The Creatures of the Dark Light

Caution: Dangerous Curves Ahead

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Without further delay…

The Creatures of the Dark Light

They stood facing each other. Months of separation has created a distance between them Cole thought would never be closed again. Now here she was, his mother, standing in front of him.

“How… how…” Cole stammered. He couldn’t get the words out. One minute he was being chased by aquatic monsters, one of which he was pretty sure had been his neighbor David. They had rowed out here to fish. Well, Cole had rowed while David played captain. The canoe had been pulled beneath the water after David started growling at him. After the monster men came out of the water, they started singing this weird single note in harmony. Lights in the sky were going off like multicolored lasers and fireflies in a glowing mist until they collected together to form into his mother, Lily, who now stood before him in a white dress that reflected like the moon itself.

Lily smiled at Cole and leaned her head forward slightly. “Hey there,” she said in the same soft, sweet voice she used to comfort him when he had skinned his knee, burned his hand, bumped his head, or was stung by a bee.

Cole managed to pull a thought out of the several racing through his mind. “I thought you were dead.”

“Oh, I am honey.”

Cole’s mind could not catch or reel in any thought in response to that confession. He sat down with his knees up, then he hugged his knees and rested his head on them.

Lily glided over to Cole and neatly tucked his hair behind his ears. “Precious boy,” she said. “I’ve missed you, so I came back to see you. A mother would do anything for her baby. You know that, don’t you Cole?”

Cole had no categories for anything that was happening to out on this rock. He lifted his head and yelled at her. “Mom, you’re dead!”

The air shimmered around them. To Cole, the air had waves in it in the same way it did when his dad grilled burgers over hot charcoal.

Lily’s lips flattened. “Son, a mother would do anything for her baby.” A single wave of green light rippled over her and then was gone. “Anything,” she emphasized.

A flash of pink burst in the dark horizon behind her. Lily kept her eyes locked on Cole. The sound of dual outboard motors echoed out of the dissipating display.

“You know your father brought me here, Cole,” Lily said. “He thought he was doing the right thing. I was sick. Very sick. Remember the coughing fits I would have? This rock, Tannigath, is special. It makes people whole again. It gives them their desires. They turn into what they want, for better or for worse.”

“David?”

“Your friend’s desires were hungry for what he wanted. Whatever that was, he wanted it at all costs and you took it from him.”

“The fish that got away? What was the big deal?”

“It doesn’t matter how small something is. The desires of dragons don’t care about size. They care about what’s theirs. These creatures, the Tannites, they were all once as David was. Hungry. They’ve gotten what they want but are still hungry. That’s their punishment.”

“But, you’re not one of them,” Cole said.

“No, I’m not. I wanted to be well. For you. For your father. We both wanted these good things. That’s how we kept from changing into one of those creatures ourselves.” Lily scowled as she continued. “But as usual, your father screwed it up. Instead of taking me to a doctor, he brought me out here to this place. Once the Tannites saw they couldn’t turn us into one of them, they dragged me under the water into their tunnels. Your father let them take me. He tucked tail and ran like a coward. He left me here.”

Cole could hear the power catamaran’s motors getting closer. He looked past Lily and saw the boat he instantly recognized as his dad’s. Traces of pink lights streaked behind The Herald as it cut across the surface of the water.

Lily knelt in front of Cole. “I thought you loved me. Don’t you want to be with your mother?” Her eyes were filling with tears as Cole watched her speak to him. She held out her arms, inviting him into an embrace. “Come close. I’ll hold you and sing to you just like when you were a baby.” He didn’t move. He didn’t say a word. Lily stood up like one of the lights that had been bursting out of the ground. She crossed her arms and turned her back to Cole.

He could feel the desire to have his mother back in the pit of his stomach. Along with it, another desire was forming: anger at his father. He thought about what he was feeling. Dad had been there for him. Dad encouraged him. He wanted his mom back more than anything, but this wasn’t right. Cole took a step back from Lily.

“Mom, I…”

Jeremiah Marsh and Jeddy Lee came running up the rock and stopped short at the ghostly sight before them.

“There’s no point to this, Cole.” She walked in a circle, keeping her back to the boy. Turning to Jeremiah, she pointed a finger at him and shrieked, “You did this to me! You made my life a living hell!” She thrust her hands wide and said, “I’m done!” Lily motioned her hands in every direction around her. “I’m done with all of this! I’m done with all of you!” She dropped her head to her chest. Her shoulders heaved as her breaths came out heavy.

Jeremiah scratched the back of his head. “Lily. What’s going on? I just saw you back at the docks.”

The trails of tears left traces down both of her cheeks. She threw her head back and screamed at the sky. “I’M DONE!” As the exclamation emerged from her mouth, the shrillness of her scream gave way to a single angelic note. The woman in white spasmed. The frills of her white dress began to float as pipings of colored light shot high into the night as if they were going to war with the moon.

Jeremiah motioned for Cole to join him. As his son reached his hand, Jeremiah felt Jeddy put his hand on his shoulder. Lily’s song was beautiful and harsh at the same time. The two men and boy winced at the sound filling the air. It seemed like she could hold that note indefinitely. The father wrapped his arm around his son. All three men faced the form of Lily Marsh with her head rolled backwards and neck stretched until it was fully exposed.

The song ceased. Embers around Lily’s feet glowed in the moonlight. She stood rigid except for her arms, which jerked at her sides every few seconds as if a shot of electricity animated them. The white dress rested, only moving with the breeze.

It was Cole who broke the silence as he let out a sob.

Lily’s white dress rippled in a wave of green light again. Unkempt hair flew forward as her back arched. “We will have you now, boy,” she hissed from deep in her gut as she lifted her head to reveal two black, bulbous eyes.

The conflict is rising

Inner conflict. Outer conflict. Tension. Ghosts. We’re on the cusp on an unseen realm.

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Talk to y’all soon.

~ J.P. Simons