Darkness Falls

by Mia James

  ‘Well, not this one. He saved my life, remember?’

  ‘Yes, well I’d at least like to thank him for that, but he disappeared the moment you were taken to hospital.’

  April closed her eyes at the memory. Gabriel had saved her with the kiss of life, and willingly signed his own death sentence when he did. She was still struggling to come to terms with the cruel irony of that one gesture of love.

  ‘What’s the matter?’

  April looked up to find her mother staring at her.

  ‘What do you mean? Nothing’s wrong,’ stuttered April, avoiding her mother’s gaze. ‘A minute ago you were complaining that I was too happy.’

  ‘I know you, April,’ said Silvia. ‘You get that look when something’s troubling you. Has something happened? Is it this boy?’

  ‘No, Mother. He’s fine,’ said April, irritated. It was disconcerting how her mother could switch between vacuousness and mad protectiveness in a heartbeat – and it was spooky how well she could read April’s moods.

  ‘Since when have you been such an expert on my inner thoughts?’ asked April. ‘Have you been reading my diary again?’

  ‘Oh please, I don’t need to. Whenever something serious happens, you start looking like Ophelia after she drowned. You had it back in Edinburgh whenever that spotty boy Neil Stevenson was mentioned.’

  April almost gasped. Neil had been her first major crush; she hadn’t told anyone except her best friend Fiona. It was mortifying to discover her mother had known all along.

  ‘You knew about that?’

  Silvia laughed. ‘I should think everyone knew about it, including poor Neil. You used to moon about around him as if you were composing sonnets in your head. I always knew you could do better though. I was so pleased to find your Gabriel is good-looking.’

  ‘God, Mum, you’re so shallow!’

  ‘Oh, and those posters on your walls are all of ugly boys? An active inner life is all very well, but a girl still needs to get butterflies in her tummy when he walks in the room. I know I do.’

  ‘Is that why you’ve been going out every evening? Trying to find a new man?’

  April knew she was overstepping the mark, but she was furious at the idea of her mother thinking about other men – perhaps even seeking them out – when her dad was barely cold in the ground.

  ‘April,’ warned Silvia. ‘What I do is none of your business.’

  ‘Isn’t it? Well how do you think it makes me feel? How would Dad feel if he knew you were out drinking and God knows what only weeks after he was murdered?’

  ‘It’s hard for me too, April. There are things you don’t know about your father and I, things in our relationship that we were trying to work out.’

  ‘Things he had to put up with, more like.’

  Silvia pursed her lips, trying to keep her temper in check.

  ‘I know you’ve always put your dad on a pedestal, but he had his faults too.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know – like his crazy plan to move down here? If we’d stayed in Scotland, we’d have been fine. He’d be alive!’

  ‘I didn’t think we had much choice,’ said April, looking away. She had found a letter to her father offering him a job in Glasgow, so she could only assume he had chosen to come down to Highgate to investigate the vampires. But it wasn’t a detail she could very well discuss with her mother.

  Silvia took a sip of her Bloody Mary.

  ‘Like I say, you don’t know everything.’

  ‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’ said April, frowning.

  ‘There are some things you don’t need to know, April,’ said Silvia. ‘We were married for twenty years and adults have some things they don’t necessarily want to discuss with their children.’

  April looked at her mother. Did Silvia know about the job offer? Did she know about the Ravenwood investigation? No, she couldn’t have, there was no way she would have stood for it.

  ‘But I ought to know, if it’s why we came to London. I’m not a child. I can understand these things.’

  Silvia gave a hollow laugh.

  ‘Don’t be so sure.’

  ‘Don’t patronise me!’

  ‘If you want to be treated like an adult, you’d better start behaving like one.’

  ‘Like you, you mean? Drinking vodka and picking men up in bars?’

  ‘How dare you!’ yelled Silvia, slamming her glass down on the counter. ‘Get up to your room!’

  April pushed her chair back.

  ‘Don’t worry, I don’t want to stay here,’ she said, storming out of the kitchen and up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door. Safely inside, she threw herself across the bed and grabbed her phone. God, she was insufferable! How could they have the same DNA? She must have got all hers from her dad. Stabbing at the keys, April called Fiona.

  ‘Come on, Fee,’ she whispered. Her friend always knew what to do, partly because she was sensible and level-headed and partly because Fiona’s parents had been through a particularly nasty divorce a few years ago. April groaned when Fee’s mobile went to answerphone.

  ‘It’s Fee, you know what to do …’

  April threw the phone down, smashing it against the bedside table. Oh bugger, she thought, scrabbling to pick it up. She felt a wave of relief when it still worked. God, I’m getting so angry these days, she thought. Is it the Fury thing? She’d been told that being a Fury equipped her to combat vampires: not only was her blood like poison to them, she would also be able to face them in a fight.

  Yes, but which vampires, exactly? Gabriel had told her that vampires who were born as vampires were far more powerful than vampires who were ‘turned’ by having their blood infected by a vampire bite. What if she came up against one of those super-vamps? April certainly didn’t feel much like an action hero – she cried at romantic comedies and dreaded the dentist. But she had certainly been feeling angrier and angrier since she and Gabriel had found the Fury birthmark behind her ear.

  She went across to her mirror and pulled back her hair, looking for the mark. For a moment, April dared to hope it wasn’t there, but then she saw it and her stomach sank. A sort of blobby star shape. She’d scoured the internet for some mention of it – Fury, vampire virus, anything – but there was nothing apart from various theories about why there was a star on the flag of the Ottoman Empire. She wished she’d paid more attention in history, then she might have an idea what it all meant.

  What it means is you’re a freak, thought April. And you’ve just called your mother a slut.

  ‘God, I did, didn’t I?’ April whispered to herself. She felt her cheeks burn with shame and embarrassment. I really should go and apologise, she thought, wondering how she could ever have said such a thing. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing the hollow eyes, the tired rings beneath them – and, God, were those frown lines on her forehead? Who are you? she wondered as she peered closer. April knew she had changed – who wouldn’t after everything she’d been through in the past few months? – but she wasn’t entirely sure she liked her reflection. I’ve got old, that’s what’s happened, she thought.

  She walked over to the window, looking out at the dark square. Drizzle was falling, throwing a haze over the yellow street lights. She reached up to rub the scar on her arm. April remembered the first time she had looked out onto the square the day they had moved in. It seemed so long ago. Her heart turned over as she thought of her dad that night, lighting a fire in the living room and trying to make this stuffy old house cosy and welcoming. I miss you, Dad, she thought. I’d never have been so angry at Mum if you were still here.

  April’s eye was caught as she saw movement in the square. Gabriel? No, it couldn’t be him. But there was definitely someone standing in the shadows, looking up at the house.

  ‘Who is that?’ she whispered, drawing back into the shadows herself.

  Were they really being watched? She looked for the police car, but couldn’t see it from her windo
w. Where were they? She looked back at the figure and immediately jumped back, her hand flying to her mouth. He was closer – and he was staring directly up at her.

  Was it a Sucker? The police? The man was standing in the shadow of a tree, so she couldn’t see his face, but she knew – she was absolutely sure – that he was staring at her.

  She jumped as she heard her mother slam a door downstairs, only glancing away for a second – and suddenly the square was empty. April leaned into the window, looking left and right, but the figure had gone. Vanished. That certainly didn’t make her feel any better. Who the hell was that? Was it the thing she’d heard whispering in the cemetery? She sat down on her bed, far too jumpy to relax. A blazing row and a creepy stalker would do that for you. She wondered for a moment if she should tell her mother about the figure in the square, but dismissed the idea. What had she seen, exactly? And anyway, it didn’t sound as if Silvia was in the mood to talk.

  Instead, April grabbed her phone and tried calling Gabriel’s number, but all she got was a ‘This phone is currently unavailable’ message. Typical. Why was there never anyone around when you needed them? Sighing, she stood up and walked over to the wardrobe. Back to Ravenwood tomorrow. She really should pick out some clothes for the morning. What was appropriate dress when you were returning to school after you’d been half-killed by a maniac? She pulled out a few things and threw them on the bed, but nothing seemed right. She looked towards her bedroom door; this was the sort of thing her mother was great at. Maybe now would be a good time to go and beg forgiveness for being a cow. Taking a deep breath, April walked down the stairs, mentally rehearsing her excuses: ‘Under a lot of pressure’, ‘Worried about school’, ‘Missing Dad’ – all true, of course, but none of them really made up for calling her mum a slut. At the bottom of the stairs, she stopped as she heard Siliva’s voice. She was talking on the phone.

  Curious, April held her breath, listening.

  ‘So when, then?’ said Silvia, her voice low. ‘You’re not being fair.’ Silvia sounded upset, as if she had been crying. God, was that because of me?

  ‘I know, I know,’ continued Silvia. ‘But I can’t keep on like this.’

  Keep on like what, exactly? thought April, intrigued now. Who was Silvia talking to?

  ‘I want to see you. I need to see you.’

  April could feel her heart jump. Was she talking to some man? One of those guys she’d been picking up on her drunken nights out. Suddenly all thoughts of apologising evaporated.

  ‘Same place? You’d better be there.’

  April heard Silvia bang the receiver back into the cradle and she carefully tip-toed back into her room, closing the door behind her.

  Who had she been talking to? Who did her mother need to see? Was it something to do with their fight? Something to do with Dad? Or was she really having an affair? She couldn’t be, could she? Another loud slam: the front door. April jumped up and ran to the window, just in time to see Silvia’s figure crossing the square. Where was she going? And what was so important that she would leave her vulnerable daughter all alone in this dark creepy house? God, why couldn’t she have a normal mother? April turned back to the room, saw the clothes lying on the bed and began to laugh. Tomorrow she would be going back to Ravenwood, a school riddled with vampires, every single one of whom would tear her throat out if they knew her secret. Her boyfriend was dying and had told her they had to pretend they hated each other and on top of all that, she had to find out who had killed her father – and why. Oh, and she had no idea who she could trust.

  ‘Bugger the wardrobe,’ she said, scooping up the clothes and chucking them onto a chair. She’d work it out in the morning.

  Tonight, she had bigger problems to worry about.

  Chapter Two

  As she walked down the path and across the road, the wind clanging the garden gate shut behind her, April idly wondered how far off spring was. Jesus, it was cold. Some start to her seventeenth year. She hoisted a beautiful leather satchel over her shoulder – a surprise birthday present from her mother, it had been waiting for her outside her bedroom door when she woke up – and pushed her hands deep into her pockets. She glanced around the square, but there was no sign of the dark figure from the night before. Try as she might, April had not been able to sleep last night, getting up to peek out the window every now and then, but the square had been empty. April had almost managed to convince herself it was just some random dog-walker, but it never hurt to be careful, did it? ‘They’ll attack you in the daytime,’ wasn’t that what Gabriel had said? A cheery thought to match the gloomy mood of the day. She looked up at the grey clouds and tried to remember when she had last seen the sun. She should be used to it, of course; she’d lived in Edinburgh long enough, but somehow she’d never learned to love the cold. Wasn’t it supposed to be warmer down south? For a moment, she pictured herself in a floaty summer dress, running through a meadow hand in hand with Gabriel, laughing together. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be so free, without worries and pressures and prophecies. Do most girls have to worry about prophecies on their birthday?

  Her stomach rumbled. April had deliberately skipped breakfast that morning to avoid her mother, not that she had expected her to be up so early. She would be lying in bed until noon, an empty wine glass standing by the bed, smeared with lipstick. She didn’t know why Silvia was lying to her – or, what was that phrase? ‘Being economical with the truth’ – but she knew that she didn’t want to get into a screaming match before her first day back at school. So April had gone straight downstairs and out the front door, not looking back. As she passed the church and walked down the hill, April noticed a car parked in the road and her heart sank. Standing there, leaning against the door, was Detective Inspector Ian Reece.

  Oh no, what does he want now?

  DI Reece was nice enough for a policeman, but the last thing she wanted on her first morning back at school was to be asked a load of difficult questions.

  ‘Hello, April, I believe congratulations are in order,’ he said as she approached.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘Doesn’t feel as though there’s much worth celebrating today.’

  ‘No. Can’t be much fun going back to school on your birthday.’

  She shrugged.

  ‘It’s not going to be much fun going back full stop.’

  Reece smiled sympathetically.

  ‘You think everyone’s going to be looking at you?’

  ‘Think it? I know it. It’s not every day the school has a pupil savaged by a fellow student. They’ll be gathering around wanting to see the scar.’

  Reece snorted.

  ‘Well, I won’t keep you long. Just wanted to give you an update on the case.’

  ‘Which case? Mine or my dad’s?’

  He pulled a face.

  ‘Nothing on your dad’s murder at the moment.’

  Meaning: the trail is as cold as a polar bear’s bum, thought April.

  ‘It’s regarding Marcus Brent. It doesn’t look like he’s left the country after all,’ said Reece. ‘We’ve been through all the passport records and checked hours of CCTV footage at airports and ferry terminals.’

  ‘So you’re saying he’s still nearby?’ said April, thinking of the laughter in the cemetery and the figure outside her window last night. ‘Is that supposed to make me feel better?’

  ‘I think it’s best you have all the information, April. You’re safer that way.’

  ‘Well I don’t feel very safe,’ said April, winding her satchel strap around her fingers. ‘I’ve been seeing things.’

  ‘Things? What sort of things?’

  April shrugged. What could she say, really? Vampires, murderers, maniacs?

  ‘I don’t know, just things,’ she sighed. ‘I thought I saw someone in the square last night. I mean, it might have been someone out for a walk or something, but …’

  DI Reece nodded.

  ‘Listen, that’s understandable after what you’ve been throug
h, but honestly, there’s no need to worry. We’re watching the house and there’s no way Marcus is going to come back.’

  ‘Don’t be so sure, Inspector Reece,’ said April. ‘I looked into his eyes. He was insane. I really don’t think a police car parked outside my house would be much of a deterrent. Anyway, it’s not just Marcus I’m worried about. There’s been a lot of weird things happening in Highgate since I got here.’

  ‘You said it.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ April frowned. ‘That this is my fault?’

  ‘Not at all, April, don’t be so jumpy. I’m just agreeing with you. There have been some strange goings on and you’re right to be worried – no one knows that better than you. But you simply need to be careful. Don’t wander off on your own, tell people where you’re going, come straight home after school. All the usual stuff: look both ways before you cross the road.’

  ‘Now you’re starting to sound like my mum.’

  ‘I hope not,’ he smiled, then gestured towards the car. ‘Do you want a lift?’

  ‘No, I don’t think turning up in a police car is a good idea this morning. Thank you. Besides, I’m not in any hurry. All that stuff people tell you about your school days being the happiest of your life? I hope they’re lying.’

  She left DI Reece and walked on down the hill, feeling the butterflies in her stomach as she got closer to Ravenwood. It was a different kind of apprehension to last term’s, when all April had to worry about was being the new girl and fitting in with the brain-boxes and rich kids pulling up in their posh cars. She almost laughed. It was hard to remember a time when she had such ordinary problems: what to wear, who to speak to, would there be any cute boys there? Now she had real problems, problems which could end up with someone dead – and not just Gabriel.

  April slowed as she saw the school gates. Who deliberately walks into a building they know is full of mythical killers? No one sane. But April had to. DI Reece might not have any leads, but she did. Her father had been investigating the school before he was killed. Either he had got too close to whoever was behind Ravenwood, or he had been murdered by a vampire. Either way, April knew the truth about his death was wrapped up in whatever was going on at Ravenwood. And it wasn’t just for her dad; she had to find the Vampire Regent, the vamp king-pin behind the Ravenwood plot, because the blood-sucking Regent had turned Gabriel into a vampire all those years ago. Legend had it that if Gabriel killed the vampire who made him, he would return to being human. And they could finally, properly, be together. Of course, it was only a legend. Pulling her satchel higher up on her shoulder, she walked up the steps and into Ravenwood. Right now, legends were all she had.