The Cold Inside: Call of the Necromancer (Open Novella Contest II)

Chapter 3 - Black is the New Black

Aunt Rosalind made a vague tutting sound every time Becky picked up clothes that weren't black or dark grey.

"Is there something you want to say?" Becky finally asked, because it was getting on her nerves.

"I know it's a cliché," Rosalind said with a small wince, "but necromancers have a certain aesthetic."

"You mean we dress like goth wannabes?"

Rosalind shrugged.

"I suppose that might be one way of putting it," the apparition agreed. "Fae are a bit funny like that, image is very important to them."

"Fine," Becky said and pulled out all the black clothes she had in her suitcase, "you could have just told me."

"I was hoping you'd favour black yourself," her aunt said with a small apologetic smile, "after all you do own so much of it."

Glancing at the clothes still in the suitcase and those now on the bed, Becky couldn't exactly argue; over half her current wardrobe was black. Another thing Sarah had always complained about, forever trying to get her into floral dresses in the summer.

"Does that run in our blood too?" Becky asked, picking out a black pair of jeans, black shirt and black cardigan.

It wasn't exactly formal, but then all her work clothes were in the garage.

"Probably," Rosalind said, "it's hard to tell if it's nature or nurture given the macabre side our power adds to our nature. We do descend partly from Dark Fae, so it could be either."

"Dark Fae, does that mean there are Light Fae too?"

"Yes, and Grey. They can all be as tricky as each other, but they like to think they all have better motives."

"You're not selling this whole thing," Becky pointed out as she pulled on her trousers.

"Oh, they're not too bad once you get used to their idiosyncrasies," Rosalind said with a grin, "but Fae live to at least four hundred given the chance, they have a long time to develop those foibles of character."

"I'll keep that in mind," Becky said, finishing dressing quickly and putting the necklace with the gem on it around her neck. "I'm going to clean my teeth and brush my hair."

She doubted it was the done thing to meet Fae with morning breath, or rather middle of the night breath at the moment. Rosalind followed her to the bathroom, but waited in the doorway as she went about her business.

"Do I need a robe like yours?" she asked round her toothbrush, gesturing in case it was completely garbled.

"Eventually," her aunt said, "but we have more important things to worry about first."

Becky almost asked 'like what', but chose to just hum instead as she spat and rinsed her mouth.

"So how do we get to this Other Realm?" she asked instead as she pulled a brush through her unruly hair.

"Waypoints," was the succinct answer.

"Waypoints?" she asked.

"They are places where the two realms touch more closely than everywhere else. There is one outside, by the big oak next to the road. Don't worry, you'll find them easy to spot now your power is awake."

"And we what, just step through?"

"Something like that," Rosalind replied.

Becky gave her aunt a look--that sounded rather vague. All she got back was an apologetic smile. Sighing, Becky grabbed a scruchie and pulled her hair back into the best ponytail she could manage, before heading back into her bedroom. Picking up her phone, she walked towards the door.