Dark Requiem (The Darkling Trilogy, Book 3)

by A. D. Koboah

  “Avery, can you tell who it is now?” Luna said when I got out of the car. “It’s Arnaldo.”

  I felt ice gather upon my flesh at the mention of that name and when I peered at him, at his sinewy, virile physique, fresh, boyish face so beautiful it drew my breath away, anxiety touched my heart.

  “Arnaldo.” I couldn’t be sure whether it was the arm wrapped around Luna’s waist or his smouldering, charcoal-coloured eyes, but I moved to them and tugged Luna none too gently out of his arms and to me.

  “Arnaldo,” I said again, and I meant to give him a friendly pat on the chest. It came out as a shove. “What an earth are you doing here?”

  He smiled, his gaze coming to rest on Luna. He took her hand and he did not need to tug her out of my arms, for she glided to him, pure joy on her face.

  “Mother,” he said, the slightest hint of an accent turning his words to a caress. “Yes, Mother. For you gave me life by releasing me from the curse Auria placed me under. It is as if I have lived two lives, for I remember both. Of being a child vampire, but also everything since you came to me on my deathbed when I was a child and stopped my birth mother from committing an abomination. My life is yours, Goddess. Or I should say—the lives of those I would have preyed upon. From this moment on I shall never take another life.”

  His gaze flickered briefly in my direction before it returned to Luna. Why not? That drivel seemed to work for you.

  I was startled by the words, especially as Luna had not heard them. She beamed at Arnaldo before she faced me.

  “Oh, Avery, isn’t this wonderful!”

  Those were not quite the words I had in mind, for this Arnaldo was not only as strong as Auria, he still had his devilishly enhanced mental powers.

  Completely oblivious to the stricken expression on my face, Luna hugged Arnaldo and placed a kiss on his cheek.

  We all turned to the sound of heels striking marble coming from within the mansion. The door to the mansion was thrown open moments later and Mallory appeared.

  “Luna, Avery!” She smiled and hurried down the front steps toward us.

  Her feet had barely touched the bottom step when she was swept off her feet and into Arnaldo’s arms.

  “Mallory,” he cried.

  He didn’t seem to notice her startled expression and proceeded to kiss her on both cheeks and then on the lips. She blinked in surprise for a few moments before she glanced at me.

  Who on earth is he?

  “Arnaldo,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “The boy vampire?” she said before she faced him again.

  She reached for one of his ears and twisted it.

  “Put me down right now,” she said.

  A smile spread across Arnaldo’s lips and an excited gleam lit his eyes.

  “Of course.” He placed her on her feet, but still held onto her hand. “Forgive me, Mallory, but beauty such as yours can make a man behave in the most peculiar of ways.”

  He placed a kiss upon her hand. To my annoyance I saw there was some amusement in her eyes as she gazed at him.

  Arnaldo eventually released Mallory’s hand and picked up a large rucksack. “It will be dawn soon. I should go and find a hotel—”

  “Yes,” I said cutting in. “You’ll find some—”

  “Nonsense,” Luna said. “As if I would put my son out on the street. You’ll stay here with us.”

  I felt my throat tighten at the words, especially when he hugged Luna, his cupid’s bow lips spread into a smile that bode absolutely no good for me.

  And so he stayed.

  For years.

  He went away for short periods only to return, much to my chagrin. He baited me constantly during those years, baiting to which Luna remained oblivious. And what infuriated me was not just the fact that Luna adored him, so did everyone else.

  I would venture downstairs at dusk on some evenings to find Arnaldo had spent the daylight hours with Mallory, shopping and then baking. He appeared demure and oh-so-young in jeans and a T-shirt, his lips spread in a guileless smile as Mallory reached up to pinch his rosy cheeks. I could only roll my eyes as I left the room.

  I often sought out Shadrach and Maryse, who were still living in the shack Luna had found them in. They had grown to like it as they said it had a gothic kind of charm. We would share a bottle of whisky whilst they listened to me complain about Arnaldo, their dark eyes heavy with sympathy.

  “I’ve never met this guy, but I hate him already,” Shadrach said when I finished.

  Maryse nodded in agreement.

  One night I went to seek the two of them out only to find Shadrach and Arnaldo sitting on the porch of the weathered shack, sharing a bottle of whisky.

  When I approached them, my heart and lips tight with Shadrach’s betrayal, he merely shrugged, a sheepish smile on his lips.

  “What could I do, Avery?” he said once Arnaldo departed. “The guy is all right.”

  I could only glare at him.

  And when I ventured to the shack one night and found Maryse in a passionate embrace with Arnaldo, I decided I simply could not take Shadrach and Maryse seriously ever again.

  The resentment I felt toward Arnaldo came to a head roughly two centuries later on a bitter winter night.

  After some blissful months without Arnaldo, I returned at dawn to discover he had decided to pay us yet another visit. I materialised in the drawing room to find Luna lying on the sofa with a reading device in her hand, Arnaldo asleep beside her. My lips curled in chagrin when I saw his head was resting on her bosom.

  When I glanced at Luna she put a finger to her lips and looked down at Arnaldo, a soft smile on her lips. She ran a tender hand through his hair.

  Don’t wake him, the poor thing is exhausted.

  I managed a stiff nod and strode to the armchair by the fireplace, my lips tightening in anger.

  How long was he was going to stay this time? Months? Years?

  I sighed and flopped down into the armchair as Luna returned to her reading device.

  That was when I felt a mild jolt. My gaze snapped back to Arnaldo—who appeared to shift in his sleep—his eyes still closed, his hand moving to rest beneath Luna’s bosom.

  The little runt wasn’t asleep.

  His lips curled into a barely perceptible smile as an image entered my mind of Luna’s blouse open, Arnaldo’s lips and hands ravishing her bare breasts. An image I knew Luna had not seen.

  Heat pummelled into me. After years of this kind of baiting, that was the final straw.

  I shot to my feet, startling Luna who looked up at me in bewilderment.

  Avery?

  I ignored her and glared at Arnaldo who was still feigning sleep.

  The room disappeared in a swirl of candlelight and shadows as I moved into the ether, shrugging it away as I stepped into the bedroom. It took me a few moments to find what I sought.

  Luna appeared even more bewildered when I materialised in the drawing room, my hand clenched around something small, dark and soft.

  “Avery...”

  I stalked over to them and loomed over Arnaldo, who was still pretending to be asleep. I waited. After a few moments he opened his eyes.

  His lips curled into a smile when he got to his feet.

  “Guys, what’s going on?” Luna said.

  I took the gloves I had retrieved from the bedroom and slapped Arnaldo across both cheeks with them.

  Luna gasped and sprung to her feet.

  “Guys, hold on just a minute!”

  Arnaldo’s eyes narrowed, black sparks of malice sparking in their depths.

  In a quicksilver move, he grabbed me by the shirt front and dragged me into the ether to the sound of Luna’s astonished cry.

  Before the field of flowers materialised around us, I broke out of his hold and lunged at him only to feel his fist slam into my jaw, sending me tumbling through the air.

  I landed with a jolt on my stomach. Before I could get to my knees, he was standing over me, his boyish
beauty replaced by a mask of fury. He brought both fists down on my back. I heard the bones snap like dry twigs as hot pain surged through me.

  I gritted my teeth, expecting the pain to peak and then flee. To my horror it intensified, and it felt as if molten lava washed over me. I gasped, unable to move. I could see Arnaldo standing before me, his eyes alight with glee, a triumphant smile on his lips as he focused on me. The pain rose to an agonising peak which made me lightheaded, unconsciousness lurking just in reach. The pain continued to ascend. Then I realised what Arnaldo was doing. He was using his mental powers to keep the pain alive in my mind.

  I began to scream as his laughter rang out into the night.

  “Arnaldo!”

  The pain receded at the same time Arnaldo’s laughter ground to an abrupt halt. I looked up to see Luna standing a few metres away, staring at him with the cold, hard anger I had seen many a time in the past. Two red spots appeared on Arnaldo’s cheeks. His eyes widened and his cupid bow lips turned into an 'O' of anxiety so he looked like the little boy Luna still saw him as.

  He vanished.

  Luna’s form begun to waver.

  “Luna,” I cried.

  She glanced at me and the air around her smoothed. The hardness fell away from her like autumn leaves. She was by my side moments later.

  “Oh my God, Avery.”

  Although the pain had gone by then, I let her cradle me in her arms, content in the certainty that it would be a long while before Arnaldo showed his face at the mansion again.

  Unfortunately, return he did, a mere six weeks later.

  I remained by the fireplace in sullen silence as he sat on the sofa beside Luna, his large, dark eyes glistening with unshed tears, his voice rising and falling with the force of his emotions like unsettled waters.

  “Forgive me, Mother. Forgive me.”

  I rolled my eyes as he became overwhelmed with emotion. When Luna put a comforting arm around him, I got to my feet in disgust and moved to the door. I glanced back briefly to see his head against her shoulder, a little smile on his lips, nothing but trouble lighting his eyes as he watched me.

  I sighed and entered the ether into the field of flowers, comforted by the fact that I only had to pick another fight with him and he would be gone once more.

  Picking fights with Arnaldo, which I always lost, worked for a few years.

  That was until he began to let me win.

  We were in the drawing room and Luna was upstairs. By that stage I had discarded the whole theatrics with the gloves and I grabbed him, my fist raised to hit him, sure he would easily dodge the blow and strike me instead.

  He didn’t dodge the blow. My knuckles just about grazed his jaw when he tore himself out of my grasp.

  I watched in stunned silence as he threw himself into the fireplace. It gave way and toppled upon him.

  Luna was in the room before I could even blink. She gasped. Her raven eyes widened and her lip trembled when she saw Arnaldo on the floor, his eyes wide pools brimming with pain as I watched in bewilderment.

  She faced me, her eyes narrowed to glittering obsidian slits, her mouth pursed in anger.

  She was at Arnaldo’s side moments later, his face in her hands. He got to his knees, placed his head against her shoulder and wept.

  “What did you do to him, Avery?”

  “Nothing. He’s faking. I didn’t hit him hard enough to—”

  “You shouldn’t have hit him at all!”

  “But of course I hit him! He—” I took a step forward only for Arnaldo to flinch away, uttering wordless cries like a kitten mewing in terror.

  “Stay where you are, Avery,” Luna cried.

  “Stay where I am? This is my house and I’ll do as I please in it. He’s faking. Any imbecile can see—”

  “Did you just call me an imbecile?”

  “Yes. Only an imbecile would fall for his act...Dallas.” Yes, I called you Dallas. Only a fool like Dallas can be hoodwinked by a little brat like Arnaldo. I mean, do you know you’re the goddess of the moon? And just so you know, I always thought Dallas was a stupid name!

  Her body went rigid, her eyes narrowed and her face became as hard as black ice.

  She shot to her feet, causing Arnaldo, who had been leaning against her, to fall to the ground.

  I felt a quiver of anxiety at that look in her eye which held not a hint of sweet Dallas or the benevolent goddess. Only Luna in the worst possible rage.

  Arnaldo got into a sitting position, all traces of his tears and distress gone, his eyes round with trepidation along with curiosity as Luna advanced on me.

  She yanked me out of the room and into the ether with her.

  She threw me out of the ether and it was a moment or two before I realised I was soaring through the air. Too late I saw what used to be the swamp. After over two centuries and three world wars, it had become a toxic sludge empty of all wildlife.

  I landed in the thick, green, tar-like substance. I gasped and leapt out of it to scamper up a tree, dismayed at the smelly goo on my clothes and in my hair.

  My gaze fell on Luna standing on the edge of the swamp. She was trying to hold back a smile. Realising how undignified I must look, I stopped, my eyes narrowed and my mouth became a tight line. I let the ether fold itself around me.

  She was already at the mansion when I materialised in the foyer. I went straight to our bedroom. A short while later I materialised in the drawing room, a small carry case in my hand.

  Luna lay on the sofa, her eyes on her reading device. Her face was tight with tension, her eyebrows almost drawn into a single line, her lips pressed together in unified bullheadedness. Arnaldo sat in a corner in the shadows. That look was still in his eyes. It deepened when he saw the small case I was carrying. He got to his feet and opened his mouth as if to speak. Luna shot him a look that made his face turn ashen before he quickly sat back down again.

  I stood there for a few moments, and when she did not glance at me, I turned and left the drawing room. I slammed the front door shut on my way out.

  I doubted it would take longer than a day or two before she came looking for me, suitably contrite and begging me to return to the mansion.

  Weeks passed and it was not Luna who came looking for me.

  I was in a little eating establishment that was a pitiful recreation of one of those diners that had been prolific in that area back in the twentieth century. The only thing it had managed to accurately copy was the grime I remembered. I was sitting in a corner with a book—a real book, not one of those handheld reading devices—when a shadow fell across me.

  “Avery. Imagine bumping into you here.”

  I glanced up to see Arnaldo standing before me. I doubted he had happened upon me by chance.

  What do you want, Arnaldo?”

  He seated himself. “Nothing, bro. I just happened to be in the area.”

  I went back to my book, but could still feel his gaze on me. He spoke again after a few moments.

  “Guess what?”

  I glowered at him.

  “I’ve decided to travel for a while. I hate to leave Luna up there all on her own, but you know me. I’m a rolling stone. I can’t stay in one place for too long.”

  He was staring at me imploringly. He wore the loose, formless clothes of that age and looked so much younger than the age he had been when he was turned into a vampire it was hard to believe that centuries of experience separated him and me. I leaned back in my seat.

  “How long is too long?”

  “Around five years or so.”

  I glared at him.

  “Maybe closer to a decade. I hate the thought of Luna being up there all on her own.”

  “Okay. I’ll go back to the mansion.”

  I hoped the relief I felt didn’t show. Judging by the little smile on his lips, I can assume it did.

  “Great. Now look at that girl over there. Isn’t she—?”

  “Goodbye, Arnaldo.”

  “Right.”


  He got to his feet as I buried my face in my book once more. He squeezed my shoulder briefly before he walked away.

  I waited for a while to be sure he was gone before I left the diner and rushed to my hotel to pack and return to my goddess.

  Luna was reading when I entered the drawing room, her expression exactly the same as it was the last time I saw her. I regarded her in silence for a few moments before I went upstairs to unpack.

  We ignored each other for the rest of that night.

  At dawn I retired to the bedroom and got into bed beside her, relieved to be near her in the familiar comfort of our bed, breathing in her scent although she seemed an age away. I lay back and closed my eyes.

  A few minutes later I felt her soft arms around me as she snuggled close to me. I pulled her to me and placed a kiss on her forehead. I was happy to be home and even a little bit smug.

  It was as I’d said she’d be, contrite and having missed me too much to ever take Arnaldo’s side over mine ever again. Or so I allowed myself to believe, anyway.

  Arnaldo returned to the mansion a week later, claiming to have missed us so much he just had to cancel his travels and run back home.

  I could only glare at him.

  ***

  Back in the domed city I watched Arnaldo’s image a while longer as he spoke to those gathered in eerie silence, and as much as he irritated me, it was difficult to deny his magnetism. As I watched him, it was difficult to escape what the others gathered chose to ignore. Arnaldo was extremely skilled at hiding his emotions and was a virtual social chameleon. He was the perfect immortal, for he was able to tailor himself to whatever age he was in with ease, flowing through the centuries with the effortlessness of a rushing stream. Yet on this night—behind his silky smile, honeyed words, and tender gaze—there was anger directed at those gathered. It was clear to see, but they were too caught up in the entertainment.

  I continued on my way, but by now news had spread that a vampire was in the city. As I moved through the city the new generation milled around, their eager eyes taking me in, their minds empty whilst their mean mouths were quick to spread into smug smiles. I moved, noticing there was one at my elbow bleating some mindless drivel in a hope to make me glance her way. Whenever I did gaze upon them I saw only hatred peering back at me.