From Darkness She Will Rise

I’d always been at odds with my friend Sophie’s fascination for the macabre.  While I enjoyed a light-hearted romcom, her tastes favoured the dark side.  And whereas I obsessed over the latest teenage heartthrob, she swooned over Dracula.

It was her idea to take the shortcut to college, through the graveyard, that day we first encountered Mary.  The weather-beaten marble headstone, engraved with roses and fang-like thorns, drew Sophie like a magnet.  But what intrigued us both was Mary’s age, the same as ours, and the inscription that read ‘From darkness she will rise’.

With Halloween approaching, it was no surprise Sophie was desperate we participate.  But the thought of swapping my ‘too cool for school’ image, for a night of ‘trick and treating’, had me cringing.  And I’d never have agreed if it hadn’t been for charity.

Over the following weeks, we mastered basic magic tricks that we planned to perform in return for a donation.  And that was when Sophie threw a curve ball.  Vampires!  We’d entertain our public in the bloodcurdling form of …Vampires!  It was guaranteed, she convinced me, to increase our earning potential.

Wrapped in a black velvet cloak, crimson red lipstick dominating my chalk-white complexion, I ventured into the night.

The graveyard, eerily bathed in the evening mist, sent shivers through me.  I’d arrived early, so was relieved that Sophie was already waiting beside Mary’s grave.  Her lips, tinged with blue, curved in a welcoming smile as I approached.

She was unrecognisable.  Her skin, so pale it was virtually translucent.  Her bloodshot eyes, almost demonic.  I’d guessed she would outshine me, but this was impressive.

Our tricks were well rewarded.  None more so than Sophie’s ‘teeth to fangs’ transformation, that drew gasps, even from me.  I’d never seen it before.

Back at the graveyard, our goodbyes said, I turned to leave.  Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my neck, rendering me helpless, euphoric and consumed with exquisite pleasure.

Sophie never forgave me for not showing up that night.  But she’s somewhat compensated that, since then, I prefer horror movies and drool over Dracula.