Synthetic: Dark Beginning

by Shonna Wright

  “I'm not tired. The trip from Santa Monica to Malibu isn't far.”

  “Still,” said Ruby, leaning heavily on the railing as she climbed back up the stairs. “I want you fresh tomorrow morning.”

  When the door closed, Kora rushed over and swung it open but the hallway was empty. Ruby must have disappeared into one of the nearby rooms. Kora wandered over to the bed, pulled back the sheets, and smelled the mattress. Mold, sweat, and something else... blood. When she stood back up, something bit the end of her nose. She cursed and knocked some kind of insect off of her face just as the door to the hall swung open with a loud bang. A tiny man stomped down the stairs holding a tray. He was no taller than three feet, wore a meticulously constructed purple suit trimmed in orange fur, and a pair of polished black boots. Kora wondered if she was hallucinating from sniffing the moldy bed.

  “Hellloooo, anyone home in that pretty head?” said the creature. His voice was rough from either too much smoking or yelling, but when Kora looked closer at his deeply wrinkled face, she decided it was probably from both. “I’m Ivan. Ruby said you’d be hideous, but I think you look pretty good. Hiding something?” He rolled his eyes hungrily over Kora’s body until they stopped on her skirt. “Why are you wearing those dreadful white clothes? You look like a nurse, and not the good kind but... nunnish.”

  Kora glanced down at her outfit that now had a smudge of dirt on it. “My clothes are all specially made for me in Paris by top designers.”

  “What a waste of their time. A girl like you should have some color in her wardrobe.” Ivan’s eyes lit up as he stared at her blue hair. “Orange. You would look incredible in bright orange with green fur at your neck.”

  The door from the hall yawned open and Ivan spun around, his finger already wagging in the air. “Caleb. I told you to stay in the kitchen while I brought the tray down to the guest.”

  A deep grunt rattled the room as a massive head appeared from behind the door. Caleb’s yellow eyes, lodged deep beneath a colossal brow, roamed the walls until they settled on Kora. Then he squealed like a baby delighted to find a piece of candy and stepped boldly through the door. His square body filled the room with nine feet of hard muscle clad in tailored black pants and a burgundy dress shirt with a slight ruffle. The giant lunged at Kora who hopped onto the bed and screamed.

  “You’re scaring her, Caleb,” yelled Ivan. “She doesn’t remember you.” Caleb backed away, wringing his hands and whimpering. “You don’t have to be frightened,” Ivan said to Kora. “Caleb’s never hurt anyone. He must recognize you from when you lived here before.”

  The idea that she once dwelled in filthy rooms with an ugly giant roaming the halls overwhelmed Kora with disgust. She unfolded herself from the wall, but kept a careful eye on Caleb in case he made any sudden moves. “Do you remember me?” she asked Ivan.

  “You’re from way before my time, sugar. I’m only nine.” He waggled his bushy eyebrows at her.

  Kora appraised Ivan’s severely aged face. “Then you're the poorest quality synthetic I've ever seen. In fact, I don't think you're even synthetic. You look slapped together from human parts which is why you're degrading so quickly.”

  She wished she’d kept her mouth shut. Ivan’s jaw dropped open and his little face contorted with fury, making his wrinkles even more pronounced. “What!”

  Kora winced. “Did I just say all that out loud?”

  “Who the hell do you think you are?” hollered Ivan.

  Kora lifted her chin. No use turning back now. “I'm the lead synthetic designer at Mirafield so I know what I'm talking about.”

  “Well then, missy,” said Ivan, holding up her tray. “I'm the lead cook here at the castle and I know what I'm talking about.” He slammed the tray down onto the floor sending an explosion of mashed potatoes into the air.

  “No!” Kora was hungrier than she thought. She squatted down on the floor and did her best to salvage what was left of her lunch. She wanted to throttle Ivan. He was just a servant, after all, but she had a feeling that if she complained to Ruby, the old woman wouldn't be sympathetic. This place was a dark, grimy madhouse. All the same, she needed to smooth this over with Ivan or god knows what would end up in her food—if she ever got any again. “Maybe it’s just the way you style your hair that makes you look a bit older than you should.”

  Ivan's frown disappeared as his fingers flew up to fuss with his blond tufts. “I have to comb it in a certain way to cover up the fact that my hair is receding. I think all the years of bleaching has taken its toll on my scalp.” He squinted at Kora’s hair. “You must touch up your roots often?”

  “I’ve never dyed it before. It just grows that way and I have no idea why. Same with my nails.”

  Kora held out her hands to show him her blue nails and Ivan drew in an excited breath. “Can you do something like that for me? I’d love it if my hair just grew in blond. It might keep it from falling out.”

  Permanent hair, skin, and nail pigmentation was an annoyingly easy task for Kora; something that she generally left to Mirafield's army of lower technicians. The only hair Kora ever tended herself were Randall's thin wisps of gray which she bulked up into a thick brown mop. “Why not just let your hair grow in its natural color?”

  “Everyone in this miserable house has black hair, except for maybe Vaughn whose hair is dark brown.”

  “Vaughn—who's that?” Saying the name sent a shiver through her.

  “He’s a pain in my ass that never goes away. Like a hemorrhoid.”

  “Are you related?”

  “Four brothers. Vaughn is the black sheep.”

  “That’s wonderful.” Kora felt a pang of envy for the tiny man. “I’d give anything to have a family.”

  Ivan looked as bored as a teenager. “Can we get back to my hair? I want a classic California look: blond with little highlights all over so it looks natural.”

  Kora stared at Ivan’s fried clumps. “I suppose I could do that…if you found out some information for me about when I lived here.”

  “You don't remember?”

  She shook her head. “I only remember waking up at Mirafield ten years ago.”

  Ivan yawned and Kora noticed his mouth was full of baby teeth in desperate need of brushing. “I have no idea and frankly, I don't care. Not my bag. Never heard a thing about you until a week ago.”

  Caleb, who’d grown restless, stomped forward and once again, Kora flew onto her bed.

  Ivan reached out and gave the giant’s leg a heavy pat. “You really need to get over this terror of Caleb. He’s like a big bunny. Let him touch you and you’ll see how gentle he is.”

  This was the last thing Kora wanted. “No really I—”

  “If you really want to remember, start with Caleb. He knew you, that's for certain, because he's been here at the castle forever.”

  Kora wanted to get back on Ivan's good side after insulting him, so she reluctantly crept up to the giant, put out her hand, and hoped he didn't mangle it. Caleb stretched forth a lone finger and ran it gently along Kora’s thumb. It took every ounce of her self-control to keep still. His touch made her stomach churn and a memory rippled through her like the tingling in a limb after years of numbness. She’d spent many hours smothered in those massive arms and struggled for years to avoid the long, inescapable reach of those colossal hands.

  When they were both gone, Kora stared at what was left of her dinner on the floor. The mashed potatoes were lost but some kind of roast had rolled into a dirty corner. She was so shaken and hungry that she scooped it up, cut off the bad parts, and sat down on a rickety little chair to eat. It was good. In fact it was more than good, and she had her own chef to cook for her back at Mirafield.

  Stuffed and emotionally exhausted, Kora stared up at the stone ceiling where several cracks were creeping from two corners. This castle was her worst nightmare: dark, dirty, and packed with mutant synthetics who talked down to her. If she ever created anything as disastrous as Ivan, she would i
mmediately put the poor creature out of its misery. Randall had forced her to dismantle synthetics for much milder deformities, and here Ruby had allowed Ivan to live an astounding eight years during which he'd aged fifty. He probably only had a few more years to live before he died of old age. As for Caleb— a wave of loathing swept through Kora when she pictured the giant—he shouldn't just be destroyed, but obliterated. She was surprised at the intensity of her feelings. Usually, Kora felt pity when faced with demolishing a living creature, no matter how messed up, but not Caleb. More than anything in the world, she wanted the giant dead.

  Chapter 4

  Vaughn crawled over to his shirt and jeans that lay in a crumpled pile at the foot of the bed. “We overslept, Berta. I have to get going.”

  Berta curled herself around him and when that didn’t work, she tried jerking his clothes out of his hands. “I’m sure Ruby already knows you’re gone so what’s the hurry?”

  “I don’t want her to come looking for me.”

  “And see something like this?” Berta swung out of bed and stood naked before the door.

  Vaughn tried to squeeze by, but Berta pulled his head down into a passionate kiss. He struggled to untangle himself, but her arms seemed to grow around him like vines. He finally wrenched himself free and hurried down the stairs into the dining room where Berta’s brother, Ramon, sat eating oatmeal. Vaughn needed to get the hell out of there before Ramon had a chance to ask questions.

  “Did you guys break up like you said?”

  “Yeah.” Vaughn sped past him.

  “I heard you two arguing. Lots of furniture breaking and stuff getting tossed around.”

  “It got a bit violent.”

  “Sounded like one hell of a strange fight. You both kept agreeing with each other over and over: Oh God—yes—yes—yes.”

  The door was open but Vaughn didn’t walk through. “Okay— I didn't beak up with her.”

  Ramon smiled. “I thought so.”

  “Can we talk later?” Vaughn slipped out onto the porch where he was attacked by a swarm of children. He lifted Ramon’s little sister, Iris, into the air and swung her around like an airplane. When he set her back down, she took off with her arms out to her sides and all of the younger children did the same as they ran after her.

  Ramon joined him on the porch still holding his bowl. “Just think, in about six years you can add my little sister to your harem. That’ll spice things up for you.”

  Vaughn knew Ramon was just trying to piss him off because Iris was like a daughter to him. He glared at his friend and then cut across the yard toward the castle that was barely visible through the morning mist.

  “Are you and Berta gonna do more breaking up tonight or will I be able to get some sleep?” Ramon called after him.

  Vaughn walked down the wet sand to the back of the castle. He studied the dark windows, certain that he’d left the drapes open when he went out the night before. He jumped twenty feet to land on his railing and slipped quietly through the French doors. Vaughn tiptoed past a sleeping Ruby and yanked the curtains open one by one.

  “Goddamn it,” said Ruby, shielding her eyes.

  “Nothing more cheerful in the morning than sunlight.”

  Ruby retreated to the shadows at the back of the room where she took refuge in a chair that looked like a medieval throne. “What sort of vampire are you?”

  “The Malibu Barbie kind. I come with a tan.”

  “This time I'll make sure the skin stays pale.”

  “This time?” Vaughn froze in the middle of the room.

  Ruby daintily arranged her lace skirt across the chair. “Where were you last night?”

  “Out.”

  “Ivan mentioned a Berta the other day. It pains me to think I’m learning the names of the Food because that means they’ve become pets.”

  “Ivan’s a little shit who'll say anything to get me in trouble.”

  “Afraid I’ll haul her lovely ass into my dungeon?”

  “She’s nothing.”

  “You know I wouldn’t mind this sort of behavior if you had the manners to kill them after you’re done eating. It’s easy for me to get more prisoners from Randall. He seems to have an endless supply of enemies.”

  Vaughn wanted to take a shower. He felt groggy and knew he smelled like sex, but Ruby would probably try to follow him in. “Murdering them is just so messy. Ivan would complain about all the bloodstains in the laundry and you know how picky he is.”

  Ruby let out a long sigh. “I never wanted you to turn the Food into a little village of adoring groupies. You cycle through these stupid girls because you’ll never be satisfied with a mere human. You’re different. Superior. And very soon, my dark prince, you’ll meet your equal.”

  Vaughn darted by her on his way to the bathroom. “Are we done? I need a shave.” He bent down over the sink and splashed his face with water before covering it in a thick lather. He grabbed a straight razor from its stand and drew the blade across his skin, jumping when he caught sight of Ruby in the mirror. “What else do you want?” His body stiffened as she glided up to him.

  “Oh, you cut yourself,” said Ruby in a high voice. “Let me see.” She cradled Vaughn’s face between her hands as she gazed at the tiny gash. Before he could jerk away, her tongue curled out and swept across the cut, then back into her mouth. Vaughn pushed roughly by her and grabbed a towel. He could feel Ruby's eyes inspecting him while he wiped off his face. “I spend thousands every year buying you expensive clothes, and all you ever wear is that dreadful coat and worn-out jeans. The least you can do is try on those handmade shoes that arrived from Italy a few days ago.”

  “We live on the beach. I don’t need shoes. Besides, I think Ivan already stole them.”

  Ruby’s eyelid twitched. “But that coat,” she continued, “goes with the Victorian suits I had custom tailored for you on Savile Row.”

  “Ivan stole those as well. Why don’t you dress him up like Lestat? All that lace would just drive him mad.”

  Ruby drew in a ragged breath as she struggled to hold in her anger. “I didn’t come here to fight, but to tell you that I have a new project. You won’t see much of me over the next week. I’ll be very busy.”

  Vaughn felt his heart stop in his chest. “What are you up to?”

  “It’s a secret.”

  “You’ve retired from work, remember?”

  “Which work are you referring to?” Ruby swished up to him with a playful look on her face. “I’m not making any new creatures if that’s what you’re worried about. I have enough worthless monsters roaming the castle. I’m simply making an effort to fix myself up a little. The ultimate spa retreat.”

  Vaughn relaxed and felt the blood coursing through his veins once again. Packing Ruby off for a few days of solitary pampering would give him precious hours of freedom. “Sounds like a good idea.”

  “I'll also be finishing up a new script for a show I'm pitching to Fox. Which brings me to ask you for a big favor.”

  Vaughn knew from experience that a favor was simply a veiled term for an order. “I want nothing to do with another show.”

  “But you're the star, my blood drinking knight. Let me practice my pitch.” Ruby’s eyes glazed over and her voice rose as her hands fluttered into the air. “A gorgeous vampire swims ashore after two hundred years buried at sea. He's starved for blood and wanders into a quiet beach village where he slaughters—”

  “I don’t swim and I don’t act.”

  “There will be no acting, my dark one. It will all be real. Don’t you see? I’ve written this whole thing for us. We’ll star in it together.”

  “The hell we will.” Vaughn headed for the door.

  “It’s time you got over this stupid fear of the water,” Ruby yelled before he slammed it behind him.

  Halfway down the hall, Vaughn ran his hand over a smooth oak panel then gave it an angry whack. A slender rectangle of wood slid open to reveal a narrow spiral staircase. He wound do
wn two floors and burst through a pantry into a large kitchen. A line of windows opened out to sea and Vaughn drew in a breath of sea air mixed with the pungent odor of raw meat. Ivan stood on a tall stool behind a brightly tiled counter wearing a silver apron with a large knife in his hand.

  “What are you making?” asked Vaughn. He watched carefully as Ivan hacked the leg off a decapitated bird.

  “Herb seasoned roasted chicken. It’ll be delicious for those of us who can eat.”

  Vaughn hated Ivan’s constant jabs at his eating disorder. He tried not to let it show but as Ivan knew too well, it was the only taunt that really got to him. Vaughn slouched into a chair across from Caleb who was busy feeding two stuffed animals tiny teacups of water. After each sip, the giant carefully wiped their furry faces with a clean napkin. For as long as Vaughn could remember, Caleb had performed this same ritual every afternoon. At one time he’d been curious about the event, but the regularity of it had worked its way into the daily routine so now it seemed as normal as watching Ivan wind up all the clocks in the living room.

  “If you’re here to avoid Ruby you better shove off,” said Ivan. “I don’t want her coming in here after you.”

  “I’m not hiding. I just came down to ask you something.”

  “The answer is no.”

  “I need a car.”

  Ivan slid the knife under the chicken’s skin, flaying the taut layer from the body in one piece then holding it up before Vaughn on the tip of his knife. “Forget it. You’ve already wrecked five. You’d have better luck asking me for a kidney.”

  “If I wanted one of those, I’d just sneak into your room while you were asleep. And I only wrecked three. There are over fifty cars in that garage so I think you can give me one for a few hours.”

  “I said no.”

  “They’re Ruby’s cars. Not yours.”

  Caleb stopped feeding his stuffed toys and looked up like a deer sensing danger. Ivan raised the knife high over his head before plunging it deep into the bird’s breast. “I’m the one who fixes them, polishes them, and protects them from idiotic vampires who can’t drive.”