by Chris Ayala
In the distance, a Union Keeper kept alive by a black goo Marcel conjured, murdered another rebel with a gun shot to the head. Adam flinched his eye, even though the bullet was nowhere near him. Then he realized.
"The goo," he whispered.
"What?" Royal screamed hysterically. She lost hope. They all lost hope.
The black goo had been in his precognition. It was a manifestation of darkness. Remembering dreams at a time like this, people pleading for mercy or pleading for help in his ear, wasn't a good time to reminisce. But he felt a tug in his mind. Something said in that precognition would save them. But what was it? He recalled seeing Marcel Celest, lethargic and wasted in a bed with cancer. He mentioned darkness. Darkness that he tried to absorb eventually strengthened the monster. The monster! Of course! There was that monster in his vision, seeping from the corpse of Marcel. A creature made of that same substance.
"Adam! What about the goo?"
Gunfire and screams became muted as Adam tried to think. Royal's nagging even melted away. What had been the dialogue between him and the future Supreme Leader? He remembered Marcel begging him to destroy the darkness. But how? What were his exact words?
It's coming. It will kill all of you. Run.
Adam squinted his eyes, concentrating.
Change the past to save the future. Kill me, kill the darkness.
How?
The only way you can kill the darkness is…with the light.
His eyes shot open. If all the anger, hate, and rage can create that sort of disturbing monster in Marcel…what could love, happiness, and joy create? Adam faced Royal. "Glow."
"What?"
"Everyone has to glow. Everyone."
Blood mixed in with the ocean water. Lying in the center of a set of rocks, Marcel's mangled corpse left Gerard more saddened than relieved. The Celests, a family the nation obsessed, criticized, and loved, were all gone. Emptiness seized Gerard's breathing. He hadn't expected this, because it was the right thing. But the right thing didn't always seem right; time would have to correct that. Gerard's truest friend was also his truest enemy. To keep from leaping off this cliff himself, Gerard pictured deep within the silo was a precious boy named Colin. A child that needed a father, much like he did. And he couldn't allow that to happen. He had to live on, without the Celests.
His arms held onto the edge of the cliff as he peaked over. Heaving from the battle, he immediately remembered the battle wasn't over. Sounds of gunfire echoed the night sky. But everything seemed so calm here. Though far at a distance, he could still make out Marcel. He couldn't make out if it was a smile or frown on the dead body. The Supreme Leader may have been a lot of things, but Gerard saw him as the closest friend he would ever have. He also saw him as an example of what government and control can do to a person. It's like riding an escalator with no clear destination, but a drive to continue ascending. Reality was, there is no end. Power, no matter the extent, always strived for more power. Marcel Celest tried to control an uncontrollable entity. And failed.
Just as Gerard was about to rise, somehow cross the bridge and join the battle at the castle, something caught his eye. Something crawling along the surface of Marcel. At first, he thought his mind played tricks on him. After all, he'd lost extensive amounts of blood and probably broke at least three ribs. But something was seeping from Marcel. Something black. Blacker than a starless sky. The longer he stared, the more he became fascinated and frightened simultaneously.
A goo formulated, crawling from the corpse's skin, using two arm-like extensions to lift itself up. From the center of Marcel, that something screeched out. It formed a mouth and head. Whatever was happening, Gerard knew he should run.
Before he could stand completely, the black creature shot up in the air and hovered across from him. The thing protruded two skeletal wings and two legs. It screeched again, so high pitched that Gerard covered his ears. The goo morphed into some type of demon. Its mouth grinned. Its eyes opened. It looked at him.
Running faster than he'd ever ran before, Gerard scurried into the woods. But too late. Darkness grasped his waist and slammed him to a tree, wrapping him in an impenetrable force. The creature batted its wings as it approached and landed. Struggling to free his arms, Gerard gasped for air; the goo squeezing him like a water balloon.
The demon looked at its hands with razor sharp claws; its skin like it had been charred by years of heat. Lava flowed where its veins would be on a human. Though terrifying, it also seemed lethargic; skinny and weak. "It worked!" The creature exclaimed. Gerard's mind went wild. He'd seen many things in his lifetime, but never something so monstrous. The demon grinned again, its teeth like rusted nails. "Of course his demise was inevitable. All their demises are inevitable. Human spirit so convoluted and enervated." The demon looked disappointed and frustrated, the side of its mouth switching between the two. "I tell myself, Marcel Celest will fail. Maybe feed off his life force. Maybe corrupt him, build his darkness. Maybe it could be enough to return to this world." It gazed at the land around it, like it hadn't seen the world in millennium. Then it gazed into Gerard's eyes. "Now, all of you…those that strenthen the Light…I can murder each one of you…slowly and painfully."
As soon as it lifted its hand, the goo tightened Gerard's gut. He cried out in pain.
Adam crashed onto the ground, on his knees and began the process of concentrating to glow. He'd done it before. Everyone here had. They had to try. It was their only escape. He stared at the muddy ground stained red.
Someone immediately rejected Adam's idea. "Are you kidding? We are about to be slaughtered and your best idea is to meditate?"
"Just shut the hell up and do it!" Royal commanded, falling to her knees.
She covered her ears and closed her eyes. Others followed suit, praying on their knees. Adam watched in amazement as the word spread and everyone collapsed to their knees; the true sign of faith. He watched as Union Keepers stopped unarmed citizen to laugh hysterically. Everyone's eyes closed, meditating into a distant world, somewhere far from this place where they were safe in their minds. That's where something more powerful lied, more powerful than all of the enraged fists and searing guns tonight.
He focused on all the good in his life. His first kiss, locked in fate. His favorite dog, Buster, who would've done anything to make him smile. His best friend, Brent, telling him that there was good in everyone. Janice and her soft golden hair. Declan buying him a tuxedo for the Junior High Prom. His first dance. Royal's eyes when she smiled.
Adam's body began to warm. He closed his eyes.
Then everything turned a blinding white.
A ball of light expanded from the center of the People of Bliss. Union Keepers covered their eyes from the blinding concoction, the goo in them disintegrating into nothing making the undead fall to the ground. The ball continued to explode, like a bubble forming. It covered the island in seconds and continued its growth until it covered the oceans around them.
On the opposite end of the battle, Lucifer screeched out, the light tearing apart his body like trees in a massive hurricane. "No!" He cried. "Not now! Stop! Please! Stop!"
The bubble covered a state and continued to grow. Penetrating the atmosphere, it blew up until it could be seen from space. Light engulfed the planet.
During the light's explosion, Willie opened his squinted eyes. He couldn't see anything but white. Yet, he knew he wasn't dead. Shadows of his nearby comrades could be seen. They held to each other as this light surrounded them.
Suddenly, someone grasped him and held Willie tighter than he ever been held. It was Pierre. "What's going on?" He screamed.
Willie looked down at his bloody clothes. The bullet pushed itself out of his skin. Light healed the hole and sealed the wound. "I don't know!"
Quicker than the light had exploded…it imploded. Shrinking and strengthening, grasping all the lights in people around the world, it morphed into a single being.
The being, created by the light, stoo
d before Gerard. He'd seen tall men, but nothing this big. It must've reached ten, maybe more, feet above him and that demon. He couldn't see the face of the being. Too bright. Too blinding. His eyes hurt, just looking at it, like he'd been staring at the sun itself. He could only make it blankets of lights, like sheets flying on a windy day.
Whatever that creature was, that had seeped from Marcel's wounds, turned from fearful to pitiful. Only it's upper body still stayed in one piece. It crawled, crying out in pain, as it approached the Light's creation. Its claws dug into the ground, struggling with its last strength. "Don't you dare…" it said, pleading, "…dare…let them…destroy it again…" With that, the dark demon broke apart into the wind, like the remnants of a vast campfire.
Gerard watched, wide-eyed and confused. The being floated as it turned toward him. Without thinking, he rushed to crawl backwards and his back hit a tree stump. "Get away from me! Get away from me!" He screamed, covering his face. Never being frightened of anything, he felt weak but cornered. His hand shook uncontrollably. Blood dripped down from a wound on his palm.
No matter his pleas, the being didn't move or sway. It waited. Waited for what? Gerard began to catch his breath, contemplating what was happening. Something never seen before, not in his lifetime or anyone else's lifetime in recent centuries, stood high before him. Yet, his heart rate began to slow. The stress began to melt into realization. Light had formed into a humanoid figure. Whatever it was, it didn't talk or move, besides its flowing white fabric-like body. If it had wanted to kill him, it would've done it already. Instead, the creature that wanted him dead had been blown away into particles.
Maybe beginning to realize Gerard's curiosity, the being extended out what must've been a hand, even though it was too bright to see. Gerard looked at his own hand, cut open and bleeding profusely. He reached out slowly, regretfully. Who knew what could possibly happen since all the impossible had just become possible in the last hour. The being's fabric touched his hand. So hot at first, he thought about yanking his arm away, but didn't. The heat expanded into little specks of light, dancing over the wound. Within a second, it sealed and stopped the bleeding. It healed more than just the cut, it healed him. For whatever reason, Gerard couldn't feel sadness, hate, or fear. He only felt relief. "Thank you," he whispered.
The being slowly floated vertically, rising off the ground, making everything brighter physically and mentally.
Adam opened his eyes. Instead of cries, he heard laughter. Laughs of joys. Royal, who he never seen so happy, helped him up. "It worked!" She confirmed. Around them, Union Keepers lied on the ground. The undead remained dead.
The joyous cheer stopped abruptly. Just when he thought to himself what else could possibly be coming to slaughter the rest of them, he turned to see where all the eyes pointed.
Floating upwards, from the peninsula across from them, a being made of pure light could be seen. Adam wondered if it was a helicopter, but no such vehicle could be that massive. It almost looked UFO-like, too bright to make a shape out of it. Too caught off guard to say anything, everyone just stared. He saw tears flow down someone's face and drop to the ground.
Royal whispered, "What is that thing?"
As if it heard her, the being expanded itself, creating breath-taking wings. Gasps could be heard. Besides that, no one breathed. The aberration climbed, ascending into the black clouds and disappearing, leaving a white blotch in the atmosphere.
Adam realized he hadn't breathed and reminded himself to take a breath. He never considered himself a religious or agnostic man, but at that moment he became something even more important…he became a believer. A believer that humanity had a purpose and a power, more great than any government or leadership provided. People could change the world, even the future, when they combined all they loved.
Thunder banged beyond the cloud, causing everyone to flinch. Before anyone could mutter a question, light shot out from the blotch of the being. All the filth and ash in the clouds disappeared. Wind blew so vigorously that the People of Bliss clamped onto each other. Royal locked her arm around Adam.
The wind blew away and obliterated the castle's leftover fiery construction. Adam would later learn that this wasn't the only structure destroyed. Every man-made building and invention dissolved, leaving only memories behind. From the ground, emerald colored grass climbed out. Trees rooted and hoisted themselves out.
As quickly as it happened, it halted. Shaking still, Adam looked around. The planet, in its purest form, welcomed him. Just like in his precognition, the sky was plastered with the shiniest of stars. Light reflected off the ocean, reminding him of its vastness. Then rising from the horizon, amber and cunning, the sun made a tear flow down Adam's face. He hadn't seen it in so long, it felt. And he promised himself, he'd watch this sun rise every morning for the rest of his life.
And then it was like Adam had never taken a breath before this day. He took in a gulp of air and held in his lungs. No impurities burned his throat or clasped his sinuses.
Something else withered away with all the darkness in the world. Something Adam had been harboring since the day world leaders decided to end the world. Fear. Birds sang a new melody. Wind blew gently. The ocean down the cliff calmed. There was nothing to be anxious about. Was that the peace that the Celests tried to accomplish? A peace their mother promised everyone? Adam would say yes. And the Celests had sacrificed everything to achieve it. Whether it was the wrong path, or the right one, didn't seem to matter in the end. The last days had been crowded with death and despair, but replaced with life and mirth.
Behind Adam, he could Willie speak. He would forever be the first in this new world. He whispered, "Now we start over. And do it right this time."
The thought relieved Adam. Where would they start? The possibilities seemed endless. But no government could stop them. No matter what the endeavor.
Adam turned to Royal. She changed too. Her scrunched eyebrows and determined pierced lips were gone. She smiled. He never noticed she had a dimple.
Both of them had ran a marathon and were now just realizing the prize. It was love. Their eyes met. Nothing seemed strange or out-of-place, considering all that had just happened.
He bent over and kissed Royal on the lips. They held onto each other. Adam hoped she would never let go.
Not understand how he could laugh or why, Gerard fell on his back holding his stomach in a brazen chuckle. The sky was incredible. He only wished the Celest were here to see it. Brent would've recited all the stars' names. Janice would've questioned their purpose in this majestic universe. Marcel would've stayed silent, staring at the atmosphere of rectitude.
His laughter began to die, drowned by tears of sorrow. Gerard buried his face with both hands, sobbing loudly, trying to survive this wave of emotions. The world had been reset and only a few had made it. He promised to not focus on the future, but focus on the past. The past held many lessons to be learned, for good or evil. Lessons that his son would need to endure.
His son.
Gerard released his hands, masking the sadness, and wiped away his tears. The People of Bliss would have to be their family now. A family bound like the Celests.
He turned his head. A lilac flower danced in the slight breeze. Gerard plucked it. Her favorite flower. So vibrant and full of life. He sniffed it. It smelled like her. She'd always be there.
Always.