Dark Shadows

"Do you believe in vampires?" For anyone, this answer is no. But, unless your Luna Peterson, then the answer is yes.

 

Chapter One: Young Life

I was the the second child of two, fitting, wealthy people. When I came into the world, I'd already had an older sister, which one day would become the child my parents always dreamed of. My sister, Lorraine, was two years older than me at the time. Named after an author, she was always described as "having a sliver spoon in her mouth". I never really looked up to her, probally because we were always two different people. You couldnt tell we were sisters.

In school, all of my teachers were excitied to have me as a student. "Look, its Lorraines little sister!" They always exclaimed when school started. But, by the time the end of the year came rolling around, they had nothing to say. I knew inside their head they were thinking, "I hope the Petersons dont have another child!" My teachers always compared me to my sister. Even my parents did. This made me wonder why I wasn't good enough for them, or anyone actually.

When I turned nine, I had created a weird obsession with vampires. I watched all the old Dracula movies, started wearing black clothing, and even told kids at school I was a vampire. Which, totally freaked most of them out and lead to a meeting in the office with my parents and teachers. I was told that I wasn't a vampire, and that I had to stop living in some dream world. My hopes went crashing. But, that didnt stop me. Any chance I got, I embraced myself with the thoughts and wishes of vampires. If I ever had to write a report about anything, it was on vampires. I read books on vampires, serched them up on the internet when allowed computer time. Now, I'd be considered a modern-day teen obsessed with some celebirty like Justin Bieber. But I was much more than that.

When I turned 13 my parents stopped buying me clothing. They'd hand me money and told me to buy my own clothing. I didnt have to ask them why they were doing this. They were tired of me wearing the same black clothing. Eventully, I became a family disgrace to them.

In middle school my peers didnt know me as Luna, but as freak-girl. I was a total outcast. My parents always tryed to set up play dates. They couldnt understand why my sister was so popular, and I wasnt. To be honest, there were alot of things my sister was, that I wasnt. It didnt bother me. I was proud to be the person I was.

Never did I had friends, and when I couldnt obsess over vampires, I did normal things gothic teens would do. My parents went to bed at 9 o'clock every night. I would pop popcorn and relax in my room and watch 'nick at nite'. Lorraine would be up until eleven talking on the phone to one of her friends, or boyfriends. As soon as the light went out in her room, so didnt mine. I would change from my pj's to my regualr clothing. I would climb from the window in my room over to the patio we had on the second level. We lived in a upscale mansion. From the patio I would go down the stairs into the kitchen, and down to the basement. My basement was murky and alarming. I always wanted to move my room down there, but my parents would let me. My whole life there was a broken window in the basement, small enough for me to fit through. I'd climb though and place a metal door stopper so the window wouldnt close.

After sneeking out, my night was filled with traveling into the woods and take pictures of bats, creepy trees and the moon. After my picture-taking-session, I would lay by the bank of a small stream that flowed through the woods. Usually I fell asleep and woke up by the beeping of my phone. My alarm was set to thirty minutes before my parents woke up. Then I would head back to my house, climb into the basement, remove the doorstopper and go back into my room. On average, I got about four hours of sleep at night, if that. I was all about living in the night, and sleeping in the day. Because I was so tired during the day, I would sleep when I got home, until about 7 at night. Then, the cycle would repeat itself.

My sister did great things throughout highschool. Was captin of the cheerleading squad, took advanced classes, won numerous amounts of spellings bee's and all the stuff a normal honored student would do. But me, I was an outcast. I didnt participate in any sports or activities. Lorraine would knock out all of her required classes to take french, german, cooking classes, and any elective available. By her senior year she was fluent in English, Spanish, ASL and French. With the help of a private tutor, it was easy for her to learn so many languages. Unlike my intelligent sister, I took basic classes and only classes I needed in order to graduate. I took Chinese my freshman and sophmore year. If I didnt have a class scheduled one period, I'd hang out in the bathroom, or lounge in the library.

At the time my parents started letting me wear makeup, I had finally betrayed them. I was handed a fifty dollar bill when my mother dropped me off at the mall. My sister was to look after me, which never happened. As long as I met up by the malls horribly, disgusting bathrooms before mom arrived, I was free to go anywhere I wanted. A new store opened up. It was called 'Ghouls and Monsters'. It was my kind of store. As I ventured through the store my hands were filled with fake body tatoos of bats, fake pairs of fangs, black clothing items and anything a girl like me would like. As I went to check out, I found the one thing a 15-year old gothic girl would love. Black lipstick. I bought it. But I was careful about hiding my buyings at the mall.

The next day, while I was getting ready for school, reppin' my news clothing items, I realized I bought lipstick. Of course I had never worn lipstick. But, I had seen my mother apply it various times. Slowly, I covered my lips in black lipstick. And when my parents saw it, they freaked. But, they never told I couldnt wear it again. So, everyday my outfit included a nice layer of black lipstick.

Before I started my junior year in highschool, our family went on vacation to Paris. We were there for about three weeks. Everyday my sister would wake my parents early and they would venture off to some place, only leaving a note behind. The note said the same thing everytime. "We'll be back at 4:30, heres 20 bucks in case you need it. Be careful." There was never an 'I love you', my parents stopped telling me that when I started highschool. While my family was out, I would walk around and try to talk to people. My sister let me borrow her French-English Dictionary. I couldnt speak french well at all. I had ran into a young french guy one day. He had curly brown hair and light green eyes. He was a ken-doll-god. Quickly, going through my book trying to look for the word for sorry, I found it. "Desole!" I said. He laughed. Later I realized I was pronouncing it totally wrong. The boy informed me he spoke english. His name was Pierre. He showed me around Paris, and took me to show me some exclusive places in Paris. I didnt keep in touch with him after we left Paris. He was the only friend I had ever had before.

 

 

Chapter Two- New Kid in Town

It was finally here, my seventeenth birthday. I started it like any normal day, showering, putting on my normal black clothing and lipstick. When I went downstairs I noticed a note on the kitchen table. It was from my parents. They weren't gonna be home tonight. My father had to fly out and do an emergency brain surgery and my mother went with her. That meant only Lorraine and I would be home.

After Lorraine got ready for school, we got into her 2010 camaro and speed out the driveway. My sister rolled the windows down and blared the latest Kesha song. Loudly, Lorraine sang along. I just put my head back against the zebra printed seatcovers, and relaxed.

School was a waste of my time. I rarely did any work, and never did homework. I went because it was required to attend. But today, an extreme rumor was roaming around Millerville High School. There was news of a new family moving into the old mansion on the other side of the woods. I didnt believe it, but there was only one way to find on if the rumors were true. Take a visit to the mansion.

After my parents came home, celebrated my birthday, and everyone went to bed, I headed to the woods. On the other side laid the mansion, it was only about a 20 minute walk. Tonight the woods were a little darker than usual. I felt the presence of someone lurking around me. So I rushed through the small stream, kicking small pebbles up with my combat boots. Quickly, I pushed through thorn bushes, practiclly throwing myself onto the dirt road leading up to the mansion.

The luxury medieval styled mansion was beautiful. I'd never had a good chance to look at til now. The gate was already open, so I headed to the back of the mansion. There were black roses surronding steps. Next to a door was an open window. I pushed myself up onto the railing on the steps. The only way to get through was by going head first. I poked my head through, and held myself up on the counter with my hands. Quietly, I pulled my legs through and sat on the counter to catch my breath.

The kitchen was lit by candles on a chandelier. The cabinets were a dark wood, along with everything else in the kitchen. I headed through a doorway and found my way into a dining room. Wine colored drapes surronded the long wooden table. In the middle was a vase with black roses in it.

A dark wooden door was proped open with a door stopped. I slipped through the open crack and into a great hallway. There were huge stairs with red carpet going down them. Next to the steps was a small hallway the ended at a door. On the other side of the steps was a little area with paintings by various artist. A den was located at the front of the mansion by the front door. In the den was long wine colored drapes, like in the dining room; a small black loveseat with two small pillows; and a decorative easel the looked brand new.

I headed back over to the the staircase. Quietly and quickly, I moved up them to find a long hallway. On the left said was two doors, as for the right, two doors. Ahead of me was a small staircase. I walked up to it and saw a door at the top of the steps. This door was like the other doors in the house, but there was no light on the steps. The easiet way I could, I crept up the steps. The dark door had a white piece of paper, and with black cursive hand writing it said "Don't Bother Me." The loud music coming from the rose really signaled to leave whomever was in there alone.

I turned around to find someone standing in front of me. I looked up and saw a teenage boy my age with black hair in his face. Through the cracks of his hair you could see light chocolate brown eyes. He had on black jeans, black shoes, a black button-down unbottoned with a gray tee shirt on other. This boy was beautiful. He opened his mouth to say something, but I zoomed passed him, down the steps, to the ground floor and out the front door.

Running as fast as I could to the gate, I stopped to look behind me. The boy was standing in the doorway of the mansion watching me run. I didnt stop. Running through the woods only took 10 minutes, and I made it back to my house in no-time. Which was good, the alarm on my phone already went off and my parents wood be up soon.

Sneaking back into my house was easy. My parents were up, but they didnt see me. I changed into black sweats, and a baggy Skillet tee. I sat at my desk. There was notebooks full of drawings, broken pecils and eraser bites. Above my desk was a board where I put my favorite drawings.

I pulled out one of my notebooks to a clean sheet. I started sketching, letting my hand do the work. I felt like I was in my own little perfect world.

After about an hour of perfecting my sketch, it was complete. I tore the paper out the notebook and cleared space in the middle of my board to put my sketch up. There was my favorite sketch. The beautiful goth boy I had only saw a little over an hour ago.

The sun was starting to rise. I closed my curtians and settled myself into my bed. My mind filt with images of the gothic boy. He was beautiful. Surely dazzling.

 

Chapter Three- Prep Party

I woke up about three in the afternoon from my mother knocking at the door. I pulled my window over my head. She came into my room and pushed around the stuff on my chair and sat in it. She cleared her voice to say something but she stopped. I pushed the blankets off of me and took the pillow off my head. When I looked up, my mother was starring at me.

"What?" I asked as I ventured out of bed.

"We need to talk."

I grabbed my brush and brushed my hair back. I removed my black shirt, revealing my bare torso, and slipped on a tanktop.

"Your seventeen Luna. Your barely passing your classes, besides art. You have no job, you dont even know how to drive. All you do is sleep. Your room is a mess. You never do things with the family. And im tired of it. From here on out your gonna start getting your life together. Im not gonna talk to you about this again." Then she left.

I went downstairs into the kitchen. My sister was laying on a lawnchair on the deck, my father glued to the newpaper, my mother flipping through cook books, and the maid was cleaning. I opened the stainless steel fridge, grabbed the half gallon of orange juice and chugged down the rest of it.

For the next couple hours I snacked on trail mix and watched black and white films. The only light in my room came from the t.v. and the purple lava lamp on my end table. My skull & crossbones blanket was pulled up to my chin. About seven o'clock, my sister blasted into my room and blinded me with the light from my ceiling. She came over and started tugging me out of bed.

"Were going out tonight." She said pulling me off my bed.

"Were not going anywhere."

"C' mon! Theres a party at Kole Tompsons house, and I cant miss it! So your coming with me. We leave in an hour." Then she left.

I undressed myself and slipped into the shower. After I put on dark blue skinny jeans, black heeled boots with a buckle at the top, and a black cami with a rose design. I straightened my hair and braided my bangs back. Quickly, I addes black eyeliner, eyeshadow and mascara. I put on a light pink lip gloss. I put on a fake necklace from the halloween store and met my sister by her car.

She smiled at me and motioned for me to get into her car.

The ride there was kinda long. We drove into the town and out again to Koles. We pulled onto the street where he lived and ironicly, Koles house was the only house on the street. Cars were lined up along the side of the street all the way up to Koles house. Lorraine pulled into the driveway and the garage door opened. She parked and we got out.

"Have fun." She waved at me, then left.

I found my way out the garage and into the house. People were eating around tables filled with tons of finger foods and drinks. There was a faint sound of music coming from outside. Couples slipped past me and headed upstairs. I followed the sound to outside. People were loitering around the pool, some were in the pool, but most were up on the balcony dancing. I saw the whole football team there, cheerleader squad. If you were popular, or some-what popular this was where you were.

As most people pasted me, they gave me dirty looks. I sat in a lawn chair and watched people dive into the pool. A senior from the football team was grilling and has a beer in his left hand. Between flipping steaks and shouting to people, he sipped his beer. He finally let someone else take over the grilling and came and sat next to me. He finished off his beer and through it on the ground. Glass shattered everywhere. I smacked my lips and rolled my eyes. Apparently he noticed because he glared over at me.

"Is there a problem sweetpea? If so, some of the cheerleaders can come handle my light work."

He came up to me and stood me up. I pushed him away, and he grabbed my arms and pulled me close. He kept trying to kiss me and pull my shirt off. I kept pushing him away. Finally someone came up and pulled him. The drunk guy walked away.

I went back inside and went upstairs. The doors to the balcony was open and kids were coming in and out. I looked around for a quiet, empty roomed. Finally, I found one and went in. It was the library. I went to the back of it and there was a couch with a nice tv. A little kid was sitting their watching and old black & white movie. Out of no where the movie paused and the kid stood up. I ducked behind a bookshelf.

"Who goes there?!" The kid shouted.

I stood up with my hands up. "Just a girl looking for some place quiet. My sister dragged me to the stupid party. Do you mind if I join you?" And I nodded to the screen.

The kid allowed me to watch the movie with him, and shared his popcorn with me. After awhile the kid feel asleep. I turned the movie off and covered him up with a blanket from the couch. I left the library to see the party had died down. I need to find my sister and leave. So, I went around and asked the cheerleaders where she was. They didnt know where she was. The party was still crazy, and my head was pounding. It was already two in the morning, so I went and waited in her car.

I was woken by the sound of her car door shutting. My sister got in and let out a sigh and smiled. I looked at the clock, it read 4:30am.

"Where were you?" I asked mad.

"Having fun, you should try it sometime."

I smelt the booze under her breath. "Have you been drinking?"

"Of course not!" She started the car and pulled out the driveway. It didnt take as long to get back as it did to get there. I headed to my room when we arrived home. My parents would be up soon, so I relaxed in bed and went to sleep.

 

 

Chapter Four- Meeting

The day after the Prep Party was like any normal day for me. I slept part of the day away, while my parents did prosperous things, and my sister did whatever. But today, wasn't normal for the rest of the household. I was woken by the alerting knocks at my sisters door and the repulsive yelling of my parents voices. Dreading getting out of bed, I did it anyways. I opened my bedroom door to find my parents, dressed in suits, knocking away at my sisters door. They looked raging. "Have you seen your sister this afternoon?" My mother asked.

"I just woke up, does it look like I've seen her? Its not like she slept in my bed." I said as I walked downstairs. By the way they're dressed, Im guessing they're having a meeting with the Dean of some outstanding school for my sister. Last night my sister was certainly drunk, the odds of her not in the house was low.

I went down into the basement, the only place my parents refuse to go in the mansion. When my sister and I were little, this is were we would go if we were in trouble. But, my sister was in trouble seldom. Most likely she was sitting on a crate filled with things my mother owned, but didnt want to be seen. Right about this moment, Lorriane is probally chilled by the spiders that lurk in the basement. When I made my way down the basement steps, and landed my feet onto the floor, I knew where my sister was. There was a little couch we owned when we were younger. My sister loved it, and my mother hated it. One day, my mother had hired someone to move it down here, and hide it. Since my sister never came down here, she most likey hasn't seen it since.

"Lorraine?" I wispered.

"Yes?" I heard my sisters reply.

"Mom and dad are looking for you. Whats going on?"

"Come, have a seat next to me."

I followed her voice, and sure enough, she was sitting on that old couch. She was still wearing her party clothes from the night before, her hair in a high pony, and her mascara running down her face. She had been crying, and reaked of sweat and dirty basement.

"Mom and dad.." She began. "Have always tried to make me some tennis pro. I've played tennis, and cheered. Both are great passions of mine. Today, we're supposed to be meeting with the Dean of the University of Flordia about a scholarship to play tennis there. But, I dont wanna play tennis. And I dont wanna go to Flordia U. I wanna be an english major and go to Princeton. Mom and dad wont let me. Mom's always wanted me to follow in her dreams. My plan was to wait out so we would be late to the meeting. Maybe Mom and Dad will realize I dont want to go to Flordia U. Then, I can live the dream I want."

"Sis, you should talk to them. Tell them how you feel. You know the only reason they push into pursuing this, this tennis dream is because they know they can't get it out of me. They dont expect me to go to college, or do anything with my life. You're the daughter they've always wanted, not me." I said slowly getting up.

"Don't say that Luna. You're gonna make something of yourself."

"No, its true. Mom and Dad honor you, and love you."

"Mom and Dad love you too Luna." My sister exclaimed.

"No. No they dont. And I dont need one of your inspiring speeches about how they love us equally and stuff. Because afterwards, me and you will both know its a load of bullcrap."

And I walked away.

　

The rest of my evening was spent washing down botlles of vodka my parents kept around the house for special events and watching sappy love movies from 80's. Thoughts of how my parents worshiped my sister floated through my head, which made me angry, and led to more empty vodka bottles parked on my bedroom floor. My parents argued with my sister downstairs for awhile. I blocked out the sound by turning up the tv. and chugging more bottle of vodka down my throat. Eventully I heard the footsteps of my parents walking up the steps and going into their rooms. Shortly after, I heard my sisters. That night, everyone went to bed early besides me. I took my open bottle vodka and headed downstairs to grab another. With both of my bottles in my hand, I left my house and headed for the woods.

I found my way to the steam and finished my bottle of vodka. Next, I threw it at the ground and watched at pieces of glass shattered everywhere. As I was about to open my next bottle, I felt a gentle hand on my shoudler. I turned around to find the gothic boy I had discovered only days ago. He looked more ravishing then ever. He took the bottle of vodka from my hands and poured it into the bushes.

"Hey! Thats mine!" I said reaching for the bottle.

"You look what, 17. Too young to be drinking. Why do you need this anyways?" The gothic boy said.

"Things. None of your business anyways. All I have to say is that, that was my last bottle of vodka, and you poured it out like it was nothing!"

"Do you really need flashy bottles of alchol to get you through whatever your feeling?"

"I bet if you felt worthless, unimportant, inferior, unloved, hated and all the feelings crammed into me. Your first choice would be some 'flashy bottle of alchol' too!"

"No it wouldnt." He said. "I know im better than that. Your first choice when going through misery is clearly alchol, when mine would be pushing through my pain. Big difference."

"Well, if you knew what it felt like to be treated like you didnt belong anywhere, and that you were a freak, you could see my point. But you don't know what it feels like. You're assuming my life is great, and that im some careless teen throwing away my potential by drinking! I have no potential, or future. The rest of my life I'll probally still living with my parents, sitting in my room watching old black&white movies or 80's movies, snacking on popcorn and drinking my life away with vodka! And guess what? Im perfectly fine with that!" I yelled.

"You assume I know your life, and mine is great as well. I know what it feels like to be treated like a freak." He said calmly placing his hands on my shoulders. "Just calm down." He wispered.

"Look, im sorry. Im just going through alot."

"You think? I've never incountered teenage-girl-rage before. And fairly, I dont want to again. How about a fresh start. Forget about the last couple minutes." He said. "My names Brycen." The gothic boy said putting his hand out.

"Luna." I said taking his hand.

"Like the moon?"

"Im guessing." I said smiling.

For the next couple hours Brycen made me forget about all the things running through my head. We talked about what was going on and he made me feel important. For once, I felt like I had a real friend. And I didn't feel alone. This feeling was colossal. After awhile I started to get sleepy. And I had school soon. So I stood up to say goodbye to Brycen.

"It was you." He said.

"Me who?"

"The girl. The girl that snuck into my house and ran away when I found her."

"You knew that was me?" I asked.

"Yeah. I came by your house last night, you dropped your bow on my steps." He said handing it to me. "Thats why I came out, to see if you were lurking around."

"Uh, thanks." I said claiming my bow.

"Good night Luna." Brycen said.

I looked down at my bow and back up. Before I could say anything, Brycen was gone.

 

 

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