AN. I do not, never have and never shall own any of Darren Shan's characters, I have simply borrowed them without asking. Don't sue me, Mr Shan!
Also, these are not intended to be in any particular order.
Fragments of a Charmed Existence
Chapter 1 - Collette
Standing at the side of Anika's grave, Mika Ver Leth, six foot of ivory skin, long black hair and pent-up rage, watched the coffin as it was slowly covered over with clods of dirt.
Why did you have to die, Ani? First father, now you…
Looking up briefly, he spied a young woman staring at him from across the grave. She had platinum blonde hair, teased and tortured into a huge bouffant with ringlets hanging down her back. Enormous, light blue eyes gazed out from under fluttering lashes.
Ugh! Thought Mika, glaring back, This is a funeral for god's sake! There she is, staring at me, brazenly, over my sister's grave? Christ. I hate her.
She giggled, sounding not unlike a silver bell. That is, of course, if bells were made of sugar. A tall, spindly woman with a high forehead and an aristocratic nose nudged her elbow.
"Collette." hissed the bag of bones.
"Sorry, Maman."
The girl, Collette, continued to stare, in what Mika considered a most inappropriate manner, given the circumstances. Taking a final look at the now almost completely covered coffin, he crossed himself, turned his back and marched away towards the lake.
The lake on the Ver Leth estate possessed a murky beauty, bordered by on one side by marshy land dotted with bulrushes and by the other, rocky, semi-mountainous hills. The entire lake was enshrouded in a cold, clingy mist, swirling around Mika's dangling legs as he sat on the end of the wooden jetty sticking out into the centre.
He heard footsteps approaching, along with the rustling of taffeta skirts, assuming it was his mother, he chose to ignore it. You never can just leave me be, can you? Bitch.
"Monsieur Ver Leth?" enquired a high, feminine voice, with a distinctive French accent.
He looked over his shoulder, face a picture of disdain, "What?"
The blonde girl, Collette, smiled charmingly, or what would have been considered charming to anyone but Mika.
"Monsieur," she continued, "Your maman said you'd be here."
"Did she now?" he asked, adding under his breath, "Interfering hag."
"Pardonez?"
"Nothing. What do you want, anyway? I'm a little pre-occupied."
"I just wanted to see how you were."
"It was my sister's funeral. How am I supposed to be?"
"Well, I just wanted…I'm sorry about Anika, Monsieur."
"How can you be sorry? You didn't even know her." snapped Mika.
"Monsieur…"
Mika stood up, and looked the girl critically up and down.Pretty girl, if you like that sort of thing. Petite, slender, although even that fat Fraulein Lichterloh from Berlin can give the appearance of such with the help of whalebone and steel.
"Monsieur?" repeated the girl, infuriatingly.
"Fraulien." he responded, icily.
"Please, call me Collette!" She giggled again. Mika wanted to slap her, hard. However, he refrained from doing so.
"Fraulien Collette, I hope you don't find me rude," said Mika, tone suggesting that he hoped no such thing, rather the exact opposite, "but I've just lost my sister, methinks it would be better for me to be left alone."
"But…"
"ALONE!" Mika roared.
Collette curtseyed and rustled away, but not so far away as to prevent Mika from hearing her excitedly squealing at her hag of a mother, "Maman! I want to marry him!"
When hell freezes over, mon petit chéri!
A/N I know these are not in chronological order, I think it seems more interesting this way, as the strings of Mika's past are unraveled and thus his entire suit of mental armour shall peel off like an onion *likes dramatic phrases* :P Not, that Mikkikins is an onion hehe.