Born Dark

by H G Lynch

  “Ember, language!” Carol chastised. “And you know I’m only looking out for what’s best for you.” Carol was taking a less vicious approach now, obviously realising that yelling wasn’t going to get anything done. Ember snorted.

  “Yeah. Whatever. You don’t know what’s best for me at this school. I know how things work around here and I’m handling it. What’s best for me is having Sherry and Reid by my side. If you want me to be happy here, you need to let me handle my own life. There’s nothing you can do or say to make me send Reid away. He means a lot to me.” Ember raised her chin, facing her mother squarely and showing that she meant every word. Her mother looked surprised, and disappointed. She sighed, frowning at her daughter.

  “Fine.” The way that she said it told Ember that she was most definitely not fine with it, and she wasn’t going to give up. Not yet, anyway. The woman was impossible.

  After a few moments of silent glaring - a battle which Ember won thanks to her startling ability to appear threatening even to her mother – Mrs Jennings left, slamming the door behind her. Once she was gone, Ember groaned, bit her pillow to keep from screaming. Then she plugged in her MP3 player, hoping to distract herself and calm herself before she smashed something.

  Sherry

  “Ember was trying to explain something to me before her mum came in. She said something about Reid replying to what she said but in her head. What did she mean?” Sherry was sitting, cross-legged on a table in the library. Lately this was where she’d been hanging out with Ricky, just since she found out he was a blood-sucking mythical creature. It wasn’t that she was scared of him - she still adored him, still wanted to be with him - but she just wanted to be safe. And the library, though quiet, usually held several people doing homework, making it the best place to discuss secrets and still be safe.

  “Oh, well… strong vampires, especially born vampires, we can communicate telepathically. We can read minds and sometimes pinpoint peoples’ brainwaves. We don’t do that stuff usually, though. It’s dangerous, we could get caught and Brandon doesn’t like us using our vamp-magic. But Reid… well, he’s Reid. He ignores the rules.” Ricky shrugged, stretched out on the floor, with his back against a shelf of books about the History of the Steam Engine. This was a fairly deserted area of the library, with only a few people studying at a nearby table, too far away to hear their whispered conversation.

  Sherry considered this new information for a moment, trying to absorb it calmly the way Ember did. OK, so what if Kee could read her mind and talk to her in her head? Hadn’t she always wondered what it would be like to have a vampire as a boyfriend? Yes. So why should it be such a big deal in reality? It shouldn’t. The internal argument seemed logical, but then again, logic was hardly suitably applied to this situation. Her boyfriend was a real-life vampire for Christ’s sake!

  Sherry looked down at said vampire and examined him. He was still the same Ricky she saw before: same soft brown hair the colour of chocolate, same lightly tanned skin, same sweetly boyish smile and the same deep, gem-like aqua eyes. “Hmm,” was her simple, thoughtful reply. She was a little curious to know if he’d ever read her mind, but she didn’t think it mattered. He already knew how she felt about him, vampire or not. There wasn’t anything in her head he couldn’t know.

  “You’re not, like, freaked out or anything, are you?” Ricky asked his gentle mouth pinched nervously.

  Sherry shook her head. “Not really. Ember said she freaked out when Reid tried to read her mind. Not because she found it freaky, but just ‘cause she gets all defensive over privacy and stuff. She’s handling all this like it’s practically nothing. It’s insane. But then again, she’s always been a little crazy.” Sherry smiled fondly at memories of her friend’s nuttiness. Like the time, when they’d both been seven, and Ember had insisted they sneak into the nursery garden at their primary school. She’d scrambled over the high wall that separated the play park from the neighbouring apartments’ land, slunk across the far edges of the private garden, climbed the gnarled tree at the far wall, and then hopped the metal fence into the nursery garden. Sherry hadn’t been sure whether her friend was incredibly brave for trespassing like that, or just insane.

  Presently, Ricky chuckled. “So I’d noticed. She’d have to be crazy to have fallen for Reid,” he murmured.

  “Well… how do I put this nicely? Reid’s a stubborn asshole.” Sherry grinned and Ricky laughed, blue-green eyes twinkling. Sherry continued, “But Ember’s the same way. They suit each other. She really does care about him. And as far I can tell, he cares about her. It’s nice to see Ember getting involved in romance without gagging at it,” she added, shaking her head hopelessly. Ricky grinned, looking as radiant and sweet as ever. Sherry felt her heart do a little flip.

  “So that explains the face she makes whenever I’m around you. She doesn’t like the romance. That’s a shame. I rather enjoy it.” Kee beamed and Sherry caught a glimpse of his fangs. He abruptly turned away, retracting them and then looking back at her sheepishly. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

  Sherry frowned. “You don’t need to apologise. I need to get used to it,” she said calmly.

  Kee just nodded. “So, I know we’ve discussed a lot so far - the powers, the blood drinking, and the superhuman abilities - but is there anything else you want to know?” he asked seriously, but gently. Just then, something popped to her mind and Sherry blushed helplessly. She remembered the conversation she and Ember had had this morning, after Ember had explained what her argument with her mother had been about. She hadn’t thought about it at the time, but maybe vampirism had an effect on the mechanics?

  “Sherry? What’s up? You look like a beetroot all of a sudden,” Ricky chuckled, distracting her. She realised there was heat in her cheeks and she was biting her lip nervously. Ricky was looking at her curiously, a smile playing about his mouth.

  “Nothing. It’s nothing,” she said dismissively, cringing at the high, breathless note to her voice.

  “You’re lying. You’ve got a question. What is it?”

  For a moment, Sherry wondered if he was reading her mind but then realised he wouldn’t need to ask what her question was that way. He could just read her expression. Sherry shook her head, refusing to speak, and Ricky got off the floor. He came and stood in front of her, gazing at her with a suspicious, quizzical expression. He carefully took her hands in his, and let his aqua eyes bore into hers, and Sherry felt her heart skip a beat.

  “Please tell me?” he murmured, pouting. He looked so gorgeous and adorable, and the shimmering of his lovely eyes was making her stomach melt. She couldn’t say no to him, not when he did that her.

  “I was just wondering if there was… if vampires can-” she stuttered in a whisper, feeling her face burn, and dropping her gaze to their entwined hands.

  “What?” Kee prompted when he realised she wasn’t going to finish her sentence. Sherry shook her head, biting her lip again. Ricky released one of her hands and brought his fingers to her face, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. Something in her chest fluttered and her eyes flicked to his reflexively. “Please tell me. Please?” His glittering eyes were so warm and deep and trusting.

  “I was just wondering if… if vampires could… you know, with humans… if it was possible to…” Sherry looked away embarrassedly. But Ricky caught what she was trying to ask and chuckled under his breath.

  “Oh, that. Yeah, it’s possible. Reid isn’t known as a man-whore just for his crude comments and charm.” Sherry suddenly felt like an idiot for not having realised that, but she could never think clearly around Ricky. He was always too much for her, too overwhelming, too amazing for her mind - and body - to handle. “And I may be nicknamed ‘Kee’ but I’m not as innocently babyish as that name suggests. For example, I have no qualms over inappropriate behaviour in a library,” Ricky added, wrapping his arms round her and kissing her sweetly. Sherry broke away regretfully, giggling.

  “Kee, we’ll get caught,” she breath
ed, but he just kept kissing down her jaw, his fingers finding the bottom edge of her shirt and sliding up under it. A shiver went through her at the feel of his fingertips on her bare skin, just above the waistband of her jeans.

  “So? You were the one who wanted to make sure there were other people around, just in case. Your choice of venue, not mine,” he murmured into her skin, making warm shivers running down her spine.

  “Ricky,” she gasped in shock and delight as his hand moved up her back, his fingers played with straps of her bra and his mouth was softly teasing against her neck. His lips on her neck made her nervous, but it was the same nervousness she’d experienced before she’d discovered he was a vampire. Whether or not he occasionally drank blood - apparently, unlike Reid, Ricky chose to drink from blood-bags from the local blood bank - he was still her Ricky. “Okay then, can we please go somewhere less… public?” She tried to pry him off but he refused to let go of her. She sighed in exasperation, despite the insane hammering of her heart and the rushing of adrenaline in her blood. Really, she was anxious that they might get caught, but the idea gave her kind of a thrill somehow.

  “Actually I’ve got to be somewhere in the next sixty-four seconds. I’d better run. I’ll see you later.” Ricky pulled away glancing at his watch and grinning at her.

  “What? You kiss me and get me all bothered and then you just leave me here?” Sherry held out her hands, palms up, in a helpless gesture.

  Ricky laughed. “Yup. That’s pretty much it.”

  Sherry muttered, “Jerk,” as she watched his retreating back. He glided to the library doors and pushed them open, letting in a faint breeze of cooler air.

  I am not! Ricky called back, only the voice sounded in her mind, bypassing her ears. Ricky wasn’t even in the room anymore. The doors had swung shut behind him. Sherry wasn’t sure whether to smile or shudder. Now she understood what Ember had meant when she said Reid had answered in her head. Telepathy. She was going to have get used to that, too.

  Ember

  That night, Ember fell asleep quickly, and just as quickly tumbled into a bizarre dream. It had been days since she’d thought of Owen, having been distracted with problems like her mother and the argument with Sherry that didn’t really happen. She’d given up on the idea of convincing her mother that Reid wasn’t a bad influence. Reluctantly, she’d gotten over the crow-killer thing, knowing that Reid punished him appropriately. The shape-shifting, vengeance-seeking witches were still an issue but until they tried another attack, of sorts, that worry could be put on hold.

  Her biggest worry at the moment was a typically human, every-day issue - well, if you could call a double date at a swimming pool with two vampires, one of whom was the school’s most infamous man-whore, typical and every-day. And now, that worry was being transferred into her dream.

  ***

  She was standing, waist-deep in pool water, dressed only in her best blue bikini. That wasn’t the strange part. She wasn’t alone in the pool. That wasn’t the strange part either. The strange part was the other person in the pool, gazing at her with familiar eyes.

  “Owen?” She couldn’t believe it. Owen was standing in front of her, looking as coldly dangerous as he had the day she walked away from him four years ago, only in the dream he looked how he might now, at sixteen. And she couldn’t deny he was, well, attractive. With silky black hair sticking up in disarray, and a smooth, muscled chest on full display. Not as nice a physique as Reid’s of course, but still, not bad.

  “Hello Ember. Nice to see you again.” The words came from the boy in front of her, but she barely recognised the voice. If not for the incredible eyes, she might not have believed it was Owen, even in a dream. This was a first though; Owen had starred in memories dredged up in her thoughtful moments recently, but not in any of her dreams. And seeing him as he might be in reality these days was a little scary. She wasn’t sure what to say to this dream-Owen - after all, last time she’d seen him in the real world, he’d been spitting expletives and slurs at her back, while smoking on a cigarette. But he didn’t seem to have changed much since then, judging by the coldness in his eyes and the hostility in his voice.

  “What, don’t you want to see me? I thought we were friends once upon a time.” There was an edge to his voice aside from the hostility, an edge she recognised easily by now. Arrogance.

  “We were until you became a delinquent thief. Did you get into drugs after I left you, or did you just start nicking cars?” Ember bit her words off sharply, glaring at Owen. Despite their odd setting, and state of undress, she wasn’t going to take any crap from an old-friend-turned-criminal.

  “Hmm, I see you haven’t lost any of your spark. I’d begun to think you’d gone soft after you walked away from me. You know, I never stopped thinking about you. You were always there in the back of my mind whenever I stole something, whenever I spray painted a wall, whenever I smoked a cigarette. You would pop into my head, yelling at me that I was being an idiot.” Owen sounded totally calm - and totally insane.

  “Right. Glad to know I didn’t slip your mind. Why are you here?” Ember took a step back, feeling the smooth water on her stomach as she moved. Vampires in reality didn’t bug her, but an old friend in a dream… that was freaking her out. Maybe she was the insane one?

  “I wanted to see you again. I’ve missed you, you know. We were such good friends, could’ve been more if you hadn’t turned your back on me. And right now we could’ve been together, still in Scotland, watching seagulls fly over the North Sea, seeing the moonlight shining on the water.” Owen stepped toward her quickly and put his arms around her. She struggled but she couldn’t break his hold.

  “Owen, get the hell off me. I walked away from you for a reason. And right now you sound completely insane. I haven’t seen you in four years and I wouldn’t want to be with you. I never would’ve wanted to be with you. You’re a lying, cigarette-smoking, thieving punk!” Ember kicked out at him and he finally let go - sort of. He pulled back but gripped her shoulder with one hand while his other hand traced her bare side. She growled and snatched out of his grip, giving him a backhanded slap across the face. The force of it snapped his head to the side. “Do not touch me,” she warned in a low snarl.

  Unperturbed, even with blood rising to the handprint on his cheek, Owen simply smiled. It wasn‘t a pleasant smile, so much as a leer. “Oh, come on. You know you can’t resist. You love the bad boys. You always did.” Owen gazed at her with smouldering eyes. Ember had a good reply to that one.

  “Yeah. You’re right. I do love bad boys. I guess that explains why I like my boyfriend so much,” she smirked. Owen looked mildly irritated for a moment, but recovered fast.

  “Yes, well. If you like him so much, why do you still refuse to really accept him as your boyfriend, except inside your own head? You make up reasons, excuses for not using the word openly, as you should. You tell yourself it’s complicated, when there’s nothing complicated about it.” Owen shook his head, his black hair scattering ink drops that melted into the water around him. “Are you ashamed of him? Is that it?”

  Shocked, Ember spluttered, “No! Jesus. Where do you get off, saying-“

  “If you like him so much, why haven’t you had sex with him?” Owen’s appallingly personal question, and his certainty of it, took her off-guard. It took her a moment to regain balance but that was all it took for Owen to apparently confirm his theory to himself. He pressed her, eyes intense. “Come on, answer me. Why haven’t you?” He was grinning like a lunatic and it was a little worrisome. Ember recoiled, taking another step away from him. He followed her. She gulped nervously, trying to remind herself that this was just a dream. But it just felt so real.

  “How do you know I haven’t? Reid is… well, he’s not shy of physical intimacy, and he is the hottest guy I’ve ever laid eyes on. Why wouldn’t I?” she retorted with a bravado she didn’t feel, putting her hands on her hips. She was starting to feel uncomfortable in her lack of clothing and it seemed s
he was discussing her non-existent sex life with too many people these days.

  “I know because I know you. And because you managed to argue against me without actually using the word ‘sex’. It’s almost like you’re shy of saying it.” The spark in Owen’s expression was really pissing her off now.

  “How would you like me to prove it then? Describe where, when and how we did it? Would that make you happy?” She was bluffing of course, but he didn’t know that. And there was no way she’d ever tell him those kinds of details anyway - dream or not - and he didn’t know that either.

  “Actually I was thinking you could just prove you have no issues with physical intimacy. I’m sure your boyfriend really has no compunctions about it, but you do. You always have, ever since we were kids. You never liked letting people hug you, or hold your hand. But, if you really aren’t so shy of physical contact anymore, maybe you could just let me near to you.” Owen had his hands on her again before she could move. One hand on her hip, the other on her shoulder blades. She squealed in protest, disgusted, and pushed him away. He stumbled, splashing up water that rained around him, soaking his hair so that black ink dribbled down his cheeks like dark tears.

  “What part of ‘I have a boyfriend’ don’t you get? Wait, this is my damn dream! You’re not here, and you have no business being in my dream. Especially like this! Get your hands the hell off me and go away!” she shrieked, slapping at the darkly grinning boy as he tried to step toward her again. He paused, tilted his head, and winked at her.