eve I don&039;t have to come here, tell myself every year that I won&039;t; but I always do Because no matter how much it hurts, I have to see her Silly boy, she always says I forgave you long ago And I always nod, and say, I don&039;t forgive me And I never will

Were we in love, really? We were very young And everything seeer Eh you like tidal waves, and a sudden sirl can explode in your heart like a firecracker Immersed in the ht in the glare of approaching headlightsYes; she was ether

All the things ere going to do, all the people we could have beenthroay, in a moment ofon a railway station late at night, waiting for a train that seemed like it would never come I looked at her, she looked ataway as though we&039;d known each other all our lives After that, ere never apart Laughing and teasing, arguing andhand in hand and ar each other Running through the thick woods under Darkacre; drinking and singing in a late-night lockup, even though ere still underage, because the oas an old roether on the cobbled street of a back alley, to the sound of senti out of a half-openup above

You never forget your first love, your first great passion

I was jolted out of reet me with his best salesman&039;s smile He should have known better, but Harry would try and sell a silencer to the man as about to shoot hi, Harry was a con man, a fixer, a specialist in the kind of deal that leaves you counting your fingers afterwards Always ready to sell you so that was bad for you, or someone else A hard man to dislike, but worth the effort He went to sit on the stool next to me, and then froze as I fixed hi my teeth, and he went pale He eased back fro his empty hands out before hio My time with Lucy was too precious to interrupt with the likes of Harry Fabulous

I re Lucy in and out of the tall dark trees as she ran giggling beforeet so far ahead I ht It was late at night, but the woods were lit up with the shilare of a full moon The whole world seemed to come alive around me as I ran, rich with scents and sounds I&039;d never noticed before I felt strong and fast and indomitable, like I could run and run forever

Lucy ran ahead of h the trees

The h my body My senses were so sharp now they were almost painful I&039;d never felt so alive, so happy The change swept overtide Bones creaked and cracked as they lengthened, and I didn&039;t care Fur burst out of me, coveredave me birth I hardly even noticed as I fell forward and continued to run on four feet I was a wolf, under the gloriouswhat I was born to do The ancient iot about Leo Morn, forgot about Lucy I ran howling through the trees, maddened by the e The real me had finally burst out of its human cocoon, its human trap; released to run and hunt as I was th and speed of h the whole world and everything in it was nothingbetween the trees, crested a ridge, and threwbelow I slaround, and tore out its throat with one easy snap of my jaws The blood was hot and wet and wonderful in led as I tore it apart, but not for long I feasted on the hot and stea the way it tore easily between my fine new teeth I ate till I was full, and then raised a leg and urinated over as left, so no other beast would dare to touch my kill I licked my blood-flecked muzzle clean, and felt as if I&039;d coone

And now, all these years later, it was Christ a carol, or soht was al about, but I think she knew She only ever looks sad when I do But it&039;s all I can think about, on this night of all nights; the night that separated us, forever Christht I told Lucy I loved her, and that I&039;d love her forever, forever and a day I told her there was nothing else in the world I wanted as much as her, and I meant it, then It was the ithin that made me a liar That&039;s why I come here every Christmas Eve, to the oldest bar in the worldwhere so

I don&039;t have to show up, but I do, because I promised her I&039;d love her forever and a day

The clock struckof Christain, for another year

When the change first takes you, it&039;s only too easy to et your first victim