The Ravenswynd Series - Boxed Set

by Sharon Ricklin Jones

  “Elizabeth?” I heard my sister’s voice from a distance and Fiona raced up behind me just as I started to slump forward onto the floor, although this time I felt myself falling and couldn’t stop. She caught me before I hit my head - at least that’s what they told me afterwards.

  “Lizzy?” Lindy leaned over the edge of the bed, searching my eyes, her hair hung down like a canopy. I craned my head back and saw Fiona standing above, bent over and head to head with Lindy.

  “Not again?” Fiona had her cell phone in her hand poised to dial 911.

  “What do you mean, ‘not again’, Fiona?” Melinda yanked her head up and glared at our friend.

  Fiona’s answer came quick: “She fainted at lunch today. I think she’s going through a spell of unnatural phenomenon. It’s quite remarkable actually. Every time she thinks of the legends this happens. It’s almost like she knows something deep in her subconscious but her brain won’t let it out.” She spoke as though she knew exactly what she was talking about.

  “What the hell are you blabbering about, Fiona?” Lindy growled.

  Fiona shrunk back a step or two. She always did like me better, though we had all been friends since the seventh grade. Lindy could be downright brutal in her honesty, sometimes to the point of bitter harshness. I tended to be the softie, yet completely repulsed by change. And this new change or even the possibility of it made me dizzy.

  Melinda’s eyes squinted at me when she asked point blank,

  “Elizabeth, are you pregnant?”

  “Oh my God, no!” I nearly shouted at her.

  At this point, Fiona started giggling until she saw the serious look on Melinda’s face as she kept asking me ridiculous questions.

  “Are you sure? Because you’re sure acting weird lately. And now you’re fainting? Maybe we better make a doctor appointment and see what’s wrong with you.”

  Her motherly act could only go so far with me. “You’re freaking kidding me! Pregnant? Melinda, that hurts! You know damn well the promise I made myself. It is completely impossible for me to be pregnant!” I frowned up at her from the floor. “Unless of course the world is ready for another I.C.”

  Fiona piped up, “What’s an I.C., Lizzy?”

  “Immaculate conception...you know, no husband, no man, no nothing. That’s me, no nothing. I’ve been saving myself… and my hypocrite sister asks me that question!”

  Melinda squirmed as she spoke, reserved and quiet now, “Well, some of us don’t know how to keep promises, even to ourselves.” She hung her head. I wasn’t sure if she felt more embarrassed about accusing me or more ashamed of herself and it seemed like the right time to just drop it.

  “I’m sorry, Lindy, but I’m not pregnant or sick. I’m completely fine.” I reached for Fiona’s extended hand. “I am a bit thirsty though.”

  I sat up with Fiona’s help, and smoothed out my hair. I had to move over and lean on the foot of the bed to keep myself steady as I finished asking my twin the question at hand. “Well, I’m going with Fiona, and we are allowed to ask one other person to go. So, I’m asking you, Lindy.” I turned my head back to her and smiled. “It might be fun, and I wouldn’t dream of going without you.” As I spoke I managed a few deep breaths in between sentences. Then I waited again for my sister to react.

  She slipped down off of the bed, sat right next to me and put a hand on my thigh. She then glanced up at Fiona and said, “Can I ask why you want to go? I mean, what’s so special about these people?”

  “You’re asking me?” Fiona’s face grew pink again. I could get used to her being this color. All of a sudden I had a thought - if she became a vampire, would she be even paler? How could that be possible? I laughed out loud and both of them looked at me like I was the insane one now.

  “Yes, Fiona, why do you want to go?”

  “You want an honest answer, or something frilly?”

  “Skip the frills. I expect honesty.” My sister had gotten sick of Fiona’s evasiveness. Lindy closed her eyes in frustration and threw her head back onto the edge of the mattress with a soft thud.

  “I want to become a vampire,” Fiona stated firmly, her face brilliant red now. Partly from embarrassment, partly anger, I was sure. “Why do you want to know anyway?”

  Melinda lifted her head off of the bed and licked her lips. “Well,” she started, and then enunciated each word deliberately, not quite condescending, “I just want to know what to expect if I do go, and if the legends are true...” She couldn’t finish the sentence, and she clasped her hands together and placed them in her lap.

  “And you, sis,” Lindy finally spoke again, turning to me, “do you want to become a vampire as well?” We were face to face again, and I found it hard to believe Lindy wasn’t laughing at Fiona and what she had just admitted.

  I had no answer for her. In truth, I was afraid to say a word, not sure what might come out if I opened my mouth. Nothing seemed normal any longer. Why had I been getting these weird feelings? Where was my compulsion to finish things I started? How could I let myself skip a whole class for no reason? And what about all my school work that I hadn’t even thought about since returning home? It was so strange how I didn’t care all of a sudden, and how I was so sweet and compassionate to Kathy when, in reality, all I wanted to do was push her out the door and scream at her to shut the hell up! And Fiona: why wasn’t it driving me nuts - all this talk of becoming a vampire? Any other day I would have reacted like Melinda had, and I would have had to fight the urge to tell her to grow up, stop all the crazy fantasy talk. Instead, all I seemed to be able to do when we talk about it...was to fall to the floor in a dead faint.

  Lindy started to drum her fingers on her knee while waiting for my answer, looking at me with a raised eyebrow and questioning my very sanity.

  “I don’t know, sis. I honestly do not know. It is kind of intriguing, don’t you think? I mean, what if it’s true? Just...what if?”

  “Well, I don’t want to be a vampire, that’s for sure! I would like to get married someday and have babies! I want my husband to grow old with me, and my children to have grand babies for me!” Her voice was shrill and harsh. “That’s normal. You guys are nuts.” She shook her head. “Besides, if there is a remote chance that this is all true, how can you trust them? Where is the law book on vampires? All the legends through the years point to them being human killers, or at the very least human users. Even if I let myself believe for one minute that they could be real, I wouldn’t want to become one!” The distaste in her voice was evident as she clamped her jaw down and tightened her mouth into a thin line.

  I licked my dry lips as I contemplated her unhappy face. Could I do this without my sister? I wasn’t sure.

  “Well, you can still come to the party,” Fiona offered. “You just have to be sworn to secrecy - to never speak of us again.”

  Fiona’s words pierced my heart as though a knife had gone through me, one with an icy cold and razor-sharp blade. My body began to shiver uncontrollably and my heart began to race again. I took a deep steadying breath, put my head between my knees, and closed my eyes. It didn’t help. When I sat back up there was dizziness again, spinning head, spinning world. Out of order, out of time. Out of air. When I fainted this time, I flopped down onto my sister’s shoulder. When I came to, Fiona had a glass of water in her hand and Lindy held my head in her lap.

  “You must be dehydrated.” Fiona thrust the glass at me. “Drink!” The way she ordered me with such authority made me believe I was dehydrated.

  I took the glass and found my lips dry as a sunbaked desert. I guzzled down half of the water in a few gulps realizing how thirsty I was, now that she mentioned it. I glanced at the clock on the wall; it was after five. I never did finish my lunch and had just a few sips of my water and one coffee earlier in the morning before classes. I supposed I could be dehydrated. There was only one way to find out for sure. I tipped the glass up and drank every drop. Fiona grabbed it and refilled it in a flash. When she returned, I
downed the whole glass without coming up for air.

  “Okay.” I stifled a belch as I covered my mouth with a hand. “The dizziness is pretty much gone. Maybe you were right.” I smiled at Fiona, but her fearful grimace had suddenly returned again. “What?” I asked.

  Before she could answer me, Lindy chimed in, “Maybe we need to get you to the doctor.”

  I shook my head. “No, this will pass. I feel better already.” I fixed my eyes on Fiona and asked again, this time more demanding, “Out with it!”

  “Nothing. I just hope you aren’t coming down with anything. I really, really want to go Friday. It’s the only thing that’s important to me. I don’t care about school or my job. I don’t have a family to speak of. Trust me, I’m dead serious.”

  Lindy straightened up and crossed her legs out in front of her on the floor. She seemed more relaxed and resigned all of a sudden, and I wondered what was going through her mind. Funny, I had been worried about her fainting - what a joke. All this time it was only me.

  She turned toward me and said, “Well, sis, I suppose you won’t go without me, and that’s why our little red-headed friend here can’t seem to sit still and relax.”

  Fiona crossed her arms and curled her upper lip at Lindy.

  “And I suppose I’ll have to keep an eye on you so you don’t crack your head open with all this fainting.” Lindy took her time now in an obvious attempt to irritate our friend.

  Fiona held her breath, waiting.

  “Okay. I’ll go with you guys - but do I really have to ask someone to go? Because it’s pretty stupid, if you ask me. I’d rather not, to be honest with you. And by the way, if any of these legends are true, and if there are any so-called vampires there, if I’ve got a choice in the matter, just remember one thing: I do not want to get bitten. Not by anyone. Remember that!”

  She warned us in a stern voice, but hidden beneath the sternness was a laugh only I could detect, only because I’d always been able to understand my sister better than anyone else on the planet, mostly because we came from the same mold. Well, the same egg anyway. Identical twins had a secret language all their own and always knew what their other half was thinking. Except for the moment when I had first asked my sister about this party. I could not remember another time I was unable to read her. Was that what freaked me out – enough to make me faint? I wasn’t sure. Possibly though, and I kept myself thinking that, rather than the impossible - rather than the probable truth - that deep down, perhaps I did want to be a vampire. I hid my secret thoughts even from myself.

  “I don’t think you have to ask anyone,” Fiona said, finally taking a breath. “It’s just one of the rules: if you do ask someone, and if they give you a positive answer, then they can be told where to meet everyone. My inviter already told me where to go, and now, since you’ve both agreed, I guess I can tell you.” Fiona’s face was pale again, freckles visible in the dim evening light.

  Lindy reached over and turned on a lamp. The sudden brightness in the room was harsh; we blinked in unison for a second or two and then looked back at Fiona for the rest of the details.

  She cleared her throat, glanced around as if to make sure no one could hear us, and then whispered, “We have to meet at the Marina downtown on Water Street exactly at sun set. That’s it.”

  “That’s it?” I was sure there had to be more. “What do we do then?”

  “Wait for further instructions,” Fiona said, beaming. “I believe we have to stand next to our inviter, which I guess makes for one long chain of people if you think about it.”

  Lindy rolled her eyes and flicked back her hair. “Alright, whatever you say. I’m getting in the shower.” She stood and left us before anyone said another word.

  We sat there for a few minutes listening to the sound of the water through the walls. I rubbed my aching temples and looked up to see Fiona staring at me.

  After a few moments she said, “I think you’d make an excellent vampiress. If that’s what they call the female ones.”

  I chuckled at her. “Is it my hair?” I ran my fingers through the black strands, fanning out the ends up onto the bed. “Or is it my eye teeth?” I ran my tongue along my front teeth and smiled a sinister grin.

  “Sure. I hear they’re real beautiful. I haven’t heard much about the males, but I can only assume they’re good-looking too.” Her voice turned thin and frail, sounding as though the magnitude of her decision hung on her assumptions. “But, even if they’re not, I don’t care.”

  “Sure you do. Who wants to imagine some old ugly man gnawing at their neck?” I teased her.

  “If it means I can stay this age forever, I seriously don’t mind!” she assured me.

  “If you say so, Fiona, but I doubt that will happen.” As soon as the words came out I regretted them.

  “Why would you say that, Lizzy?” Fiona started to gather up her belongings. “I can’t believe you mean that!”

  “No, I mean, what’s probably not going to happen is that some ugly old vampire will change you. You’ll get a young, good-looking one!” I hoped the save worked.

  “Oh.” She looked relieved, but continued to get ready to leave. “Well, I have to get something to eat. I’m starving. So, do you want me to pick you guys up here on Friday, then?”

  “Sure, about five o’clock?” I asked. What on earth do you wear to a vampire gala? My mind started wandering again and I didn’t hear what Fiona had said. She came and stood right above me, peering down over her nose.

  “Lizzy, what’s up with you not listening to me?” she asked as she shifted her foot and tapped mine with a light kick.

  “I am listening!” I frowned at her and pulled my leg back.

  “No, it’s like you’re in another dimension or something,” she said shaking her head. “I said - I’ll be by to get you both at four-thirty. I do not want to miss the time. I can’t wait another ten years for this opportunity. I’ll be an old lady by then.” She tried to smile, but it was plain to see she still wasn’t sure she had my full attention.

  “Okay, four-thirty.” I repeated the time to prove my hearing ability. But sometime later I realized I had not even said goodbye when she left. What exactly was I thinking? Vampires, parties, meeting at a dock after dark? Insane.

  I got up from the floor feeling quite silly and rather stiff from sitting so long in one position. I went to our tiny cupboard, then to the microwave and threw in a bag of popcorn. I needed salt and I needed it now. After the popcorn was ready, I sat down on the couch and found an old Dracula movie on the television. How appropriate and...how weird. I watched for a few minutes and then realized that more than anything I wanted to stop thinking about the coming weekend and just concentrate on absolutely anything else. I turned the channel to a comedy, and it worked for a while but eventually, half a bag of popcorn later, I found myself imagining what it would feel like to be bitten, wondering if it would hurt much, how long it would take to change. I had a lot of questions that no one could answer. Kind of rude, if you asked me. How could anyone make that decision in one night, without nearly enough answers? They should give you at least a week after all your questions are answered. I laughed at myself and the idiotic thoughts going through my head.

  Lindy finally came out of the bathroom. I was surprised to see her hair was blown dry, and she had on fresh makeup.

  “What’s happening?”

  “I’m meeting Mark.”

  “Why didn’t you mention it earlier?” I felt out of sorts, kind of left out.

  “Wanna come?” she asked as she flicked her hair over her shoulder, the curly ends bouncing in shiny twists.

  “For real? Where’re you going?”

  “The usual place down on Metcalf.” She pointed out the window, absorbed in the contents of her purse as she rummaged through it, finally pulling out a lipstick.

  “Wait for me to get ready?” I was already headed for the bathroom to freshen up, thankful the dizziness was gone.

  Lindy called after
me, “Hurry up! I’m supposed to meet him by six. He said he’d be bringing a friend too.”

  My heart skipped a beat. Nothing worse than a blind date that wasn’t even planned. Or was it? It wasn’t like Lindy to plan these things; she knew I hated blind dates. The guys were always losers. I felt like just staying home, but then something told me to keep getting ready. My heart started beating faster than normal again. Deep breathing helped this time, that and most likely all the water. Finally, without realizing it, all thoughts of vampires had left my mind. Here I was, getting ready to go out on a Wednesday night, so unlike me. But I was excited and didn’t even know why.

  CHAPTER 4

  EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

  We walked into the pub together like matching bookends: Lindy in her full-length black leather coat, jeans, and a red sweater; me in my white leather coat, jeans, and a blue sweater. Okay, not matching. Her hair curled; mine straight. All eyes turned to watch the twins. We smiled at everyone we knew, and they all smiled back. On the other side of the room, we could see Mark as he stood and waved us over to their table. He was more Melinda’s friend than mine but not a boyfriend. In her words: just a guy friend. Although it was easy to see how Mark felt about Lindy. His whole face smiled whenever he saw her. She just didn’t feel the same about him. Her excuse was that he was too tall for her. He was at least six feet two, and he did tower over our short slight frames of five feet two. But he was such a sweet guy. And I often told her I thought they’d make such a cute couple. I figured she just wasn’t ready to get serious about anyone that seemed too interested.

  As I pondered these thoughts while making my way across the pub, a man with long, black hair sitting in a booth a few sections away caught my eye. Oh my God! That had to be the man from the mall! I would recognize his hair anywhere! Goose bumps rushed up and over me, and I shivered. I tried to get a good view of his face, but the room was too dark to make out his features. In the candle-lit dimness, his hair glowed as black as a moonless night, riveting my gaze so that, just as I reached our table, I tripped over someone’s purse on the floor. Mark caught me, and laughed as he introduced me to his friend, Tyler. I felt like such a klutz. Way to impress new people, Lizzy.