Light Amidst the Dark

The sun’s rays threw spears of fire down on her, or so it felt. Sophia sat on the stone bench, grateful for the shade of the trees overhead, giving her a welcome break from the smoldering heat. She tipped her head up, resting against her hands as she stretched her legs out luxuriously in front of her. She relished the stretch of her muscles and the smell of the grass after being stuck behind her desk for most of the day. The wind played with her hair as it blew between the trees, teasing the ends as it lifted the short strands to blow against her cheeks and neck.

Sophia had adjusted to the small city life of Savannah easier than she expected, it was just these summers with the unbearable, damp heat of the south she’d still yet to grow accustomed to. She’d come to love the feel of the breeze and this park specifically, with its large trees that seemed to sing as the wind shifted the leaves and branches overhead. Sophia closed her eyes against the brightness, opening her other senses to take in the sounds and smells of the park around her, feel the wind as it cooled her skin and lifted her bangs from her sticky forehead.

Footsteps pounded on the concrete from her right, but she kept her eyes closed. This was a popular park for runners to swing through as they crisscrossed through the city paths. Though she didn’t expect to feel a sharp tug against her ankles and hear the “oomph” of someone hitting the ground in front of her. As her eyes flew open, she noticed a figure stretched out across the ground, a shake of the head as if to scold himself before picking himself off the ground.

Sophia cursed to herself before saying, “I am so sorry, are you okay? I shouldn’t have had my feet stretched out across the path like that, I-” Her next words died in her throat as the warm hazel eyes of the man met hers, soft and concerned.

The man got to his feet, towering over Sophia’s 5”5’ frame and she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. She shrank a bit from the towering figure, his shadow cast along her body sent shivers across her skin. He finished brushing his hands and knees free of the pebbles and dirt he’d accumulated in his fall before meeting her eyes again. The way he held himself spoke of confidence born of struggles overcome, and yet there was a gentleness as he beheld her.

“I’m fine, nothing but a few cuts and scrapes. I’ll manage,” he said with a smile, the timber of his voice rumbling along Sophia’s bones. “It was a good lesson for me to learn, I tend to get lost in my thoughts when I run.”

Sophia nodded, then realized she was just staring, cleared her throat and said, “I do that too, get lost in my thoughts.” She smiled awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. What is wrong with me, pull yourself together, Sophia thought to herself, feeling a bit tongue tied. “I’m Sophia, by the way.” She stuck her hand out towards him, immediately feeling weird as her hand hovered between them.

“Bastian,” he replied, a half smile forming on his face that Sophia instantly wanted to see again. He took her hand in his, his grip firm but soft as it cupped her fingers.

She noticed several callouses on his hands, and tried not to think about how she’d want to feel those fingers on other parts of her skin. Sophia fought the shiver that threatened to work its way up her spine.

He looked at her expectantly, and she realized she was still holding onto his hand, and immediately released him. She could feel the color rising to her cheeks, and blurted, “well it was nice to meet you, Bastian, but my break is almost up so I-I gotta go.” At that, she turned in the opposite direction and began walking towards her office building. She still had about 35 minutes left of her break, but she had embarrassed herself more than enough that day and decided it was time to hole back up in her quiet office.

As she stepped on the walking path along the edge of the park, she realized in her haste to get away from the golden eyes that reached deep into her soul, she’d walked in the wrong direction. She breathed a dejected sigh, and turned around to walk back through the park, hoping Bastian didn’t see her and think she was stalking him.

When she reached the center of the park, a quiet settled over the area that sent shivers crawling up her spine. The quiet wasn’t a peaceful one, where birds and squirrels chattered and the leaves swayed with their elegant song. It was a quiet devoid of sound, like her ears were stopped up or a bubble surrounded the area and cut off all sounds of the outside world. She paused, unsure if she wanted to continue walking in this direction with how the wind seemed to still and her neck prickled like she was being watched. Her skin felt clammy, but for reasons other than the sweltering heat from the sun, which seemed dimmer now. She could feel a tremor in her hands, and she crossed her arms, hugging her elbows as she tried to fight the shaking in her muscles.

Sophia took a step backwards, wanting to go back to the edge of the park and skirt around it instead of walking through the center. Something instinctual told her not to turn her back, something dangerous lurked in front of her and would pounce once she turned around. Her vision seemed to pulse, the shadows expanding and darkening, like a light being slowly dimmed. She glanced to the sky, between the long reaching arms of the trees, and noted the sky was blue and cloudless. Nothing that would answer the sudden dimming of the park around her. Her eyes bounced from side to side, trying to find whatever had her hair standing on end and her muscles ready to run.

She saw a flash in her peripheral vision, a shadow rising from the ground to form a shape vaguely resembling a man. But the image seemed to distort, wavering like a mirage, rippling like the surface of a lake. She didn’t look directly at it, not wanting to acknowledge its existence for fear it would make it real. It can’t be real, she thought fiercely. She found herself fixing her eyes straight ahead, keeping the shadowy figure in her eyesight.

Her foot scraped against the concrete, creating a scratching sound that seemed loud in the deathly silence, as she took another step backward. Her heart hammered in her chest, stuttering as she noticed the figure moved with her with each step she took in retreat. An involuntary whimper came from her throat, and her eyes pricked with tears that she blinked rapidly to clear.

Her foot caught on an uneven paving stone, and she waved her arms trying to keep her balance. It did no good as she lost the battle against gravity and came crashing down, her head slamming on the ground causing her vision to flicker. She heard hissing then, a mix between a cat and a snake, a high-pitched dry sound that made her gut twist with fear. The throbbing in her head caused her to move sluggishly, as if her muscles didn’t want to obey her desperate command to flee.

The hissing grew closer, but her vision still flickered in and out, the edges of her vision blurry and dotted with blackness as though she was about to pass out. She held on to consciousness by sheer will, not wanting to give in to whatever this shadow creature was. Sophia couldn’t tell if it was the knock to her head or something else causing the light to be sucked from the park as though the sun was being covered by a dense cloud that let no light shine through. The darkness surrounded her so completely she would have said it was midnight for all she could see in front of her.

She touched the back of her head with trembling fingers, and noticed they came away wet with a liquid that she knew was blood just by the smell. Her immediate goal was to get out of this park. With that simple plan in mind, she rolled and pushed to her feet, feeling the ground sway beneath her as if she stood in the midst of a tempest. Holding her arms out to her side, she felt the bark of a nearby tree scrape against her fingertips. She shuffled her steps closer to the tree, wrapping her arms around it to anchor herself to the ground until the spinning ceased.

The hissing suddenly sounded behind her as she prayed desperately for the strength to run. Sophia heaved a deep breath, blinking hard to clear her vision, as she picked a spot in the distance she could look at to keep herself grounded. She’d used a similar trick when she’d gone deep sea fishing and had realized in that moment she was seasick and the only thing that settled her vision, and her stomach, was staring at the large rocks along the shore that remained steady against the roiling sea.

She pulled in another breath, focusing on the filling of her lungs and the clearing of her mind as she stared at the coffee shop sign across the street from the park where she stood clutching a tree. A wet, rattling breath sounded behind her, and she could feel the heat tickling along her shoulders and she couldn’t hold off the shiver this time as it caressed down her spine with a spindly finger.

Familiar footsteps sounded behind her, pounding along the paving stones but the sound came to her as if underwater. Sophia turned, keeping one hand on the tree, to look towards the footsteps in the hope someone could help her. What she saw instead had a scream ripping from her throat and her feet stumbling backwards on instinct until her back touched the bark, steadying her.

The shadow figure up close appeared as a rotting corpse, skin pulled tight over its face, lidless eyes rolling and yellowing teeth as a black tongue snaked between them. The shadows draped across the figure like a cloak, covering its arms until it reached towards her with fingers that ended in long talons. It hissed again, and the rancid breath washed over Sophia and she felt as though she was being buried alive, the stench of rot and earth shoving itself up her nose. She shrank against the tree, fingers feeling along the bark and limbs for something she could use to defend herself.

Her fingers snagged on a loose stake in the ground, obviously meant to help the tree grow straight but never removed once its trunk grew solid. She tugged, but the angle she tried to pull it had it snagging on the roots of the tree. Shifting her stance, having to step a bit closer to the monster as she did so, she tugged the stake free and swung using the momentum towards the creature. It screeched, a high pitched sound like a screaming tea pot and a bird’s caw wrapped into one sound. She’d made contact, though barely, as it jumped out of the way. The creature cradled its arm to its chest, and hissed viciously at her.

Its maw opened, the smell of rot washing over her once again, as it moved closer to where she stood. The mouth extended like a snake as it cornered her against the tree. As it looked like it was about to lurch towards her, a silver blade sprouted from the middle of its chest, causing it to screech again as it looked down at its chest in disbelief. The silver disappeared, and Bastian rose up behind the creature, snarling down at it as he towered above.

Sophia’s heart soared, both in seeing Bastian be the one to save her and at his obvious prowess in a fight. Bastian’s eyes met hers briefly over the creature’s head, and she noticed a slight softening of his eyes and in the tension of his mouth as he took her in, eyes roaming quickly along her body. She could see the words forming behind those eyes, are you okay? She nodded, smiling slightly, and then swayed a bit before she used the tree to steady herself again. Bastian’s eyes hardened, his snarl deepening as he glared down at the creature again.

His arm lifted high in the air, a beam of light glinting off a dagger in his hand covered in black blood and some red powder that seemed to glow like the embers of a fire. He stabbed downward, once, twice, three times as he stabbed the monster in the eye, in the temple, and through the neck. As Bastian stabbed the monster through the neck, he dragged the dagger out through the front of the creature’s throat, severing the head partially. The head fell backwards, lidless eyes staring vacantly at Sophia before it dissolved into dust that drifted away in the breeze.

The sudden return of the light blinded Sophia, and the pounding in her head increased exponentially. Though the breeze lifted the strands of hair that had become plastered to her skin in the heat, she felt a hot flush creep over her face and down her neck and she suddenly felt lightheaded.

She felt her legs giving out beneath her, and she reached for the tree to steady herself and prevent her from falling. But Bastian was quicker, one of his hands rested against the middle of her back as the other hand swept beneath her legs. Before she could protest, she was cradled in his arms and the press of their bodies so close made her breath quicken.

Her eyes lifted from the broad chest and rippling muscles of the arms that held her to his face, concern lining his eyes and tightening his lips. His eyes seemed reluctant to leave hers, but he glanced briefly around them, seeming to be looking for something or someone. Sophia hoped it wasn’t another one of those, whatever they were. The sound of men’s voices came to her then, her ears finally unstopping as the pressure released.

Vision swimming, she noticed a few figures walk up to Bastian and exchanged a few words, though she had difficulty following what was being said with the pounding in her head. Bastian tucked her against his chest, arms tightening around her as someone reached out to take her from him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and his head dipped briefly to touch his forehead to hers before he looked back towards the men standing in front of them.

She vaguely heard him mention taking her to the hospital, before her eyes slid closed against her will and blackness consumed her.

She woke to beeping and the smell of bleach. Before opening her eyes, she noted she could feel eyes on her, and her heartbeat immediately kicked up in alarm as she remembered the shadow creature from the park. A warm hand covered hers, and a voice in a timber she recognized and that instantly soothed her said, “its okay Sophia, I’m here, you’re safe.”

At those words, her eyes creaked open, feeling like rusty door hinges that hadn’t been used in years. She had to blink several times before her vision cleared enough for her to make out the figure in front of her. Bastian looked disheveled, his hair appearing mussed as if hands had raked through them, and dark circles appeared under each eye. Sophia couldn’t imagine he’d been that worried over a stranger, but she tucked that away to examine later.

She opened her mouth to say something, but only a croak came out. She swallowed and tried again, her dry throat not allowing any sounds to escape. Bastian, seeing her struggle, handed her a cup of water from the table beside him. Sophia drank greedily, feeling the cold soothe the inside of her cracked throat. When she tried to speak, her voice came out as a whisper.

“What-what happened? After I passed out.” For that’s all she could remember, vision going black as Bastian cradled her as if she were precious cargo. Her cheeks heated at the memory, recalling how her heart had stuttered as his thumb rubbed comforting circles on her back where he’d held her.

Bastian grimaced, running a hand through his hair as his eyes darted around the room. He looked guilty, though she couldn’t figure out why

“You’ve been asleep for about 8 hours, but you’ve just had a minor concussion. Doctors say once you wake up and they run a final check you should be cleared to go home.”

“That’s good though, right?” Sophia asked, confusion in her voice at his expression.

He nodded, not quite meeting her eyes.

“Then why do you look so guilty? Bastian, what’s going on? What was that thing?” So many questions rolled through Sophia’s mind.

Bastian met her eyes then, his eyes soft yet firm, the look telling her there will be no returning from the knowledge he was about to give her.

She held his stare, wordlessly accepting that the perception of the world as she knew it would change forever. But Sophia knew, as long as Bastian was there to protect her, she would be ready to face it. She felt connected to him in a way she’d never experienced with anyone else, an instant connection she felt tugging her towards him. And she knew that connection is what drew them together, and would last through whatever else stood between them.