Darkly Rising

by J. D. Matheny

  He turned slowly into the driveway and passed underneath the large, overhanging pines with a few little clucks of approval. “Nice place back here. Never noticed it before.”

  They came to a stop behind his uncle Tommy’s white pickup and Kai looked over at Alan with a look up relief. “Wish I could shake your hand. You’re very kind, going out of your way for me, and letting me talk. I appreciate it.”

  “Wasn’t nothing, really. Now go get yourself better. You’ve got plenty of days ahead of you for conquering the world. Best get better first, though.”

  Kai stepped out and watched as the Buick backed itself slowly around and got itself turned toward the road. He walked past the truck and up and through the front door. Inside he heard a conversation that came abruptly to a halt. He walked through the living area and into the back of the house where he found Tommy and James sitting at the table with his mom.

  “Kai, I wasn’t expecting you home so soon. What’s wrong? You look terrible!” Sophie jumped up from the table and moved up to place a hand on his cheek. “You’re freezing, are you feeling sick?”

  “Just tired. Weak. Cold.” After the walk into the house, that’s all the information he felt he could muster.

  Sophie cast a look back at her guests, who were staring at Kai like he’d sprouted antennas on his forehead, then guided him back to his room.

  Kai allowed her to help, and once he got in his room and to his bed he was ready to collapse. He dropped onto the bed and pulled the sheet around him. “Blankets.”

  Sophie swept out of the room and returned a moment later with a large quilt, which she spread out over him. “Maybe we should take you into Urgent Care, Kai.”

  “Just rest,” he said. Then, “I love you.” After that he was silent.

  Sophie stared down at the hulking figure that was her little boy, then backed out of the room and closed the door as quietly as she could. Returning to the kitchen table, she sat in her chair and shared a stunned look with Thomas and James.

  “Well,” James said, “I’d be hard-pressed to believe that is a coincidence.”

  “Is he dying!?” Sophie blurted out, trying to keep her voice low. “Tommy, what did we do?”

  “I’m sure he’ll be fine, sis. Maybe this is a good sign. It tells us something actually has happened. Whatever was in that lantern is gone and Kai is just recovering from the absence. Listen, don’t worry. Just let him rest. Just throw that lantern in the shed until garbage day, then toss it out with the rest of the trash. For now, you just let Kai sleep. I’m sure he’ll rest and probably come out once he smells dinner cooking.”

  “Sure,” she said. “I’m sure you’re right. God, I hate this.”

  Thomas and James stood and Thomas bent over to give his sister a kiss on the top of her head.

  “Just try to relax, sis. I’ll give you a call later and check in. I’m sure nothing bad is going to happen.”

  29

  This time, Kai’s dream sprung forth with neither rage nor mystery. It was a scene of peace and beauty. He stood out front of Jenny’s house, his mother’s SUV idling at his back. The sun was warm on his skin and the birds sang in a song so sweet he smiled at the idea of closing his eyes and looking for words in their music.

  “Kai?”

  “Yes, mother?” He turned back toward the vehicle, thinking his mom’s voice sounded almost as sweet as the birdsong. In the passenger seat, Blaine smiled out at him, the rays of the sun sweeping across his face to make the green of his eyes blaze.

  “Be a gentleman, like I taught you. She’s a sweet girl. You treat her well.”

  “That’s right, champ.” He raised his left hand up, fingers intertwined with Sophie’s, showing Kai their unity. “Respect a woman, treat her gentle and take only what she’s willing to give. Do that and she’ll be yours.” He brought Sophie’s hand to his mouth and gave it a soft kiss.

  Kai saw the way his mother smiled, and it warmed his heart. “Thanks Blaine, I’ll keep that in mind.”

  He turned back toward the house and walked up to the door. The sun shone off the surface so brightly that he had to blink and look at it only from an angle. A cool breeze picked up and swept across his back, as if God or Mother Earth or whoever was looking out for his personal comfort.

  He put knuckles to door then waited in nervous anticipation. The door swung open and standing in the doorway to greet him was Mr. Sikes. He was a large man, dressed in khakis and loafers, with a red cardigan on over a white shirt. On his nose perched a pair of round, wire spectacles and under his arm was a folded newspaper. He smiled out at Kai warmly.

  “Kai, it’s a pleasure to see you again. I hope the day is treating you well?”

  “Like a dream, sir!”

  From behind Mr. Sikes floated a vision of angelic perfection. Jenny approached to stand next to her father. Her auburn hair shone brilliantly in the sun, magnifying her virginal complexion. She was dressed in a white, short-sleeved blouse and white skirt that hung down to her ankles.

  Kai felt the sudden compulsion to kneel before her and proclaim her the queen of his heart. Instead, he merely blushed and smiled down at his feet. “Jenny, you’re like a flower in full bloom.”

  Jenny giggled, and Mr. Sikes planted a kiss on her temple before placing a hand gently on each shoulder and pushing her forward a step, as if presenting a gift. Jenny’s hands reached out, palms up, waiting for Kai to take hold of them.

  As his hands rose up a dark shadow passed over the sun, leaving them all on a sudden pool of black. He could see nothing.

  “Jenny?” He pulled his hands back to his sides, feeling suddenly that if he reached out for her, something bad would happen.

  The shadow passed. The sun returned, only now it cast the grey light of dusk. Kai stared forward in horror. Mr. Sikes, who had so generously presented his daughter before, had pulled her back tightly into his chest. Where a warm smile greeted Kai moments ago, his face now leered at him, his lips red and glistening with saliva. He tilted his head toward his daughter and opened his mouth, uncoiling a long tongue that rolled out to flop down on her shoulder, dragging it lewdly up her neck and along her face. That obscene gesture left a snail mark on the side of Jenny’s head from her chin to her temple. Jenny only giggled then Kai noticed that her hips were gyrating back into her father’s lap.

  He recoiled and turned back toward the SUV. “Mother!” Surely, she would be outraged and put a stop to this.

  But she wouldn’t, he knew that as soon as he saw her. It wasn’t Blaine’s smiling face that now shone out from the passenger window, it was his mother’s, and it was twisted into a look of violent pleasure. Loud moans and gasps were escaping her open mouth and behind her, Blaine was hunched over her back, thrusting at her and panting like a dog, all while staring at Kai with a look of primal vigor on his face.

  He ran. Across the road, past the rocking SUV, and away from the mocking sounds of perverse copulation. Flying across the road as fast as his feet would take him, he catapulted a fence and passed through a backyard full of clumps of matted fur writhing with maggots.

  The worlds gone mad!

  He scaled another fence, sick with the thought of the gore and fur that was likely glued to the bottom of his shoes.

  This is your creation, he thought to himself. So, who is mad?

  He couldn’t answer that. Didn’t want to answer that. He simply wanted to run and leave behind the ruins of his young life. He entered a small park, vaulted a balance beam, and made for the line of trees on the other side. Then the world went dark again.

  Afraid of running face first into something, he quickly pulled to a stop. Nothing around him could be seen, it was pitch black with no hint of light in any direction. The darkness felt heavy, like a blanket of mist settling on his skin. He reached out with both hands to probe the darkness in front of him and began to take slow, timid steps. Two, four, eight steps, gradually picking up speed, sure he would hit the grove of trees at any moment and waiting for his hands to s
ettle on the rough bark of a large fir.

  His foot splashed down into water. Yanking it back, sure he had seen no water when there had still been light to see by, he squatted and patted at the ground before him. Then a light sprang up before him, orange and yellow and pulsating, bathing everything in front of him in its burning light. Reflections bounced off a wide pool, opaque and glassy, illuminating sand, golden and smooth. Shining out over stone steps and bathing a dark and monstrous figure in its eerie light.

  It was Him.

  He stood tall at the base of the stone building and beckoned him forward. Only moments before, Kai had felt fear and distress, but now, even in this mythical environment, he experienced only curious fascination. He waded out into the water, marveling at the warmth and the invigorating smell of salt and sea. All around him a fountain of phosphorescent light sprung up, creating a guiding circle of which he was the center.

  When he climbed up and out of the water, sharing now the same small bit of land with that other figure of the island, he moved forward through the blissfully hot sand without hesitation. At his approach, the giant form turned and climbed the steps into the pyramidical structure, expecting him to follow.

  As Kai crested the steps, the torches within blazed with renewed vigor, making the stony walls within appear to be themselves made of dancing flames. The figure turned toward him . . . Daucina . . . God . . . the words sailed through his mind, and he stared transfixed at that inky, swirling void where a face would be. The tendrils of flame rising like snakes from His head seemed to bend toward Kai. Then the thing—Daucina, he thought, correcting himself—placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him toward the wall where he had entered. On it was a story played out in childlike paintings and Kai understood at once it was a history and began to follow it slowly around the room. As he did, his previous dreams suddenly made sense. He’d already seen some of this history play out in his mind like it was a movie. The villagers, the worship, the destruction, then the woman.

  Even in the crude paintings he recognized the figure of his mother. She was here, just like he had seen, and she had been with this Daucina . . . this God.

  Had born a child.

  Understanding came like a flood and Kai dropped to the ground with a strangled cry. It can’t be, his mind screamed at him, she would have told me. She would have explained!

  Strong hands took him by the shoulders and lifted him. He submitted to them, coming about without resistance to face the creature that he knew was a part of him. He stared into that deep pit, full of turmoil, yet fearless. There, in the twisting ether, Daucina showed him wondrous things.

  He saw himself as he truly was, as others saw him, a daunting figure of dark mystery and captivating presence. A source of terrible beauty that shone like a light that others flocked to, like moths to a flame. Everybody in his life, every face he could recall, they all gathered to him, and they were his people. Yet that wasn’t all, for others came too. They gathered, swelled in number, and grew in their adoration of him. And with their praise and their wilful submission, he too grew, both in size and power. Soon, he was like the sea, and he washed over all of them, sweeping away the world.

  Kai was filled with familiar stirrings: power, lust, desire. The vision faded and cleared, and once again he was standing in an orange pool of torchlight before the imposing figure of Daucina, his father. His true father. And he smiled.

  Daucina brought his monstrous black hands up to the sides of his head, lifting away the flames like a crown, the fingers of fire woven together by some invisible fabric. He reached out and placed the crown of fire on Kai’s own head.

  The effect was immediate. Kai felt the crown and the fire knitting together with his skin, becoming a part of him. He felt a tingling heat rush through his body, and with it, a swell of power and purpose washed over him like a tidal wave.

  Before him, just as he was evolving, Daucina was going through his own transition. He was diminishing, his body fading and growing darker until it was less than a shadow. The black hole of his face seemed to pull in all the light from the room, and once there was no further light to draw, it was no more.

  Kai was left in an empty vacuum of space, but to him, it was nothing short of the universe opening up to welcome him. He was freed now, no longer bound by normal conventions. He spread his arms wide and launched himself into the great wide open, rising darkly to meet the light.

  Kai’s eyes opened to the tea-colored light of an encroaching evening. If he would have cared to examine himself closely in his bedroom mirror, he would have witnessed the swirl of his dark eyes, sucking in the light as a whirlpool might suck in a ship in an old sea tale. The clock on his dresser read 5:28 p.m. meaning the last vestiges of daylight would be gone in another thirty minutes or so.

  He clenched his fists and tensed his muscles, thrilled at the strength and tenacity he felt coursing through his body. Then, in a flash of near panic, his hands flew to the top of his head and patted in frantic exploration. There were no flames. He was more than a little disappointed, but at the same time, deeply relieved. There was no doubt that all he had seen during his three hours of slumber—if that’s what it was—happened to him in some sense or another. He knew that he could walk out of his room and confront his mom with the name Daucina, and in doing so, would witness a look of shock and fright. The name would mean something to her.

  And now here he was, bearing the torch that Daucina had passed to him. What had happened to his true father he didn’t know, but he sensed that he was no more, gone from this world and on to the next. He also understood that he was tasked with a necessary role, one that would increase this new sense of power that he felt. The flock must grow. Followers must come, and with them, belief would come. Once that happened, he would wield a power and influence that held no limits.

  His mind turned toward the work already being done on his behalf. The plan that had already been set in motion before he even truly knew what it was. His church was being built and his followers would rejoice to see him.

  Exiting the room, he moved out into the kitchen, then stopped near the dining table and listened to the music of the house. There were sounds, subtle yet easily detected now, that he had not heard before. The house was alive with life, all its individual pieces breathing and expanding, leaving traces of their movement borne upon the air. There was so much that he had missed before! Even this insignificant thing made him grin with wonder.

  His mother was not in the house, that too he could tell. From the vibrations being carried through the air and to his ears, he deduced that she was in the back of the house, sitting in one of the patio chairs. He moved to the sliding glass door, peeked out, and there she was, sitting in a chair and staring into a box. There was something in that box that was eliciting a strange reaction in her, but he was unconcerned with that right now.

  He slid the door open. “Mother?”

  She jumped slightly, and her eyes flashed up at him. Was that fear? He didn’t want that for her. What he was could not be without her involvement. She was still his mother.

  “Relax, mom. The guys are out working on the building. I’d like to get them pizza.”

  “Kitchen counter. Grab my card from my purse.” She was staring at him as a deer might stare at a fox from a great distance, alert but not yet panicked. “You’re well, then? You look much different. Better.”

  “Oh, I’m loads better. I feel like a new man.” He closed the door, dug out her card, then called in for delivery of three large Hawaiian pizzas. Personally, he had always loved pineapple. If the workers didn’t like it, they could always pick it off.

  While he waited he went back to his room for fresh clothes and hopped in the shower. Normally he loved the water to be scalding hot, but this time he played with the temperature, trying to match it exactly to what he remembered the feel of that little saltwater lake in his vision to be. Once he was done, he dried off, dressed, and put on some deodorant. Then he flicked his hands around in his thic
k, dark hair and called it good.

  It took only another ten minutes before the doorbell rang and the pizza was hot and in his hands. Before he left, he stopped off in the garage and grabbed a dusty half-pack of cola from the outside pantry, then went back through the house and out onto the rear patio. Sophie was still sitting in the chair, but now the box was closed. A splitting maul, he noticed, was laying on the ground next to her chair.

  “Going to split some wood, ma?”

  “What? No. Oh, I only grabbed it for . . . oh I don’t even remember now.” She did remember, but she wasn’t about to say.

  “OK, well, take it easy, will ya?” She was acting strange, perhaps it was this Blaine chump. Somebody he would be dealing with shortly. “And mom? I’d love to try out one of those float things. Tonight, if possible. Would you want to call your friend? He seemed like a nice guy. Maybe he could get me in.”

  She cleared her throat, which he suspected was meant to buy her an extra second or two to think. “Well, sure, I suppose that would be fine. I’m sure he’d appreciate the chance to see you and show you what he does.”

  “Thanks. I’m going to deliver these bad boys and check up on things. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

  “OK. That’s fine.” Her voice what somewhat vacant, her wheels turning.

  “And mom?”

  “Yes?”

  “I love you. I really do. You mean a lot to me.” Then he was off, leaving her to look after him in search of an answer that wouldn’t come.

  She did call Blaine, and she did set up an appointment for Kai to go in that very evening, but first she called Thomas.

  He answered almost immediately. “Hey sis! How’s things there? Did he snap out of it?”

  “Oh yeah, he looks more vibrant than he ever has before, and I think I know why. Thomas, you left that fucking lantern here and it’s just fine!” With each word her voice grew higher and more frantic, until it was nearly a shriek by the end of her sentence.