Of Solar And Dark (2018)

3 [E]

Edward Kenning

When I am finally pulled into the view, I find myself in the same store. Daniel must have drugged me which explains for the fumes from the fabric.

Groaning, I pull my body into a sitting position and survey the room once more. It remains unchanged from how I recall it to be and deciding that that must be a good thing, I stretch out and start towards the exit. The musty smell of the room dissipates as I step through the glass door that I have shoved open.

The chilling scene before me instantly strikes a chord of fear in my ribcage and I stumble backwards, unable to endure the shift in the environment, the sudden dip of the scenery around me.

Broken glass scatters the ground, shining tragically under the uneven glow of the lights that remain intact. Strings of bulbs that were recently tied tightly along the shopfronts dangle and sway, their ends snapped off and their cords thin enough to trigger anxiety.

In the glittering pool of fragmented glass lies bunched up posters that used to be stamped along the windows of shops. Noticing a set of freshly painted words branding the material, I bend down to pick up the paper. It crinkles in my hand as I tilt it over fully to read the words.

COME AND GET US.

What?

The paint is still fresh and the red colour bleeds into my skin. That's when I notice the imprint along the side of my thumb- a pattern of swirls and dots, similar to that on Daniel's arm. Inscripted below the billowing dark marks is a set of numbers- probably my only way to contact Daniel.

"Teddy! Where are you?" All around me, Solars are stumbling around the Plaza in a daze. Their faces are clouded over with a mixture of confusion, the residual of the fear that must have struck them between the chaos that ensued and now.
None of them seem to be paying any attention to me despite how loud my calls are. It's as if they're lost in their own worlds, too, hunting for their loved ones and blocking out any obstructions.

As my shoes tread across the specks of material that have fallen off from the blackout, I realise that if Daniel is right and if he does indeed belong to a group that isn't the Resistance, his group must be no less dangerous than the Resistance.
The responsibility of the blackout would fall squarely on their shoulders and claiming liability would mean that they would go just as far as cutting off the Solars' only source of energy to get what they want.

My mouth is parched and my thoughts feel like they're spiralling out of control. None of this should be happening to me and certainly not to Teddy. We're normal Solars, aren't we?

"Teddy!" My voice is horase from calling out countlessly and a riptide of despair sweeps through my body, kocking the air out of my lungs.

The Plaza is huge. There's no saying in how long it will take just to comb the first few floors. What if Daniel's right and he's really gone?

"He's gone."

"What?"

Watching me with a bored expression on his face, a Solar leans against a half-destroyed shopfront, eyes flickering over the length of my body, noting my features.

"Don't bother searching for whoever you're calling out for. He's gone, just like the others."

"What do you mean?"

A sprinkle of mirthless amusement flashes across the Solar's face as he answers me in a cool, unperturbed manner, "Haven't you notice? Half of the Solars here are gone. They've taken the people you came here with."

"T-that's not possible." But even as I hear myself say the words, I'm sure that this Solar is right. The Plaza is too quiet to resemble the earlier atmosphere and noise level and glancing around, the only thing that occupies the wide space of the Plaza's floor plan is what is left of the shops- advertisement boards that lie limply and the endless sea of transparent mirrors, reflecting my worried expression.

I was so focused on finding Teddy that I didn't realise how empty the Plaza has become.

"Who took them? And why?"

The Solar's stare of sympathy shifts to one of curiosity.

"It has got to be the Resistance. I can't be too sure what they'll get out of kidnapping a bunch of us, though."

My shoulders slump at his response and I feel a cloud of anguish entrap me, slowly seeping through my skin and settling along my bones.

"What about the words on the fliers?" The poster that I spotted when I first exited the store is still tightly clumped in my fist. I smooth out the lines that mark the paper and show it to the Solar.

COME AND GET US.

Bold and capitalised, the words seem braver than I currently feel. The Solar's brows pull together in confusion as he squints at the words, as if unable to make them out.

"That's strange," He says after a while, "I can't read it."

"What do you mean, you can't read it?"

"It's all a bunch of squiggles and symbols, like some other language."

"What? No!" I give the paper a long, hard stare but the words are as direct as ever, as challenging as they seem from previously.

"Hey, you're peobably just imagining reading it." The Solar begins to inch away from me, as if terrified by the fact that I'm able to decipher what he's seeing but I'm too lonely, too scared to be left alone.

"Don't go!" I holler but it's too late- his back is turned as he drives his legs forward into a sprint, becoming fuzzy smudge of colours against the landscape of ruins.

Alone again.

I can't lose Teddy the way I lost my father. As the thought drifts into my mind, I silently swear to breathe truth into those words.

Word Count: 998 Words

A/N: Don't be scared to tell me what you think of the characters and the content in the chapter! Every vote, comment and share is appreciated, as with is every read! (: