Into the Light

by Patti, Caroline T.

  Once settled, Nathaniel eased into Ethan Wake’s life. He established a daily routine of exercise, breakfast, some reading, running errands if needed, a light lunch and a sensible dinner. Nathaniel took special care of Ethan’s body, not wanting to die prematurely.

  Weeks turned into months, and Nathaniel continued to live, continued to worry that Lucas Church would find him. And just when he’d resigned himself to his new life, he heard someone pounding on his front door. He threw it open to find Ariana, dirty and scared. He ushered her into the house, gave her towels to dry herself and then clothes, which he found in Ethan’s closet. Apparently Ethan had been reluctant to throw away his dead wife’s things, lucky for them.

  When she was dressed, and seemingly calmer, Nathaniel asked, “How did you find me?”

  Ariana sneered. “I didn’t lead them here, if that’s what you’re implying.”

  Nathaniel cleared his throat. “You understand why I have to be sure. You know what they did to me.”

  “You left me there,” Ariana said, her voice teeming with rage. “I faced Lucas Church without you.”

  “I didn’t know where you were, Ari,” Nathaniel tried. “I had once chance to get out. I took it.”

  “How exactly did you escape?” she asked, her tone accusatory.

  “Isadora,” Nathaniel said plainly. “She let me go.”

  “Did she now?” Ariana sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly. “And why would she do that? After she betrayed her own sister.”

  Confused, Nathaniel asked, “What do you mean?”

  “Who do you think told Lucas about Ellie? Who would possibly have something to gain by exposing us both?”

  Ariana’s accusations hung like thick smoke. Nathaniel didn’t know what to make of it. What kind of game was Isadora playing?

  “And now what are we supposed to do, Nathaniel?”

  “Perhaps I can be of some assistance.” A new voice in the room jolted both Nathaniel and Ariana to attention.

  Nathaniel prepared himself for battle. “Show yourself!” he ordered.

  “With pleasure.” He strolled into the room dressed in the finest clothes: tailored suit, crisp shirt, shined shoes. His blonde hair was styled impeccably, and his white teeth shone behind his smile.

  “Ellis!” Nathaniel said excitedly. He walked to him and they collapsed into an embrace. “It is so good to see you.”

  “And you as well,” Ellis said fondly. “Though this isn’t exactly you, is it?”

  Nathaniel laughed uncomfortably, and then he said, “You’ve taken a great risk coming here.”

  “Which is why I don’t have much time,” Ellis said, his expression morphing from calm to intense. “I came to warn you,” he looked to Ariana, “to warn you both. Hunters are coming.”

  “Hunters?” Nathaniel asked, unfamiliar with the term.

  “A special task force,” Ellis explained. “They only have one objective. Capture all Breachers.”

  “Breachers?” Nathaniel again needed clarification.

  “That’s your new classification,” Ellis told him. “A being capable of taking bodies and thereby living forever.”

  “I never wanted this,” Nathaniel pleaded his case.

  “Regardless, it is what you’ve become, what you’ve both become. Breachers have been declared an abomination. The only outcome is death.”

  “Let them come,” Ariana said, her tone loathsome and fierce. “We’ll fight.”

  “You don’t understand,” Ellis spoke with caution. “Their leader was created from you.” Ellis nodded toward Nathaniel. “From your rib. He is your equal in every way, Nathaniel. There will be no escaping him.”

  Nathaniel lowered his head and stood with his hands on his hips as he processed what Ellis was telling him.

  “How much time do we have?” Ariana asked Ellis.

  “A day or two at most. Their training is nearly complete.”

  “Thank you for the warning,” Nathaniel said.

  “Of course.” Ellis nodded. “One more thing. You’ll be more difficult to track in human form, not impossible, but difficult.”

  Nathaniel looked to Ariana, still in her original form. “We understand.”

  “I must go,” Ellis said.

  “Thank you, friend.” Nathaniel and Ellis embraced again, and then, with the nod of his head, Ellis vanished.

  “We need to move,” Nathaniel told Ariana. “But I can’t be on the run in this body. Someone is bound to miss him eventually.”

  “You heard what Ellis said, Nathaniel. We need to be in bodies.”

  “Then we find a place, Ariana. We settle down somewhere. Together.”

  For nearly a year they hid in peace until Nathaniel’s host body suddenly died. Expelled forth, Nathaniel was exposed and vulnerable. His only hope was to make it home to Ariana, gather their things, and get on the road before they were discovered.

  Nathaniel climbed the steps to their apartment and froze. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement.

  “Stop right there!” a voice commanded.

  Nathaniel held his arms in the air.

  “Don’t move,” the voice said again.

  Out of the shadows stepped someone who was nearly his exact replica: same dark hair, same dark eyes, though his eyes were slightly rounder, his nose slightly less angular. Pressing his luck, Nathaniel pivoted to face his other self. A silver blade trained right at him, Nathaniel said, “We finally meet.”

  “I said don’t move!” He raised the blade higher.

  “Remarkable, isn’t it?” Nathaniel asked, inching to his right. “The resemblance. It’s like looking in a mirror.”

  “I said, don’t move,” Nathaniel’s other self instructed.

  Nathaniel continued to slowly, gingerly turn until he and his mirror image were face to face.

  His other self warned, “Come any closer and I’ll kill you right now.”

  Cocking his head to the side, Nathaniel said, “I don’t think so.” Nathaniel sprang into action, knocking his twin off balance slightly. They grappled. Nathaniel concentrated all his energy on the hand holding the blade. Banging that hand against the railing, the knife finally burst free and clashed to the ground. His look-a-like scrambled to reclaim his weapon, but Nathaniel pounced, throwing him to the ground. Nathaniel gained the upper hand, looping a chokehold around his twin’s neck.

  Breathing hard, Nathaniel asked, “Name?”

  “No.”

  Nathaniel tightened his grin, yanking back with all the force he had, and asked again, “Name?”

  “Gage.”

  “Until next time, Gage.” Nathaniel constricted until Gage lost consciousness. He could have killed him, but he didn’t.

  Swiftly, Nathaniel dragged the body into the apartment. He propped Gage in a chair, tied him up, and left him there.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mercy

  He wants me to die. Lucas Church wants me to die. I think I’m going to be sick.

  “I need sit down.” And suddenly, I am. We’re back at the table, the tea service still laid out before us.

  Lucas leans back in his chair. “You’re uneasy with the idea?”

  Glaring at him, I say, “You think?”

  He looks mildly disappointed. “You know this is the right thing to do, Mercy. Or you wouldn’t have thought of it yourself.”

  I don’t know how he knows that I asked Gage to let me die. Maybe he saw my thoughts. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that dying seemed like the right thing to do when it was my idea and my idea alone. But the thought of dying presented by someone else, with their motives attached, well, that changes things.

  “If I die, what happens to everyone else?” I ask.

  He shifts in his chair, and for the first time, I sense that he is uncomfortable. “With all of you connected, your death would sever the line.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning four birds, one stone.”

  “Me, Mom, and Isadora? We’d all
be gone?” It takes me a second to think of the fourth. “And Justice? She’ll die too?”

  “Yes.”

  “What about Gage and Nathaniel?”

  He clears his throat and adjusts his tie, patting it against his stomach. “You’d have to take care of them the old fashioned way.”

  I shoot out of my chair, knocking it over as I go. “Do you know what you’re asking me? You want me to kill my entire family, kill everyone I love, and for what?”

  “You’ve said it yourself multiple times. Breachers shouldn’t exist. No one should have this kind of power.”

  “I can talk to them. Give me a chance to fix things.”

  He shakes his head. “Where is Nathaniel right now?” He wears a knowing smile, one I’d like to knock clean off his face. “He took your friend, Toby, didn’t he?” He tsks. “Poor, unsuspecting Toby, inhabited by a Breacher. And why? Why did this happen to innocent little Toby?”

  “He had to. He didn’t have a choice,” I say through gritted teeth.

  “That’s where you’re wrong.”

  “Nathaniel would’ve died!”

  “Yes. He would have!” Lucas rises to his feet. “Such as he should have years ago. Don’t you see, Mercy? We have to set things right again. Together, you and I can end this reign of terror.”

  I don’t know what to do. Just hours ago, I told Nathaniel he should’ve died, but that’s because I was angry. I didn’t really want him dead. The truth is I can’t imagine my world without him. Yes, he irritates me and frustrates me and scares me to my core, but I—

  I love him.

  “I won’t do this,” I say, resolved. “Find someone else to be your puppet.”

  Lucas exhales through his nose and sits back down in his chair. “So you will be the biggest disappointment of all?”

  “Just give us this lifetime, then we’ll die,” I offer.

  “No,” he says without hesitating. “This ends now.” He crosses his legs and folds his hands neatly in his lap.

  I gulp hard and say, “What happens now?”

  “Run, little girl. Run home to mommy.” He takes out his pocket watch, opens it, and then violently clamps it shut. “War is coming.”

  The last thing I see is him snapping his fingers.

  Landing is unpleasant, to say the least. Of course it would’ve been too much for him to drop me anywhere near civilization. Instead, I end up in some dusty, dirty field. It takes me a moment to orient myself and realize that I’m near the causeway, the road that stretches between Sacramento and Davis. It’s going to be a very long walk home.

  Unfortunately for me, the solitude allows time for thought, and the inside of my head is the last place I want to be. Emotions, like popcorn kernels, sizzle and burst, and it’s almost too crowded to tell one from the other. A kernel of guilt ends up on top of the pile.

  I feel guilty for wanting Nathaniel and my mother to live. I know their lives are no more valuable than the ones they take. And yet, letting them go is unthinkable. I’d love to believe that we’ll all make it across the bridge together, that we’ll live on the other side together, but what if we can’t? Nathaniel denied his light, and if he dies, he’s headed straight for Purgatory. I don’t honestly know if my mother is also Purgatory bound, but it must be true otherwise she wouldn’t be holding onto this world so tight.

  I’m screwed.

  Around mile four, the guilt kernel is replaced with a kernel of defeat. When it pops I have to stop for a moment. I’m fairly certain I won’t win in a fight against Lucas, and though I continue on, with each step I take I feel heavy, weighed down by what I know will be a terrific loss when I try to go against him.

  Eventually, I make it to a bus stop. Rain, which is rare in this region, starts coming down in sheets. I pull my thin flannel shirt across my chest as my whole body starts to prick and tingle from goose bumps.

  Two buses pass, and neither stop. I’m starting to feel as if defeat is going to stick around for a while. It’s not just that I can’t win against Lucas. Leaving there without the water from the river means I have no way to safely pull Nathaniel from Toby’s body. Toby’s death will end my friendship with Jay and Lyla, effectively severing my last touchstone to humanity.

  Rain slithers down my back. At this point I’m soaked completely through. Is this really my first day back at school? I told Lyla school was a stupid idea. I should’ve stayed away, gone off to some cave like Superman’s Fortress of Solitude and stayed there forever. It would have been safer for everyone if I’d just disappeared.

  Finally, a bus slows and stops in front of me. I climb aboard, drop change into the machine, and move toward the back. I pick an empty seat as the driver closes the door and pulls away from the curb.

  I don’t know where I’m going, so I ride around until I come up with a plan. Going home seems appealing. I like the idea of curling up in my bed, sleeping, and hoping that when I wake this will all have been a nightmare. But I know I can’t hide, not while Nathaniel is still inside Toby’s body.

  “Such a shame,” says the woman across the aisle from me. She’s scrolling through her phone and shaking her head.

  “Excuse me?”

  “They found the missing boy. Says here he’s in a coma.” She holds the phone out for me to see.

  Toby. My throat clenches. “What else does it say?”

  “Not much. Just that he’s been taken to Sutter General.”

  I need to get to the hospital. Jay and Lyla will, of course, be there, and they will definitely be wondering where I am.

  Luckily, there’s a bus stop not far from Sutter General. I only have to walk a few blocks, which isn’t so bad. And at least it stopped raining. Visiting hours are over by the time I arrive. There’s no one at the information desk, so I’m searching blindly. It takes me a while, but I finally find Jay, Lyla, and Jay’s mother hunkered down in the exact same waiting room where this all started. As soon I see it, I flash back to waking up in Lyla’s body. I remember how it felt to literally want to claw her skin off, and how I had to stand around and listen to the doctors tell my dad that I died. For obvious reasons, I do not like this room.

  As soon as Jay sees me he pops out of his chair and crushes me into a hug. “Where have you been?” he asks, his breath against my hair. “You’re soaking wet.”

  “It’s a long story,” I say as he releases me.

  Lyla is next. Her hug is only slightly less reserved. “We’ve been calling you for hours.” Her tone is both concerned and agitated. I know she probably has questions, but I can’t answer of them now. Not without her hating me for life.

  “I’m sorry. I got here as soon as I could.” Lyla eyes me suspiciously, so I quickly ask, “How’s Toby?”

  “Still unconscious,” Jay answers.

  Jay’s mom dabs her eyes with a tissue. She’s clearly distraught. I can hardly look at her. I worry she’ll see right through me and know I’m the reason her son is in a coma.

  “Can I see him?” I ask.

  “They won’t let you in,” Lyla says a bit harshly. “Family only.”

  “Oh. Okay,” I say. “Do you guys need anything?”

  “I need coffee.” Lyla steps toward the exit.

  “I’m good,” Jay says to me. “You guys go.”

  I nod. “Okay. We’ll be right back.”

  Lyla leads the way to the coffee machine just down the hall. The selection of drinks looks appetizing in no way.

  “I can’t believe you’re going to drink this,” I say, stymied.

  She loads the machine with change and punches out her order. “Yeah, well, desperate times,” she says, her tone clipped.

  We watch the small paper cup fill with sludge. When it’s nearly brimming over, Lyla snatches it. “Bottoms up,” she says and then she takes a tiny sip.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.”

  She narrows her crystal blue eyes at me. “So what’s really going on?”

  “What do you mean?” I ask, trying to
sound casual.

  “Seriously?”

  “Lyla, I honestly—”

  “Don’t. Don’t lie to me. I know you were with Toby earlier. Jay told me.”

  “Yeah, I saw him at school, but—”

  “You’re lying!” Lyla says too loudly. The nurse at the nearby station glares at us. “You know I can tell when you’re lying.”

  “Lyla, I can’t … I don’t … I never meant for Toby …”

  Nodding, she purses her lips. “You know what? Don’t tell me. Just fix it.” She steps toward me, and I flinch. “This is Jay’s brother we’re talking about.”

  “I’m sorry.” I don’t know what else to say.

  “I’m going back,” Lyla says.

  “Okay.” I start to follow her.

  “Go home, Mercy.” Lyla’s look of disgust is like a knife to the gut. “You don’t belong here.”

  Too stunned to move, I watch her walk away. My stomach twists in knots, tangling itself and crushing me from the inside out. Tears trickle down my cheek. Using the back of my hand, I swipe them away and sniff, but it’s no use. They come in waves. Unable to hold myself up, I slide along the wall until I’m on the floor. Cradling my knees against my chest, I cry for Toby, for Jay and Lyla, and for all that I’ve lost.

  I wish I didn’t feel sorry for myself, that I could solely think of others and all the grief I’ve caused them, but I can’t help it. I didn’t ask for any of this. It was thrust upon me, and now I’m left to deal with it all.

  The person I want to talk to most is Nathaniel. I feel lonely and lost without him, and I have no idea what to do with that thought, so I stuff it deep down and switch my thoughts to Gage. Gage is the planner; he’s the Hunter. He’ll at least have some idea what to do. All I need to do is find him.

  Picking myself up off the floor and drying my face with my sleeve, I exit the hospital and walk to Gage’s house. All the lights are off when I get there, which isn’t a good sign. Yes, it’s the middle of the night, but it’s not like Gage will be sleeping through this. He’s probably completely panicked at this point, which is why I expected the house to be completely illuminated with Gage wearing tracks in the carpet from pacing back and forth.