ENSHROUDING LIGHT

THE IDEA

CHAPTER 7

THE IDEA

As sunlight broke through the blinds, Nevaeh sat up in bed, The knot in her stomach, however, lay heavy. A burden had settled and wasn't about to shift.

She turned to Tom, asleep in his wooden crib. How could this beautiful yet unnerving enigma of a child be destined for such trauma? She wasn't stupid, but she was still stubborn and headstrong; she'd never let Tom fight such evil. Never! Not even if the whole world perished. Her eyes stung with fresh tears as she realised that may happen. She needed a valid way out. A way Omnipion and its creepy crew could accept so her and Tom could live a normal life. And she also needed a way to protect herself and Tom in the meantime without invoking something.

A gun? Maybe a bit drastic. But there was no way she was about to sit back and let that thing do what he wanted to them without her retaliating. Although, shooting a baby wouldn't be understood by the police no matter how much you tried to reason that it was in fact an evil being from another planet that was destroying this simulated reality it created as they threw on the cuffs. You know, officer, Omnipion, our true home? Oh, you don't know?

So maybe not a gun, but she needed something as powerful.

Her gaze lifted to the mural she'd painted on the wall behind him as if seeing it for the first time. It was formed out of the seven rainbow colours she used in all her artwork, clothing and hair, but this was one of her best. It was also one of the most "otherworldly" she'd accomplished over the years. She gazed at the golden river, the multicoloured trees, and flowers that blew iridescent bubbles into the violet sky with tears in her eyes. Was this a memory more than an innovation? Could it be some long forgotten realm in Omnipion her former green being had known? Was she not really as original as her art teacher had told her and instead just uprooting some long forgotten memory of a past life...or being...or whatever they would call it?

She shook her head. It wasn't just what was real anymore; she had to evaluate what was unreal. Had she merely been painting beautiful parts of Omnipion for years? She held her head as it threatened to split.

'Mummy!' Tom said.

Her heart-rate tripled. She turned slowly towards his cot. Did she really just hear that?

His hands were stretched out, his face filled with desperation, his expression full of concern.

Shaking and squinting with the banging pain in her head, she lifted him out and sat back on the bed.

Tom placed his palm on top of her head and began to concentrate. As the tiny blue lights appeared and the coldness hit, her headache reduced.

'Mummy's okay.' She took his hands away and stared into his wide eyes. They had tiny, iridescent flecks of light swirling behind his irises. She swallowed down a lump and took steady breaths. 'I'm going to find a way out of this, don't worry.'

Tom turned his head like he'd caught a word he recognised. Frank was right; he was like a dog. An intelligent animal that couldn't communicate with words and yet sensed what it's owner wanted. He turned to her phone and then back to her, and raised his eyebrows.

Was he hinting at something? Surely he didn't have a clue what he was looking at. 'Search for a way on the internet?'

He beamed.

'Let's have a look then.'

She laid Tom next to her on the bed and pressed the internet icon. A blank page popped up. Her finger hesitated over the search bar and then she tapped. The keyboard appeared, and her heart sank. She typed the word "Corruptor" but the search engine only brought up the dictionary and it's literal meaning. She continued to scroll, but couldn't find anything. She typed in "Omnipion" and found nothing of relevance except a shop in Manchester called "Omniage" that was situated in the northern quarter of the town, not far from the bus stop. It stated that it was a new age shop that sold mind body and spirit goodies. Why hadn't she seen it before?