Light of Darkness

by Lonnie Davidson

  “Had a bad dream. Why are you talking like that?”

  He mills over my question for a second, then his eyes light up. “Well, you see, Master Kyle, bro, when I have some downtime, I like to try out different human accents. Like the week before you arrived, I was, like, this totally outrageous Scotsman.”

  “Okay, but why?”

  “To, like, find my voice. When I first was created, I totally didn’t talk; I just followed orders. So, Master Christopher told me to keep trying them out until I find one that I like.”

  “Gotcha. Have you found one you like?”

  “I’m, like, chill with the proper English one I use day to day, but it still doesn’t feel like me, ya know?”

  “Yeah, I get that. Any way I can help?”

  “I totally appreciate that you’d want to help, but this is a task given to me by my, like, Master. I must totally complete this on my own, Master Kyle, bro. Oh, and here.” He places a plate in front me, filled with fruit, toast, and bacon. “Figured this is why you came here in the first place.”

  “Thanks, Zel bro.”

  Zel nods with a pleased smile. “Dude.”

  After eating, I head back out into the main foyer to wait for Valene. Today was all her idea. She didn’t tell me what she was planning, but she said that I’d get a kick out of it.

  There’s a knock at the door. “Master Kyle, bro, can you get that? I’m, like, totally occupied right now.”

  “No problem.” I open the door. A lady in short-shorts and a tight gray tank top leans in the doorway wearing a mischievous smile. She’s a little shorter than me and has brown eyes, tan skin, short black hair, and a round face that I’ve not seen in years. “Bad babysitter?”

  “Well, hello to you too, Kyle. You know I have a name, right?”

  With no hesitation, I take hold of her and give her a big hug. “It’s good to see you Felicia.” It’s been ten years since I’ve seen Felicia. It’s shocking to see her here of all places.

  She hugs me back. “It’s good to see you too squirt. So, are you going to invite me in, or are you going to hang on to me like you used to when you were little?”

  I let her go and she wipes the welling tears in her eyes. “Oh yeah sorry, please come in.”

  She shuffles in and looks around. I close the door and follow her until she finds the sofa and takes a seat. She pats the cushion next to her, motioning for me to sit.

  “Sweetheart, I see that you’ve finally grown into your demon heritage. I’m so proud of you,” she says, taking my hand.

  “You knew about that?”

  “Of course. I’m Serena’s closest friend.”

  “Are you a demon?”

  “Yeah.” She grips my hand, looking me in the eyes. This kind of brings back memories. I had the biggest crush on her and I never missed a chance to give her a hug or a kiss. “Kyle, you’ve gotten so big, and so handsome. I’m sure you get all of the ladies,” she says, putting my hand on her lap.

  Oh, oh okay. “Speaking of which, I just recently got a girlfriend, and she’s kind of a kill first and ask questions later kind of demon, so...”

  I try to pull away, but she pulls me close. “You mean Valene? Kyle, sweetie, she wouldn’t mind if you gave me a kiss.”

  “What? No.”

  “Oh, come on. You used to give me kisses all the time when you were little and had that big crush on me,” she urges, moving closer to me.

  “Why?”

  She puts her finger to my lips. “No questions. Just kiss me.” She moves in close.

  This is just bizarre, and Valene would kill me. I back away, but Felicia follows me. “Felicia, I’m not doing this.” She grabs the back of my neck, brings me in, and kisses me. Our lips meet, and the intense heat from our energy connection washes over me. I’ve only ever felt this with one person. I pull away and look at her. “Really?”

  She just smiles as her skin darkens, her hair starts to lengthen and curl, and her eyes go from brown to a shining gold. “Oh, come on, Hero, you know you liked it,” Valene says, sitting straight up. I look at her, unamused. She lowers her head. “I’m sorry, I thought you would get a laugh out of it.”

  “You’re Miss Felicia?” She nods. “You’ve actually known me since I was little?”

  “Yep. I didn’t recognize you at first, since I hadn’t seen you since you were Seven. May I say, how you have grown,” she says, edging in for a kiss.

  I place my fingers on her lips, stopping her. “No, you can’t say that. Never again do I want to hear those words out of your mouth. It’s too weird.” She frowns, taking my hand from her lips. “So, what are we doing today?”

  “We’re just going to take a walk around the estate and talk. That sound good, Hero?”

  The Kir Estate is huge, with over two hundred acres of land. It would take way more than a day to get around, but Valene’s already picked out some specific areas she wants to take me.

  On the way to the first destination, I find myself staring at her, milling over the fact that she’s my old babysitter. “Can I help you?” she asks, noticing me staring.

  “You’re really Felicia?”

  “You’re going to make this weird, aren’t you?”

  “Valene, I think you’ve done that just fine.”

  Valene stops, turns toward me, and gives an annoyed sigh. “Yes, Hero. I am Felicia. It doesn’t bother you, does it, that I’m your old babysitter? Or is it my age?” she says, stepping up to me and wrapping her arms around my neck.

  I place my hands on her waist. “It’s a little weird, but no, it’s not that you were my babysitter, nor your age. I’ve always wanted to know, why did you leave? You didn’t even say goodbye.”

  She looks surprised. “Oh, Kyle, I’m sorry. It was in the wake of your parent’s death, and I had learned some things I wasn’t prepared for. But I’m sorry. I didn’t think about how my leaving would have affected you.” She places her forehead to mine.

  “It’s okay. So, how were you a babysitter? You’re so quick to anger.”

  “It wasn’t easy. I actually threw you out of the second-floor window a bunch of times.”

  “You mean when we had the trampoline? I thought you were doing that for the fun of it.”

  “No, I was blowing off steam. But I got used to you.”

  “Is that why you haven’t choked me out yet?”

  She looks at me as if she’s just realized something. “Placing my hands on my partner is unacceptable, unless warranted. Beyond that, being around you is quite calming.”

  “Lucky me.”

  “Most definitely.” She pinches my cheek. “Otherwise, I would have ended you at the rally instead of inviting you here.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” She smiles and walks away. “Right?”

  I follow her down the path until we come to the garden. We walk through the iron gate, and I’m taken aback by how beautiful it is here. Rows upon rows of exotic flowers are scattered throughout the open area. Aromas ranging from sweet to disgusting hit my nose at once, making my eyes water and my nose run. Valene takes my hand and leads me to a conservatory at the center of the garden.

  Steam drifts through the air as we walk deeper into the conservatory. The aisles are filled with all kinds of carnivorous plants. Most of them I recognize, including Venus flytraps and pitcher plants, but the others are scary. A lot of them reach out to me as we pass them. The aisle comes to an open area. Valene claps and a light comes on, illuminating the space. “This is one of my favorite plant in the whole nursery,” she says. This thing is monstrous. It’s a dark green flower pod the size of a king-sized bed that has yet to bloom, on a stem as thick and tall as me. Its vines stretch out all over the floor around it.

  Taking a water pot from the ground, Valene walks through the vines, careful not to step on them. She pours some water into the giant pot, and the plant shivers to life with a clicking noise. The vines around her feet lift off the ground and caress her arms, legs, and face. “Are you hungry, baby
?” she asks, rubbing under the bulb. She walks over to a wooden box just out of the vines’ reach. When she steps up to it, the box rattles. She opens it and a live ferret runs out. She grabs it by the neck and tosses it into the vines. The little guy tries to run away but makes the mistake of touching one. The vines in the vicinity shoot out, snatching the ferret. They constrict around it and pull it toward the flower bulb.

  The bulb opens, revealing a huge flower dripping with digestive juices. Its petals are vibrant purples, yellows, and greens that are outlined in white. Along the rim of the leafy bulb is a row of moving, spine-like teeth. The plant lifts the ferret off the ground, drops it into the center of the flower, which closes and then reopens moments later, seemingly hoping for another treat.

  “Come on, Hero, give it one.” I walk the perimeter of the vines until I get to Valene. She hands me a ferret. The poor thing trembles in my hand. The plant’s vines rise off the ground in anticipation. “Go ahead. Give it to her,” she says. I toss the ferret at the plant. This time, the plant grabs it out of the air before shoving it into its mouth.

  “What is this thing?”

  “It’s called a death rattle—a predominantly carnivorous plant from the black forest in the underworld. They’re hard to keep alive in captivity, but I managed to raise this myself from a seed.”

  “Cool. Why is it called a death rattle?” My feet are swept right out from under me. Vines wrap around me, dragging me to the flower. I struggle to get loose as it lifts me in the air. The flower opens, and its leaves scrape together so fast that it sounds like a rattle. Oh. The vines release me, and I drop into the flower. It shuts around me. My skin starts to burn. I hear Valene’s muffled voice, then feel a harsh jolt. Light hits my eyes right before I hit the ground. “Are you okay, Kyle?” she asks, wiping the tingling slime from my face.

  “The plant just tried to eat me!” I scream.

  “Yeah, it does that. I’ll call Zel to bring you some more clothes.”

  Zel appears with a Walkman on his hip, bobbing to music. “Here you go, Kyle, bro. Make sure you, like, take a shower before you do anything. Don’t want you to have acid burns. Peace out.” He walks away and vanishes into a shadow.

  After cleaning up and changing, we walk to the next spot: the animal enclosure. Like the garden is with plants, this enclosure is filled with all kinds of animals. There are normal ones like horses, pigs, chickens, and a few goats. Then, there are the not so normal ones in a dark part of the enclosure, including a giant bat the size of a Great Dane and a huge centipede scuttling around its pen. After what happened with the death rattle, there’s no way I’m going in there.

  We move past more monstrous animals, kept in darkened pens, until we come to one with a sunroof. The sunlight beams down onto a dozen of these little black fuzz balls running around, fighting, and biting each other. One of them stops and barks at its siblings.

  “Puppies?”

  “Yeah. Wanna play with them?”

  She opens the gate. The puppies stop attacking each other and look at us with glowing, red eyes. “Hello babies!” Valene calls. With unbridled excitement, they dash at us; their little tongues hang, and their tails wag. All of them pile up around Valene.

  One lone puppy, a size smaller than the others, walks over to me and tries to climb up my leg. Up close, they kind of look like fuzzier versions of pit bulls. Unlike the others, this one has blue eyes and is a shade. “Hey, little guy,” I say, petting his head. His tail starts wagging, and his eyes shine bright. His high-pitched bark gets the attention of the other pups, and they all rush me. “What breed are they?”

  “They’re a demonic breed. Infernum Canem, or hellhound.” From out of a dark corner of the pen, far from the light, radiates a low and heavy growl. I freeze. Red eyes like the embers of a fire appear, moving toward us. “Hi, Sally baby,” Valene says.

  Their mother, Sally, stalks into the light. This hellhound is as big as a full-grown bull. The reddish-black fur on her back moves like fire, and the heat coming from it makes me think it really is fire. Her blood-red eyes lock on me as I pet her pups. She bares her long, dagger-like fangs at me and growls so loudly that the floor rumbles. The puppies scuttle away, except Little Blue here.

  “Umm, Valene?”

  “Just hold your ground, Hero. Sally’s harmless. It’ll be fine.”

  Sally gets within inches of me, the smell of blood and meat fresh on her breath. My heart pounds. If I make one wrong move, I’m sure Sally is going to chew my face off. After a second of staring me down, she’s jerked back a bit. She looks under herself. Little Blue prances around her legs with a tuft of black hair in his mouth. He sits right next to me and gives the cutest little bark. Sally and I look at one another. She steps up to me, still baring her teeth.

  Suddenly, I see a wave of calm wash over her. The fur on her back stills, and the heat she’s putting off lessens. Sally nuzzles my chest, licks the side of my face, and then walks around me toward Valene. I look to Little Blue, who is perfectly content. “Thanks, little guy.” He leans against my leg, looking up at me, his mouth wide open and his tongue dangling.

  We leave the animal enclosure, making our way along a path toward a tree line up ahead. “You know, I’ve never seen that before,” Valene says.

  “What, your hellhound not eating someone’s face off?”

  “No. A hellhound forming a pact. It’s super rare and just so cute. I almost cried.”

  “Pact?”

  “Yeah. Hellhounds are referred to as pact creatures. The bond that they form with the being of their choosing runs deep. They will do anything you ask of them. Humans refer to pact creatures as familiars.”

  “Like crows, cats, and owls?”

  “Yup. Your bond with that runt was so apparent that Sally accepted you.”

  “Instead of eating me.”

  “I was right there with you, big baby. She wouldn’t have hurt you…that badly,” she says with a playful smile.

  After forty-five minutes of walking this dense forested path, we step out into an open field of grass. Just beyond it is a lake. The same one I saw from the training room. The sun reflects off the clear water, making it sparkle. The sand lining the shore is white and shines like diamonds. Valene takes my hand and leads me.

  The closer we get, the more I smell the freshness of the water. It’s not fishy like most freshwater lakes. This smell is crisp and clean, untouched by pollution of any kind.

  We stop just shy of the sand, and Valene starts taking off her clothes, stripping down to her purple underwear. “What are you doing?” I ask, turning away, my cheeks warm.

  “Oh, come on, Hero. It’s hot, and the water looks so nice,” she says, grabbing my shirt and taking it off.

  “But I don’t have trunks.”

  She grabs my pants and pulls them down. “There, trunks. Let’s go.” She drags me to the water and flings us both in. The water is freezing, but also refreshing compared to this hot summer afternoon.

  The water feels just as cleans as it looks. I take a gulp of it. As expected, it tastes better than filtered. “Is this man-made?”

  “Nope. This lake is a natural runoff from an underground ocean. It’s filtered through miles of sandstone, coal, and so on. Makes the water almost as pure as distilled water,” she says, floating by me.

  I close my eyes and let my body drift and my mind wander. I find myself back with Leo and the Messenger. “Look, if you can, get the word out to the rebellion leader, Gaia. Tell him that I failed.” It was probably just a dream, but I can’t shake the feeling that something is up. How would I get a message to this Gaia person anyway?

  A hand takes ahold of mine, pulling me out of my thoughts. I pull away from it, because it’s cold and slimy. I tread water, looking for Valene. She’s far away from me, sitting in the shallows with her eyes closed. If she’s over there, what just grabbed my hand?

  Bubbles rise to the surface in front of me, and something rises from the water following them. At first, it doe
sn’t look like anything, just a big bubble, until the water runs off it, revealing gleaming, green scales. Eyes surface—big, curious, and speckled with black and blue. From the top of its head, white silk-like threads slowly stretch out across the surface of the water, reflecting the sun. “Uh, hi.”

  It rises out of the water, bearing its shoulders. Its face is thin and smooth, with slits where the nose should be. “Hello,” the thing says in a slightly gurgled hiss. Creepy. I start to tread my way back toward the shallows, and the creature swims around me, cutting off my retreat. Its tail surfaces with every swish. Openings along its ribcage spray water out as it swims. A mermaid? “Curious,” it says, stopping in front of me.

  “About?”

  “Kyle?” Valene says from the shore.

  When I turn to answer Valene, the mermaid wraps its arms around my neck and yanks me under water. I struggle against its grip, but it’s no use; not only is this thing strong, but its skin is slick, and I can’t get a grip. It takes me deeper and deeper, making it harder to hold the little breath I have. I exhale and black out.

  I AWAKE coughing up water. “Kyle, are you okay?” Valene asks, moving her wet hair from her face.

  I’m finally able to take a breath. “No, I’m not okay. First, your plant tries to eat me, then your hellhound wants to use me as a chew toy, and to top it all off, a mermaid just tried to drown me.” I turn over and look out across the water to see the mermaid watching me, one of its eyes swollen and black. “Why does everything here have it out for me?”

  She tries to hug me but stops short and sniffs me. “Oh.”

  “Oh? What does that mean?” I sniff myself.

  “Actually, you smell like a human. Many things around this area like to eat humans. I’m sorry, I didn’t notice it before.”

  I stand, take a rock in hand, and chuck it out into the lake, aiming for the mermaid. It plops right in front of the creature. The mermaid hisses and then dives under the water. I make my way to the grass’s edge where my clothes are and take a seat.

  Valene walks up to me, her golden-brown skin sparkling with sand. “You okay, Hero?”