In Darkness We Must Abide: The Complete First Season: Episodes 1-5

by Rhiannon Frater

  “Alisha, his name is Sin! I’m sure that isn’t short for Sinclair, right?”

  “No, it’s not! But why should it matter? Besides, you’re not my father!”

  The argument shifted away from the study, much to Vanora’s relief. Since Alisha’s career had started to take off and she interacted with the mortal world on a regular basis, Roman had been particularly paranoid and overly protective. He’d been horrified when Alisha actually started dating another artist. Vanora liked Sin. Whenever Alisha took her over to his place to hang out, Sin played Resident Evil with her.

  With a yawn, Vanora snuck her Motorola Razr out of her pocket and flipped it open. She was so bored of Little Women she could just die. As far as she was concerned, they all sucked, though Jo was somewhat tolerable. Texting Rhonda, her best friend at school, she tried to keep her action hidden behind the book just in case Roman returned. After her last dismal report card, he was a tyrant about her homework.

  “What are you reading?”

  Vanora flipped her phone shut, and looked up to see Armando taking the chair opposite of her. “Where did you come from?”

  “Ryan let me in,” Armando answered, flashing his white teeth in a broad smile.

  Whenever he smiled, she looked for fangs, but was always disappointed. Her brother and sister refused to show her theirs. If not for their adherence to living only at night, it was difficult to tell they were vampires. Vanora couldn’t even get them to turn into a bat, though she wasn’t sure if they even could.

  Armando lifted his eyes, head tilted, obviously listening to the argument that had shifted upstairs. “They’re fighting?”

  “Roman hates Sin.” Vanora shrugged.

  “Well, he is a good Catholic.”

  “No, he hates Sin, Alisha’s boyfriend.”

  Armando returned his gaze to her. She hadn’t really interacted with him since his arrival in their lives, and his attention made her feel self-conscious. Swinging her legs around, she sat up straight in her chair and shoved her feet into her red ballet shoes. Clad in red skinny jeans and a Hello Kitty t-shirt, she felt obscenely childish. Flipping her braids behind her shoulders, she felt her face flush. She knew it was dumb to want to impress a vampire who was hundreds of years old, but a piece of her desperately wanted him to think she was pretty.

  “Alisha has a boyfriend named Sin?” Armando was clearly amused. “Is he an artist, too?”

  “Yeah. He makes sculptures out of old cars. It’s cool.”

  “And he’s mortal?”

  “Yep.”

  Armando’s expression was thoughtful for a second, then he glanced at the book in her hands.

  “So you’re reading Little Women? For school?”

  “Uh, yeah. I’m supposed to pick which one I’m the most like and then write what I’d do in her place.” Vanora rolled her eyes. “It’s lame.”

  Armanda lifted one of his perfectly shaped eyebrows. “Why is it lame?”

  “Everyone is going to pick Jo. I mean she’s okay, but everyone in this book is dumb.” Vanora shrugged.

  “Actually, they’re very enlightened for that time period,” Armando explained gently. “I lived during that time and those characters were revolutionary. Especially Josephine. Women were tied to very strict gender roles. They often couldn’t make choices for themselves, even who they married.”

  Vanora tapped the book with her fingers. Noticing that her blue nail polish was chipped, she curled her fingers to hide them. “I didn’t think of that.”

  “Marrying for love was very rare. People married for security, political gain, to satisfy their families...” Armando’s golden eyes lowered, his lashes casting shadows over his cheeks. “Marrying for love was a luxury afforded to only a few.”

  Flipping the book around in her hands, Vanora stared at the cover. “Well, that sucks for them. And those dresses look awful.”

  Armando chuckled. “Yes, well, fashion is not always kind.” He gestured to her outfit. “Little girls wearing pants would have been scandalous at that time.”

  Vanora bristled under the ‘little girl’ label. “I’m fifteen. I had my birthday.”

  “Ah, true. Young lady, then. My mistake. In some eras, you would be married by now.”

  The twinkle in his eyes and amused smile he bestowed on Vanora softened her irritation. “Well, yuck.”

  “You don’t want to get married someday?” Both eyebrows lifted, surprised.

  Shrugging, Vanora answered, “Maybe. I mean...if the guy is cool, I guess. But he has to be super awesome and not a total spazz.”

  “Ah, so thinking about being a career woman?”

  “Maybe,” Vanora played with the edges of her book.

  “What would you like to be?”

  Another shrug. “Something where I could travel a lot. I want to see the world.”

  “I see.” Armando leaned forward, studying her thoughtfully. “The world is very beautiful.”

  “When I grow up, I’m going to go everywhere. After college, that is.” She lifted her head confidently. “I’m going to dye my hair, too. And maybe my eyebrows and eyelashes. I can get contacts when I’m eighteen. I want blue ones.” She discreetly flipped her phone open, trying not to look at it. She had told Rhonda that Alisha had a new friend that was really hot, so she wanted to provide a picture as proof.

  Armando widened his eyes slightly. He didn’t seem to notice what she was doing with the phone. “And why would you do all of that?”

  The question surprised Vanora. She tugged on one of her braids. “Because of this.” She clicked the button, snapping the photo.

  Armando looked at her quizzically. “I don’t understand.”

  Vanora rolled her eyes. “I’m an albino.”

  “Yes, I see that.”

  “And everyone stares at me. Or makes stupid comments. Or are mean.”

  “Who is everyone? I’m not doing any of those things, am I?”

  Her teenage hormones felt like they were in overdrive. The warmth in her cheeks was embarrassing. An albino blushing was extremely noticeable. “Well, no.”

  “You’re a beautiful little gi—a lovely young woman. Your white hair, lavender eyes, and white eyelashes make me think of an angel. And no one thinks of angels as ugly, do they?”

  “Well, no,” Vanora admitted.

  “Then whoever this everyone is, they are surely very foolish, or quite blind.”

  Pounding footsteps on the stairs coupled with the murmur of agitated voices heralded the arrival of Alisha and Roman. Armando stood up, tucking his hands into his jacket pockets. Roman strolled into the room clearly agitated, but still looking resigned.

  “Vanora, you’re going to the movies with Alisha and Sin.” Roman stopped short. “Oh, Armando. I didn’t realize you were here already.”

  “I arrived a little early. Traffic was light,” Armando answered.

  Roman’s eyes slightly narrowed, darting a quick glance at Vanora. He had made certain to keep her away from Armando, and he didn’t look happy to find them chatting.

  “He told me Little Women doesn’t suck,” Vanora said, trying to calm her brother’s fears.

  “Ah,” Roman said, clearly confused.

  Alisha let out a giggle, hoisting her big purse over one shoulder. “Come on, Snow Pea. Let’s blow this joint. Boring old men talking.”

  “I’m not old,” Roman protested.

  “Oh, really? I thought you were, since you keep acting like my father,” Alisha answered.

  Rolling her eyes, Vanora gave her brother a quick peck on the cheek before taking Alisha’s hand.

  Armando gave her one of his charming smiles. “Until next time.”

  Vanora caught Roman scrutinizing her, so she just gave Armando a short “bye” and hurried out with her sister. The last thing she wanted Roman to think was that she had any sort of crush on Armando. Roman was already paranoid enough about Alisha.

  “Sin’s already here,” Alisha said.

  “Which movie
are we going to see?”

  “The newest version of Little Women,” Alisha answered, opening the front door.

  “Ha, ha.” Vanora scowled.

  “Okay, okay. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.”

  “Yes!” Vanora high-fived her sister. She’d been begging to see the movie for weeks.

  “So, Snow Pea, you finally got to spend some time with your crush, huh?”

  Vanora clenched her hands into fists and gave Alisha her angriest look. “I don’t have a crush on Armando!”

  “Sure you don’t.” Alisha laughed as she sprang down the front steps.

  Vanora pursued, annoyed, frustrated, and terribly embarrassed.

  Sin’s old Mustang huffed and puffed in the driveway, the engine sounding more like an old man coughing than an actual sports car. Sin had bought it off the scrap heap, but decided to restore it instead of chopping it up for his art. It was a patchwork of colors that was always changing as he found new replacement pieces for it, but Vanora didn’t mind. He played cool music and didn’t fuss over her like Roman and Alisha tended to do.

  “Hey, squirt,” Sin said, grinning at her while popping open his door for her.

  “Hey, Sin.” She high-fived him and crawled into the backseat.

  Sin dressed like he was in a hard rock band and had a blue mohawk that Roman hated and Vanora thought was awesome. He’d had thick dreads when Alisha first started dating him, but accidently burned half them off when working on a sculpture. The new mohawk was his solution to the singed hair problem.

  Alisha climbed into the passenger seat and kissed her boyfriend, then wiped a bit of her red lipstick off his mouth.

  “Nah, leave it. People will see that you like me,” he said, jerking his head away.

  “You’re so lame,” Alisha chided him.

  They were an unusual looking couple. Sin looked a bit rough around the edges, while Alisha tended to dress in Betsey Johnson dresses and big chunky shoes.

  “So everything's cool now?” Sin waved his phone, covered in Misfits stickers, at Alisha.

  “Roman’s being an ass,” Alisha grunted. “Again. But at least our fight let Vanora hang out with her dream guy.”

  “Shut up!” Vanora kicked Alisha’s seat. Her cheeks were heating up again and she fidgeted with her phone.

  “Armando,” Sin said, rolling it off his tongue dramatically.

  “He’s far too pretty and has that mysterious thing going on.” Alisha smirked at her sister.

  Vanora ignored her and flipped open her phone to check the photo she had snapped.

  “It’s a good thing you don’t find tall, dark and handsome alluring,” Sin said, pulling his car around and heading toward the gates.

  “Average height, tannish, and not as handsome as you,” Alisha corrected. “I like them tall, Swedish, and sexy.”

  Sin laughed. “Good thing for me.”

  Studying the picture of Armando, Vanora scowled. The photo was just a blob of darkness that was blurred around the edges. She must have jerked the phone or something, ruining the shot. Tucking her phone away, she listened to her sister and Sin flirting.

  “Alisha,” she said a few minutes later, interrupting their repartee.

  “What’s up, Snow Pea?”

  “I need new clothes. I look like a stupid little kid and not like a teenager. I want to look fifteen, not ten.”

  Alisha and Sin exchanged amused looks as the Mustang hurled down the highway, then burst into raucous laughter.

  Vanora kicked both their seats.

  Alisha ignored her phone when it beeped with a new text message. Roman was still sending her messages, trying to argue his point. She knew she had made a big mistake when she had talked about Roman to Sin, and her brother was trying to reiterate how important it was that his existence be kept secret. Though it was four years since Roman’s death and resurrection, and Sin had arrived in Houston last year and knew nothing about her brother's death, Roman had been furious over her mentioning him. Alisha had played it off like she had felt that enough time had passed and she could trust Sin, but the reality was that she had been drunk, stupid, and giddy in the afterglow of the first sex she’d had since becoming a vampire.

  In all truth, she had been so relieved to finally feel human, she’d just rambled on just to see Sin give her his slow sexy smile of amusement. She’d been dumb, and now Roman was on her case in a way that both pissed her off and made her feel guilty all at once.

  “It’s a legit question. What are fifteen year old girls supposed to wear?” Sin said to Vanora.

  They were nearing the cinema and were a bit early for the next showing. She appreciated that Sin didn’t drive like a maniac when Vanora was in the car with them. Sin had lived in Germany just to drive on the autobahn, which notoriously had no speed limits, so his consideration of Vanora was just one more reason for her to like him.

  “Well, not a stupid Hello Kitty t-shirt,” Vanora retorted.

  Since puberty had hit, Vanora tended to act surly. Alisha remembered those years oh-too-well and gave her a break, while Roman just tried to crack down or reason with her. No matter how much Alisha told Roman that it was just the insanity of hormones, Roman tried to corral Vanora back to how she had been before her hormones had gone into overdrive.

  “I went to this club in Japan where all the hot chicks wore Hello Kitty t-shirts. And thongs,” Sin said.

  Alisha hit him.

  Vanora sighed dramatically from the backseat. “I’m not a little kid anymore. I’m not a little girl.”

  “True. You’re more of a big girl,” Sin agreed.

  Alisha smacked him.

  “I’m not a girl!” Vanora’s teenage angst was at full blast.

  “She’s a young woman,” Alisha said, giving her upset sister a quick smile.

  “Oh, yeah. She’s got tits now.”

  Alisha smacked Sin again. He just laughed.

  “Don’t say tits to my little sister.”

  “Boobs?”

  Alisha gave him her sternest look, but he just tapped her nose with his finger.

  “You’re so cute when you’re mad.”

  “Gross!” Vanora exclaimed.

  Rolling her eyes, but amused nonetheless, Alisha glanced out the window at the sparkling lights of the city. The cinema had a huge marquee that was lit up like the Fourth of July announcing the latest releases. Headlights sliced through the gloom as cars wandered the parking lot in hopes of a spot. Flipping open her phone, Alisha checked her text messages. They were all from Roman. She deleted them.

  Alisha knew it was childish, but he made her so mad when he acted like he was her parent. Though he greatly resembled their deceased father and even sounded like him, Alisha resented it when he tried to take authority over her. She completely understood that he felt responsible for her and Vanora, but she was an adult and didn’t need him lording over her. Of course, their relationship was further muddled by the fact they were both vampires, and Roman felt protective of her. Lately, she had found it easier and easier to forget she was a vampire when she was hanging out with Sin or socializing with other artists. She suspected Roman was a tad jealous of her ability to move around in the human world. Living in the mansion all the time had to be suffocating.

  Yet, she had enough on her plate. She was preparing for a new show and she was having a lot of difficulty with her latest pieces. They were far too dark, abstract, and disturbing. She’d developed a niche for her portrayal of sunlight. It wasn’t time yet for her to move on to a new vision.

  Sin finally found a parking spot and parked, holding one arm up in triumphant. “Six spaces from the front!”

  “It won’t hurt us to walk,” Alisha responded, rolling her eyes.

  Once they were all out of the car and walking toward the cinema, Alisha felt a bit more relaxed in the fresh April breeze. It was Friday night, and the area was very busy since the theater was hemmed in by restaurants. Couples on dates, teenagers in groups, and families all gathered b
efore the box office to purchase their tickets.

  “My treat. I sold a piece today,” Sin said, pulling out his wallet.

  Alisha snuggled into his side, smiling at him proudly. “It was an awesome sculpture.”

  Beside Alisha, Vanora texted on her phone, her small fingers dancing over the keypad. Alisha had to mentally figure out which numbers translated into letters, but Vanora was lightning fast. It had taken a lot of lobbying to get Roman to buy the Razr cellphone for their little sister’s birthday, but he had finally broken down.

  The thought of Roman brought a fresh burst of guilt rushing through Alisha. What if her slip up with Sin adversely affected them? Would Sin talk about Roman to someone who knew Alisha’s brother was supposed to be dead? A shiver ran through her, and she leaned her cheek on Sin’s muscular arm to comfort herself.

  Closing her eyes, Alisha pushed aside her fears and tried to concentrate on the smell of Sin’s cologne and skin. The coppery scent of blood caught her attention, and she drew away quickly. She had missed the bandage stuck on his bicep. Obviously, he had hurt himself again while working. Sometimes the sharp edges of his pieces nicked him. Running her tongue over her teeth, she was dismayed to feel her sharp fangs descending. Human blood always smelled much more delicious than the warmed pig and cow blood she drank to sustain herself. Flashes of sinking her teeth into Sin’s delicious skin sent shivers of pleasure and fright through her.

  “I have to go to the ladies room,” she muttered, keeping her head down, hiding her teeth.

  “No worries. I’ll buy the tickets and get in line for the popcorn,” Sin answered.

  Alisha dashed out of line and through the people clustered to get through the entrance. She had to push a bit, but she finally made it into the lobby and headed for the bathroom. Once inside, she darted into the first stall and leaned against the wall, her lips clamped shut. Trembling, she concentrated on anything but the smell of Sin’s blood. It took nearly ten minutes, but at last her teeth retracted. She’d have to be very careful for the rest of the night.

  As added insurance, she spritzed more perfume on herself, hoping it would help mask the scent of the fresh blood beneath the bandage. Finally, she hurried back out into the lobby and spotted Sin and Vanora in the line to waiting for the chance to buy snacks. Seeing them laughing and obviously having a good time brought a smile to her face. Yes, the life she was living was dangerous, but it was worth it just to see her sister out having a normal time like the rest of the teenagers.