Dreams of Light by Patrick Sean Lee (novels to read for beginners .txt) đ
- Author: Patrick Sean Lee
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âMari is so young, even though she appears not to be. Despite what you all think, sheâs just a little impressionable girl. A lot like Sammie. No matter how I tried to snap her out of it, no matter how the decent ones among them triedâŠwell, we werenât successful.â He hesitated and looked away. âNot yet.â
A sad, distant look grew on his face. In those deep ebony eyes that not long ago were wells of simple darkness. His fingers tightened on mine, and I felt in them an even stronger sadness.
âJerrick, what are they doing? What are they planning to do?â
As I asked the questions, Sammieâs loud, girlish voice rang out from deep inside the orchard, calling Munsterâs name.
âItâs a battle,â he said shifting his eyes toward the sound of her voice. âThey arenât killing one another, but the fight is in full swing. One or the other among the thousands that came here is going to win eventually. You really havenât seen any of the dark ones yet.â
âMaybe I have. WeâŠPeter and IâŠwere inside one of those barriers theyâre putting up everywhere. Did you know that?â
âNo. Stay away from them, Amelia. What did you see?â
I told him how Peter and I broke through the cloud barrier; how we got separated. How frightened we were. How they appeared in the strange distance and came at us.
âYou were lucky. Donât go near those portals ever again. The next timeâŠâ His voiced trailed off.
âAmelia, Jerrick, whatâs up?â
It was Peter. Thank God. I whipped my head around at the sound of his beautiful voice. Jerrick kept his hand locked on mine.
âSit down, Peter.â I waited as Peter sat down beside me, a quizzical look on his face.
âThe most important task we have right now,â I said turning my attention back to Jerrick, putting the grave danger facing us aside for the moment, âis to somehow bring Charles back. Jerrick, you said you could help him. Peter and I have a plan.â
âAll I need is a go-ahead,â he said.
âYes, but we have to get you past DeniseâŠâ
âShe isnât really a problem at all,â he said. âIf you give me the word, Iâll just walk in and begin.â
âSheâd scratch your eyes out,â Peter said.
âNo she wouldnât. Seriously, do you really believe I couldnât just make her take a short nap?â He laughed.
âYou mean like CharlesâŠlikeâŠâ
âOh no. Just put her to sleep for a bit. Sheâd wake up later.â
I threw my arms around him.
âWell why didnât you tell us that a few days ago!!!? Weâve wracked our brains, waiting for the right moment when we could get you in there!â
âI was waiting too. We could do it right now if you want. Just say the word. You realize, donât you, that the two of you are the de-facto rulers, the final authorities of every living human thing? The king and queen of Marysville and the farm and the world,â he said all pleased with himself, laughing with a kind of relief.
I released my hold on Jerrick, then jumped on top of Peter, knocking him backward. I kissed him!
âPeter, we are such idiots! All we had to do was ask!â
âWell,â he said smiling his gorgeous smile up at me, âit seemed kind ofâŠmore complicated a few days ago.â
Sir Charles, Awaken
Lashawna and Jude were the first to join us. From their bedroom window facing the drive, Jude had seen Jerrick in the last few seconds of his and Sammieâs descent. She was incredulous, but continued to watch for a moment as Peter, oblivious of what had happened, wandered into the scene. Lashawna was outside the bedroom eavesdropping on Charles and Denise. Of course there was no conversation, she said, only murmuring by Denise beyond the door.
Jude finally awakened from her shock and raced out of the room screaming. She grabbed Lashawnaâs hand, and yanked her to the stairs. I heard their frantic footsteps on the wood floor in the living room mixed up with Judeâs excited voice, and then looked up when the old screen door banged against the outside wall of the house. Out they flew. Down the steps in two leaps.
âHe flew! I saw him flying!â Jude kept yelling.
Before the two of them reached us, Sammie came scampering up the rise from the edge of the orchard, Cynthia and Munster close on her heels.
âHere he is!â Sammie called back to Munster and Cynthia. âJerrick, Jerrick, show them!â
It was all Bedlam of a different sort. An almost joyously cacophonous rush of bodies, so unlike the gathering a few feet away on the drive three days earlier.
Peter and I were on our feet by the time Munster and Cynthia arrived. Jude had come to a halt beside Peter, but Lashawna, her eyes stretched wide in confusion, had flown to her knees directly in front of Jerrick, who remained sitting. He was smiling at her.
Sammie whisked between the bodies that had by then surrounded him, and flew into him like a lost child whoâd finally found her mother in a crowded shopping mall after frightening hours alone.
âShow them, Jerrick! Take me up again!â
I laughed. âSammie, give him a break, girl! I saw what he did, so did Jude.â
âItâs so cool!â she said with a giggle.
âTrue?â Cynthia said.
âEntirely. But look, aside from theâŠI mean, Jerrick has a plan to help Charles. Right Jerrick?â
He eased Sammie off his lap. âAnytime youâre ready.â
âWhat plan?â Munster asked.
âHeâs going to march right into Charlesâ and Deniseâs bedroom, and then put Denise to sleep. ThenâŠwhat will you do, Jerrick?â
âAsleep? Oh no,â Cynthia said.
âShh,â Munster shot at her. âLet JerrickâŠâ
âOh shush yourself!â
âI call on Mari. Iâll need her.â
âMARI? But Peter said she was about to hit you! Why would you bring her here?â
âBecauseâŠI just need her. She knowsâŠshe thinks differently than I do. They communicate with herâŠwhat? On a different level than they do with me. Donât be frightened if some of them come with her. Sheâs NOT what you think, Amelia. Hopefully not what I think she is sometimes. I have to believe sheâll help. That theyâll help. If not, I think I can bring him back without her.â
âWell then, why not try alone first?â
âThoughts. Suggestions to him on a quite different level than I might be capable of. I donât know. Maybe I can do it.â
âYou flew!â Sammie chimed. âYou can do anything!â
Jerrick laughed. âNot everything, Sammie. Besides,â he said turning back to Peter, âI want to, I mean I have to believe that her condition isnât permanent. Away from themâŠI donât know. If we can convince her somehow to stay with usâto help in Charlesâ recovery, and to just BE around those she once loved so much. You know?â
âBut youâll give it a shot without her, wonât you?â I pleaded with him. âDeal with Mari later. If you can bring him back aloneâŠwhat is it that heâs in? Like a coma or something?â
âOh no. He sees and hears, but Charles is far away. Just like Mari was when she first touched the tower. Itâs like there are two of him. Itâs hard to explain in human terms. Physical terms. The point is, the longer heâs away, the farther heâll tend to drift, I think.â
âWell then, letâs get busy!â Peter said, ending the confusing conversation.
I donât know if Jerrick called for Mari up in the bedroom, but they arrived. Mari wasnât with them.
Let me back up.
We dashed up the stairs. It sounded like a herd of elephants. Munster and Cynthia and Sammie and Jude and Lashawnaâall of them right on our heels, galloping and talking at once. In the hall, I saw Celia open hers and buttheadâs door, poke her head out, then slam the door shut again. Jerrick, Peter and I reached Charlesâ door first.
âStay here,â Jerrick said.
âOh no, Iâm coming with you,â I shot back at him.
âYou canât!â
âI will whether you think I can or otherwise.â
âMe too,â Peter said.
Jerrick frowned. I wondered as he stood there staring at us if he might lift his hand, or glare with eyes turning fiery orange and put us to sleep? He gave in, though, and then turned and twisted the knob. Denise had locked the door, but he easily broke it, and then he pushed the door inward. I head Denise scream.
Jerrick walked forward. Denise bleated something as Jerrick neared her with one hand raised and extended. Peter and I dashed in.
âClose the door,â I told Peter.
âWhy? The lock isâŠâ
I turned back to the scene unfolding inside. Denise took a step, then two, backward, raising her arm over her face, whimpering, âNo, no, please.â
Jerrick continued on, and when he reached her he said in a calm and confident voice, âItâs okay, Denise. Just rest for a moment. Iâve come to help Charles.â
He touched her with one finger, and then placed the palm of his hand onto her forehead. She bolted, but there was nowhere for her to go to get away from him. Jerrick leaned close to her face, brought both hands to her temples, and whispered something softly into her ear. She shook her head no in his grasp. It took a moment, but finally she began to collapse. He broke her fall, and then lay her limp body down onto the carpet.
Charles lay in their bed covered to his chest with a sheet and light blanket. His face was expressionless. His eyes were closed. After laying Denise carefully down, Jerrick went to the bedside and stared down at Charles for several seconds. I wondered what he was thinking. Jerrick, that is. God only knows if Charlesâ brain was firing images of anything.
Peter and I padded quietly to the far side of the bed very near the lone window looking out onto the side yard and driveway. We watched and wondered what Jerrick would do. Maybe what happened next was the reason Jerrick said that he needed to be alone with Charles? He pulled the sheet and blanket downward until Charlesâ bare feet appeared. I looked up at Peter standing close at my side.
OkayyyyâŠ
Jerrick disregarded our presence and climbed onto the mattress next to Charles. He took our beloved Charles into his arms, pulled his limp body tightly against his own, and began to run both long hands up and down Charlesâ sides, his hips, his shoulders, his chest and stomach.
I pushed myself hard into Peter. My mouth dropped open at the sight of it. I heard Peter mutter, âWhat the hell?â
Had Denise been awake, she would have gone absolutely insane at seeing what Peter and I saw.
All the while, Jerrick was speaking strange words into Charlesâ ear, in a language neither Peter nor I had ever heard before.
I had to remember.
I had to remember!
There was Lashawna and Jude. Okay. AlrightâŠno one thought much of their pairing, and after the typically Munster-uttered little snide remarksââShut it, Munster.â-Cynthiaâtheir no doubt physical and emotional relationship passed into acceptance, as something quite normal in our new world, bitterly contested and unenlightened in the old. Even the despicable orbiting of that horror, Bernie, and his obsequious Celia, was, at its worst, tolerated. Each
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