Immortal Light: Wide Awake

by John D. Sperry

  “I can’t wait to try yours; you look far tastier.” He started running his head down her face and neck toward her chest.

  Lucy built up all the light she could and drew back her head. As his mouth passed in front of hers, she threw her forehead as hard as she could into his nose. It exploded in a gush of black tar. Simon fell backwards from the blow. Lucy didn't waste any time and sliced her sword from Simon’s shoulder straight through to the opposite hip. One moment Simon was standing; the next he was on the floor in a bisected mess of oily, black blood and bones.

  Kat, having finally gotten to her feet, stood near the door in total shock at what she had just seen. Lucy grabbed her hand and headed for the door. Looking through a narrow crack she saw a dozen or so reapers milling around in the parking lot. There was a black sedan sitting just ten yards away.

  “There’s a car just outside. If we can make it—”

  A shrieking sound behind them interrupted her, and a reaper came sailing through the broken window. Without thinking, Lucy caught his torso with the tip of her sword and launched him through the front window.

  In seconds, a torrent of reapers came flooding into the room. Before Lucy could stop them, they had seized both her and Kat and dragged them outside. Lucy felt her sword fall from her hand in the confusion.

  Suspended in the air, looking up at the trees, she felt all of her limbs being held, preventing any chance of escape. There was hissing and yelling all around her declaring that Sukabra was dead and that Lucy had killed Simon and another reaper whose name she couldn’t hear. All movement stopped for a moment, and then she heard a low voice.

  “Since he’s failed, they’re ours.”

  The entire group began to yell. Unable to tell what was going on, Lucy felt her back hit the ground, and a dozen blackened hands and sets of jagged teeth came at her. The sounds of hissing and growling filled her ears, and she felt the hands groping at her, trying to find a place to suck her life. As she struggled, their grasp tightened; she could hear Kat screaming nearby. The chasm of darkness started to fall in around her. It was different than Sukabra; it was raw and unrefined. These were animals tearing at freshly caught prey. They didn’t care about how it felt; they just wanted a taste, to gorge themselves, hoping to be satiated.

  Kat’s screams died suddenly and Lucy tried hopelessly to fight them off. Just as darkness was about to close off the world she felt a release. It was small, but it was definite. At first it was one, but then she felt another and another. Before she knew it, all of the reapers had released her. She tried hard to regain herself, drawing life from whatever would give it. In a matter of seconds she had gained enough to get to her hands and knees.

  On the ground she saw the bodies of three reapers lying in various stages of decomposition. Looking up, she saw the remaining reapers walking slowly away from her. From the space between them, she saw Kenny backing away. He was holding Benjamin’s practice sword. It was bent and covered in the reapers’ oily blood. He dropped it and made eye contact with Lucy. His eyes were sad, and he looked at her until the reapers finally attacked him and ripped him apart, limb from limb. He didn’t make a sound, and her heart sank for him.

  To her right, the other band of reapers ignored Kat for a moment and watched as Kenny’s body was mutilated. Lucy wanted to get the sword, but it was being trampled by the death party. She tried to get to her feet, but she lacked the strength. She lay back down on the pavement of the parking lot and breathed deeply, thinking of how to get away; but, she was done. Turning her head, she saw Kat’s lifeless body lying face up, her beautiful hair fanned out on the ground. She had done all she could do. She thought about what she had accomplished that night and regretted that after all of it she had to die lying down, without a sword, at the hands of the vilest creatures she could think of.

  As she closed her eyes, she heard them once again advancing, and in the end, she couldn’t do anything but give in to the darkness.

  Chapter 22

  From a deep corridor, it seemed, Lucy could hear her own name being called. Everything was black, and she knew she was dead. It didn’t hurt, and it was peaceful. She could see light; it was dim, but it was what she had always heard death would be. She had always felt the “light at the end of the tunnel” was a little cliché, yet there it was.

  As the light got brighter, she could smell the salty spray of the ocean and the beach. Blinking, she was blinded by the bright blue sky fading slowly into an orange sunset over the horizon. It was the bay. She found it serendipitous that her own personal paradise was what she had created for her haven.

  Sitting up, she saw that everything was the same. She turned around, half expecting to see her parents waiting for her in their beach chairs, her mother doing crosswords and her father napping in his sunglasses and Lakers cap, but there was no one.

  Standing up, she looked down and saw that she was wearing different clothes: a light blue button-front shirt tucked into low-rise jeans. Her sword hung firmly at her side. Touching it, she thought it odd that even her sword was in Paradise with her; but then, what did she know about Paradise?

  There wasn’t much left to think about. When faced with the reality of death, nothing else really seemed to matter. Whatever was left behind became someone else’s problem, and the cares of mortality were nothing more than a footnote in a brief and painful part of existence. But then there was her mother to think about. Her mother was also dead. Lucy longed to see her mother, to know that somehow, someway, she had been set free of the reaper that had consumed her light. Lucy hoped that he was somehow burned, and then she didn’t need to hope anymore. From down the bay she saw a person walking toward her, and she didn’t need to look very long to see who it was.

  Laura wore a long, silver dress. It was the same one she had worn on her last anniversary. Lucy remembered it so clearly because she had helped her get ready that night.

  Recognizing her mother, Lucy ran toward her filled with joy. But, as she ran, she realized it was useless, so she stopped. It wasn’t as frustrating to her as it had been. For some cosmic reason, she was unable to reach certain people, even in paradise. Walking slowly toward her mother, she got close enough that the two could easily see each other’s face, and her mother wore the grandest smile. Lucy smiled back.

  As they stared at each other, Lucy knew that her mother had been freed, and that being able to see her one last time was a gift. Suddenly, all the sadness associated with her mother’s death washed away like pebbles on the beach. Laura was free, and Lucy was free of the guilt that she had somehow caused her death.

  Waving down the beach, she watched her mother speak, and on the wind she heard her voice.

  I love you, my darling Lucy. I am so proud of you. Be strong and carry on. I love you, I love you, I love you.

  As the last syllable faded into the air, so did Laura.

  Lucy’s heart was filled with joy, realizing that she had managed to save her mother’s light before dying herself. She raised her head to the sun and spread her arms wide to soak in all of the miraculous feelings she was experiencing when, from behind her, she heard a sound like footsteps in the wet sand. Turning around, she was face to face with someone she hadn’t expected to see.

  “Benjamin,” she said in a delighted tone. “My mother, she’s free. I just saw her.”

  “I know,” he replied with his signature smile.

  Then, Lucy was brought out of her daze. “Benjamin, are you dead, too?”

  He smiled widely and laughed looking down as the surf covered his bare feet. He wasn’t wearing his usual black jacket and jeans. He had on a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a pair of cargo shorts just as he had the first time she had ever seen him.

  “No, I’m not dead.”

  “Then, why are you here? Isn’t this Paradise?”

  “It’s nice, but I wouldn’t call it Paradise.” He still smiled hugely.

  Lucy was confused. “But, this can’t be my haven. I’
m dead. We were three hours from you and there’s no way you could have known …”

  She stopped as he reached into his cargo pocket. Opening his hand, he was holding a golden cube that Lucy knew well.

  “You dropped this in the library.”

  Lucy’s mouth dropped open as she reached for her totem. “But I—”

  “It turns out that it goes both ways. Not only can you come into my haven uninvited and access my knowledge through my swords, but I can do the same thing with you. You didn’t even have to invite me here. I’m here because I wanted to be.”

  It was all coming at her so quickly, and she was still trying to accept the idea that she might not actually be dead.

  “What you did in that motel was amazing. I can’t say I would have been able to do the same, and, no, you’re not dead. As it turns out, Jack’s a pretty decent driver, even at nearly a hundred miles per hour on winding roads.”

  “But … I mean … we were dead. They were …” She thought of Kenny and how he had sacrificed himself for her. “We were next.”

  “I’ll give you that, but we got there just in time. Kat wasn’t nearly as bad off as you.”

  “The reaper that took my mother, you must have burned him. Did you burn the rest of them, too?”

  “All of them, even Sukabra. Any light they had consumed was set free.”

  Lucy sighed in relief at his words. “Then where am I now?”

  Benjamin looked around, “I thought that was pretty obvious.”

  Lucy punched him on the chest as he reeled backwards in laughter. “Well, you slept all the way home and when you woke up, you still weren’t really awake. Kat had to help you shower and get dressed, and then you collapsed again. So right now, you’re lying on Peter’s favorite couch—which he’s not too thrilled about—with your head propped up on a pillow.”

  Lucy walked slowly over to him, her feet depressing the sand between her toes. “And, uh, where are you?”

  He reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist as she got closer. “I’m sitting right next to you, hoping that you’ll wake up soon.”

  Lucy looked softly into his brilliant emerald eyes. “And why are you hoping I wake up soon?”

  “Well,” he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, “I was sort of hoping that maybe we could …” Before he could say the words, Lucy stepped into him and placed her lips gently against his. Bridging the gap between her haven and the real world, she felt the smooth leather couch beneath her as the sand of the beach washed away, but the feel of Benjamin’s lips existed on both planes. It felt so much better in reality.

  ***

  It was Christmas morning, and Lucy held her father’s hand as she had done every day since he had been forced into his own personal prison. There had always been the hope that killing the reaper who had taken him would somehow bring him back, or, at the very least, set him free the way her mother had been set free. But, his state seemed no different.

  “Merry Christmas, Daddy. I’ll be back tomorrow.” Her words were laced with sadness. There was so much to be grateful for, but the sight of her father still in his bed was a dark cloud on an otherwise celebratory time. It wasn’t fair that he had to suffer, and that there was no freedom for his light, regardless of what she and Benjamin and his brothers had done.

  As she turned back around at the door, she admired the colorful Christmas decorations put up by the only other man in the county that would adorn a green tree in purple and gold. Jack was the best friend James Higgins had ever had, and their entire relationship consisted of a bag of saltwater taffy and a box of fish and chips.

  Blowing a kiss, she left the room and hoped, as she hoped every day, that when she arrived the next morning, she would be greeted with a cheerful smile and an enthusiastic Hey there, Goosey from the only family she had left.

  ***

  Lucy’s mouth hung open. The contents of the long slender box she held were beyond anything she could ever have dreamed possible. Staring up at her, sparkling under the white lights of the Raven’s magnificently decorated Christmas tree, in all of its rich and perfect detail was her sword. It wasn’t the practice sword, but her sword, the sword from her haven. She had seen Benjamin at the drafting table designing it, but she thought absolutely nothing of it until the moment she tore the silver paper off the box and lifted the lid. The hilt was gold inlaid with a darker metal that gave it a barber-pole appearance. The guard curved around at the ends like a vine. Etched into the flared, double-edge blade were the exact same meticulous lines that looked like waves crashing into vines.

  Accompanying the sword was a black leather scabbard intricately decorated with vines and leaves.

  “It’ll strap to any belt or you can use the one in the box,” Jack explained, trying not to look too proud of himself.

  Lucy hadn’t noticed the black belt decorated to match the scabbard.

  Standing, she walked over to Jack, who was sitting in a leather chair facing the tree. She gripped him around the neck and squeezed as hard as she could.

  “Thank you, Jack. I love it, it’s perfect.”

  “Hey, I just pounded it out. Benjamin insisted on doing all the hard stuff.” He peaked around Lucy to where Benjamin sat. In a whisper, he continued, “But, I think I could have done a better job.” He winked at her and the two shared a laugh.

  Benjamin, finishing his duty of putting the used wrapping paper into the fireplace looked curiously at the two of them.

  “Why do I get the feeling I’m being talked about over there?”

  “Because you are being talked about over here,” Lucy retorted, then rose to meet him in the middle of the room. Holding the sword and scabbard with one hand she held it up to Benjamin and shook her head with a look of disbelief and sheer gratitude. As she approached him, she felt a tear form in the corner of her eye.

  “Thank you,” she said, smiling through more tears. “I absolutely love it.”

  Benjamin just smiled at her as the two slowly got closer. Lucy felt a familiar urge that she had always wanted to act upon, but wasn’t able to before, not the way she wanted. But, in the days since she had awakened in her haven, she learned that she no longer had to control the urge, and in one swift motion she wrapped Benjamin around the neck and kissed him. It was a sensation that she was getting used to. Each time they kissed she felt an explosion of light ignite between them and she knew without the slightest hint of a doubt that she and Benjamin were somehow meant to be together, whether by design or by chance.

  Kat’s tinkling voice broke the moment, “Oh my gosh, Lucy; get a room, will yah?”

  Benjamin laughed, and the kiss was all but ruined. Lucy separated herself from his warm embrace, and in one of his rare moments, Benjamin actually looked a little embarrassed.

  “Well, why don’t you try it on for size?” he said to break the awkwardness.

  Handing the sword to him, she strung the belt through the scabbard and wrapped it around her. It fit perfectly. Taking the sword back, she hung it into place at her side. The belt rested snugly at the top of the low waistline of her jeans and she turned in slow circles for all to see.

  Applause broke out from the other four people in the room, and Lucy loved how it felt so much a part of her, hanging at her side. Looking down at her new weapon, a thing she never imagined she would see in reality, she noticed something else engraved into the pommel. It was the image of a tree crossed with a sword.

  Lucy looked up at Benjamin in disbelief. “Is this my …”

  Benjamin nodded his head. “Yes, that is actually your totem. Since you felt the instinct to take it with you when you needed protection, we knew you had bonded with it enough for it to understand what your sword must be like. So, Jack started the process, and before long, it became part of your sword.”

  Lucy, with tears welling in her eyes, stared in amazement at the love of her life, then glanced back at Jack, who tried to take no credit at all for the feat of creating her sword.

  Benjamin
held her tightly as she gripped the hilt of her sword with one hand and held him with the other.

  “Merry Christmas, Lucy.”

  “Thank you, so much,” she responded hoarsely.

  More playful applause broke out, and Lucy laughed at her own ridiculous behavior. As the clapping died down, Jack jumped up from his chair and grabbed the last remaining gift from under the tree.

  “Okay, now that we got that one out of the way, here’s one from me and only me.” He made sure Lucy got the emphasis.

  Taking the package from him, she felt that it was soft, almost like a pillow. She gave him a sideways glance.

  “Well, open it,” he gestured with his hands.

  “This is his specialty, you’ll like it.” Benjamin’s words made the gift even more intriguing, and Lucy ripped open the white and red wrapping paper.

  Inside was a white pad of fabric that when unfolded revealed a jacket. Holding it in front of her, she saw that it was a hip-length coat almost exactly like the black ones the brothers each wore. It had a zipper up the front and a high, collarless design with a strap at the neck to secure the zipper and another strap at the waist. Lucy turned it around and examined every inch of it. It was a work of art in its absolute perfection.

  “It’s your new body armor,” Jack said with a proud grin on his face.

  “Body armor?” Lucy wondered how it could be body armor when it didn’t feel like it could stop a butter knife.

  “Yeah, it’s my design.”

  Jack walked over and took the jacket from Lucy. Holding it under the incandescent glow of the tree lights, there was an unmistakable golden glow to the individual fibers of the coat.

  “See, what I do is weave a piece of fabric using Kevlar fiber and long, threadlike strands of our gold.” He held the jacket up for Lucy to step into. “So, when you wear it and bond with it, it’s the best armor you could ever want. Watch.”

  Walking to the kitchen he grabbed a knife. “Hold out your arm.”