Beauty in the Dark
CHAPTER ONE-The Girl In The Leaf Storm
Jane Shaw entered her new office with glee and a positive spring in her step. She was young looking, even wearing an olive green tweed dress with matching blazer and dark green tights, paired with dark brown high-heeled Oxford shoes and her dirty blonde hair shoved in a messy bun. She just got all her qualifications, this was the first day at her new job, a counsellor at Autumn Dawn High, and she was going to change the lives of the students. Jane placed her large Starbucks latte on her oak desk and sat on the dark red leather chair behide it , reading the heavy light brown file. Her first appointment was due in 10 minutes, she wanted to know as much about the student as she could. The student was a girl of 15, turning 16 in 3 weeks. She had been seen by 5 different counsellors in the past 2 years and all of them left within weeks after their last appointment with her. Even the Principal had warned Jane to be careful about her. The photo in the file was an old one, taken in the girl's first year. She seemed to be a pretty girl; lightly tanned skin, a heart shape face with light freckles dusting on her cheeks and nose, large hazel eyes, shoulder length dark brown curls and a moody, somewhat angry look on her face. "She looks and sounds a little scary, but I cant let that bother me. I'll try to get through to her" Jane muttered to herself. As the clock ticked down to 9 o'clock, Jane turned to the window sipping the warm coffee and watching the early fall leaves dance in the wind. The light rain on the glass and the sound of the blowing of the air seemed to calm her for a while. Suddenly a strong gust pulling and twirling around a figure in black caught her eye, though she didn't know why. She couldn't see much, due to the distance and the violent leaf storm swirling, but she did catch a quick glimpse of the oversized, darkly coloured coat the figure was wearing, along with black Doc Martins. Other student stayed cleared from the shadow, some looked scared while others laughed and pointed. This made Jane shake her head, "some kids are just, down right..." "Evil, cruel, a waste of air?" spoke a voice drenched in sarcasm and moodiness.
Jane's soul jumped out of her body and she quickly turned to the office door, eyes widening at the sight. Standing before her leaning against the door frame, was her first appointment-Lark Eirlys. Lark was small for her age, standing at only 5-foot-1 1/2. She was curvy, though you wouldn't know it under the oversize dark purple, black and red plaid coat and baggy black velvet and lace flapper dress. Her face was the same as the photo, with an added nose piercing, dark heavy eye make-up and dark red lipstick. She even still had the same moody expression on her face. What had changed from the photo was Lark's hair. It had grown more wild and messy, it touched her mid-size breasts. The colour really wowed Jane, the right side was black while the left was a bright, fiery ginger.
Jane smiled at her, "create a welcoming atmosphere" she thought. "Good morning, you must be Miss Eirlys. It's nice to meet you" Jane tried to sound confident and not so nervous. Lark simply rolled her eyes, yet still tried to give a tiny smile, "and you're the new shrink, it's a pleasure. And call me Lark." Lark slowly walked into the pale yellow room and slumped onto the chair, blowing a lock of hair out of her face. Jane scanned the file one last time, before raising her eyes to her. "Yes, Lark, I'm replacing Mr Green. I've been reading your file, I hope we can, get along" Jane's nerves crept back into her voice, while Lark failed to hold back a chuckle at the memory of Mr Green. He quit in dramatic fashion after finding about 20 albino rats in his office at the start of the school year, the last of many pranks played on him by Lark and her group of 3 friends. "Your mother, called in this morning, she told me how worried she is about you. She said that she found plans for your funeral. Do you have a fascination with death? Do you want to die? Do you have plans to end..." but before Jane could finish her awkward and rapid questioning, Lark raised her hands to shut her up. "Ok, ok. Chill Shaw-Loo. Take a sip of oxygen." Lark ignored Jane's puzzled look at her new nickname, and carried on explaining herself, "first and importantly, no I don't wanna die. I know my life is not that depressing. The funeral plans was a joke between me and my friend Kirby, and we really didn't get that far. We only got to what music we would want to play; his being Sweet Transvestite from Rocky Horror and mine being between When Your Evil and Land of The Dead by Voltaire." The two ladies couldn't hold back a loud laugh, which was a surprise for Jane. "This girl wasn't that scary, a bit morbid and gothic but clearly doesn't take things too seriously" Jane thought. As the laughter finished, Lark carried on, "as for a fascination with death, I guess I do. Not in the twisted way of killing animals, or digging up corpses, or wanting someone to die in a serious way. Though I will admit to saying it from time to time. I just understand that we'll all die one day and I embrace that fact, and live life my own way. I'm more fascinated by how it's possible to die, with those who commit murder and what drove them to it. With the grim reaper, who in my opinion does a great service. That's what I'm into people just don't understand."
All Jane could do was nod, listen and feel confused. Sure the whole death thing was a bit weird, however Lark seemed to be articulate, clever and have a dark sense of humour. Not at all the depressed, twisted, delusional nut pot her mother and teachers described her as. "So why does your mother want you too see me weekly?" Jane asked, her hands holding up her head. "Well, you've read my file, so you know where I work. You do the maths." It didn't take Jane too long to figure out what the main issue was. In fact, it hit her like a ton of hardback books. Lark's file stated that she worked at the local blood clinic most days after school. Now a teenager having part-time job would have been a dream come true for a lot of parents but things weren't that simple. For the blood clinic served a specific clientele; vampires.
Jane's soul jumped out of her body and she quickly turned to the office door, eyes widening at the sight. Standing before her leaning against the door frame, was her first appointment-Lark Eirlys. Lark was small for her age, standing at only 5-foot-1 1/2. She was curvy, though you wouldn't know it under the oversize dark purple, black and red plaid coat and baggy black velvet and lace flapper dress. Her face was the same as the photo, with an added nose piercing, dark heavy eye make-up and dark red lipstick. She even still had the same moody expression on her face. What had changed from the photo was Lark's hair. It had grown more wild and messy, it touched her mid-size breasts. The colour really wowed Jane, the right side was black while the left was a bright, fiery ginger.
Jane smiled at her, "create a welcoming atmosphere" she thought. "Good morning, you must be Miss Eirlys. It's nice to meet you" Jane tried to sound confident and not so nervous. Lark simply rolled her eyes, yet still tried to give a tiny smile, "and you're the new shrink, it's a pleasure. And call me Lark." Lark slowly walked into the pale yellow room and slumped onto the chair, blowing a lock of hair out of her face. Jane scanned the file one last time, before raising her eyes to her. "Yes, Lark, I'm replacing Mr Green. I've been reading your file, I hope we can, get along" Jane's nerves crept back into her voice, while Lark failed to hold back a chuckle at the memory of Mr Green. He quit in dramatic fashion after finding about 20 albino rats in his office at the start of the school year, the last of many pranks played on him by Lark and her group of 3 friends. "Your mother, called in this morning, she told me how worried she is about you. She said that she found plans for your funeral. Do you have a fascination with death? Do you want to die? Do you have plans to end..." but before Jane could finish her awkward and rapid questioning, Lark raised her hands to shut her up. "Ok, ok. Chill Shaw-Loo. Take a sip of oxygen." Lark ignored Jane's puzzled look at her new nickname, and carried on explaining herself, "first and importantly, no I don't wanna die. I know my life is not that depressing. The funeral plans was a joke between me and my friend Kirby, and we really didn't get that far. We only got to what music we would want to play; his being Sweet Transvestite from Rocky Horror and mine being between When Your Evil and Land of The Dead by Voltaire." The two ladies couldn't hold back a loud laugh, which was a surprise for Jane. "This girl wasn't that scary, a bit morbid and gothic but clearly doesn't take things too seriously" Jane thought. As the laughter finished, Lark carried on, "as for a fascination with death, I guess I do. Not in the twisted way of killing animals, or digging up corpses, or wanting someone to die in a serious way. Though I will admit to saying it from time to time. I just understand that we'll all die one day and I embrace that fact, and live life my own way. I'm more fascinated by how it's possible to die, with those who commit murder and what drove them to it. With the grim reaper, who in my opinion does a great service. That's what I'm into people just don't understand."
All Jane could do was nod, listen and feel confused. Sure the whole death thing was a bit weird, however Lark seemed to be articulate, clever and have a dark sense of humour. Not at all the depressed, twisted, delusional nut pot her mother and teachers described her as. "So why does your mother want you too see me weekly?" Jane asked, her hands holding up her head. "Well, you've read my file, so you know where I work. You do the maths." It didn't take Jane too long to figure out what the main issue was. In fact, it hit her like a ton of hardback books. Lark's file stated that she worked at the local blood clinic most days after school. Now a teenager having part-time job would have been a dream come true for a lot of parents but things weren't that simple. For the blood clinic served a specific clientele; vampires.