I turn it over in my hand. It is a little grimy and damp from sitting under the brick. I close my eyes for a second before I turn the key and open the door.
The house is dark and littered with beer cans and whiskey bottles, nothing has changed. My dad is passed out in the recliner. I look at him, but instead of the fear or hate I expected to feel, all I have is sadness and pity for this man. Someone, wholly broken, who wished for nothing more than death after his wife died, but death would not come. He is nothing more than a sad wasted life. I can’t bolster the strength to talk to him. I find a pen, and grab an envelope containing an unpaid bill, to leave a note.
Dad, I was here, but you were unable to talk. I just wanted you to know that I am okay.
I hope one day you find peace.
Fin
Chapter Fifteen Afraid of the Dark
Twenty-four hours in the half dead world.
L ucius interrupts my daydreaming, to tell me it’s time to leave. I look at him questioningly, completely unaware of something that just happened, that I should know.
“It is amusing that your propensity, for woolgathering is the same in death, as it was in life
“I find it amusing that you use words like woolgathering, as if you’re vocabulary got stuck in the nineteen hundreds”
He gifts me with a warm smile.
“What’s a few hundred years, when you have been in purgatory for more than two thousand years…Jackson and Kirra are leaving school, we need to go.”
“Oh, is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure yet, but we will soon find out.”
We sit in the back of Jackson’s jeep while Kirra and Jackson hold hands in the front seat. Lucius looks over to me.
“Does it bother you to see them, being so, affectionate.”
I give him a crooked smile.
“Are you, jealous Lucius, or are you asking me if I am Jealous?”
He tilts his head a little higher and looks out the window.
“The latter of course.”
A giggle escapes from my mouth.
“You’re so easy to tease. No, it doesn’t bother me, I am happy for them. Besides, I have grown rather fond of you, Spartacus, even if I can’t touch you. If I were going to be jealous of something, it would be that fact that they have the ability to hold hands…and kiss”
If it were possible for a spirit to blush, I know, he would be. Instead, I see his deep blue aura shimmer around him.
“Sometimes your teasing goes too far, Haven”
“I wasn’t teasing, Lucius.”
We stare each other down for a moment, then, turn away from the fruitless effort of wishing we could show some sort of physical affection. It is the worst part about being dead. We have grown close over the last four years, but we can share no more than words.
We arrive at the Armstrong house, and it is clear Jackson and Kirra, are as much in the dark, as to why they have been summoned home, as we are.
We stand in the dining room, and watch as all the Armstrong’s, and Mrs. Taylor and Kirra, take seats around the table. I can’t help but smile at how grown up Wilder has gotten. My smile fades as I hear that Fin was here. I am devastated that I didn’t get to see him. I look over to Lucius, he turns so he is facing me directly and raises both his hands. I raise mine and watch as our auras collide. We can’t physically feel anything, but the color is so beautiful. It has become our way of comforting each other. After a moment I return my attention to the conversation at the table. Lucius and I listen intently, as they make their plans.
“Do you, think it’s finally happening?”
He gives his head a slight shake.
“I have told you many times, there is no way to know for sure. The world is troubled, but it has seen dark times before.”
Day turns to night and we pass on the information we have learned to the other watchers. There is a strange buzz of excitement tempered with fear. We are all waiting in hopeful anticipation for whatever is to come, that will bring an end to the half dead world. We all want to feel again, but the thought of having to watch all the suffering that will come is overwhelming. There is also a lot of talk about what will happen to us if the keepers of the light are hunted down, as some of the watchers believe they will be. What will happen to us if we can no longer hide in the light?
I stand outside the kitchen window, and watch as the Taylor’s, and Armstrong’s, move around like busy bees. Ava, Kirra, and her mom are hard at work in the kitchen, while Thomas, Jackson, and Wilder haul endless boxes of supplies down to their secret place. I have seen them at this routine countless times, but there is definitely a new sense of urgency tonight.
Even though I cannot feel him, I can sense Lucius come up behind me, and I turn to look into his weary eyes.
“We must go. There is a soul in need of assistance.”
I perk up ready for something constructive to do. I give Lucius an excited smile.
“Let’s do this.”
We move as quickly as we can towards the light in the forest. Dread creeps in as I realize which direction we are moving. We are standing at the edge of the woods, guarded by the
