DARKNESS EVOLVES Chapter Eleven
I was laying on the couch in the living room, listening to music, when Daniel walked in.
"I've got the money," he said.
"That's great, Daniel." I turned off the AV system and stood up. "Can we go now?"
My brother glanced around, his expression neutral. "Where's Chris?"
"Asleep."
"He's alright?"
"Sure, he's fine. Do you want to go check on him?"
He hesitated. "Yeah, I do, if you don't mind."
"No, Daniel, it's okay."
We peered in on Chris together. It looked like he hadn't moved since I'd helped him to the bed. At the sound of his gentle snoring, Daniel relaxed.
"He looks pretty out of it," he whispered.
"He is. He'll sleep through until morning."
"What did you do to him?"
I shrugged. "Nothing much. I can't do all the things Fellers could, so I just fuzzed his memory some. He'll be kinda confused about the last twenty-four hours when he wakes up, but that's all."
We walked back to the living room.
"Listen, Joey," Daniel guided me to the couch, "sit down. We need to talk."
I sat. Daniel settled beside me.
He gathered my hands in his. "First of all, I love you, Joey. I love you so much that I can hardly stand it. I won't ever leave you, I promise. But I was serious when I said that about last night. I'm not doing that again."
"Okay, Daniel. That's okay."
"Hold on. I'm not done. My beast self wants you all for itself, but my human self knows that I can't demand that from you. You don't belong to me and you definitely aren't a kid any more."
Daniel paused and looked away. His jaw flexed. I waited.
He looked back. "The thing is, even though I know what I want, I don't know what's going on for you." He swallowed. "Would you tell me, Joey? Please? I need to know what you want."
My poor big brother. Daniel wasn't used to wondering whether or not his feelings were reciprocated. Not once in his life has he ever been rejected by a lover.
"You," I whispered to him. "I want you, Daniel. I want to be with you. Forever and ever."
"Okay." Tears gathered in the corners of his dark eyes, but he kept his gaze steady. "What else? What else do you want?"
I looked down at my hands. The silver ring glinted on my finger. "I want everything to be okay for us."
"Joey," he said gently, "little brother, you know they can never be the way they used to, don't you? We've both changed. This is going to be hard, and we're going to have to be open and honest with each other. We have to both be grown-ups now. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes," I looked up at him. "Brother Light and Brother Dark. We're the Ark."
His forehead wrinkled in confusion.
I threw my arms around him and buried my face in his chest. "I love you too, Daniel."
His arms settled around me and he hugged me tight. We held each other. Daniel's a good person, I knew that. He's not a monster. I'd told him I love him because he's the only person in the world who matters to me. But I don't really understand what love is. Whatever I'd known about it, my darkfather had taken away. I'm not sure that I can love anyone — but I am sure that I need Daniel. He's my only chance of ever learning to love.
Without the Moon, there wouldn't be any life on the Earth. It would be like a wintery Venus. Our planet's satellite brought us to life. Daniel's what brings me to life. So I'd try to do whatever he asked, as much as I could.
"All right," Daniel broke the hug. He settled back. "Have you figured out what to do about the demon?"
"Yes," I nodded, "and I did it. I went into the Internet and I trapped it – " I held up my hand and wriggled the finger with the ring on it " – in here."
Daniel studied my finger like I was showing off an engagement ring.
"So that's it? Game over? It was that easy?"
I shrugged. It hadn't been that easy. "I tricked it into facing me directly. Chris helped with that. It was dangerous for him, but he's okay."
"So we're safe now?"
"I think so." I hesitated, then thought about what he'd said and pressed on. "Daniel, I should tell you, there's lots of demons living in the Internet. They like it there."
"Fuck. What are they going to do?"
"Nothing. I don't think they're going to bother either of us any more. Right now they're cleaning things up, putting things back the way they were."
Daniel stared at me. "So all this shit flying at us is just going to go away?"
I nodded. "We're still going to need to find a new place to live."
"And twenty-two people are dead." He searched my face. "They can't go back to the way they were."
"No, they can't." I thought about Mom. "They're gone."
His expression softened. "It's not your fault, Joey." He gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. "So what's next?"
I shrugged. "We need to go someplace that's private and get you changed back to your normal self. Then we have to come up with a story about where we were for the last couple of days."
"Yeah, right. Hey," he snapped his fingers. "What about going camping? We could say that we were out in the boonies the whole time and didn't hear about the plane crash until we got back to town."
"That's right, Daniel. That's a good idea."
"All right then." He checked his watch. "Academy's open `til ten. Let's buy some gear and go camping."
So we did.
Two days later, when we came back, our surprise appearance caused a pretty big news splash. I'd been able to get his dark gift to change Daniel again, so at least we didn't have to explain that to reporters. Daniel handled all the interviews and he did a great job. The police accepted our story without question, and we even received some material gifts and cash donations from strangers. Daniel got emails from a couple more talent agents and a few women who wanted to meet him.
The allegation against Daniel's broker license turned out to be a computer-generated error. His accounts had already been unfrozen by the time we got back.
Katerina offered to put us up at the Estrella penthouse while we got our bearings, so we're staying there for now. Daniel and Amber have been hanging out together. I know that Daniel's attracted to her, but Amber won't do anything unless I gave her permission. I should — it would be good for him — but I haven't. Even though I know it wouldn't change anything between Daniel and me, I'm still not ready to do it.
Daniel got me a new clarinet (it's a really nice one) but he's considering not buying another house just yet. We're talking about doing some traveling. He still wants to see the world. That sounds fine to me. There's things I'd like to see, too.
While Daniel's been catching up with friends and updating his portfolio, I've been working with my new acquisition. It's going great. I think I've decided on the name I'm going to give this spirit. I'm really starting to get the hang of this magus stuff.
So that's the latest on us. Now pay close attention, because this next part is important. Everything I've told you up till now is just a lead-up for what I need to say next. I know that sounds silly, but it's the truth.
The second night we were camping I had a dream. It's not just my dream — it's everyone's. It's for the whole world. So I'm going to tell it to you now exactly as it happened. You need to remember it and share it with everyone you can. This really is that important.
Here it is.
I'm standing on top of a hill. It's in the middle of an English-looking countryside, with fields and trees and a winding river stretched out below me. The hilltop is covered in knee-high grass. There are giant blocks of stone sticking up through the grass, like the foundations of a ruined building or the megaliths at Stonehenge. It's noon and the sun is directly overhead; I can feel the warmth of it on my head and shoulders.
Around me everything begins to darken, as if a cloud is passing by. I look up. The sky is cloudless and, even though it's terribly bright, I'm able to gaze directly at the sun. There's a spot of darkness in the middle of it. And it's growing. As I stare I can see that the darkness has irregular edges that are slowly moving.
Suddenly I know — I ken — that the dark irregular splotch is a titanic being, like a giant amoeba of darkness, and that it's coming towards me. The darkness grows and the sun dims and goes out. A cool breeze kicks up as the sunlight disappears and the stars emerge. But the darkness overhead keeps expanding. I can see its pseudopods moving like black velvet swatches across the stars, snuffing them out, too.
The darkness grows and all the stars go out. It's pitch black. The immensity of the being hanging over me presses down like a crushing weight. It envelops me.
There's a sudden shift and the world reappears. Only now the light is inverted. Everything looks like one of those old film negatives: what had been light is dark and what had been dark is light. The world is monochromatic, just shades of white, black and grey.
I hear the swish-swish-swish of something approaching through the grass and turn to face it. Against the dark sky the grey figure of a man comes up the hill.
"Hello, Jumpers," he smiles, revealing even, black teeth. The weird inversion makes him hard to recognize, but it's Dad. Jumpers was what he used to call me when I was a kid.
But this isn't Dad. It's something dressed in him. I don't say anything.
It stops in front of me, an arm's length away, and waits. Something about the stillness of its posture expresses ancientness. It is old. Incredibly, incomprehensibly old. It can outwait me.
"Why are you in my dream?" I finally ask.
"I'm not. You're in mine. Do you know why?"
"No."
After a moment it turns to look out over the inverted landscape. "This is your world?"
"Yes."
"Pretty." It turns back to me. "You know, Jumpers, I'll be waking up soon."
"When the Darkness returns?"
"Your darkness is my light. I sleep through the night and waken at dawn. Daybreak is close."
Was that a warning? A threat? "You are not my father," I say at last.
"No," it agrees, "but we are related. Think of me," it smiles, "as an older brother."
I think about that. "We have the same parents?"
"We do. They are two very passionate and committed lovers. Call them by their natures: Unbounded Freedom and Invariant Willfulness."
Uncle Walt's description of the paired universes was two cymbals crashing together. Uncle Walt is such a physicist. They aren't ricocheting off each other; they're fucking.
"And we're their children?"
"Oh, yes. Our nature partakes of them both. Call us ... Free Will."
I think some more. "Why am I in your dream?"
"Finally you ask. You are a young, darkborn race. What will happen, do you suppose, when daylight floods this world?"
"I don't know." I touch the silver ring on my finger. "The demons will become a lot more powerful."
"Some will. Some are too hollowed to be reborn. Regardless, when dawn comes you will cease to be of interest to the immaterial spirits. There are other beings still in your world, however, who could cause great harm."
"More monsters?" I whisper.
"More monsters. But the greatest threat to your survival will be yourselves. I remember this sky when dragons soared across it. Powerful and wise as they were, they did not endure. Do you know why?"
"No."
"Their reptilian hearts could not love. For all their wisdom, they never cared enough about each other to sacrifice for their collective survival. They never learned to share."
"So all this has happened before?"
"Oh yes. Over and over for years of my days."
I feel my fists ball in helpless rage. "Our parents are cruel."
"No," it corrects, "they are hopeful. Eternally hopeful. Through the ages I have come to share that hope." It smiles again, tenderly this time. "So I share it now with you. You need to learn to share, Jumpers. You are learning to love and that is a good beginning. Now all of you must learn to share. That's how you'll grow up. It's how you'll survive."
"I don't understand."
"No? Emotions are the heart of your race's strength. They will save or destroy you. When light floods this world, you can weather the changes if you stand together — if you don't let yourselves be divided by the shadows of your fear."
It turns and gazes back over the countryside. "Yes, it's still a very pretty world. Perhaps you and I will meet again, after I awake."
"If I'm alive."
"I shall hope that you will be. Now, Jumpers, I've a parting gift for you."
The light goes out and I'm again in total darkness. This time it's not just an absence of light. The world around me has vanished, taking my body with it. But there is something here. Two somethings. I can't feel them with my senses, or even ken them, but I know what they are: Unbounded Freedom and Invariant Willfulness.
They are separate, opposite, like reflections in a mirror. Some quality of their oppositeness attracts them to each other and they circle around, drawing closer, becoming more interested. They do something — agree, or touch or exchange essences — and then they are back to being far apart, circling around and slowly approaching each other again. This is their dance. The mating dance of the universes.
Something happens to our universe as it springs away from its partner. All across it there is a showering of twinkling sparks. The sparks are points of bounded awareness: spirits. The spirits shine brightly at first, but dwindle over time and have all gone out before the dancers touch again. Again and again this happens.
Our universe changes as the dance continues. Its movements become slower but also more intricate, more complex. While the sparks continue to ignite and fade to nothingness, in those places where they congregate dim embers begin to glow. The embers are different. They wax and wane, but never completely vanish. Life.
The dance continues. With each new round fewer sparks are born and the embers glow stronger. The embers add brightness to the sparks that enable the sparks to last longer. In some places the embers are almost as bright as the sparks. Occasionally they help a spark to last until the dancers touch again. When that happens, the spark flares up twice as brightly as when it first appeared. Sometimes, then, the embers around it fade. Sometimes they do not; sometimes they even shoot off sparks of their own.
Now, within the greater dance, there is within our universe a new dance: the dance of the sparks and embers. It's a complicated dance, moving to different melodies, igniting and extinguishing lights of countless intensities and durations. Unborn spirit, evolved life, evolving spirit — we are all the dancing children of our universe and its mate.
Abruptly I ken them around me, all my fellow dancers. In flashes, like strobe lights going on and off, I get glimpses of them. There are trillions of trillions of us. A tiny fraction of that total, some billions, can in this moment also ken me. It's like the way it was when I noticed others at Momma Lolotta's service, except that this beach is made up of stars instead of grains of sand, and it stretches across galaxies.
Up ahead in the distance something is rushing towards us. The train is roaring down on a track as wide as the universe. There is no way to escape it. It's moving incredibly fast and it's not that far away. Another turn of our parents' dance is coming up. Collision isn't millennia away, or even decades. It's soon. Soon.
Time to wake up. Daybreak is upon us and it's time for us all to wake up.
THE END of Darkness Evolves
and
CONCLUSION of The Darkness Sonata
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Folks,
It's been a blast and truly an honor to share my story with you. I'd especially like to thank all of you who have taken the time & effort to send me your comments, feedback and support. It's mattered a lot (and it's not too late if you still want to weigh in).
Nifty is a treasure, people, an absolute treasure, that deserves to be cherished and nurtured. Really.
Best to you all and, as we say in Hell, keep those home fires burning!
Rico Garcia
InvertedBeast@yahoo.com