Of Solar And Dark (2018)

16 [E]

Edward Kenning

When my eyes open, the world is bright and alive. The hum of solar energy calms me as I bring my body into an upwards position. The soft crinkling of the raincoat urges me to tear the rumpled material off my body. As I rub my eyes, trying to wipe the weariness of my eyelids, I realise that the world around me is on fire.

On fire.

How could I have missed that?

The sickening smell of smoke starts to clog up the area and there's a sizzling roar as a bright flames from above begin to creep their way down, wrapping around the metal staircase and twisting them into unfanthomable shapes, the solids melting and folding into a pile.

"Luke?!" I spring onto my feet and begin to search for Luke. He's not by my side nor is he on the first floor nut the fire's already starting to cling along the railings of the second level. That means- that means-

The suffocating thought is instantly snuffed out of my mind as I race towards the base of the stairs, slowly turning towards the second storey.

He can't be dead. I'm not sure where he is but he can't be the ashes that the fire is spitting out. The heat starts to burn its way through my skin and droplets of sweat begin to embed themselves ahainst my skin.

How did I sleep through this?

"Luke! Where are you?" The scream nearly causes me to lose my vocals and it grates against my airways roughly. Dark clouds of smoke start to rise upwards and gradually undulate against what is the pillars that the fire hasn't chewed up yet.

The gigantic flames flicker and fight along the walls- the waves of red and yellow ripping through the white interior, their blue hues dancing and glowing as the colours shift from one part of a wall to another, shadows of colours leaping out and chasing each other across borders of concrete.

He's not here.

Where is he?

As the flames grow large, it becomes difficult to ignore the reality of the situation. I need to start moving or I'll become part of the wreckage. I head out, eyes starting to water as the smell of smoke occludes the circulation of fresh air. As I shove open the massive door and fall out into the open, I collapse to the ground and savour the taste of oxygen against my mouth, untouched by the billows of smoke and ash, of carbon dioxide that twisted my lungs.

It is only when I catch my breath do I realise that the art piece from the gallery is not with me. Panicking, I run my fingers along my clothes, searching for anywhere it could have fallen into while I was fast asleep. The horror only fully strikes me when I realise that my clothes are devoid of the landscape piece.

The prophecy is gone.

As I frantically pat down every crease on my clothes, my fingers linger along the familiar curve of an equipment. My ear comm.

I push down againt the buttin forcefully before gripping it close to my ear.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

Eyes squeezed shut and mouthing a word of prayer, I beg for someone to reply.

There is a sibilant whisper that struggles to creak through my ear comm but as I draw it closer to my ear, I manage to make out the voice.

"'E-edward? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's Edward." The tears that threatened to leak moments ago begin to track down my face, tracing the strokes of my cheek.

"Who is it? I can't hear you." My voice is a strange watery mixture from the tears that deem it nasal and pulls along the cords in my chest, tightening it with a constriction.

"It's Ellie. Oh my Galaxy- where are you? What happened?"

I shake my head, palms still pressed against the surface and fingers digging into the soil as I speak, "I don't know. I don't know what happened or how-"

I cut myself off and allow the sob that has been fabricating in my lungs to escape.

"Edward, what happened? Are you okay?" Ellie's voice grows clear but nothing is able to snap me out of the shock. I don't answer her, too busy choking back the burst of tears that leaves my body empty of oxygen.

I just want to breathe.

I just want to pretend like none of this happened.

"Hey, it'll be fine, alright? Just let it all out, Ed. Let it all out."

The substituted nickname prompts the tears to trail down at a rapid pace as an image of Teddy flashes in my mind. I shouldn't be here. I should be with Teddy, safe in our stupid cramped apartment. Unhappy but safe.

The cries begin to subside as I run out of breaths. I allow my body to lean heavily against the ground and stretch out, too weak to strain my muscles into a proper sitting position.

"Just trace my ear comm. Just come and get me." I beg wearily, wishing that Luke was here. Here to hold me and let his actioms whisper to me that everything would be okay. Wishing that I could just sink into his embrace and slowly fade into the shadows, fall into the space where it was safe.

"We're coming, Ed. Just sit tight, okay?" Ellie's reply is steeped in concern but even the extent of it isn't enough to catch the way I'm falling, the way my emotions are toppling my heart and submerging my lungs in a flood of desire for Luke's presence.

I think about last night and the way we danced along the colours flashing against our skin, creeping along our clothes. The way his hand was pressed against my back, a soothing gesture that tilted with my spine and only triggered discomfort when it left. And the way he said that it wasn't real.

But it wasn't real, why was I feeling so overwhelmed by the want to hold him right now? Everything about him calmed me- his movements, the way he drifted in and out of rooms, the way his eyes shone. I knew that he was a Dark and that Solars were told to stay away from Darks. Darks posed a danger to us and being in the proximity of a Dark placed Solars at peril but being with him was solace that I didn't know I found it.

So where was he when I needed him the most?

Word Count: 1093 Words

A/N: I have came to the sinking realisation that my grammar turns into a nightmare when I write with music and I have zero clue as to the direction this book is headed. Like, I don't even know.

Anyway, all feedback is appreciated! (: