Generations

Chapter 17: In Darkest Night

Chapter 17: In Darkest Night

He wondered if he could really help. If his gentle touch on Simon’s shoulders could really chase away all those demons. He had seen too much of what could be. He didn’t want to dwell on it, heck, he didn’t even want to remember it, but how could he not. It was a nightmare, a horrible one, one that the light of day doesn’t make go away… ever.

Still, he couldn’t let that control him. That was just what Greg wanted, through it all, he just had to focus on what was important. And right now, that was Simon, whatever this strange thing was, that’s what mattered. Maybe later he could worry about what he saw, but not now.

That’s why he called out when he saw Simon as soon as he could. He could have focused on that nightmare, on what he saw, talk about how it scared him, wonder if it could be real.

He did for a moment; the dark room seemed eerily similar to where he saw the dark man in the vision. The one that killed Simon, and most likely, killed everyone else too. Jason didn’t want it to consume him though especially when he saw that strange dark glowing thing from his brother’s bed, he had to call out, and so he did.

Even with his mom there, she didn’t seem to know what to do, and was as ill prepared as he was. It didn’t feel like they could do anything, but Jason just knew there had to be a way. This was the Nightwings magic, and somehow, they had all escaped. But maybe, not all unharmed.

“Is your stomach hurting still?” she asked, causing Jason to raise an eyebrow in confusion. Why would she worry about an upset stomach at a time like this? It was one thing to worry about that after Jason had tried cooking, but his lack of food poisoning prevention skills were far from the forefront of their concerns right now. But then, he followed her gaze, to the mass of…whatever that was…on Simon’s stomach. It was too dark to tell for sure, but Jason could see how the mass seemed to glow with the dark, and how it seemed to be the most concentrated piece of the darkness.

“Jason, can you turn the light on?”

He nodded, and walked to the other side of the room, careful not to trip over anything he had left in the middle of the floor. But then as he got to the wall, he noticed something odd. The switch was clearly on, the nob flipped up. But the room was pitch dark. “Mom, the switch is on,” he said, wondering if the bulb went out. That would make sense, but that had happened not too long ago, and it was too strange of coincidence that it would go out again now.

“Let’s move him away from here.”

“Need help with him,” he asked, eager to offer, to get Simon away from whatever this thing was.

“No, I can handle it.”

She bent down, wrapping her arms around him, but as she lifted him from the bed, he thrashed wildly, his body contorting out of her grasp, his arms and legs smacking her grip, forcing her to let go. He fell the few inches back to his bed, his tears falling faster, pain etched across his cheeks. If there was one thing she knew it was that some things couldn’t be forced. “We can’t move him.”

“Why not, this thing could kill him?” Jason asked, exasperated that they’d just do nothing when Simon was like that. How could she suggest that, if one thing didn’t work, they’d just try another. There had to be something they could do, they just weren’t thinking hard enough!

“What’s going on?” Heather asked from the doorway, scared of this strange darkness around Simon. She took a couple steps forward, curious, but still ever so frightened as she stood behind Jason, in case something did happen.

“Their magic has taken hold, the only thing left to do is to let it take it’s course,” Dani explained softly, not liking the options herself.