Light of Darkness Read online

  Because I was, thank goodness.

  I look at her for a second, and she starts to blush. “So, can we talk now?” she asks.

  At least somebody wants to talk. “Sure. What’s on your mind?”

  She steps in and shuts the door behind her. “Look, I know you just asked for a date, but it’s such a big deal to me. You’re my best friend, and though I really, really do like you, I just don’t know.”

  “I did just kind of throw this in your face. Then I got sick.”

  She shakes her head. “Oh God, that didn’t help either.” She steps up to me and hugs me. “At least you’re okay now.”

  “Look, how about we just forget the whole thing?”

  She looks at me, a little confused. “Kyle, I don’t want to forget about it. I just don’t have an answer yet. At least one that I’m confident in.”

  I never knew exactly how anxious or indecisive she could be. I knew she freaks out sometimes, but to have felt what she feels, it makes sense why she gets that way. Even though I’m disappointed, I don’t want to be another reason for her to stress. I know what I have to say. “Look, let’s just remain friends.”

  The look on her face is even more confused now. “Kyle, I…”

  There’s a knock on the door. “Come on, you two. Are you done making out yet?” Page says.

  We look at one another in silence for second. The confusion in her face turns to annoyance. She steps away from me. “Whatever,” she says with a frustrated sigh.

  Airca opens the door, and Page nearly falls in; she probably had her ear pressed to it. “What took you two so long?” Page asks as she stands straight up.

  “None of your business,” Airca calmly says. She pushes past Page and walks down the stairs.

  “So, I’m guessing you two aren’t a thing, are you?” Page asks.

  “Nope.” She pats me on the back. “Come on, Page. We’ve got a long, awkward day ahead of us.”

  Downstairs, Rica is in the living room on her cell, and Airca is at the table, chugging a glass of water. Serena comes out of the basement with a hand full of money. “Ready to go?”

  “Yes!” Rica yells from the other room. She comes into the kitchen and takes a seat the table.

  “Well, not before taking these.” Aunt Serena places four stacks of twenty-dollar bills on the table. “There is two hundred here for each of you. Buy something nice for yourselves.” The girls make a fuss—well, except Page, who gleefully accepts. Serena pretty much orders Rica and Airca to take the money. She hates it when people try to be humble when she gives a gift. “Now, get going. Oh, and Kyle…” Serena walks up to me, wraps her arms around my neck, and squeezes me tight. “Happy eighteenth birthday, sweetie.”

  I look over at the electronic clock that hangs above the entrance to the living room. It reads, “June 2.” I hug her back. “What do you know? Thanks, Aunty.”

  “When you get home, we will talk,” she says in my ear. “Now, have fun.”

  The girls and I leave the house. Rays of midday sun hit my face, and I instantly feel a sense of calm. Talking to Airca must have riled me up more than I thought.

  “Man, Kyle, I knew your aunt was nice, but two hundred dollars?” Rica says, looking at her stack of twenties.

  “Are you guys rich?” Page asks.

  “She is. I barely get to see it unless she wants to distract me, I need school clothes, or it’s my birthday. In this case, it’s two out of three,” I explain, looking at Airca, who is ahead of us. Her shoulders are tense, and I can tell that she’s scanning the neighborhood.

  “Well, I think we should get really upset the next time something bad comes up,” Page suggests.

  “Page!” Airca exclaims

  “I’m kidding. By the way, happy birthday, knucklehead,” Page says, hugging me.

  “Yeah, with everything that’s happened, I completely spaced on it. Happy birthday,” Rica says holding on to my other side.

  “Thanks.”

  Airca looks back at us over her shoulder. She scowls at me before facing forward again. She didn’t forget.

  In the distance is a large white-and-red building with a large sign that reads, “Roc City Tram Station.” The tram is the fastest way to get to the city, especially on a weekday. The city is about an hour walk and a twenty-minute drive, but in weekday lunch traffic, driving would take us two hours. The tram would take about forty-five minutes, including all the stops.

  We get our tickets and get in the front car. The girls take a seat and begin talking about something. I keep standing. My legs still feel weak and standing might help wake them up. At the next stop, no one gets on. As a matter of fact, there aren’t that many people on here today, which is unusual. It’s lunchtime; the tram should have at least two dozen people on it. I look to the front of the car, hoping to see the nice homeless guy that usually tells good stories and gives decent advice, but even he isn’t here. I hope he wasn’t part of that massacre. Something hits me in my face, bringing me out of my thoughts.

  I look down at a little piece of wadded paper, then over to Page. She pats the seat next to her. “Come hither, boy, and sit next to me.” I do as she orders. “So, have any new dreams during your three-day sleepscapade?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “Really? Anything good?”

  “Nothing raunchy, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Boo. Well then, what do you remember?”

  It’s distant, but I remember everything: fighting, talking to my mind and soul, realizing the balance between self and energy. ”Working out,” I say to her.

  “I can see that. You dropped a lot of weight while you were out. It’s kind of unhealthy but…sellable—’Workout of your dreams in your dreams.’” This is why Page and I are friends. A lot of the time, we’re on the same page. “Or maybe it was some wild sex dream?” Until we’re not on the same page at all.

  After thirty minutes, we arrive at our stop. The moment you step out of the car, the difference between our little neighborhood and the city is very apparent. Roc City—or The Roc, as we locals call it—is like any other big city: filled with tons of metal, stone, glass, good people, and bad people. From the platform, you can see the city’s skyline because it’s just on the outskirts. The tallest building in the world and the city’s heart, The Gateway Building, juts up toward the sky. It was built in the early eighteen hundreds by some crazy guy, and it’s been the beacon of the city ever since.

  When I pull my eyes away from the massive building, I see that the others have already made their way down the platform to the street. Jerks.

  The world goes silent as my whole body tenses up. I scan the area, but the platform is completely deserted. The whirling of the tram’s engine breaks the silence as it starts to leave the station. Despite no one being around, I have the feeling someone is watching me.

  Something drops from above and lands in front of me. I jump back so quickly that I trip over my feet. Catching my breath, I see a cat stalking toward me. Its light brown fur glistens in the sun; there are black spots all over its body that turn to stripes at its legs, neck, and tail. I’ve seen this type of cat before. Aunt Serena had one. It’s called an Egyptian Mau. It trains its creepy greenish-gold eyes on me and meows.

  “So, it was you giving me that strange feeling.” I kneel down and hold out my hand. The cat sniffs it for a second, then moves in the rest of the way, allowing me to pet it. These cats are rare; who would let one loose? It purrs its heart out as I stroke its fur. As much as I want to keep petting it, I need to catch up with the others. “All right, cool cat, I’ll catch you on the flip side.” With one more stroke of its fur, I stand and head toward the stairs. The cat jumps in my way. I try to go around it, but it gets in front of me again. “Okay.” I jump over it, but the cat is already in front of me. “Scat cat!” I demand, jumping at it. Not even a twitch—just a steady stare and a meow. I kick at it, but the cat holds its ground. It paws at my shoe. “What do you want, food?”

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nbsp; Its head shifts, and it walks to my side. With one jump, the cat’s on my shoulder, rubbing my cheek with its head. “I get it, you want to come with me?” The cat meows as it stares at me. I take hold of it and lift. It digs its claws into my shoulder. “Okay, okay you can stay on my shoulder.” It hangs its tail over my shoulder and down my back. “I hope you don’t have fleas.” It meows. “You know, for a stray, you smell pretty good—like lilies.”

  Page runs up the staircase as I come down. “Boy, what’s taking you so long—oh, that’s a pretty cat.”

  “Yeah, it wouldn’t let me leave unless I took it with me,” I explain, scratching under its chin.

  “Really?” She tries to take hold of the cat, but it digs its claws into my shoulder again, hissing and grumbling.

  “Page, let it go!”

  “Wow, that’s weird.”

  I put my hand on the cat, calming it. “Tell me about.”

  We get down to the street and meet the others down on the sidewalk. Airca and Rica look in confusion at the cat on my shoulder. I start to explain, but Airca just cuts me off and continues to walk.

  The main streets are crowded with cars, bumper to bumper. Now this is the traffic I was expecting. We walk by an alley, and I see small bags of purple crystals near some dumpsters: the drug, drain. It’s not unusual to see things like that lying around in the alleys, because they lead to the city within Roc City. The news reporter called it Inner Town—which is its true name. Locals call it the “The Core.” The Core, which is in the exact center of Roc City, is where all the city’s criminals reside. Rapists, drug lords, murderers; you name it, they live there. The police rarely go in there, mostly because of the connections the crime lords have with the higher-ups of Roc City, but thanks to the bodies found this morning, they’d most likely patrol it now. Good thing the mall is nowhere near it.

  We arrive at one of the mall entrances. This one, like many others, is part of an office building. We have to walk through it to get to the main shopping area. After getting a few odd looks from security and the office workers—I’m positive they’re looking at the cat on my shoulder—we come to a threshold, over which is a sign reads, “Welcome to Roc City Mall.” This place is huge. It takes up almost two city blocks, is two stories tall, has over a hundred stores, a movie theater, an amazing arcade, and an indoor and outdoor ice skating rink.

  We get through the front gate with ease. Mall security doesn’t say anything about the cat, which was no surprise; all the little pocket dogs those rich girls bring in, one cat won’t hurt.

  The girls decide to go to the men’s clothing stores first to get me out of the way. The three of them split off on separate jobs. Airca is searching the shirts and jackets; Rica is in charge of jeans, and Page is looking at shoes. I’m sure they’re doting over me because I was just asleep for three days, but I can still shop for myself. Half an hour passes, and they come back with a hefty number of things for me to try. All of it is nice. I buy it all, and the icing on the cake: it’s all only one hundred and thirty dollars.

  Now that we’re done with my shopping, it’s their turn. “We’re going to be here for the rest of the day,” I say with a sigh.

  “Oh, no we’re not. I would say four, five hours, tops,” Page says.

  “Just add another three to that and—”

  “Oh, quit complaining,” Rica demands.

  Three hours pass, and we’ve only gone to two new stores. On the walk to the third, I get a rest from the question, “What do you think of this?” because we run into one of our classmates. She juggles a bunch of bags and her baby brother in her arms.

  “Jackie! What’s up, girl?” Airca asks, walking over to the short, dark-skinned girl.

  “Nothing much since school ended. Just doing some shopping with my mom and watching little Jay here.” She notices me standing behind Rica. “Kyle? We heard you had a bad case of exhaustion.”

  “Yeah, but I’m fine now. After three days of sleep, who wouldn’t be?”

  She looks at me kind of funny. “You do know that there’s a cat on your shoulder, right?”

  “Yeah, I know,” I say, petting it.

  Her cell phone rings, waking little Jay, who starts to cry. “Oh man. Shh, shh. It’s okay, Jay; it’s just my phone.” He screams louder, and snot runs out of his nose. “Airca, can you hold him?”

  Airca looks at little Jay in disgust. “That’s a lot of snot.”

  “Page?”

  “I don’t do babies.”

  “Rica?”

  Rica picks him up and puts him on her hip, bouncing him a little to calm him, but it doesn’t work.

  “Here, Kyle, maybe you can calm him.” She holds him out toward me. I reach out to grab him. When we touch, he instantly stops crying and stares at both the cat and me. Jay smiles and laughs, reaching for my face and the cat’s tail. “Wow, Kyle, I didn’t know you were so good with kids,” Rica says with a big smile.

  “Neither did I.”

  We stand around for half an hour. The girls talk while I hold the baby. The cat, using its tail, distracts him for a bit—until he catches it. The cat quickly decides it’s not doing that anymore. Jay just keeps smiling and touching my face.

  “What’s so funny, little guy?” I ask, tickling him. He laughs and a jolt of electricity shoots up my arms, making me flinch so hard that almost drop him. Little Jay didn’t seem to notice anything and continues to smile. It was probably nothing, just a muscle spasm. I spin him around, and he laughs again. Another jolt shoots up my arms and takes my breath away. My hands go numb, and I feel edgy, like I just ate a load of sugar.

  “Kyle, are you okay?” Airca asks.

  “Here, hold him really quick,” I say, shoving Jay in her arms.

  As Airca takes him, Jay starts crying. The feeling in my hands returns, but I’m still wondering what just happened. I look at Airca and Jay. The poor kid just looks at me with a pout and teary eyes. “Oh, come on, kid, girls aren’t that bad.” Jay laughs like I just said the funniest thing in the world. A wave of something hits my face and surges through my body and out the other side. The lights in the store window behind me flicker and then explode, shattering the display glass near us.

  I fall to my knees, a ringing in my ears, my vision hazy. My insides are hot, but my skin is freezing. The cat jumps down to my side and meows at me.

  Airca kneels in front of me. “Kyle, are you okay?” she asks. The ringing in my ears makes her sound far away.

  I take a deep breath. My body temperature, eyes, and ears return to normal. “I’m fine. Whatever that explosion was just caught me off guard.” She puts her hand on my shoulder and pulls out a piece of glass. “Ouch. I’ll be fine. I just—I just need to sit for a while.”

  After I find my way to a bench, security shows up, asking what happened.

  The girls tell security everything they saw: the lights freaking out and the whole display exploding. The cat curls up in my lap, purring, while I find all the shards of glass still stuck in me.

  “Okay, you guys, I’ll catch you later. Gotta go find mom before she spends all her savings,” Jackie says as she takes up Jay. She stops in front of me. “Hope you feel better, Kyle.”

  “Me too. Later, little guy.” The baby is in his own little world as she walks away.

  “So, Kyle, are you all right?” Rica asks.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.” I pull out a piece of glass from my arm. “That was the last bit.”

  Airca looks at me, worry all over her face. “Maybe we should head home.”

  “Airca, I’m fine,” I say, standing with the cat in my arms. “Let’s keep going.”

  “Okay, if you say so. We can at least get the glass off us first.” She walks away from me and to the others.

  The cat climbs up my arm. It bats a shard of glass off my shoulder, sits, and then lightly paws at my face. I sigh. “I’m fine, cat. I’m fine.”

  While we walk from store to store, I rack my brain, trying to figure out exactly what just happe
ned. I know what it was. Energy—pure and simple. After channeling it during my dream I thought I knew how it would feel. I never thought it would hurt the way it did though. And why did it come from the kid like that? I look at my hand, and it’s shaking. I can still feel the energy, but it’s more of an ache than an energetic buzz. The cat’s tail whips me in the face, taking me out of my thoughts. What is up with this cat?

  I’m so busy looking at the cat that I run into Airca. She snaps back around with a scowl.

  “Sorry.”

  “We’re going to need you to leave,” she says, not looking at me.

  “I mean, I know you don’t like me now, but…”

  She looks up at me, huffing. “Don’t be a jerk. We’re about to go into the underwear store.”

  “Oh, gotcha. You sure you guys don’t need me to judge?”

  She just looks at me, unamused. “Bye, dummy.” Airca takes my bags from me. “Text us if you need anything.” She walks off and into the store.

  “Looks like it’s just you and me, cat.” It nuzzles me and purrs.

  It’s the first day of summer break, and the mall is strangely empty. I know that incident in The Core didn’t scare everyone, so where are they? Cheers echo from ahead of us. “Should we check it out?” The cat flicks its tail at my nose. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  We end our trek in front of the arcade at the far end of the mall, which is packed from wall to wall. A loud bang echoes from inside. The crowd goes wild, jumping up and down. Pushing my way through the crowd, I come to the strength-testing game along the back wall, which everyone has encircled. The game requires you to hit it in order to measure your punching force. I turn to a guy screaming next to me.

  “So, what’s going on?”

  “Well, you see—” He looks at me for second. “You know there’s a cat on your shoulder, right?” I just nod. “Okay. Well, that guy there,” he says, pointing at a bald, muscle-bound, pale man taking a swing at the game, “he’s the ex-boxing champion, Mack Jones.”