The Son of Light Book 1: Rebirth (9 page)

Rotting Faces

Josh

The soccer field was filled with dozens of people writhing in agony, their flesh rotting off their bones. Josh ran in and stopped dead in his tracks in terror. Above the rotting corpses, he saw dozens of ghostly pink orbs being sucked out of them into a black sphere that floated above a cavity of decayed grass. Behind it stood a tall, black and purple wall of fire that stretched across the field.

“What—the—hell?” he uttered.

Then he heard a voice calling his brother's name from the ground near him.

"Nick, Nick, are you there?" cried the voice.

“Nick?” Josh repeated.

He searched around him to locate the source and found a small yellow smart phone on the ground a few feet away from him. The screen glowed a bright arctic blue that reflected on his face as he held it close. The caller I.D. read: Unknown Caller.

“Nick?” the voice cried out again.

"Hello? Who's this?" he asked while his right hand itched.

"Nick!" the voice said with relief. “I need your help!”

"No, I'm his brother, Josh! Who are you?" Josh interrupted.

"His brother? Thank God. Look, I need his help!” urged the voice. “I'm being attacked in section two of the park. Please tell him that Seth needs his help now! Ah, shit!" Seth shouted.

The connection broke. "Hello? Hello?" Josh shouted, standing there nervous and confused.
Who is Seth? What are these pink orbs? Where’s Nick? What the hell is going on?

As he stood there, a little curly haired girl approached him.

“H-h-help m-me! Please!” she cried clutching onto his shirt.

Her eyes and face began melting like butter. Josh backed away, terrified. He watched her decay. His right hand itched again, but he barely took notice as he stood in shock, looking at the girl’s corpse. He screamed and ran back to the entrance, but it was block by the fire. He panicked around the field for minutes as more rotting people grabbed at him, until he fell onto the dark sphere, dropping the cell phone in the process.

His right hand hit the dripping sphere and a blinding flash of light covered it. The black sphere began to boil and let out a vile smell that made Josh crawl away and covered his nose. Then it evaporated and the fire behind it suddenly faded, revealing a new path to the next section of the park.

Whoa…what just happened?
he thought, breathing heavier than he had before. It was indeed strange. He was completely winded. The pink orbs drifted around his face as he looked around the field to find the cell phone. He slowly walked towards it and placed it into his pocket. Looking up, he saw a sign on his right that read, “Section 2” and had an arrow pointed in the direction where the fire had once stood. He turned and walked sluggishly to the next section of the park.

A Familiar Face

Josh

Josh noticed the sky was grayer and the atmosphere felt heavier as he approached an uneven and broken road. Parts of it were higher than others, which forced him to climb in order to reach the top. Once on top, he scanned the area for any signs of his brother or his friend, but Josh saw nothing. There was nothing but a large, multi-colored playground that was next to the long road. In the air, there were more ghostly orbs above him, but this time they were a pale blue color.
What are they?
he wondered.

He started to walk towards the playground, still looking at the orbs in awe. When he glanced down at the playground, he stopped in horror. Dead bodies were everywhere again, but these were all young boys and men.

Then he heard loud gunshots, which made him scurry back behind the tallest part of the damaged road. He peeked up and saw an old man running away with a small boy in his arms. The old man was firing his gun behind him at a crazed mob of people who were chasing them. He managed to hit a few of them in the face but tripped, hurling the young boy away from him.

The crazed mob caught up to them and ripped the elderly man and boy limb from limb, like a pack of wolves. Josh's quickly sunk behind the road, horrified. His heart felt like it was about to burst from his chest.

The cell phone began to vibrate and ring. Josh took it out, shaking it desperately trying to make it stop. The sound might attract that crazy mob. He couldn’t get it to stop. He had never had a cell phone before. Nick had never let him. After randomly hitting the glowing screen, he finally got it to work.

"Josh? Josh? Are you there?" Seth asked out of breath.

Josh was silent for a while. Then he muttered, "T-t-they killed them. They killed —"

"Listen to me, kid! Your brother is with me, but we need help! We're in the last section of the park. Hurry! Ahh! Get the fuck off me! Ahhhhh!” Seth shouted.

The connection broke again.

"No, no, don't leave me!" Josh begged, trying to work the phone again.

But it was no use. He buried his face in his hands, shaking uncontrollably. He peeked again over the broken road and, though it was far away, he saw another wall of fire in the distance.
Was that there before?
he wondered. Then he looked around him and saw fire surrounding the entire park. He was so focused on the finding Nick and Seth, he hadn't realized that the strange-looking fire was all around the park.

This is a dream?
There’s no way any of this can be real.
Maybe he was going to wake up soon. He hoped Nick would walk in at 6:00am, like he always did, and take him into the back yard to train, and then make him breakfast.

He closed his eyes, hoping that when he opened his eyes again, he’d be in his room. He opened them, but he was still behind the broken road. This was real. After ten years of being in that house, he was finally out and it was horrible.

To make things more confusing, his right hand had a faint outline on it. It itched and tingled and let off a faint glow.
What the hell was going on?
Whatever was happening, Seth and his brother needed help. He peeked over the road again.

Walking around the playground with those crazy people lurking about would be suicide.
Maybe I can sneak past them to that tree?
He gathered the courage to come out from hiding, tiptoed to a nearby tree, and climbed to the top of it. With the thick dead branches hiding him, he got better view of things.

The crazed people were lifelessly standing around. They weren’t like the people from the soccer field. They looked strange. Then he looked up at a building in the distance off to his right. A body was resting on the roof, and there was something familiar about it.

He climbed down slowly and made his way to another tree, creeping as quietly as possible. Once he reached it, he climbed to the top and gazed towards the building once again. This view was a lot better than before because now he could make out who it was on the building.

"Nick?" he said, recognizing the black mist around the body.

As he leaned forward to get a better view, the dead branch broke and he fell to the ground. The crazed people turned in his direction and raced towards him, screaming at the top of their lungs. Josh popped up and ran like hell up another tree, the crazed people grasping at his heels. Now he could see their screaming faces.

Their skin looked sickly and pale with a faint pink glow and dark purple veins bulging. Their eyes were glowing pink too yet they were soulless. Suddenly, a handful of them started attacking each other.

"Jesus!" shouted Josh.

He jumped to another tree closer to the building. He jumped to another tree until he reached the roof of the building, the crazed people following after him. He bolted towards his naked brother and pulled him up by the shoulders as the black mist faded away. Nick’s skin was like ice. He was bruised and cut.
Who would do this do him? How did he loose his clothes?

"Nick! Wake up! Wake up!" he begged in a panic.

By now, the crazed mob had surrounded the building, while some were approaching the roof from the trees. After being shaken for a few seconds, Nick finally opened his eyes.

"Oh thank God!" said Josh hugging him.

He turned to the crazed people climbing onto the roof.

"What do we do?"

Nick stared at him, his face emotionless. Josh turned back to him.

"What do we do?" he asked louder.

Nick still just stared at him.

"Nick!" Josh urged.

Nick smiled and let out a hysterical laugh. Josh watched him, confused and worried.
Is he going crazy?
he thought.

Then without warning, Nick punched him and pushed him off the roof. Josh crashed onto his right arm, letting out an agonized scream. He gazed up and saw Nick beaming down at him still laughing, now in a high-pitched, demonic voice. Suddenly, black and purple mist covered his body again. When it faded, a figure appeared wearing a long, thin, hooded black cloak. Lord Damen stood in Nick's place, his eyes glowing blood red.

He flew over Josh’s head, covered in black and purple mist, to the end of the section, and created a dark sphere out of thin air. The pale blue orbs began to move towards it. Josh struggled to his feet, his arm screaming in pain. The crazed people gave chase, but suddenly they dropped to the ground like rag dolls and rotted away as Josh watched in disbelief.

Pain stabbed his right arm again. He twitched and looked at it. It was dislocated. But then his looked on his hand. To his surprise, there was an upside-down triangular symbol with small circles on each of the corners, glowing. The top left circle had an “M,” the top right a “B,” the bottom an “S,” and half of the center was shaded in. A white and light-blue glow shimmered inside its shape.

Using his other hand, he carefully lifted his right hand closer to his face. It was painful to do so, but he had to get a better look at it. Then, without warning, a beam of light shot out of his palm and hit the black sphere. Just like before, the black dripping sphere boiled, letting out nasty fumes. The fire faded and a new path was revealed.

What the hell was that?
What’s going on?
Somehow, he knew he’d seen the man in black before. Was he attacking Nick and Seth? Either way, he had to get to the bottom of this.

Reunion

Josh

The sky was a dark shade of gray. The atmosphere was heavier and freezing cold. Ghostly pale purple orbs covered in black mist floated through the misty air around dead vegetation.

Josh stood on another broken road. In the distance, he saw a large run-down college about seventy yards away. On its front lawn, a tall tower of the strange fire swirled around a single spot on the dead grass.

However, Josh’s face was pale, his breathing increased, and his entire body was shaking. In front of him was a massive lake with dead bodies of older men and young boys floating around.

He looked desperately for a way across, but there wasn’t any. Unfortunately, according to the damaged sign that floated in the dirty water (“Section 3 - Brevig University”), this was the place Seth had mentioned. Nick was in there somewhere. He had no choice, he would have to swim to get across.

He took a deep breath and climbed down into the ice-cold water. As he began to walk, a few bodies floated towards him. Their dead, pale, empty eyes glared straight at him. He immediately rushed back to climb out.
This is too much!
he thought.
I can’t do it!

But his brother’s face flashed in his head. He couldn’t give up now. Not after coming this far. He took a deep breath again, closed his eyes, turned around and started walking. The cold bodies bumped against his neck and chest causing him to stop every now and then. He peeked to see how close he was to the other side—not even close. He walked faster, shutting his eyes tight, again.

The ice cold of the water stabbed him like knives as the dead bodies continued to bump against him. Then, as if a hand had pulled his legs, he sunk down into a deeper part of the lake. He screamed as he splashed around, gasping for air. The water tasted like blood and dirt as it entered his mouth.

He continued to frantically splash around until he finally reached the other side. He pulled himself, with his good arm, up onto land. For a few moments, he just laid there, his eyes staring towards the sky as the ghostly orbs gracefully hovered above him.

He turned his head to the left and saw the tall stream of fire fade, revealing a body. He looked harder and saw his brother again. This time he was clothed in gray sweats and hoodie. Josh pulled himself up and approached him slowly. As he did, he found a large stick at his feet and picked it up. If it was that man again, he was ready to beat some answers out of him. Once he reached his brother, he poked his arm.

He saw Nick slowly open his eyes. As he watched Nick sit up, he backed away. Nick looked as he had had waken from a dream. After a few moments he flinched when his eyes landed on Josh.

"Josh?" said Nick, incredulously.

Josh backed up again.

"W-Where am I?" asked Nick looking around. He turned back to Josh.

"Josh?" he said trying to stand.

"Stay back!" ordered Josh, still pointing the stick at him. He wasn’t going to fall for it this time.

Nick finally got to his feet and slowly moved towards him. Josh was shaking so uncontrollably his eyes watered. Nick noticed Josh's right arm dangling at his side, his wet clothes, and busted lip.

"What happened to you?” he asked with pained expression.

"Stay the fuck back!” Josh shouted as his voice broke.

Josh swung the stick, but Nick calmly caught it with a hand and pulled his brother towards him.

"Calm down," said Nick coolly.

Josh stood there, still shaking. This Nick was nothing like the one before. He was warm and familiar. Nick took him by the sides of his head.

"Look at me! Calm down. It's okay, kid."

It was definitely Nick. He could feel it. Josh stopped shaking and melted into his brother’s arms. He grabbed him tight and wept. After all that he’d been through, he was finally with his brother.

Then the mysterious fire surrounded the entire perimeter of the college section. Black and purple mist appeared in the flames and moments later, a figure stepped out. Terror stretched on Nick’s face as the figure in a thin, blood-red hooded cloak approached them. Lord Hexen had arrived.