Dark Hearts

by P. L. Midnight

  The whole town was just plain strange. Even some of my friends were rather enigmatic, for instance my good friend, Vincent, sitting across from me at the table. I’d always wondered why he was so pale and cold. His skin almost had a soft blue tint to it at times when he’d get upset, like earlier when he’d mentioned that he thought Raven was interested in me.

  His eyes were strange, too. They were an icy, pale blue that looked almost unnatural. He’d always been my friend, but I still didn’t know any more about why he was always cold than I did when we first met. I’d never asked him, because it really hadn’t mattered. I guess it still didn’t. It was just another oddity in St. Paris. At least I knew he wasn’t a vampire. Those were the strange members of a family living on Park Street, but that story is for another time.

  I’d also eaten with Vince and boy could he eat. He had the appetite of a small bear. If he wasn’t completely human, I wondered what he could actually be. I was just glad he wasn’t my enemy, especially now that he’d bulked up so much. He looked even fiercer now with that added muscle and broad shoulders. Gone was the thin, nerdy scientist friend of my youth. In his place was a handsome, though rather strange man.

  Raven was another unknown entity. His house alone was cause to question the normalcy of his family. As I mentioned, it was mysterious and to my knowledge, no one in the community had even been inside since his father purchased the locally famous Kiser Mansion on Main Street some ten years ago.

  The massive white mansion located on the main drag running through St. Paris was on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1913, the structure was a fine example of twentieth century classical revival style and a source of pride for the city. The white exterior had a massive two-story portico with fourteen ionic columns giving it an imposing presence. There were elaborate fountains and impressive statues characteristic of the finest Greek sculpture hidden around the grounds.

  The façade hadn’t changed much after Raven’s father bought it, due to its historical importance to the community. The biggest change was that he’d added an even higher black wrought iron fence with fierce looking finales along the top, discouraging any uninvited guests and a large wrought iron gate. The gate, I was told, is always locked and adorned with some kind of strange lettering, which no one can read. It’s most intimidating to the average person, giving another aura of mystery to the house.

  The place is now almost hidden from view by abnormally overgrown Oak Leaf Holly hedges along the inside of the tall wrought iron fence that runs along the perimeter of the entire property. The lovely, but rather sinister looking plants are the kind with the deep glossy, emerald green leaves that turn maroon in the spring, adding to the sinister stories circulating about the mansion.

  This continues to keep people from seeing much of the mansion, carriage house, wood barn, water tower, and brick pump house on the grounds.

  The only reason stories circulated about several gargoyle statues being in the house was that one of them supposedly fell out of its crate. This happened when the assortment of crates being taken inside the house was dropped. The moving company was charged for the damage to the back porch and a cracked wing on the statue. The driver and his partner were eventually both fired because Raven’s father had threatened to sue, due to their clumsy disregard for his cherished property.

  Apparently, the two movers had been told not to lift that particularly heavy piece until more staff arrived to help them. They moved it anyway and broke it, or so the story goes. Gossip runs rampant at times when someone is fired and grumbles about his former place of employment. Whether it’s true or not remains to be seen, but several more stories have circulated about mysterious moving vans arriving at all hours.

  A set of exquisite, fierce-looking, small gargoyles now sit on either side of the entrance gates, further guarding the house from intruders. They loom there, offering absolutely no welcome to the premises.

  As I said, no one has seen the inside of the magnificent mansion since Raven and his father moved in some ten years ago. I don’t think anyone really has much of a desire to see the house except maybe either a few eccentrics or some nosy gossips. If someone wanders near the place, it’s said that the eyes of the sinister gargoyles seem to follow them, encouraging a quick departure.

  The changes to the mansion had been a real source of conflict among the city fathers. However, if you have enough money and power you can do almost anything without too many consequences. I think the city government tried everything they could think of to force Raven’s father to return the house to its original glorious state. Moreover, it’s difficult to fight with a man who had so many influential friends and seemingly unlimited resources. Anyway, the only verified change was the fence and the tall hedges, which isn’t exactly a crime, I guess.

  Why anyone would want to make the rather bizarre changes to such a lovely mansion was a question that remained in my mind. Most people had forgotten about it after ten years or just chose not to discuss the issue anymore. Between the tall shrubs planted around the inside of the fence perimeter and the tall pine trees that now surrounded the mansion, it was difficult to see anything of the lovely old mansion anymore.

  Even the oddity of his family home didn’t deter Raven from becoming one of the most popular guys in school. Most of the girls sought his attention, as I said, and dreamed of his kiss. I wondered if a few of the more daring guys wanted to hang out with him in the hopes of catching a stray girl or gaining additional popularity. I guess being seen with Raven wasn’t a bad thing. I didn’t care how odd his home was, either, that wasn’t his doing anyway. He was hot and most assuredly popular. More importantly, he’d been the first guy I’d ever really had a serious crush on. Well, other than Vince, which had slowly disappeared as I realized he wasn’t actually interested, or so I’d thought.

  All those assets and Raven had expressed an interest in joining my friends and me. I still couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t wait to tell Tori. She’d be aghast even though she wasn’t his biggest fan. She judged him by the company he used to keep, which was Brittany and her cronies.

  I just didn’t want to discuss Raven much in front of Vincent. He was still watching me intently. I wasn’t sure if he’d mind and I wasn’t willing to find out either after his earlier attitude. I may have been reading too much into it, but I didn’t want to damage our friendship or hurt his feelings.

  I was certain that Tori would insist that three of the most handsome guys in school were now crushing on me. I’m not sure how interested in me any of them actually were. In any case, it was exciting to daydream about it. It was also a little bit daunting since I had no idea how to behave around boys. Well, I knew about the birds, bees, and such, but that was as far as my education went. I hadn’t even had my first real kiss.

  It was possible that this year could shape up to be almost worthy of the sacrifice of my daily dose of chocolate. Yes, I’d given up most of my chocolate vice when I became more interested in thinning my figure a bit. Notice I said most of my vice. There is no way I’d give up chocolate entirely, just for popularity or a boyfriend. I personally don’t believe you have to be thin to be popular or to have a boyfriend. Unfortunately, the world seems to think otherwise.

  Therefore, I made a few changes and stopped my diet of an over-abundance of chocolate. Chocolate to me is exactly what it is supposed to be…the most decadent bite in the world. I’m not sure if a vampire would agree, but chocolate is almost a necessity after a trying day at school. For me to almost give up this treat, you know I was serious about wanting to change my life. Anyway, I’d gotten a chocolate candle so I could still get to smell it. I also kept a small bag of M & M’s around for any chocolate emergencies that may arise.

  The rest of my first day of school was uneventful even though I had two more classes with Alex. Thankfully, the bitch sisters were in Biology with us vying for his attention, which kept it off me for the moment. Brittany made sure to sit next to him and monopolize any free seco
nd he might have, but I didn’t care. At least I couldn’t embarrass myself again while he was busy listening to her. On the other hand, did I care? I seemed to be spending too much time thinking about him. I needed to focus on Raven or maybe even Vince, not an obvious playboy.

  I left Biology and almost walked into Vince, who seemed to be waiting for me in the hallway. He spoke to Alex as he walked by with a smug looking Brittany latched on to his arm. For crying out-loud, if the girl pulled him any closer she’d be rubbing her valuables against him. Just when I thought that Alex wasn’t my problem anymore, he turned around.

  He deliberately extricated himself from Brittany’s clinging arms to turn towards me. He was walking right up to me. Brittany looked furious. I was certain that I’d better stay out of her way for a while or I’d be more than a kickball target. She looked like she was ready to strangle both Alex and me at that moment. I pretended not to see him approaching us. I gave Vince my full attention, giving him my biggest smile.

  I was suggesting that I bring the new Melissa McCarthy movie with me on Saturday night. It was kind of a tradition for all of my friends to hang out sometime every weekend, so I tried to watch for new movies that I thought we’d all enjoy.

  The movie I was planning to bring was Spy. I’d rented it from the video store and didn’t mind watching it again. It was funny and I thought they’d all enjoy it. Vince was answering me when Alex walked up, “Sure, that McCarthy woman is funny. The movie is supposed to be pretty good. I haven’t seen it yet.” Vince looked toward Alex and greeted him like an old friend, much to my surprise. “Hello, Alex. Have you seen that new Melissa McCarthy movie, Spy?”

  “Hey, no, I haven’t seen it. It sounds like it’s pretty funny.”

  “If you aren’t too busy Saturday night, why not come over to my place. We have a big entertainment room in the basement. It’s got all the latest sound and picture technology. It’s kind of a hobby of my dad’s, buying the latest new entertainment devices. We have everything from the latest blu- ray player to the newest gaming systems. He spends a fortune on the stuff and he doesn’t mind giving up his “man cave” for a night or two, occasionally. My folks don’t bother us either, as long as we don’t make too much noise. A few of us are getting together to watch the movie and eat some snacks. Why don’t you join us?”

  Before I could blink my eyes, Alex grinned at me and accepted Vince’s invitation. Then he asked me with feigned innocence, as he looked at me with eyes that now glowed with that intense golden fire, “Are you coming, Emma?”

  I knew by the look on his face that he knew I was coming. He’d heard me say I was bringing the movie. What was his deal, anyway? Why did he want to be around a girl who had been about as off-putting as one could get without being totally rude? It’s as I said before, the guy was just too cute. There was an aura of secrecy about him too, which made him fit right in with the rest of the town and made me question my sanity for even hanging around with any of them. But who was I to judge? I had a disappearing father in my history, after all.

  What could I say without being a bitch? Then again, he seemed to like bitches. He was hanging around with Brittany who was impatiently tapping her heel against the floor while glaring at us both. She’d even followed him and was standing behind him stroking his neck.

  I answered Alex with the same kind of innocent smile as he’d displayed, “Yes, I’m bringing the movie, Alex. You should come. It’s always a good time at Vince’s house.” Even though I still couldn’t believe it, Vince had invited him. He hadn’t seemed too happy about the others coming to his house, but he’d just invited Alex. Guys were weird. I continued letting my thoughts get back to the conversation at hand before I said something dumb again, “Vince’s mom bakes the best chocolate cookies. Vince was telling the truth. His parents are cool even when they intrude on movie night. Several of us are going. It’ll be fun. I’m sure.”

  Okay, so why had I mentioned cookies? He probably can see that I’ve eaten my fair share of cookies during my lifetime. I just seemed to embarrass myself in front of him for no apparent, sane reason. I was glad I wasn’t interested in him, even if I had thought of those fire eyes of his once too often already.

  I made the remark about Vince’s parents to let Alex know it would not be a drinking party like he was probably used to attending back in L.A. It wasn’t going to be some kind of wild teen orgy, either, like the jocks had at Brittany’s house after winning the homecoming game last year. Of course, that was more than likely a rumor circulating from some of the students who hadn’t been invited. I was one of them, but I really didn’t care much what had happened. I just wanted to make sure that Alex knew that Vince’s parents did sometimes come downstairs, in case he had any ideas he might have had otherwise.

  It didn’t matter what I said. He knew by my facial expression and body language that I didn’t want him there, but he was coming anyway. It’s not that I didn’t like him, it’s just that he brought out the worst in me all the time, it seemed.

  “That’d be great. I’d like to get to know some other students here besides athletes.” He looked pointedly at me as he continued, “I can bring that new goth thriller, Crimson Peak. It’s a creepy gothic flick. It scares the girls, if you know what I mean, Vince.” He winked at me when he made that last comment, then continued as I rolled my eyes. “What time should I come over? I could pick you up at your house, Emma, so you could direct me to Vince’s house. I understand we live on the same street.”

  I couldn’t believe he was totally ignoring Brittany. Apparently, she couldn’t either, as her stance behind him got closer and closer until her boobs were smashed solidly against his back.

  “I’m not sure you know where I live either, I usually ride with Tori.”

  “I’m sure Tori wouldn’t mind one more passenger or…”

  Brittany seemed to have heard enough, it seemed. She spoke up in a voice phonier than an honest politician. “Why Alex, I thought you might want to come to the mall with me. My parents will be gone and we can stop back by my house afterwards. We can watch any movie you want. We own all the latest DVDs. My parents won’t be around either, if you know what I mean.”

  “Actually, Vince had mentioned hanging out Saturday night to me earlier. Maybe another time, Brittany.”

  “Well, if you say so, but you don’t know what you’re missing, Alex dear.” Her voice may have sounded sweet, but she wasn’t used to being turned down by a guy. Brittany’s face all but twisted in anger.

  Alex moved out of her grasp yet again. I waited for the storm. I wasn’t disappointed. That girl didn’t like not getting her way. Her face turned red. She looked even angrier than before.

  When Alex ignored her, it was too much for her ego to take. “If you’d rather hang out with them (she said that word like we were lower than a snake’s belly), that’s your choice. It’s your loss, Alex. Eventually, you’ll learn who’s important and who isn't. We could’ve had a lot of fun together. I’m sure I can find someone to keep me busy Saturday night.”

  “I’m sure you can, Brittany. I hope you have fun.”

  “Oh, I will, Alex. You’re new around here so I’ll forgive you this time, but I might not be available when you tire of them. If you’re looking for a girlfriend, you won’t find one in that group anyway. Just because someone loses a few pounds doesn’t make her anything special, you know. Anyway, she still needs to lose some weight, if you ask me.”

  No one asked her, I thought. She really was a bitch. She looked right at me when she made that last comment, but before I could say anything, Alex spoke up. “I think Emma looks more than fine. I’m tired of skinny girls and ones with silicone implants…”

  Before Alex could say anything more, Brittany’s hand slapped his face with a noise that resounded down the hall. She immediately turned on her heels and left.

  “That girl is a bitch.”

  “My thoughts exactly, I knew I liked you for a reason, Alex. You’re very astute.” Tori walked up at
that moment with a big smile on her face. She’d obviously seen the exchange between Brittany and Alex.

  “Thanks, I think.” Alex rubbed his cheek, which now bore the perfect imprint of Brittany’s hand.

  Tori then turned to Alex who began filling her in on the plans for Saturday before I could say anything. She and Alex began talking as if they were old friends, making plans for the night without one thought about what the rest of us might like to do. Of course, Alex offered to give Tori, Anne and me a ride. Tori was complimenting his manners and almost gushing at him. I was barely able to keep the irritation out of my voice when I said, “We normally ride together with Tori, but I guess we can all ride with Alex. If it’s too crowded I can get Sarah to drop me off.”

  “There’s plenty of room for Anne and Tori in the back. You can ride shotgun and give me directions. I’ll pick you up first and you can show me around, like Mr. Bruns suggested.”

  “I’m not sure that’s what he had in mind,” I replied.

  Tori wasn’t exactly delighted that I’d be playing the part of his tour guide, but she thanked Alex anyway. I think she was still enamored by the put down he’d just given Brittany. She verified my address with him before I could say anything else. Of course, Alex would pick me up first at my house, then we would drive to get Tori and Anne. I could tell by Vince’s strange glances at me during the entire conversation that he was pleased Alex was coming with us, but wasn’t exactly ecstatic about the tour guide thing.

  Vince let my reluctance to include Alex go, but I knew we’d be talking about it later. He was talking to Alex again as if they were old friends. Brittany had stormed off in the direction of her next class. I decided it was time to slip away, too. I was pretty certain that no one would miss me now that Alex was busy entertaining both Tori and Vince with some stories about California.