The Ravenswynd Series - Boxed Set

by Sharon Ricklin Jones

  “What’s wrong, Lizzy? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost. You’re as pale as me!”

  Fiona’s words echoed in the back of my mind. My ears started to ring and then plugged up as if stuffed with cotton, muffling Fiona’s words. My head spun. My vision blurred. Everything evaporated into blackness. The next thing I knew, Fiona’s frightened and now bright red face loomed above me as I opened my eyes.

  “Lizzy! Lizzy, are you okay? Oh my God, what happened to you? I thought I lost you for a second!” she said, as her hands fluttered from my cheeks to my forehead feeling for a temperature. “Can you get up yet? I think you fainted!”

  Fiona helped me sit upright with a soft hand on my back. Immediately feeling self-conscious, I looked around to see if there were other people still in the general area. My sigh sounded more like a moan. Someone in a black hooded sweatshirt had just gone out through the glass door leaving The Café nearly empty, except for one flannel-clad individual slouched in the corner facing away from us. I felt my head for bumps or blood. There was none.

  “I think I’m okay,” I said in a mumble, and smoothed out my hair.

  My heart rate had slowed considerably while I sat on the floor for a few more minutes and then took Fiona’s hand. She helped me stand back up and ease myself onto the chair. I glanced up at the clock and realized I had already missed half of my next class.

  “Oh, flaming hell!”

  Fiona’s eyes followed mine to the clock, understanding at once what I meant. “Sorry, Lizzy. I guess it’s my fault.”

  “No, that’s okay. I don’t know what that was about, but I’m guessing maybe I’m a bit anxious about Friday night, is all. I mean, if you’re right, and the legends are true, we would be taking quite a risk, wouldn’t we? Who’s to say they just don’t lure us weak-minded humans to their so-called party, pretending all is fine for a few hours, just so they can do whatever they want to do with - and to us?”

  “I know,” she sighed, “I’ve thought of that too, but a part of me totally believes the legends, and that’s what I’m clinging to. I don’t want to spend my life wondering if it was real, only to end up like my foster mother. Old and lonely. If it is true, I plan to be twenty-two forever. And, with any kind of luck at all, I will meet my soul-mate.” Fiona raised her eyebrows and gave me a quick smile before going on.

  “I heard that if you meet your perfect someone at one of these parties, you’ll be together forever...for all eternity...just like all the silly fairy tales we heard when we were little...happily-ever-after. Only, in this life here as humans, happily-ever-after is more like hardly-ever-happens. And, even if it does, it only means you’ll have but a few years here on earth with your loved ones, and then bang, you’re gone.” She shook her head back and forth so slow and sad; it made me want to cry.

  I took another deep breath, mulling over what she’d said. “Well, let’s hope it is true then. Since you’ve painted such a bleak picture of my future, I have to hope you’re right.” I studied her thoughtfully and then smiled. “Now, let’s go ask my sister if she’d like to go to the only party I know of where you get to have your cake and eat it too, eternally speaking.”

  Fiona laughed at what I knew was my feeble attempt to be funny. But I could tell it was a nervous laugh, and I assumed it had to be due to her increasing fear of my brand new ability to faint without any known reason. Most likely her fear centered on me fainting again and hitting my head once we were outside, thereby making me unavailable to enter the realm of the secret world of vampires she so hoped to witness. I had to chuckle at my own crazy musings now as we buttoned up to head out into the early winter breezes. It surprised me when Fiona held my arm and carried my backpack. She was truly worried for me.

  All of a sudden I was struck with another question for my nutty vegetarian friend. I was sure she’d already have an answer for this, and although the cold wind whipping in our faces made it hard to breathe, much less talk, I still had to ask.

  “Fiona,” I started with caution. “How in the world can you consider becoming a creature who consumes blood when all these years you’ve refused to eat meat in any form?”

  “That’s an easy one, Lizzy,” she snickered and put her hand on her chest as she continued, “No animals will be harmed in the making of this vampire!”

  I had a good chuckle at that one too. “Imagine that,” I giggled. “You may become the first vegetarian vampire! Oh!” I said in a quick shout. “I’ll make you a new bumper sticker to put over your animal rights one. Instead of P.E.T.A. we can replace the P with a V.” All but in hysterics now, I could barely spit it out, and then finally between snickers and snorts I said, “Vampires for the Ethical Treatment of Animals!”

  Fiona scowled at me and my silliness as I continued to laugh at what I thought to be quite witty.

  “Whatever you say, Lizzy,” she said shaking her head as she pulled me toward the sidewalk.

  When I saw the determined look on Fiona’s face I realized again just how serious she was about this. The sudden chill crawling up my spine coupled with her sober look ended my laughter with an abrupt snort. I could see that she had made up her mind, and no amount of teasing would sway her. In the midst of an unsettling shudder, I realized that drinking human blood wasn’t going to bother her in the least.

  We eventually made it to my building without any negative happenings, other than the fact that my face was frozen and I could barely move my lips.

  When we walked into Sweet Hall in silence, Fiona was still clutching my arm, apparently not taking any chances with me. I was deep in thought about the upcoming weekend and what it might entail; Fiona was probably sending up silent prayers that nothing would prevent us from going through with our plans.

  Rubbing a sore spot on my head, I hoped that my sister didn’t have the same reaction as I had. My plan was to talk to her while she sat on the bed, pillows all around us, just in case.

  CHAPTER 3

  VAMPIRE BLUES

  We found Lindy lying on her bed flat on her stomach, reading, and so engrossed in the book, she didn’t hear us when we walked into the room. Her hair flowed down onto the bed all around her like a delicate shawl, and, as she always did while reading, she absentmindedly twirled a lock. Once she realized we were there, she acknowledged our presence with a quick grunt, and with a sigh, she licked her finger and turned the page. I glanced over at the bathroom. Light shone from underneath the door, and the sound of running water from the shower could be heard through the thin walls. Lindy had obviously been enjoying the silence while our roommate showered. Placing a finger over my lips, I motioned to Fiona to keep as quiet as possible. More than anything, Lindy hated to be interrupted while enjoying one of her Romeo readers, as she so lovingly called her romance books. I assumed she was finished with her schoolwork for the day; she was an obsessive yet brilliant student who only allowed herself to delve into personal pleasures after all her work was done, somewhat like I was myself. I hung up our coats and dropped my backpack next to the closet. It landed with a thick thud, reminding me of unfinished work I had to do.

  Fiona and I sat down on the tiny sofa and picked up magazines from the end table. It would only be a matter of time until our roommate finished in the bathroom, and then Lindy’s treasured silence would be shattered no matter how hard we tried to keep quiet. Kathy was a spirited sort who just could never find it within her powers to maintain low tones. She was always loud and always bouncy; there was no peace when she was in the room. I said a silent prayer that her plan for the evening included a date with her boyfriend who was a nice enough sort but, in general, hated being around too many people in too small of a space, which to our benefit, meant they always met at his place or somewhere away from our little crowd.

  Within a short time Kathy sailed out of the bathroom freshly cleansed, powdered, and blow-dried. She had fresh makeup on which meant she indeed would be leaving soon. I didn’t have to look up to know Lindy had already entered the foul mood era of the day.
I heard her book slam shut as soon as Kathy began her hellos and how-are-yous.

  Fiona could barely tolerate Kathy’s insane level of happiness and, other than a quick, “Hey Kathy,” she kept her nose in the magazine that I knew she wasn’t even enjoying. I saw her peer over the cover once to see what Kathy was wearing and thought I heard a note of pleasure as she turned the page of her magazine.

  “Do you have a date with Will tonight, Kath?” I asked, even though I already knew her answer.

  She went into a ten-minute explanation about how they planned to go meet his parents at a local restaurant for dinner, and then head back to their house to meet the rest of the family. And how she thought he had to be planning to propose any day now since she and his family would finally be meeting. And since it was her birthday this weekend, maybe she’d even be getting a diamond ring. And on and on until our ears began to ring with her singsong voice. None of us were ever mean to her, but it wasn’t a secret: Kathy might possibly be the most annoying person alive. She meant well, most of the time, but her never-ending giddiness and happiness and constant chattering would drive even Gandhi insane. Somewhere in the middle of her monologue I heard my sister flop over on the bed, and when I looked up she had a pillow covering her face. I had to stifle a laugh and pretend to cough instead.

  Kathy stopped and frowned at me. “Please tell me you’re not coming down with a cold, Lizzy! I certainly hope not, because I can’t afford to catch anything right now, not just before my engagement to Will.”

  At the mention of his name, her eyes glazed over and she went on in another direction: “I suppose we’ll have to plan an engagement party before this semester is over then. Maybe my favorite twins will be able to help me plan it, or maybe my future mother-in-law will think it’s a grand gesture to welcome me into their family. Oh, I do hope we get along greatly! It would be so disappointing to find that she’s anything but what I always hoped my future mother-in-law should be. Will seems to think she’s wonderful, so I guess I’ll just have to believe him, at least for now. Well, what am I talking about? I’ll be meeting her in less than an hour. Oh my God, an hour! I better get going.” She ran back into the bathroom and then popped her head back out with an opened tube of lipstick in her hand and said, “Oh, by the way, what’re you guys doing this weekend? Let me guess! Studying, right?”

  It frustrated us to no end how she would carry on a one-man conversation, answering all her own questions and never leaving room for anyone else to speak.

  During the three seconds of silence, in which one could only assume Kathy must be applying her lipstick, Lindy peered out from under her pillow and glared at Fiona and me with such a look of exasperation that, if it were possible, one could imagine her deep blue eyes blazing into a dark burgundy with flames of red oozing out from them. How ironic that our lives depended on Kathy leaving in order for us to have any semblance of normalcy. And yet, the question I had to ask my sister wasn’t exactly a normal every day question either.

  I somehow managed to steady my own voice, despite my sister’s frustration driving her back under the pillow and Fiona’s panic as she elbowed me not to say anything about our weekend, and I said, “We don’t have much planned. Maybe we’ll order a pizza or something while we study. Or maybe rent a movie for Saturday night.” I had to cough again to hide my laughing.

  Of course, Kathy peered out of the door once again and had to add, “Maybe you should run to the drug store and grab some vitamins and Echinacea while you’re at it, Lizzy. I think you’ve picked up a bug of some sort. Just stay away from me, puhleeeze.” She elongated the last word to at least four syllables.

  I rolled my eyes at Fiona who now had the magazine on top of her head like a hat, her deliberate attempt to make me laugh. She was determined to get me in trouble for some reason; although it was quite possible she felt a bit anxious about the upcoming weekend and tried to cover these emotions with her goofy behavior.

  Kathy retrieved her long blue coat from the closet and slipped into it in one swift movement, and as she buttoned it up she flitted around the room asking us all how she looked. “I hope Will is proud of me; I certainly hope I don’t bring any shame or embarrass him in any way. What do you ladies think? Do I look okay?” All of a sudden her loud, somewhat obnoxious voice turned soft and worried, leaving us no doubt over why she acted so boisterous most of the time. Trying to hide her deep-seated insecurity, she pretended to be cheerful and giddy. As she zipped back and forth, we all nodded our heads and made positive comments trying desperately to bolster her self-esteem, enough to at least get her to gather enough courage to go and meet with Will’s family.

  “Oh come on, Kath, you know they will love you. How could anyone not love our Kathy?” I stood and gave her a quick hug, stepped back and placed my hands on her shoulders after brushing a stray blonde hair away from her face. “You look stunning, your outfit is perfect, and you have one of the bubbliest personalities I’ve ever known. I’m serious! William will be completely proud of you, and his parents will love you. Just try to be calm and smile a lot while they talk to you. You tend to over-think things when you get nervous. Relax, have one glass of wine with dinner, but only one. You don’t want them to think you’re a lush.”

  I smiled as she stood silent for once in her life, and listened to me. It must have been the fact that I had been looking her square in the eye and didn’t remove my hands from her shoulders while I spoke. She wasn’t used to me touching her at all, since my normal self would rarely touch another soul other than my sister - at least certainly not a hug and a shoulder grab in one session. She was stunned, her head nodded up and down as she stared into my eyes.

  “Okay.” She stopped nodding and regained her voice, “Be calm, have one glass of wine, smile, and relax. I can do this! Thanks, Lizzy.” She took a deep breath and flitted out of the room in a swoop of blue material, the air behind her so suddenly silent that I swore I could hear crickets chirping in the distance.

  “Wow, Lizzy, you’ve outdone yourself this time.” Fiona’s face was just about as red as her hair, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was a bit jealous of my pep talk to Kathy.

  “Thanks Fiona. I just can’t imagine how nerve-wracking it would be to meet your boyfriend’s parents.”

  “Well, she must be nervous all the time then because she never shuts up!” Melinda complained with a snort.

  Fiona smiled as she glanced over at Lindy and then she turned back to me. “Are you ready?”

  Lindy sat up and tossed the pillow behind her, smoothed out her messed hair, and asked, “Ready for what?”

  “Elizabeth has a question to ask you.” Fiona’s formal use of my name meant she was serious for a change. “You have to say yes, Melinda. Please, don’t make me beg.” It was obvious Fiona understood I would never go without my twin.

  A frown formed on my sister’s face and her eyes lowered as she heaved a heavy sigh. “Now what?”

  “Melinda,” I started. I stood and took a few steps to her bed. “There’s a party this Friday.”

  She interrupted me before I could go on: “Oh, really? Where is it? Who’s all going? Please tell me Kathy is not invited!” Melinda’s disdain for her was much more apparent when she wasn’t home.

  “Listen, Melinda! If you don’t hush up, I’ll never get it out.”

  Lindy flicked back her hair and studied me. “Oh, this is what you wouldn’t tell me at lunch, isn’t it?” she exclaimed in a singsong, accusatory way.

  “Well, if you’ll be quiet for one minute, you’d find out, wouldn’t you?” I flipped back my hair now and waited for her to be still.

  “Fine, I’ll listen.” She folded her arms across her chest and cocked her head to the side.

  I wasn’t sure how to begin. I wondered if she ever thought about the way we used to talk. It had been a long time since it had come up - not that we talked much about the vampires. But we used to say we could never leave each other, always include one another in whatever came our w
ay, and jump at any opportunity that brought us together rather than apart. We needed to stay together, no matter what. We even hoped our future husbands would be twin brothers so we could share in-laws. Perhaps it was childish, but we had been dead serious back then. Did she still feel the same way?

  “Remember the legends?” I glanced over at Fiona who was now perched on the arm of the sofa, biting a thumbnail, eyes anxious and wide. “Remember the stories Fiona used to tell us, especially the one regarding the vampire parties?”

  Lindy raised an eyebrow, alert and listening.

  “Well, there’s a slight chance they may be true.”

  Fiona cleared her throat in an obvious attempt to get my attention.

  “Fiona believes they are completely true, more so now than ever, as she has been invited to attend this Friday.”

  I waited for a reaction. Lindy stared at me. In all truth, I couldn’t be sure if it was in disbelief, or if she was on the verge of hysterics – hysterical laughing, that is. She blinked several times, her face empty and blank. Confusion creased my brow. Why wasn’t she responding? This was worse than a negative reaction. Finally I forced a smile at her, and yet she still did not respond. It was horrible, not being able to read her face. Something had changed in me. I sensed something different and unexpected, like the pep talk I gave Kathy; it was so unlike me to be anything new at any time. I had always been so compulsive about my life. Nothing changed - ever. I began to fear Fiona could be right and that there might be something on the horizon that was supposed to happen to me at this exact time in my life. My heart began to play that familiar drum roll again, and I somehow managed to make it to the edge of the bed and sat down solid and harder than planned.