A Light in the Darkness Book: The Moonlight Murderer

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Candy Man Can

Jan found himself walking through a forested path. He could feel a warm breeze as he too the winding trail through the thick green foliage. There were birds chirping in the distance and he could hear some rustling in the trees. Gold and purple flowers bloomed on the side of the path. Looking up through the tree line, he could see a dim white expanse that was unlike the sky on the surface. He knew this place. It was a path he'd walked many a time, in his home, Haven.

Following the familiar trail, he came upon a large wooden bridge which curved up over a small lake. The bridge had thick metal railings along the edge which were stained red. In the middle of the bridge a figure was leaning over the rails. It was someone he knew all too well, his brother. Or, at least someone who looked like his brother. He sighed and started walking across.

Once halfway across, he leaned over the side, next to his brother's doubleganger. They stood there in companionable silence until Jan cocked his head to the side.

"What is it this time, Core?" He tried to mask the irritation in his voice.

"Why do I have to want something? Maybe I just wanted to do something nice, and thought you'd enjoy seeing this place again," the deity remarked, clearly not fooled by Jan's attitude.

"It is nice," he admitted. "But, it's not real. You may as well be taunting me with a taste of something I can never have."

"It's just like you to take something that is supposed to be good and turn it bad." He sounded so much like Drex, it made him angry. Core sighed and snapped his finger.

Suddenly, they were once again in the same dark stone chamber with a pillar of light flooding out from a chasm in the middle. He looked at Jan, causing him to flinch.

"Do you really need to look like that?" He asked as he averted his gaze.

Core flashed between several appearances, a young Fen woman with an eyepatch, an overweight Fen sage in grey robes, and a tall soldier in silver armor. He finally settled on an old man with a long, pointy beard, dressed in a white suit with suspenders and a bowtie. He looked somewhat familiar.

"Are you satisfied now?" The deity asked with his now more gravel and wizened voice.

"Yeah, who exactly is that you're wearing now?" He questioned nervously.

"Your third great grandfather. He took ill and died while you were a toddler," Core replied. That was kind of macabre. He hadn't really remembered his grandpa Jerion that much, but he'd heard good things.

"So, what? Can you only look like dead people or something?"

"Of course not," he shifted his appearance back into the familiar visage he'd adopted at first.

"Nice try! For someone who's supposed to be all-knowing, you sure have no attention to detail. The scar is on the left, Drex's was on the right," he pointed out smugly.

"Well between you and me I'm not exactly all-knowing. I know rough about one and a half trillion five hundred thousand, three hundred and thirty-two, no wait, thirty-six things. Also, this is not your brother. I'm you," Core explained.