The Legend of the Light Keeper (The Light Keeper Series Book 1) (4 page)

I WIPED
THE STEAM
from the mirror and towel dried my hair. Talon was long settled in his room. I wondered what he thought of all the stories we’d heard. They stirred around in my head as I slid down under my covers.

The bathroom light shone through the crack in the door again. I never found my nightlight and must have left it at the hotel. I stared at the picture of my dad on the nightstand and waited for my eyes to grow heavy. It had been a long day.

I woke up with a chill and noticed immediately how dark it was, which frightened me. The bathroom light was out.

All of a sudden I saw the Shadow, like black ink on dark paper; I could just make it out. It moved fluidly toward me, and then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of light over my night stand. By the time I turned to look, it had disappeared, leaving my eyes in a crazy fit trying to focus. I blinked. The walls I knew were there didn’t seem to exist in the vast darkness. Exposure to the unknown frightened me. I slid down, curled up and pulled the covers over my head, hoping that they’d offer some protection.

Being afraid of the dark was a little embarrassing considering my age, but I had good reason. All my life I’d seen shadows: inky, flowing shadows that lingered. Early on, I realized that they weren’t visible to anyone else, and I’d never been able to explain them.

Mom had never believed me. Why should she? She couldn’t see them. The only person that ever understood me was my Gram, though she never admitted to seeing them either, I had always felt she could. When I was very young, she bought me my first night light. It was shaped like an ice cream cone with a tiny light set deep inside the colored resin. Mom thought it was a bad idea, but was tired of my night terrors. At that point she was ready to try anything.

I struggled to steady my breathing. I’d seen something. Not just the Shadow but something else. What? A flash of light for sure, but was this the Bragg Ghost Light that Granny was talking about? I wasn’t sure, but I was positive that I didn’t want to figure it out in my dark room all alone. I considered my options.

Option one: I could stay in bed under the covers, scared and awake, sweating my butt off, hoping that whatever it was out there in the darkness wouldn’t come back and kill me.

Option two: I could scream like a baby and wake the whole house and then try to explain it without sounding crazy. That wouldn’t be a good idea. Mom would freak out and Talon would just make fun of me. I’d probably never hear the end of it.

Option three: I could make a run for it. Talon’s room was across the hall from mine. Maybe he wasn’t asleep yet. Maybe he would help me figure out what it was.
Maybe this is just an excuse to be near him
.

And what if I didn’t make it? What if something grabbed me in the darkness as I crossed the hall? I peeked out of the covers into the darkness and quickly hid my head again, trying to re-think options one and two.

I tried to distract myself. I thought of Talon’s dark brown eyes.
The only darkness I can tolerate
, I told myself.

Option three won out as I took a deep breath and jumped from my bed. I landed halfway across my room and ran so fast across the hall that my feet barely hit the floor.

Talon was sprawled out face-down on his navy plaid comforter. I rushed over to him and grabbed his arm. “Talon, wake up!” He startled awake as I shook him.

“What are you doing, Lily?” he asked, his voice rough with sleep.

“There’s something in my room!” I was out of breath and trying to whisper.

“What?” He sat up on his elbow and turned on his lamp.

I winced at the welcome light. “There’s something in my room,” I said, a little louder and more clearly.

“What is it, a bug?” He tried to focus, his eyes squinting. “If it’s a spider you’re on your own.”

“No! I wish.” I had to try and explain things so he didn’t think I was totally insane; the creepy new step-sister who sees Shadows in the dark. “I went to sleep with the bathroom light on. Then something woke me up, I’m not sure what, but as soon as I opened my eyes I caught a glimpse of something, like a flash, out of the corner of my eye. When I turned to look at it, it disappeared. I think it was that Light.” He stared at me blankly. “I don’t want to go back in there, it’s dark.”

He sighed. “You came all the way in here in the dark.” I nodded, missing his point. “Why didn’t you just turn on the lights along the way?”

“I was too scared to think about it, I guess.” I grimaced, feeling silly. Why hadn’t I thought of that?

He reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear and rested his thumb on my cheek. “It’s okay, Lily. I turned the light out after you went to bed. I thought that you’d forgotten to turn it off.”

“I leave it on all night. I’m—I don’t like the dark.” I hated to admit that out loud, especially to him. I wanted to tell him why, but he was still so skeptical, even after hearing everything Granny had said. I couldn’t tell him about the Shadows.

“Sorry, I’ll leave it on next time, but I’m sure you were just imagining things.”

“No. I’m not crazy or confused. I saw a light right beside my bed.” I was trying to whisper, but it was hard while hoping to get my point across. Looking directly into my eyes, he seemed to want to believe me, but part of me felt as if he thought I was being silly.

“Let’s go.” He got up and pulled me from the floor where I’d knelt by his bed, led me to the bathroom door, and turned on the light. He left the door open, allowing the light to spill in.

“See? Nothing. It’s fine. All those stories are just getting to you.” He straightened my covers and held them up for me. I crawled inside.

“Get some sleep, Lily. It’s late.” He rubbed his eyes and yawned. Then he smiled and leaned down closer to whisper, “I’ll be right across the hall.” I still wasn’t sure if the smile was him trying to be nice, or him laughing at me.
Maybe a little of both
. Pity; just what I didn’t want. He left the bathroom light on and my door open wide on the way to his room.

I lay there alone and still scared, so I pulled the covers over my head and hid in humiliation. Option one had become inevitable. I wished I hadn’t bothered Talon.
No telling what he thinks of me now
.

I fixed an air hole around my mouth and prepared to be awake and sweating the entire night under the covers, but I must have lost my battle with the sandman because what came next had to be a dream.

I stared down at a dusty wooden floor. Not like one inside a house, but outside, like a porch or deck. I didn’t recognize this place. The wind blew my hair and stirred the dust at my feet. A shadow appeared before me and a lump formed in my throat. I tried to speak, but couldn’t. A streak of heat burned across my cheek and I fell to the wooden planks. Dust and wind stung my face as they washed across me. Just as I was about to open my eyes to see where I was, I woke up.

* * *

“Lily! We’re leaving!” Mom yelled down the hall. “Tom and I are going into town so you guys will have to fend for yourselves. Are you listening? Can you hear me?” she called.

“Yes,” I moaned.
Half of the world can hear you
. “Bye!” I called out, hoping she’d shut up so I could go back to sleep.

“Lily, don’t sleep all day! It’s almost ten a.m.”

Tom was giving Talon his orders. I heard him across the hall in the pauses between Mom’s yelling. Eventually, she hollered out a final “Goodbye, Honey,” and the front door shut as they left. I wanted to sleep a few more minutes, but it was no use. Talon banged around in the kitchen cabinets, and the sound of cereal hitting a bowl followed.

I got up and headed straight to the bathroom. My hair was frightening after being under the covers all night. I put it up in a ponytail and brushed my teeth. Returning to my room, I froze in shock at what greeted me.

A dark mark streaked vertically down the wall. I stood there puzzled as the events of the night before came to mind.
I did see it! I’m not confused or crazy
!

Talon came up the hall and stood in my doorway, breakfast in hand. “Hey, Sleepyhead, it’s about time you woke up. I see you survived the night,” he said. He took a big bite of cereal as I turned to him and pointed at the wall. He was speechless and froze the same way I had. He stood there a minute looking, chewing slowly, and then he walked up and touched it. Black ash came off on his finger and he brought it to his nose. “Smells like burnt sugar.” He wrinkled his nose, holding his finger out to mine.

“I told you!” I pushed excitedly at his shoulder, almost sloshing his cereal out of the bowl.

“Ouch! I believe you.” He studied the mark again and then set his bowl down on my night stand. “Look.” He gestured to the picture of my dad, still rubbing his arm.

The shiny frame that held my dad’s picture was still perfect, but the glass inside it was cracked. A thin, clean break streaked across his face. “This wasn’t broken before.” I picked up the frame and examined it. The picture wasn’t damaged and I was glad about that, it was my favorite. “This is my dad,” I explained.

“I thought so. I saw it yesterday. You have his eyes, you know.” He smiled. “How—”

“Drunk driver. Three months before I was born.” I kept my answer short like always. I’d had to explain it many times, and I was surprised that Talon didn’t press on about it. His face pinched tight but that wasn’t the response that surprised me.

“Wow, he never even got to meet you.” He said it, not asking any questions, but stating a fact; a fact that I had never really put in that perspective before. The fact that I’d never really known him was always an issue with me. However, Talon had said that my dad had never gotten to meet
me
.

“He did though,” I corrected.

“Did what?” Bewildered, he leaned in closer.

“He met me.” I waited for the same response I got from him last night. The look that said he didn’t believe me, but it never came. Instead he gave me a sideways glance and raised his brow, waiting to hear all about it.

“He came to me on my tenth birthday and told me he loved me and that he was proud of me. He said that the world had great things in store for me and to always trust my heart and instincts. Mom said it was just a dream, but it was too real. He sat at the foot of my bed and I felt the weight of him sitting there and the bed even moved under him. I saw him clearly, smelled him and felt him. Light was all around him, like he was an angel.” Talon stared wide-eyed and silent. “It was the first time I ever experienced ‘the paranormal.’” I threw my fingers up in quotes, still trying to read his thoughts. A voice deep inside me reminded me that it wasn’t really my first paranormal event, that the inky figures I had tried to escape from my whole life were. Then a different voice reminded me that I dare not speak of that yet.

“Is this the second time then?” He narrowed his eyes and motioned to the wall.

“No, not the second.” I shook my head and stared at the floor. “Several years ago my Gram came to me. She was dying in the hospital with brain tumors. I had been to see her earlier that night. The doctor told us it was just a matter of time, and I was upset because she wasn’t awake while I was there. I wanted to say goodbye. We were very close.

“That night, just after I’d lain down for bed, she came to my room and told me goodnight and goodbye. She kissed my cheek and smiled at me. Then she said the strangest thing. She said, ‘Lily, when your time comes, find the light. Don’t be afraid like me.’ And then she left.

“She seemed so happy, so healthy and shone just as my dad had. I knew she was supposed to be in the hospital and that it meant she was really gone for good. I felt bad knowing that when her time came, she’d been afraid to die.

“I got up to tell my mom, but she had already gotten the call. She said it was a dream and sent me back to bed, but I knew better. It was real.” I refocused my eyes and looked at him. “Have you ever had an experience?” I needed him to say something; anything.

“Nothing that I couldn’t explain away or debunk.” He shrugged.

“Like what?” I wanted him to open up.

“Well, for instance, one time my TV came on in the middle of the night all by itself. I was scared at first, until I figured out I’d accidentally set the built-in timer.” He flashed me a quick smile. “Other things, like noises and things being moved from where they should be, I chalked up to forgetfulness or my imagination.” He nodded and turned back to the blackened wall. “This is something I can’t explain away.” We both stared at it a few more seconds, not sure how to react or what to do.

“We’ve got to clean it off,” Talon suggested. “I’m not sure we should tell our parents. It doesn’t appear to be damaged, just marked.”

“Mom has never believed me. Do you think Tom would?” I asked.

Talon shook his head. “I don’t know how well that would go over. I mean, they may think we’re making it all up just to start trouble. They might think we’re trying to ruin the new living arrangements.” I nodded. He had a point. “We’re just getting settled. This could ruin everything. We don’t even know what it really is,” he said, looking for me to agree.

“You’re right. It may not even be worth telling. Let’s just get rid of it.”

We went into the bathroom and I retrieved a wash cloth from under the sink before he could grab our decorative towels again. I found the blue glass cleaner, too. “This shouldn’t hurt the wallboard.”

Before he could spray the wall I stopped him. “Hey wait! Let’s get a picture.” I grabbed my phone and took a few shots, and then checked to make sure they turned out. “Okay, go ahead.”

When he sprayed the mark, a mess of wet black streaks ran down the wall. He caught them before they got too far and wiped them away. The mark didn’t go away completely, but good enough. Mom might notice. She rarely came into my room, but I would have to think up an excuse just in case.

I put away the cleaner and threw the rag in the hamper. “What are we going to do today?” I asked. “Besides figuring out what was in my room last night?” I was glad that he’d seen enough proof to believe me.