Beneath the Waves

Let There be Light

There is no darkness without light. There is no light without darkness. To know one is to know the other.

Chris wasn't sure where these words came from, it felt like they came from her own thoughts, echoing through her mind, but they also felt like a whisper from the darkness of the cathedral walls. She couldn't really make out anything but vague shapes as the heavy doors closed behind her. Not spooky at all. Creaking doors, creaking floorboards, just general creaking sounds coming from god only knows where. At the very front she could see a dim light flickering over what seemed to be some sort of giant book. The light, coming from a candle, was burning low and she wondered for a second who... or what had lit it and why it seemed to be waiting for her. She walked slowly towards the light, trying to ignore the shadows moving in her peripheral vision. She didn't want to actually turn her head and look, horror movies were one thing, but this was a whole new level of terrifying.

It felt like something... or things were circling her. She felt caged in by some sort of energy. Still she kept walking towards the light, hoping that it would bring some safety, like her nightlight did when she was a kid. Soft footsteps echoed through the vast darkness, the only other sound being her breath coming in short bursts now. Her heart beating in her ears the closer she got to the light, deafening thumps by the time she reached the light, taking her place behind the pulpit, she opened the book.

At first she thought it wasn't written in English, the letters swirling across the page making a circular optical illusion that looked like a spiral staircase. Upon closer inspection, she could make out what it said.

There is no darkness without light. There is no light without darkness. To know one is to know the other.

The creator once said His designs were without fault, his creations a perfect reflection of his mind, thus no one being, had the authority to bring harm to them. When the wars broke out, the transformations began. God turned on his own creations and we were born. Made from those who were pure, those who led a life of worship. The convents became training grounds, the nuns became something other, ethereal beings that transformed in the presence of the unnamed creatures. The ones who came first were now the ones who had to...

Before she could finish reading, a loud bang brought her back to reality. She woke up from her dream with a jolt, sitting upright in bed. As she became aware of her surroundings she felt a weight in her lap, looking down she saw the book she had just been paging through in her dream. Somehow it had crossed the barrier between dream world and real world and landed literally in her lap. What the actual fuck was happening?!

She threw the book off of her as if it burned her to touch it. It landed with a thud on the floor, so definitely real, imaginary things don't go 'thud' when you drop them. She laid back down and try to calm herself. Why were these weird things happening to her and why NOW? Had she watched one too many horror movies? Was she being punished for something? Did she actually just read about warrior nuns?? These questions flashed through her mind on a loop for hours before she finally drifted off again. Dreamless sleep this time, not restful, but dreamless at least.

___________________________________________________________________

She woke up the next morning hoping that it was all just a dream. Through lashes she peeked at the floor where she knew the book had fallen last night. For a moment she thought it was gone, but once she fully opened her eyes she saw it, right there in the middle of her bedroom floor staring at her like some sort of creature. Okay not staring at her, but it sure felt like it. How the hell do you explain a book from your dreams suddenly coming into reality. Was the veil between the two worlds really that thin? Was she really able to move between them like that?