***
When Lucy awoke, she was in a bed covered with a thick down comforter. She had no recollection of being moved and no idea where she was. Sitting up, she saw that she was still in her jeans and blue hoodie. The analog clock on the wall read 5:35, but it was far too bright to be morning.
Did I sleep all day?
She tried to recall what day it was. Everything was a blur. She was fairly certain that the weekend was over, which meant she missed at least one day of school. It was probably better that way. Still, she had disappeared for more than twenty-four hours and Kat, the Caldwells, or someone from school was probably worried about her.
She stood up and looked around the room. There wasn’t much to see except that everything was neat and organized. A desk under the window had a stack of books sitting on top of it. She recognized them as school textbooks. Next to them sat a computer, its screen saver shooting bright colors across the display. On the night table she found her phone. It was plugged in so she picked it up.
You have 7 missed calls.
“Only seven,” she said to herself, feeling a little disappointed. Six of them came from Kat, and one she didn’t recognize. Her heart stopped as she thought it might be the hospital. She listened to the messages. Kat’s soothing voice was the first message, asking where she was and if she needed anything. The other was, in fact, the hospital, but they were just informing her that her father was being moved to a permanent room in a different wing. Taking note of the room, she hung up the phone.
Approaching the door, she could hear voices on the other side. She slowly opened it to reveal the large living room of the Raven’s home. On one of the overstuffed leather couches she could see Kat’s unmistakable black, wavy hair swaying animatedly as she spoke. In an adjacent chair, with one leg up on the arm rest, was Jack. They were having a hearty conversation about something that made both of them laugh when Kat caught Lucy coming from the bedroom.
“Hey, you’re up.” Kat jumped to her feet and ran to give Lucy a warm hug.
“How long have I been asleep?” Lucy asked wearily.
Jack chimed in, “Since about eight-thirty last night. Benjamin brought you in and put you in his bed.”
Lucy was momentarily scandalized before Jack put her mind at ease, pointing to one of the other couches. “Don’t worry; he slept out here. Sitting, folded neatly on one of the cushions, she saw a pile of sheets and blankets.
“Where is he?” Lucy asked, running her hand through her hair.
“He’s in the shop. Just go out that way.” He pointed toward the wall of windows that lead to the kitchen.
She found Benjamin in a small room at the back of the shop, sitting at a drafting table. Even from twenty feet away she could feel his light radiating around the room. It was uncanny how she was so sensitive to him.
“What are you doing?” she asked as she walked up behind him.
“Oh, just doodling,” he answered, without looking up.
Lucy could only guess, but mostly hoped that he could feel her the way she felt him.
“Can I see?” Lucy asked, gesturing toward the large piece of paper on the drafting table.
“Sure.” Benjamin lifted up the paper and there, in stunning detail, was her sword, just as she knew it in her haven. Everything was accurate: the hilt, the etchings, everything.
Lucy took the paper, admiring the artistry.
“How did you do that? It’s perfect.”
“I have a good memory.”
“But, you only saw it once.”
“Twice, actually. I got a really good look when you pointed it at me.” He smiled and winked at her.
“Oh, right. I forgot about that.” She blushed a little, remembering how her emotions got away from her that night.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah,” she said almost accusatorily, “why did you let me sleep so long?”
“You needed it. By the time you fell asleep, we had been in the Haven Room twice as long as I had ever been there.”
Lucy recalled her day with Benjamin in the room. She still felt the residual effects of it, and joy washed over her just at the thought. Even the thought of her mother couldn’t change how she felt. It was miraculous.
“How does it work?” Lucy asked, setting the paper back down on the table.
“How does what work?”
“The light, how can I use it out here?”
“Well, you just need to understand where it comes from and you’ll understand how it works. If you do that, you’ll be able to use it out here.”
“Where does it come from, then?”
Benjamin could see that Lucy wasn’t going to allow him to put off her training any longer.
“Okay, let’s start with this.”
He walked over to a small refrigerator and pulled out two apples and a bottle of water. From the top of the refrigerator he grabbed a packet of almonds and handed all of the items save one of the apples to Lucy. He grabbed a folded canvas tarp from a shelf and led Lucy out of the room.
“You start eating and follow me.”
Not realizing that she was starving, she began to devour the apple.
They walked out of the shop and into the woods behind. The smell of the evergreens reminded her of every winter of her life looking for the perfect Christmas tree with her parents. She didn’t dwell on the thought and instead focused on the apple.
Finding a small patch of ground amongst the trees, Benjamin spread out the canvas and they sat down facing each other as Lucy finished her apple. When she had set the core to the side, Benjamin began his explanation.
“The energy that makes up all life is everywhere and in everything. I told you before that we call it light, and everything that carries it can give it freely, like this apple.” He held out the second apple in his hand.
“If I were to request it, this apple could give me all of its life force, its light, without question.”
Lucy watched as the apple in Benjamin’s hand began to change color, first to dark red, then to brown, and then the walls of the apple began to shrink and shrivel until it was nothing more than a dried husk of the ruby colored fruit it had been.
Lucy marveled at what she saw. “Why would it let you just kill it like that?”
“I didn’t kill it; it gave me its light. It understands its role in this world and provided to me what it knows I need to live.”
It made sense to Lucy, but she had never considered a piece of fruit as having a choice. “But I just ate an apple and I’ll get the nutrients without asking.”
“That is true. Our flesh provides us the ability to take without asking, to usurp the agency a living thing has to make its own decisions and use it for our own purposes.”
“So what’s the point, if we can just take it anyway?”
“The point is to build a relationship with the universe.”
Lucy grimaced in confusion. “I don’t get it.”
“Well, because all life is linked together, all light communicates. If I ask this apple for its light, then it will grant it to me based on my ‘reputation’ with other carriers of light.”
Lucy held her hand up to gain clarification. “So, if I start asking my food permission to eat it, then I build a good reputation and the next thing I eat will …” She circled her hand in the air, asking for Benjamin to finish the sentence.
“Let you do this.” He held up the dried up apple.
“So, eventually I won’t have to eat it, I can just …”
“Absorb it.” Benjamin finished.
Lucy was flabbergasted at the thought of absorbing the nutrients from her food rather than eating it.
“The downside,” Benjamin continued, “is that you end up with a lot of compost.” He dangled the apple by its dry stem.
“And the upside?” Lucy endeavored.
“The upside is that you spend a lot less time in the bathroom and you have an almost fat-free diet.”
Lucy laughed at the thought of
never having to go to the bathroom again.
“Let’s have you try it now. We’ll start with something easy.” Benjamin picked up the bottle of water and opened it. “Cup your hands together.” Lucy obeyed and Benjamin filled her hands.
“Now, I want you to think about the water and what it will do for your body. Then, as silly as it sounds, I want you to ask the water for its light.”
Lucy looked at her hands full of water. She closed her eyes and thought of drinking it and the oxygen and hydrogen going into her blood stream and being used by the organs in her body. She imagined the water being distributed throughout her body and then she thought the words May I have your light?
While it felt a little ridiculous to even think, in her hands she felt something familiar; it wasn’t unlike the sensation of touching someone and feeling the light flow between them. She waited until the feeling faded to nothing before opening her eyes. Looking down, she saw that her hands were not only empty, but they were also dry. A shriek of joy escaped her and she clapped her hands over her mouth as she smiled.
“I did it! I can’t believe I did it!” Lucy was giddy with the joy of accomplishment.
Benjamin smiled widely as he nodded encouragingly. “I knew you would. Now let’s try it again; this time with the apple.”
Lucy was confused. “But we only had the two apples.”
Benjamin held up the withered apple again. “This process works both ways.”
As he held up the apple, Lucy watched as the skin began to turn red again and the walls pushed out and became firm. After a few seconds it was as perfect as it was when he pulled it out of the refrigerator.
Amazed, Lucy took it from his hand. “How did you …?”
“I gave it back. We have the power to choose as well. We have the ability to share light. That’s why you feel it so much when you touch someone. You’re not taking their light; you automatically want to share yours. I’ve actually seen you do it.”
Lucy looked up in stunned disbelief. “When?”
“That day in Bandon. We had lunch. You were playing with a dead flower from the window sill and you rejuvenated the leaf and stem.”
Lucy remembered vividly that day when Benjamin and her mother had hit it off so well and she just sat there and played with the flower. “So that’s what happened with the bird and the moth, then; I shared my light?”
“Precisely.”
Lucy held up the apple. “Now let’s see if I can reverse it.”
She thought about the apple breaking down inside her, all of the different vitamins moving from one organ to another and just as she had with the water, she asked permission. She felt the current begin to flow and she opened her eyes. As the sensation continued, she watched as the apple withered just as it had for Benjamin. In a matter of seconds it was done and Lucy could feel the light in her, giving her strength much like eating it would have done.
“Wow, I’d say you’re a natural at it.”
“So, am I building a rapport with the universe now?” She flashed a hopeful grin.
“Yes, you are, and I think the universe likes you.”
They both laughed.
“What else can we do this with?”
“Everything.”
“Everything?” Lucy responded incredulously.
“You can ask almost anything for its light, but it’s up to the thing to give it to you. If you emanate good intentions toward the light around you, almost anything will give you its life.”
“Even animals?”
“Even people.”
The words shocked Lucy and she sat back on her hands.
“Lucy, you have a gift for this. I wasn’t joking when I said the universe likes you. It took me a long time to learn what you seem to do naturally.”
It was difficult to believe that she had a gift for manipulating a power she didn’t even know existed a few months prior.
“Can we practice some more, on different things?” Lucy was once again giddy to try out her new gift now that she knew what it was and, in a small way, how to use it.
“I would love to, but…” He looked directly into Lucy’s eyes. “I need to tell you one more thing, and it isn’t going to be pleasant to hear, but you need to know.”
Lucy reached over excitedly and grabbed his hands. “I’m ready to hear it all. Tell me everything.”
Benjamin nodded.
“For every good there is an evil. There are people, my people, who have broken rules. They no longer abide by the ethical codes that we follow. They have been shut off. Nothing will grant these monsters permission to take its light.” Looking into Lucy’s eyes, he could see that she was understanding what he was saying. “Because they are not given permission, they take it by force, and they use it.”
Lucy sat up straighter, letting go of Benjamin’s hands and paying close attention to every word.
“They don’t care where it comes from; they just know they need it in order to survive. Reapers are among these evil creatures. They feed on the light of the largest life forms they can find because the larger the life form, the longer they can thrive without replenishing.”
Benjamin closed his eyes for a moment, the thought of his own words eating at him. Lucy could sense that it was difficult for him to talk about it, but she didn’t know why, so she took his hands again.
“Go, ahead. I’m listening.”
He opened his eyes, his face emitting a look of hatred. “When they take the light from something, that light becomes a part of them forever, or until it is released.”
Lucy understood the look of hatred in his eyes because she could feel it brewing inside of her, and her heart began pounding in her chest.
“Does that mean that the extractor who took my mother …”
Benjamin caught her look and confirmed her nightmare. “Yes, the extractor that took your mother still carries her light with him.”
Lucy had heard enough. She understood why it was so difficult for Benjamin to tell her. She jumped to her feet and started back toward the house. Benjamin raced to stop her.
“Lucy, stop! You can’t find him alone. We will find him. We will figure out a way to stop him and kill him and burn him. That’s the only way we can release your mother from him. But, if you go out there and make yourself vulnerable to him, then you do nothing for your mother. Your death won’t release her light.”
Rage and hatred filled every part of her. She wanted revenge against the monster who needlessly fed on the light of her mother.
Desperate to calm her down, Benjamin gently grasped her by the shoulders. “We will find him, I promise you that. Getting the taste of blood in your mouth for these things is what they want. They want you to make an emotionally rash decision and make it easier for them to catch you. You are the guardian we’ve been waiting for and the last thing that we need to happen is for you to get killed; then we would have to start all over.”
The look in Lucy’s eyes changed from revenge to anger at Benjamin’s latest revelation into his life. She finally figured it out. She knew why he would never return her affection; it was because he didn’t love her at all.
“Is that all I am to you? I’m the long lost guardian come to precede your queen so you can go home?” Her voice carried over the trees.
Benjamin tried to calm her down again, but she just threw his hands off and turned to walk away.
“No, Lucy, that’s not all you are to me.”
She stopped to catch his response.
“Then what am I? I tell you I love you, and you don’t say a thing. We kiss, and it’s never mentioned again. I feel like all I am to you is a means to an end. You keep me close so I can accomplish some cosmic mission that I don’t even know about? If that’s the case, then I don’t want to be a part of this world of yours. I’d rather just take my chances with the extractor.”
There were no words that could fix what had been said. Walking up to her, he emanated his own light, and Lucy could feel it. She wanted to walk away
from it, but it was like a current that she was already swept into. The light that he radiated was tangibly linked to hers for some reason, and that had to mean something.
Lucy began to calm down as the tension in her body relaxed. She wanted to hit Benjamin in the chest and beat him away from her, but she couldn’t ignore the absolute and irresistible desire to just hold him close, to never let him go.
Her emotions were controlling her thoughts as the two of them stood with each other.
“I can’t be this guardian; I don’t even know how to protect myself. What am I supposed to do? I want my mother free, Benjamin. She can’t be held like that.”
Tears began again. She knew it was weak to cry, but she wasn’t unsure or nervous or confused; they weren’t the weak tears of insecurity. They were tears caused by fear. She was terrified of the outcome of what she faced.
Benjamin took a step closer and, like a magnet, Lucy fell immediately into his chest. He reached around her and embraced her again as he had before.
She spoke into the buttons on his shirt. “I don’t care anymore. I don’t care if you don’t love me; please, just don’t leave me, I beg you. Please don’t leave me.”
They were the words of a girl torn apart; but, as she said them, she knew it was time to stop being a girl and become a Guardian. It was time to start fighting back.
Chapter 19
Kat waved emphatically out the window of the Cavalier as Lucy pulled around in the driveway and they headed down the hill back towards Charleston. Kat was giddy as she settled into her seat and looked at Lucy.
“They are so cool. I love hanging out up here.”
“What’s going on with you and Jack?” Lucy said abruptly, not turning even slightly to look at Kat.
“What do you mean?” Kat couldn’t hide that the words were a little disarming, even for her.
“He’s just there when I come to see you. We talk a little.”
“Don’t give me that; he picked you up today.”
Immortal Light: Wide Awake Page 27