Dark Destiny (16 page)

“Something happened,” Grayson slurred. He’d been driving. A pair of headlights blinded him, coming so fast, slamming into him. The car flew and spun.

Then everything went mute. The world slowed down. Shattered glass rained on him. A wooded tree line off in the distance seemed to dance, swirling around, as if either he or it was in a washing machine.

“And, this guy . . .”

An image of a fireman flashed in his head.

Blue and red lights flickering in the background.

A large metal claw came closer, ripping the door off his car.

“. . . helped me. He told me
—
”

The imaged flashed again. He was lying on the cold grass, the star-filled sky seeming to call to him, welcoming him.

Soon
, it said.

Soon.

Coppery taste filled his mouth.

Blood.

“. . . st—with us, o—ay?” the paramedic had said, shining a pen light into his eye.

Ringing in his ears.

Something stiff and hard on his face, but breathing came more easily.

Shots of pain through his body. Something hard? A gurney beneath him.

Lifted up.

Then fluorescent lighting shining down on him.

A needle in his thigh.

Sirens blared.

He was in the ambulance.

“You’re doing great,” the paramedic said, smiling down at him.

He felt safe, there in the ambulance, like how he felt when he went camping with his father. He knew nothing bad could happen to him when his father was around. The paramedics seemed busy doing stuff, but to Grayson it all seemed calm. He listened to the sirens wailing, calling out to everyone around. He felt like he was the most important person in the world. He had
never
been treated this well before, not at a hospital or anywhere else for that matter. He started to worry that something had to be really,
really
wrong. The next thing he remembered was seeing his dad as his vision slowly came into focus.

His father smiled at him, keeping his face calm and collected. But Grayson could see the fear in his eyes. The doctor pulled his father to the side to speak with him quietly. Both seemed pretty calm, like they were going over some sort of plan. His father only nodded. Of course his dad never revealed his emotions. “Going off” was just not in his father’s DNA. But either way, the doctor sounded happy. They spoke too softly for Grayson to overhear, but it had to be good news.

Grayson’s whole body was numb from the drugs he had been given. His head still pounded, and waves of dizziness continued to come and go. Something caught Grayson’s attention down the hallway. In front of the Emergency Room double doors, he was surprised to see Sebastian standing there.
What is he doing here?

With everything that had happened, his mind had to be playing tricks on him. Maybe it was his mind trying to set things right. He was glad he’d said what he did at the funeral. He’d acted petty towards Sebastian after Sara had turned him down. It was stupid of him. He only wished he had apologized to Sebastian sooner.

His vision slipped in and out of focus for an instant. It must have been the drugs, because Sebastian seemed to have covered a lot of distance. He was no longer outside his door; he was now standing right beside his bed, and somehow his father and the doctor didn’t even seem to notice.

Sebastian didn’t say anything. He just stood by the bed and stared down at him, his eyes piercing.

An intense pain in his left arm increased a bit but subsided almost immediately.

“Hey,” Grayson said, his voice hoarse and weak.

Sebastian did not reply.

“Funny seeing you here,” Grayson said. Still, Sebastian said nothing. “Silent and brooding, I get it. Works with the ladies,” Grayson said with a weak smile. “Probably how you got Sara.”

A small curl came off the corner of Sebastian’s lips.

“Sebastian,” said Grayson, his voice shaky, “what are you doing here?”

Feeling the need to tell him the truth, Sebastian leaned down, so his face was close to Grayson’s.

“You know,” he said gently, placing his hand on Grayson’s chest.

Understanding coursed through Grayson, radiating into his mind from Sebastian’s fingers.

“Oh,” he murmured, but he was no longer scared. A warmth filled him and serenity washed into him, a beautiful peace he had never felt before. A tear slid down his cheek.

“But—my—my dad. He—”

“Would you like to say good bye to him?”

Grayson swallowed. He nodded. “Please.”

“I can do that for you.”

Sebastian walked around the bed, no longer blocking Grayson’s father. He would give this family the closure they deserved. Sebastian placed his hand on Grayson’s forearm.

“D—Dad?” Grayson called, barely opening his eyes. Weakly, he tried to put his hand up.

His father took his hand. “Grayson, everything is going to be okay. They’re about to take you into surgery. I need you to be brave like you always have been. Can you do that for me? The football team is counting on you,” his father said, holding back tears.

“The—the car came out of nowhere…” said Grayson, his voice wavering.

“I know, son. The police told me everything.”

“It—it wasn’t my
—
”

“It doesn’t matter, son. You’re here, alive and that’s all that matters.”

“I—I want to tell,” he could barely speak.

“Son, you listen to me.
I’m
counting on you,” his father whispered, wiping Grayson’s face gently. “You fight, boy. You hear me? You fight. When you were born, the doctor said you wouldn’t live because you were born four months early. But I knew you would. It’s because you’re a fighter. You always have been. You fight now, son. Just like you did then. You fight.”

“D—Dad,” Grayson whispered to him.

“No, son. Please, don’t,” his father said, holding back his fear. “Just fight for me. Please, you’re all I have left. Please.”

“I—I love you.” His eyes went unfocused.

The loud blaring of an alarm went off somewhere in the room. His father frantically searched for the source and found the heart monitor had flat lined. He quickly shot a wide eyed look to the doctor, who in turn looked down at Grayson with desperation in his eyes.

“Grayson! GRAYSON!” his father yelled.

The code team of nurses rushed in with a crash cart.

“Push one of Epi. Hold CPR,” said the doctor as they surrounded Grayson’s bed, ready to do all they could to keep him in their world. They faded away.

Sebastian snapped his fingers as a Purgatorium ripple flooded the room, bringing back the haunted world he was getting accustomed to. Grayson’s body was shaking, his mouth trembling.

He stepped closer to Grayson. “Don’t worry man. I got your back.”

He placed his hand on Grayson’s shoulder and, as before, the fear melted away. Grayson nodded, giving his complete trust to Sebastian.

Grayson’s eyes glazed over, clearly unable to focus. This was good. Sebastian didn’t want him to see the horrors that Purgatorium brought. Shadows moved unnaturally along the walls. One paused and a pair of yellow eyes opened up, shimmering out of its shadow. It growled, displaying some jagged teeth in Sebastian’s direction.

Another hiss came.

In return, Sebastian gave them a dark stare that sent them cowering back into the recesses of Purgatorium.

Grayson didn’t deserve to see that.

Sebastian was beginning to feel comfortable with his new role and with his powers to understand them better. He kept one hand on Grayson’s shoulder and put his other hand toward the ceiling. He retracted all of his fingers except his index finger, resembling a gun. In response, the place he was pointing to shot a tunnel of light. The light ignited the once invisible mist which surrounded the hospital bed.

He stepped back and watched Grayson leave.

Tuesday, 11:18 pm

As he walked out of the hospital lobby and into the parking lot, life teemed around him. The world of the living was a very different place from that of the dead. Around the corner, some people were having a conversation about a successful surgery. Insects buzzed and clicked in the bushes. He paused when something occurred to him. Something was different. Things were brighter, sharper. Not only that, he could hear every word in amazing detail. And they were whispering.

Also, he felt different, like he was finally waking up for the first time in his life. Stronger. Physically refreshed. Down the block of the hospital, he smelled freshly planted roses. Ten miles down the road, a dog barking. No detail escaped him.

Energy flowed through him. Instead of the fatigue he should have been feeling, every part of his body felt alive.

“I feel different. Better. Like I could do anything.”

This is what happens when you assist a Soul into the Light. This is the source of your power. Every time you help a Soul, you will become more powerful.

“It refreshes me every time?”

All the way up to full power.

“Nice.”

But still, he couldn’t escape the feeling of dread that hung over him. Grayson had been a good person and at the funeral had been there for him when Sebastian needed him. Grayson had the courage to do and say things that Sebastian could not. True, Grayson was in a good place, but that didn’t make up for the fact that this was Sebastian’s fault.

Sebastian looked up to the star filled sky, cold mist exhaling from his mouth. “Did you know that by bringing Sara back, I would sentence another person to die?”

Yes
, the Elder replied.

“Why didn’t you say something?”

Would it have made a difference? Would you have brought her back if you’d understood someone else would die in her place?

After a few moments’ hesitation, Sebastian replied, “No, not at the cost of somebody’s life. I really thought I had figured out that pact thing.”

Doubt is a powerful thing, Sebastian. It would have always lingered. You would have wondered ‘what if?’ What if I was wrong? What if I was lying to you? With me, there can be no doubt. I have no reason to lie to you. I never will. You needed to learn this lesson.

Sebastian remained silent, looking down at the snow covered asphalt.

The only way to truly learn something is to go through the motions and either succeed or fail. All actions have consequences, either positive or negative. You have just learned this tonight.

“Harsh lesson,” Sebastian said in an undertone.

But a necessary one. Here is another one for you: A wise person once said, ‘Accept the things you cannot change. And have the courage to change the things you can.’

Tucking his hands in his jacket pockets, the words reverberated in the back of Sebastian’s mind.

You have been granted this power and you have a responsibility to help those who deserve to pass over to the Light. They need you, Sebastian. What you just did for your friend, Grayson, was something special. He is finally at peace. That is because of you. And if you had not been there to help, he might not have made it.

“What do you mean?”

Not everybody gets into the Light. But many Souls still like to try. Though each tunnel of light is created only for its intended person, many Souls are unaware of this and often try to get in. Such as the ones that have gone off the rails. Most times, the person who is going into the Light is robbed of that chance. This is where you step in. To protect the Souls who deserve a chance in the next life.

“The Souls that have gone off the rails? Like those Stalker things that were in the room.”

Exactly. Those are some. You saw them in the hospital tonight. But there are others more dangerous who would also try to prevent those Souls from leaving.

He nodded. “Looks like I have work to do.”

Indeed.

A chill spiked the back of his neck and a cold liquid slithered through him. The hairs on his arms stood tall. A harsh wind blew, messing his hair and causing him to wrap his arms around his body. An area of shadows seemed to call out to him, a warning.

Sebastian glared in that direction, his eyes glistening in the night sky. He balled his fist, ready to call his scythe. Before he could make any decision, a streetlight nearby flickered on, flooding the shadowy area with brightness. Nothing there. Only a dull, cold cement walkway with the hospital wall behind it. The light extinguished a second later, casting a blanket of darkness over the area once again.

Relief swept through him.

After everything that had happened today, he understood he was just a little jumpy. He
blinked
home.

A pair of violet-colored eyes opened up from the shadows. The streetlamp flickered on, shining down on Amber. Her arms were crossed, one leg bent with her foot flat against the hospital wall. Dressed as always in her usual black, she wore a deadly grin as her eyes focused on the spot Sebastian had just been.

He was gone, but the warmth of his living body still lingered. Amber grimaced and gazed up at the winter sky, so dark, so vast. She felt the sky’s coldness descend, wiping out the last remnants of the presence of Sebastian’s warm body. Nothing left. Just barren coldness.

The light flickered again. This time, when it came back on, Cleo stood next to her.

“So far, my lady, everything is going according to plan,” Amber said.

“Very good,” Cleo replied. “Very good, indeed. Soon, our plan will be completed and this world will finally get exactly what it deserves.”

The street light flicked on and off once again. This time, when the light returned to illuminate the area, Amber and Cleo were gone. The sky above, star-filled only a few moments ago, hung black and barren over the fleeting, vulnerable world below.

II

Purgatorium