Darkly Rising

by J. D. Matheny

  “Of course, honey. There’s no pressure. I just think this will be a good place for you to meet some nice people.”

  Kai turned to look at the door leading into the church. There was a girl standing there greeting those who entered. A small floodlight over the door reflected the light auburn of her hair.

  “Maybe you’re right, mom. It looks worth checking into.” He turned to flash her a grin, but all she could make out was the whites of his teeth, shining out at her like the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. That cat had scared the bejeesus out of her as a young girl.

  “On your best behavior, Romeo. I’ll be back in an hour and a half.”

  “Sure thing, mom.” He bent over to plant a warm kiss on her cheek before sliding out of the passenger door.

  As Sophie wound her way home, driving slowly through the dark, and thinking her way through the silence of the large interior cab, she pictured the young redhead from the church and the way Kai had perked up at the sight of her. She wasn’t accustomed to seeing Kai react that way toward any one person, but it wasn’t him she was thinking about so much.

  It was her. When was the last time she had felt that way toward a man? She knew the answer, but asking it allowed her to marvel at the truth. Not since Jacob, all those years ago. Since then, her focus had remained solely on her young son, but he wasn’t so young anymore. It wouldn’t be long before Kai went his own way and what would she do then?

  The thought terrified her. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have confidence in herself. There was no shortage of looks cast her way from men when she was out in public. From young men, older men, single men, and even men sneaking peeks when they thought their wives weren’t looking. Hell, even the wives cast her admiring glances. It was something she registered but never truly cared about.

  Except maybe once. It was Thomas’s fault. All the effort Sophie put in to quiet her mind, from yoga, to exercise, to writing, hadn’t escaped her older brother. He knew she struggled to keep the terrible monster of the past at bay, so he had suggested while looking through the paper one morning over breakfast.

  “Huh.” The sound came out in a brisk and grinding snort. “Hey sis,” said Thomas, “ever hear about floating?”

  “Floating? Like, following the magic dragon? White water adventures? Astral projection?”

  “No, smartass, like in a float tank. In saltwater. There’s an ad here for a float tank shop nearby called Dream Floats. Says it’s therapeutic for the body and mind.”

  It was the kind of thing she was into and it had piqued her interest immediately. Checked the shop out that very afternoon, in fact. Met the owner, a slightly younger and attractive man named Blaine, who had explained the process of floating in an enclosed tank full of Epsom salt and water. The idea intrigued her. He intrigued her. She signed up for a monthly pass and made a habit of going twice a week.

  It was one of the best things she had done with herself. Floating was like freedom. Freedom from the body; freedom from the mind. The salt water and temperature in the tanks matched that of her body, and the longer she spent in the tank, the more she lost track of where she ended, and the water began.

  But she had stopped going. Not because of the cost, or the lack of benefit, but because the increasing attraction that had built between her and Blaine. It had been exciting at first. After the excitement came the guilt, which she knew was ridiculous. There should be no guilt in moving on with her life. She needed to move on, but the guilt had convinced her to make it about Kai. She told herself that, with Kai, she had no room for romance in her life. Maybe one day, when Kai was older . . .

  Well, now here she was, and Kai was older. And the truth was, thoughts of Jacob still came, but they came less and less.

  As she walked through the front door, flicking lights on as she moved down the hall, she entered the kitchen and checked the clock with its green numbers glowing softly into the dimness. A couple hours remained before Dream Floats closed its doors for the night.

  She pulled out her cell phone, tapped her way through Contacts, and there it was. Not listed under Dream Floats, but on the second page, under Blaine.

  With a bit of frustration, she found herself chewing on the side of her bottom lip, finger hovering over the send button. They hadn’t spoken in a few months, but so what? She was a customer. Taking calls from a customer is what Blaine waited to do each night. Why would she be nervous?

  But she was, and she knew she wasn’t just any customer. There was a chemistry between the two of them, one that snapped and popped almost audibly when they were together.

  Who knows, she thought, he’s an attractive and charming guy who probably sizzles with all the ladies.

  When her finger pressed send, there was an audible mark of sweat shining up from the screen’s surface.

  “Dream Floats, Blaine speaking and at your service!”

  Hearing his voice wasn’t easy over the hammering of her heart, but it was, without doubt, him. He had a distinctly masculine but smooth voice that she loved and remembered.

  “Hello? Can I help you?”

  “Yes, sorry.” Her voice sounded like butterfly wings beating at the air, and that wouldn’t do. She cleared her throat. “Sorry! Hello, Blaine, I was wondering whether you had an opening for tomorrow? Anytime is good.”

  There was a short pause. “Sophie?”

  “Yes, hi, Blaine, it’s Sophie Hansen. You remember me?” He obviously remembered her, but she was shocked, and more than a little flattered. She wanted to hear confirmation.

  “Well Jesus, Sophie. Yes, I remember you. My favorite customer. I haven’t heard from you in months! Honestly, I thought maybe you moved away without saying goodbye.”

  Was that a hint of hurt she heard in his voice? Her heart gave a flutter. “Not at all, Blaine. It’s just . . . I had things . . . you know how it goes.” It was a pathetic-sounding excuse to her own ears, but he didn’t seem to mind.

  “Yeah, I know how that goes, believe me. Things get crazy. Business has been growing so much that I’m afraid I’m going to have to move locations, which would be a real pain, lemme tell ya. Speaking of busy, you asked about tomorrow?” She could hear the flipping of pages whispering through the line. “I’m really sorry, Sophie. I’m completely booked up through the rest of the week. Unless . . .”

  “Unless?” Her chest tightened with anticipation. There was an inkling of what ‘unless’ would mean.

  “Well shoot, Sophie, I haven’t seen you in ages and I’ve thought about you every day since, if you don’t mind me saying. How about I get you in for an after-hours float? On the house. Just pick a day. Any time after 9:00pm.”

  She made the appointment. When she ended the call, and lowered the phone in her hand, she stared at it in surprise, as if it had just been solely responsible for this new and unexpected twist in her life.

  So, I guess it’s a date then, she thought in wonder.

  11

  Kai glided through the dim parking lot on long legs, materializing out of the edge of the shadow and into the glowing ring of light shining out from over the door before the girl had time to register that he was there. The sudden widening of her eyes and pause in the rise and fall of her chest gave him a delicious sense of satisfaction.

  “Oh!” Her foot took a quick half-step in retreat before she caught herself. “Wow, I’m so sorry. You startled me. Not much of a friendly greeting. I’m Jenny, welcome to the youth group.” She stretched out a delicate, pale hand.

  “Jenny.” He let the word hang between them as he swallowed up her hand with his own, noticing that her nails were unadorned with any of the flowery colors or sparkles he was used to seeing in girls his age.

  She fidgeted and looked down at the ground for a moment before dragging her eyes up to meet his dark gaze again. He liked that. It made her appear vulnerable, and he wondered if that were true.

  “My name is Kai. It’s a pleasure to meet you Jenny.” He kept hold of her hand while he spoke, firmly enough to
be clear he wasn’t interested in letting go, but no so tight that it might intimidate her. He knew how easily that could happen if he wasn’t paying attention.

  “Nice to meet you, Kai. I don’t think I’ve seen you before. This your first time?” She knew it was. She hadn’t missed a meeting in years, but she asked anyway.

  Kai just smiled in response. “I’m pretty sure I won’t know anybody in there, Jenny. I think it would make me a lot more comfortable if we could sit together. If you don’t mind?”

  A shy smile showed him she didn’t mind at all. He released her hand and followed her inside, closing the door behind him. The hallway they walked down turned quickly to the right and led them on a long passage past several closed doors and toward the back of the church. The place had an old smell to it, not entirely unpleasant, but it gave him the sense that it was unused. He guessed rightly that the weekly youth group was the only regular activity in this part of the building.

  The soft light of the narrow corridor left him with a feeling of intimacy and as he watched the graceful movement of the slender girl in front of him, he felt his heat rise. She was dressed conservatively in a lavender cardigan that hung down to the back of her thighs, loose khaki pants, and brown slip-ons shoes. Her straight red hair hung down past her shoulders and shone like silk when the light hit it. He considered brushing his hand lightly along the ends to see if it felt as smooth as it looked, but resisted the temptation.

  The end of the hall was framed with a light-filled doorway that opened up into a large room. As they neared it, the soft chattering of several voices filled the air. Jenny looked back over her shoulder and smiled at him.

  It was a large but simple room, with a long, folding table erected along one wall that was topped with bottled water and two plates of granola bars. At the end of the room were several chairs formed in the shape of a “U”, which faced one solitary chair backed up against the wall. That chair was filled by a plain-looking man that appeared to be in his early twenties. All the chairs were filled with fidgeting teenagers except one, immediately to the right of the man that Kai assumed was a youth group pastor.

  As they neared the group, the man stood and moved toward him with an outstretched hand, which Kai took in a firm shake.

  “Welcome, I’m Jeremy, the youth group pastor here at Faith Ministries. Glad to see a new face. Let’s make a spot for you.”

  As Kai waited, Jeremy asked a boy in the middle of the line of chairs to make a space, then dragged a chair over next to him for Kai to sit in.

  “Thanks, Jeremy.” He took the chair, pulled it out of the spot the pastor made for him, then casually dragged it along the line of staring eyes until he was next to the empty seat where he knew Jenny would be. He paused for a moment to look down at the boy there and smiled. The boy looked once at Jeremy, who only stared back with a slight frown, then proceeded to shift his chair to make a space.

  Kai waited patiently while each person in line shifted their seats inch by inch to the left until a spot opened up next to Jenny. Then he slid his chair into place next to hers. Before he sat, he pulled her chair to the side and waited for her to take her place, then settled in next to her. He could tell from the glow of her cheeks that she was somewhat embarrassed by the attention, but she looked pleased, as well.

  The rest of the group was silent, watching the scene play out with fascinated attention. Jeremy watched as well, standing still in the same spot at the back of the arrangement with that frown still planted on his face.

  “Well, that’s that,” he said, before moving to the head of the class and taking his seat. He favored Jenny with a smile and a quick wink before focusing on the newcomer.

  “As I was saying, it’s always nice to welcome a new member to the flock. Before we start, would you care to introduce yourself?”

  Kai stood before the group, appearing even taller than his already towering height over the seated participants. Fourteen sets of wide eyes fixed themselves on him in anticipation of what this brash newcomer might say, as if he would start singing and dancing.

  “It’s a real pleasure to meet you all, my name is Kai. I thought I would check this place out to meet up with some great people and learn a few things.”

  This was met with several smiles, the biggest being from the girls in the group. One small boy, who Kai thought of immediately as the runt of the litter, blurted out, “Do you play basketball?”

  “No,” he laughed. “Nothing against it, but my interests are of the religious persuasion. I have no use for sports.” That seemed to get more nods from some, and surprised looks from others. He sat back down and directed his attention back toward Jeremy.

  “All yours, Jeremy.”

  “Well, that’s very kind of you, Kai.”

  Jeremy shot a sideways glance at Jenny once more before turning his attentions toward the rest of the group.

  “Thank you all for being here. It’s a real joy to see the dedication and love toward our Lord that you all express by joining with us week after week. Please take out your bibles and open to Genesis Chapter six, Verse one. In our last discussion we covered the Creation. Now we will go over the amazing story of the Flood and how our God brought his wrath down upon a wicked people.”

  Kai, having no bible, scooted his chair close to Jenny, enough so that their shoulders touched, and flashed her a warm smile before looking down at her book.

  Jeremy stared at him for a moment before asking Jenny to begin reading.

  She looked up shyly at Kai before settling in the words. When she started, her voice carried out clearly to the entire group, her words stringing together smoothly with a cadence that was like music.

  When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

  The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

  The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

  Jenny finished and looked up questioningly at Jeremy, whose face radiated with joy.

  Kai felt a stab of anger as he looked at the drab man with the exultant expression. He wanted to take him by the throat and change that stupid look entirely. Instead, he took a different approach.

  “Excuse me,” said Kai.

  Jeremy looked at him, raising his eyebrows. “Go on.”

  “Who are the sons of God that the passage refers to?”

  “In the Old Testament, the sons of God were angels, which fits here as well.”

  “I’ve always thought of angels as spiritual beings, not sons. So, the angels were all men?”

  Jeremy smiled, but Kai didn’t detect any humor in it. “It was a patriarchal society, Kai. Just think of sons as children.”

  “So, the children came down and had sex with the women?”

  “Well, the angels, yes. That’s right.”

  “Huh.” Kai glanced around at the others, noticing that all eyes were on him and half of the mouths hung down in slack-jawed bewilderment. That was good. “Below that, it says that humans were having evil thoughts all the time. Why would the angels want to come and sleep with evil women?”

  Giggles erupted from around the class, which Jeremy quickly stopped with a fierce look. His ire did not diminish when he directed his attention
back on Kai, but his voice remained steady.

  “The angels are not perfect, Kai. Some fell from grace and were tempted by the beauty of human women.”

  “Well,” said Kai, looking down at Jenny, “I can’t fault them there.” More giggles, which were again quieted quickly. “It also says that God regretted making humans. So . . . he made a mistake? My impression of God was that he was perfect and all-knowing. I’m confused by that, Jeremy.”

  Jeremy’s face was growing ready by this point and the skin tightened around his face as his jaw muscles began to flex repeatedly.

  “It also states in the Bible, Kai, that God is unchanging. It was not that God changed his mind, but that man changed, which both saddened and angered God, resulting in the Judgement.”

  “I see.” Kai shook his head in feigned sadness. “How terribly sad to see the children judged in such a way. And even all the animals of the ground. I suppose the animals of the air were spared? Never mind,” he said, as Jeremy opened his mouth to respond, “I just don’t think I can take anymore. It’s just too awful.”

  He stood and looked at Jeremy, then out at all the faces that were transfixed on him.

  “It was so very nice to meet you all. I’d love to speak more with everybody, but maybe of happier subjects.”

  Then he strode from the room, down the hall, and out into the night. As he stood at the back door, replacing the tainted air in his lungs with the fresh air of the outdoors, he heard the door open behind him.

  “Kai,” came the soft, melodious voice, “that was . . . really something. You are so conflicted.”

  He turned toward Jenny with a smile. It didn’t surprise him that she had followed him out, at the disdain of her pastor, he didn’t doubt. People always seemed to want to follow him. Especially the females.

  “Am I, Jenny? It’s interesting that you should say that. I was under the impression that Jeremy was conflicted.”