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Chapter 18: Plan
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Darkness Chapter 19: Road Trip
I sat in the passenger side of the hornet staring out the window. We were loaded up with snacks for the twelve hour long road trip to my hometown. It didn't take long to pack or to leave the city, not like it was a big city for that matter, but way more sizable than where I came from.Rolling green fields passed by our car and with it came the stench of cow manure. If you stayed in it long enough, you didn't notice the smell, but after being gone so long it was so overpowering I wanted to gag. As I stared, I watched the shadows. That is where I always saw him with his glowing red ember. I wondered what it was. It looked like just a glowing ball of light. Maybe it was an enchanted firefly. Since I was dealing with the unknown here, maybe it was a fairy.Mila sat in the driver's seat singing along to the tune on the radio. It's not like the hornet had an aux port or anything, just a broken tape player. She seemed her happy self, but her eyes were too big, her face too stretched, and he
Darkness Chapter 20: Home Sweet Home
By early morning, I was driving the hornet down the familiar gravel driveway to my old house. The cows were already milked and travelled in a herd as they headed out to a green place to graze in the summer sun. The days would get shorter soon, almost unnoticeable until fall. It would happen just after solstice, my birthday. That was only a few days away. The memory of the darkness taking Mila made me shudder again. I stole a glance at her. She was still humming merrily as she looked out the window."Are we there yet?" Anton grumbled."Just about a mile," I said."My back is killing me from sleeping in the car at that rest stop," he complained as he stretched."Oh quit whining," Mila said. "You've been sleeping since we got in the car last night.""Yeah, but it was daylight until almost ten. Do you think your folks will have breakfast ready?""Again, I don't have folks. I have a brother and a father.""Yeah, whatever. Will they have food ready?""How am I supposed to know?" I ea
Darkness Chapter 21: Crazy
We pulled into the parking lot of the Randon Medical Clinic. It was a nicer name than Randon Insane Asylum even though that's exactly what it was."So.... What are we doing here?" Anton asked."Don't ask so many questions," Mila answered for me.I nodded my thanks to her. "I just need to visit my mom. It has been a long time since I have seen here. I won't be long.""You're leaving us in here?" He asked.I stepped out of the car. "Why don't you guys go get lunch and pick me up on the way back. Just grab me a burger or something.""Will do," Mila answered.I watched the orange car drive away. Why was it that the car worked so perfectly for her? I turned towards the entrance. I could do this. All I needed was some blood, that shouldn't be so hard. I had no idea how I was going to get it. I was going to need help. I went straight to the bathroom after I entered.I waited for the one woman in the bathroom to leave. I leaned on my hands while I looked into the mirror. "Remi," I wh
Darkness Chapter 22: Family
I walked back to the bathroom, careful to hide my sleeve. My mind spun. Was this all I needed? Was I finished? Had it really been that easy? Once I reached the bathroom, I checked all the stall doors then hid in the one at the end."Remi," I said.Immediately the room darkened and the shadow man appeared. He stood in front of me in the wheelchair assessable stall.The bright ember buzzed around his head."You rang?" He said."I got it. Mother's blood." I held out my sleeve. "And father's blood." I produced the vial from my pocket and presented them to him. "Now what?"He grimaced. "So, I hate to say this, but that's not your father's blood."I looked down at the vial. "Did he give me cow's blood?""Oh, no. It's his blood. He's just not your father."I narrowed my eyes at him. "Excuse me?""Yeah, he's not your father. I've been there since you were conceived."I blinked. A little mortified and more than a little annoyed. "And you couldn't share this fact before that really awkw
Darkness Chapter 23: Pyramid
The drive back was as boring as the drive down. I was feeling rather disheartened and was doing my best to ignore Mila's strange behavior. We unpacked the car. Anton and Mila bantered back and forth like normal siblings as I sank deeper into depression. I couldn't help it. I just need to accept the new Mila. There was nothing I could do. Not by myself.I drew the curtains closed on the morning sun then flopped in my bed. I had closed off the rest of the apartment behind my bedroom door. I couldn't stand the banter. The more I listened, the sadder I got. It wasn't her. And even if it was, I missed a chance to grow up with her because my mother lied to me. My heart ached. My brain didn't know what to think, so instead my emotions took over and filled me with a great sinking depth of pain at my center. Eventually, Anton and Mila left. The apartment rang with an eerie echo of silence. At first I found it peaceful, but that gave way to an incredibly loneliness. I wondered at the deep hol
Darkness Chapter 24: Glass
As I followed Remi, the pyramid grew taller in front of us. The weird leaves seemed to part before us as we jogged towards the blocky entrance. Remi's dark figure slipped into the blackness of the rectangular opening. I slipped as my foot hit the first solid surface of brick and down I went on my hands and knees. My tote bag slapped my shoulder and slid down to the floor.Remi turned around and hauled me to my feet, righting me. My vertigo swam for a moment before my eyes adjusted to the new light.Remi laced my fingers with his and started us down the main hallways. There was no light source, but the surfaces seemed to reflect light just like the leaves and the bark in the forest outside. It was the oddest sensation. The walls were covered in pictographs, but they were outlined in multiple colors of light. It was beautiful. They weren't Egyptian style, but they were similar in how they told a story. It was almost as if it was a time line as we walked down the hall.I saw a sword. M
Darkness Chapter 25: Mirrors
I crossed the blocky entrance and climbed the stone spiraling steps to the next level of the pyramid. Once we passed the threshold, we came to a dark room lit only by self-illuminated mirrors. There were thirteen six-foot tall mirrors arranged in a circle. I stepped into the center very carefully, looking around me to see if there were any darts or weird traps like in the movies. I breathed out a long breath when nothing came flying out to attack me."Are you sure that's a good idea?" Remi asked behind me.I waved my hand at him. "Hush. Let me figure this out."In the mirrors, I saw the next threshold. I looked around at the rest of the dark room. Remi was walking around the backs of the mirrors."Do you see anything else?" I asked.I couldn't see him in the darkness but his deep voice growled a negative response.So, it had to be the mirrors. I stepped forward to the first one to the right. I saw myself. As I looked around at the other mirrors, I saw a few that showed the correc
Darkness Chapter 26: Lenses
We reached the top floor. I came to a halt as a giant pane of glass blocked most of my path. I stared at it for a minute. Remi let out a sigh and leaned against the hallway wall."I think I see it," I said."See what?" He asked.I squinted and leaned closer to the glass. "I think I see the sword. It's blurry and really small, but I think that's it." I peered at the dark pointed shape in the center of the glass. I inched around the pane to examine the rest of the room. Large spherical lenses sat on pedestals with wheels. On their sides were tally marks. In the floor coming straight away from the glass was a groove where it looked like the pedestals locked into place.I remembered this from optics class. I knew exactly what to do. I started to push the convex lens that had three tally marks on it."What are you doing?""Just stay there." I said. "Let me know how the images changes when I push this into place."I wish I could make out his expression, but I took his silence as accep
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