Until Dawn: Last Light

by Simas, Jennifer Nicole

  I stepped out of a side street and took in my apartment complex. It’d be nice to say it felt good to be “home”, but the apartment William had set up for me was more like an empty box. All of the sentimental belongings in my life were long gone. I was adamant about one thing, however, when William was looking for a place. It had to be within walking distance of the ocean. With my heightened sense of hearing, I could step onto my balcony and listen to the waves crashing against the shore. It soothed me. I’d learned over the years to count my blessings, however few there may be.

  After carefully scanning the street to make sure I wasn’t being followed, I ran up the stairs and slipped into my apartment. I rested my back against the door as it creaked closed, tossing the guitar case to the sofa. I exhaled, savoring the silence while it lasted. It sounded like everyone was at work. The same heightened sense of hearing that allowed me hear the ocean also gave me access to everything going on in the neighboring apartments. I was just grateful that my neighbors didn’t have wild sex orgies or screaming babies. It was the simple things in life.

  I paced back and forth in the dark living room, teetering with the idea of tipping off the police. The rational side of me knew that it was pointless. What would I’ve said anyway? “I saw into the future and there’s going to be an earthquake in L.A. Please evacuate ASAP.” Right. Baldric would be waiting for a call like that. He knew the gifts of the Chosen and he had the government wrapped around his grimy fingers. Besides, William would kill me. Well, I guess he couldn’t actually kill me, could he? But, I knew better than most people that there were far worse things in life than death. Death would be easy, freeing even. I probably wouldn’t get the chance to experience it, though.

  Yanking the cell from my pocket, I hit speed dial for one of the few numbers I actually had programmed. There was one person that needed to be warned, whether William liked it or not.

  “Hello?”

  I closed my eyes and smiled, savoring the smooth male voice.

  “Zoë, is that you?” Josh asked, his words laced with concern.

  My “human” moment was brief. “Uh, yeah. It’s me.”

  “I was just picking up the phone to call you,” he chuckled, enjoying the coincidence.

  “Look, Josh,” I said, getting right to the point, “I need to talk to you about something. It’s kind of important.” That was an understatement if ever there was one.

  There was a long silence on the other end of the line. “What’s going on, Zo?” he finally asked.

  “I need you to come stay with me for a while. It’ll be a little cramped but I can make some room. You can use the sofa sleeper. I know it’s short notice, but I wouldn’t ask you to if it wasn’t important.”

  “I’ve kind of got my hands full right now. I was thinking maybe I’d make a trip up in a week or two,” Josh explained.

  “That isn’t soon enough,” I blurted out.

  “What, has Cindy got you begging me to come visit again?” he joked. “While we’re on that, can you stop telling her when I plan to come? I make the six-hour drive to come see you, not Cindy. I swear if I lived any closer, that woman would stalk me. Tony’s a whole heck of a lot closer. Why can’t she just obsess over him?”

  “Oh, trust me, she does. She’s so sure that Tony’s got the hots for her.”

  I met Tony the same time I met Josh, in elementary school. Even as an eight-year-old boy, he was always carefree and lighthearted, living life to the fullest. Something I couldn’t do anymore. He was like the comic relief to my sorry excuse of a life. I couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t smiling; that is, except after the “accident.” But, that was a different matter altogether. I never blamed him.

  Josh laughed. “Tony’s got the hots for everybody. She knows that, right? If she hasn’t realized that by now, then she’s worse off than I thought.”

  “Josh,” I snapped, trying to get us both back on track, “this serious.”

  The laughter stopped. “What’s going on?” he asked again. “Are you okay? You’re not in any kind of trouble, right?”

  “I’m fine, I just–” I took a deep breath. “I just need you to be here with me. Something’s going to happen, Josh. It’s something I can’t explain and, even if I did, you’d never believe me. Hell, you’d probably think I’m crazy. You have to leave L.A. as soon as possible. It’s important – life or death important. I can’t lose you,” I said, letting my voice crack. I might not have been able to cry anymore, but I could sure as hell fake it over the phone. I’d beg if that’s what it took. I wasn’t about to let Josh die. One way or another, he was coming to stay with me.

  For what felt like hours, all I heard was the sound of his steady breath through the receiver. “I’ll be there tomorrow.”

  Relief washed over me. I could only hope that it wouldn’t be too late. The visions didn’t come with specific details like dates and times, but usually the actual event took place within a week after me “seeing” it. If Josh was still there when the earthquake hit, without a doubt, I knew I’d never see him again. He’d be just another dead body among thousands. I couldn’t let that happen, not to him. I couldn’t lose him.

  “I miss you,” I whispered into the phone. If I were still human, I would have probably shed a tear or two. “It’s been too long.”

  Over the past six years we spoke as often as we could over the phone or through text or email, but seeing each other had proved to be harder than we thought. Josh was busy with school and me; well, I was busy being locked away from the rest of the world, training to be some God-sent, super assassin. I wondered if he’d be interested in a trade. No, I wouldn’t wish my life on anyone, especially not Josh. It was my burden to bear.

  “It has been a long time,” he responded, a sadness in his voice. “I miss you, too. We have a lot to catch up on. I worry about–

  “Worry about what?”

  Nothing.

  “Josh?”

  I pulled the phone from my ear, staring at a blank screen. “Damn it!” I shouted, chucking the powerless device onto my bed as I stormed into my room.

  Meow.

  Something warm rubbed against my leg. I leaned down absentmindedly and gave the soft tabby a pat on the head before walking into the bathroom.

  I discarded my clothes and sprawled out on the cool tile floor, waiting for the shower water to hit a decent temperature. Seconds turned to minutes as the tiny water heater struggled to accomplish its job.

  –

  “I miss them,” I whispered, rolling onto my side. Alec was still staring up at a dark sky, counting the stars.

  “You’ll miss them more when they’re gone,” he said, keeping his eyes forward. “This is to prepare you for the future, Zoë, to make you stronger. One day, they’ll all be gone and you’ll be on your own. It’s a sad part of who and what we are.”

  “I didn’t ask for this.”

  Alec sighed, turning his head to look at me. “None of us did. I know it seems unfair. I used to feel the same way. You just have to learn to count your blessings, however few there may be.”

  “Like what?” I breathed, a tear slipping past my defenses.

  He resumed his staring contest with God, covering my hand with his. “At least we have each other.”

  –

  Mr. Whiskers nuzzled my cheek, loud purrs snapping me out of my trance. “Needy little pest,” I mumbled. I stood up and shooed the cat out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. It was my time.

  I extended my leg beyond the curtain to test the water before proceeding in. I stood perfectly still, watching as each droplet fell from my many strands of hair. From the tip of my nose, it dropped off like dew on a leaf, keeping perfect rhythm. The water gave me a sense of security that few people could provide.

  When I was younger, my two step brothers tattled on me constantly. “Your freaking daughter wasted all the hot water again!” It wasn’t my youthful imagination; my mother did always take their side of every argument. There we
re times her “loving” husband would bust down the bathroom door and drag me from the shower by my hair, tossing me into my room like a rag doll. I went through a lot of makeup. You’d be surprised how hard bruises are to cover.

  What a rotten creature, turning her back on her own child. Was it bad that I didn’t miss my mother or her “happy” little family? Maybe, though I doubted they missed me in the least. All I knew was that it was nice to be freed from that prison where strangers made the laws. Not like my life now was much different.

  The bathroom door creaked open and the memories vanished. I held my breath and listened as faint footsteps approached the shower curtain. My mind raced, searching for something to use as a weapon. I scolded myself for leaving my sword in the living room. It was an amateur move. Automatically, my hand reached for my razor.

  It was strange, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to calm my breathing. That’s when I realized it wasn’t mine.

  “Who’s there?” I demanded.

  I peeled back the shower curtain and peered out to find the bathroom door still shut. It was official, after six years I’d finally lost my mind. I sighed and retreated back into the shower.

  There, with blackened skin and blood-red eyes, was a creature like none I’d ever seen before. Saliva oozed from jagged front teeth, mere inches from my face. A single drop splattered on my forearm, burning through the skin like acid. The large black mass loomed over me, commanding my fear.

  “Your blood is mine!” it snarled, its top lip curled up like a rabid dog.

  I retreated back a step, leaping from the tub. My feet lost traction and I slipped, my hand reaching out for stability, tearing the curtain down with me. My head hit the corner of the counter top before I collapsed to the floor.

  The serpent beast reared back its head, steam slithering around its massive body. An elongated neck extended out past the tub, razor sharp teeth inching closer to my face. I tried to scoot back, tangled in the plastic curtain.

  “Make peace with your God, warrior!”

  Blood leached down the side of my face. I had to stay conscious. I had to.

  Chapter Three

  "Do you trust me, Zoë?”

  “I–”

  William leaned in, his breath scalding the surface of my skin. “I said, do you trust me?”

  “Y-yes,” I stammered.

  He nodded, taking a step back. “You are a good liar,” he whispered. “No matter, we will have many years to build on that trust. Now, tell me, Zoë, what is our greatest weakness?”

  I hesitated just a second too long.

  “Answer me!” William roared. I winced as he grabbed hold of my face, forcing me to look at him. “You will learn that I do not like to repeat myself.”

  “We have no weaknesses,” I muttered, pulling my face free.

  “Wrong,” he snapped. “Everyone and everything has a weakness, even the General. It is just a matter of finding what that weakness is and using it. Again, what is our weakness?”

  I kept my eyes down, watching grains of sand blow across my feet. “I don’t know,” I finally said.

  I looked up at him, disappointment written all over his face. “Pain. Our weakness is pain. So, we must learn to control our weakness so it cannot control us. We need to become accustomed to the pain, become one with it.” William paused, looking me over with empty eyes. “I hope that one day you will understand.”

  “Understand wha–”

  The sword came down hard. I dropped to my knees and cried out. It came down again. And again.

  –

  “Get up,” a voice commanded. Someone threw a towel on top of me. “Now.”

  “Where is it? Where did it go?” I asked, disoriented.

  “Where is what?”

  I lifted a hand to the bloodstained counter and pulled myself up, peering into an empty shower. The beast was gone. I wondered if it was ever there to begin with. I’d never experienced such a vision before. I wasn’t actually sure it was a vision at all. No, it was there, I knew what I had seen. I rubbed my temples, my head throbbing.

  I turned my attention to the man standing in my bathroom doorway, clad in black from head to toe. “Why didn’t you let me kill him?” I demanded.

  “Well, hello to you, too.”

  “William.” I glowered at him.

  “It was not Roland’s time to die,” William replied before turning his back to me and walking into the bedroom. He was a man of few words. I was used to it by now.

  I tightened the towel under my arms and analyzed my forehead in the mirror. I wet a washrag and wiped the dried blood from the side of my face. The wound had healed nicely.

  “Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?” I asked, entering my room. “What are you doing here anyway?”

  William was sitting on my bed, his hood pushed back. It was hard not to stare. He was like something out of a fairytale. It didn’t take long to come to the conclusion that he wasn’t from our time period. He couldn’t have been much older than me, dirty blond hair hanging around his broad shoulders. And his eyes, those deep blue eyes, held so much wisdom. I often wondered what they’d seen in their long lifetime.

  “Well, you seem very pleasant today, Zoë,” he flashed me a tight smile and then it was gone. He stood up so fast that I seriously questioned whether or not he was ever sitting to begin with.

  I sighed. “Sorry. It’s been a long day.”

  William stepped toward the window, peering out through dusty blinds. “The days will get longer soon,” he said.

  It wasn’t unlike William to think out loud, so I moved on. “I saw Alec today,” I said, so quietly I thought he might not have heard me. He did, of course.

  “Alec,” William backed away from the window and looked down at me as I sat on the bed. “Yes, he just arrived in town a couple of days ago. He has been in Europe with another of our kind for a while now.”

  “He said that you sent him away.”

  “I did.”

  When I realized that the conversation wasn’t going anywhere, I finally asked, “Why?”

  “It was necessary,” he said matter-of-factly, turning away from me.

  “I don’t understand.”

  William sighed, keeping his eyes glued to the window. “It is critical in the first year not to have any human contact. I have told you this before.”

  “But, Alec isn’t human.”

  “Let it go, Zoë.”

  “No,” I snapped. “Why?”

  “Because he was keeping you human,” William said, his voice flat. “I am sorry if this upsets you,” he continued, “but it was for your own good. His presence made you weak.”

  “I’m not like you, William. I don’t enjoy being alone. I need human contact.” I felt stupid as the words left my mouth. It was just a saying – “human contact.” I fully understood that we weren’t human anymore. I was grateful when William didn’t take the time to point that out. “I’m a grown woman,” I continued. “Don’t you think I can decided what’s good for me?”

  “This is not about you, or what is good for you,” William interrupted. “This is about what is good for our kind, for everything we have worked toward for nearly a thousand years. I will not tolerate weakness, Zoë. Weakness does not win wars. Alec made you weak, so I sent him away. I did what I had to do and I would do so again. What is done is done. The past cannot be changed. Let it go.”

  William couldn’t remember when he was “created”. The earliest memory he had was of living in the 11th century. He’d been one of the Chosen for at least a thousand years, maybe more. Alec once told me that William and Baldric were the only survivors of the Great War; the rest of the original warriors were all destroyed. I knew there were others. There were always seven on the Earth at one time. Being the eldest, William put it upon himself to take charge. After all, he knew best.

  “I had another vision today,” I said casually, running fingers through my damp hair. Things like that were normal for our kind. I wasn’
t the only one with a “gift.” Alec could make things invisible. He’d also mastered the ability to sense whether a person had good or bad intensions by simply touching them, like some type of human lie detector. And William, well, I wasn’t exactly sure what William could do.

  “What did you see?”

  “Earthquake in Los Angeles. It looked pretty bad.” I glanced over at William, waiting for some type of reaction. When I first “saw” the tsunami hit the east coast I wanted to do something, but he forbade it. William said it was pointless. That it would guarantee the General’s men finding me. It was a miracle after five years that they hadn’t found my apartment yet. Cash and fake names could get you pretty far in this world.

  “I know you want to do something, Zoë, I can see it in your eyes. But, you know the consequences that will come if you do. You will endanger all of us and everything we have been working for.” I saw the anger flicker across his hollow eyes.

  I tried to remind myself that he was just doing his best to protect me. It didn’t work. “Do you realize how many people died today? Do you have any idea whatsoever, or are you too consumed with your own little world? We’re here for a reason, aren’t we? To stop Baldric? To save people’s lives? What the hell are we here for, if not to do something?” I shouted.

  The muscles along his jaw tighten. “We have had this conversation. There are things that are beyond even our control. You must accept that as it is.”

  “We haven’t even tried,” I argued.

  “Enough,” William growled, taking a step closer, his breath hot against my cheek. His eyes scanned over my face, reading me like an open book.

  “What?” I snapped, pulling away from his stare.

  “What have you done, Zoë?”

  “Nothing.” I stood as gracefully as I could and headed to the bedroom door, holding it open for him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get dressed.”

  He didn’t move an inch. In fact, he could have been mistaken for a statue.

  “Look,” I raged, “I didn’t do anything. I wanted to, but I didn’t. And, who the hell would’ve believed me?”