Altered Light

Orange Light

After that, I was unconscious for perhaps minutes, perhaps hours. It was as if only a second had passed once I woke up.

Above me, I saw the archways and occasionally flickering lights of the underground stop.

The light began to fade again, and I tried shakily to stand up, already reaching for a craft knife. Instead a weak pair of hands pushed me back down, and I realised it was the shock taking hold, a miniature blackout.

"Uhh... Just rest for now?"

At the uncertain voice, I attempted to sit up, already on guard. Through the blurry haze obscuring my vision, I saw a teenager about my age sat next to me. He had a face that I could've called cute, with a pair of glasses sitting on his nose daintily. If this was a bland teen fiction novel, I would've fallen for him at first sight right there. I was a bit too much of a lesbian for that though.

"Umm, what's your name?"

He said, voice shaking and almost breaking. I managed to murmur a few words in response.

"Alexandra," I said, pushing myself up further with my hands, "and who are you?"

Somehow threatened by my assertive tone, he quickly replied.

"Arlo..."

My vision started to clear, and I could see more of the world around me. I could smell the smoke from my singed clothes and hair. We were sat in any empty train station, most likely evacuated because of the burnt train next to us. I could also see Arlo properly; for reasons that I was yet to know, he wore thick gloves despite the summer evening heat, and the heat still radiating from the train's molten rubble, the engine at the front exploded.
As I know now, the fire was responsible for only so much of this.
The lightning was responsible for the rest.

Shaking, I got to my feet and stood, wobbling in the exhaustion. This was the station I need to be at, my mother's apartment across the street. So I picked up my singed handbag, and leant on the wall, making my way along to the end of the station.
Arlo jumped to his feet and offered to lean on him.
A gentleman, but I would've preferred a gentlewoman.
Yet again was a moment where I would've fallen in love with him, had this been trashy teen fiction and straight.

We made it out the station, and found the street empty except for a few police officers, who immediately rushed to us.
Not wanting to deal with them, I passed out.

Seemingly no time at all later, I woke up in the back of a taxi. Arlo was driving it, and the whole taxi was veiled in an imperceivable orange light.
It took me a second to notice, but he no longer had gloves.
I saw his hands.
And the orange lenses within them.

"Holy shit..."
I muttered to myself, but Arlo seemed to hear. He turned around and grinned, though not a confident grin in the slightest, more of a relieved grin.
"You're awake!"
Shocked, I was unable to say anything but;
"You have the hand lenses too?"
"They're called photoconverters. But it's a bad name to be honest..."
It was evident he'd made it up.
"Photoconverters..."
I trailed off. Then I realised that we were driving away from my apartment, to a completely different part of the city.
"My apartment's the other way."
"Oh... I'm sorry! We're going to a safe house first then, the others need to meet you..."
"The others?"
My voice was wavering. Could Arlo be taking me somewhere safe? Was he trustworthy?
He had photoconveters, but was that a good thing or a bad thing?
"The others like us."

I was frozen for a second, even though the idea had already been forming at the back of my brain.
"What!? How does this all work?"
He perked up in his seat and grinned dorkily, as if overjoyed someone had finally asked him.
"I've done so much research on all this, and finally someone asks..."
Grinning wider, he said that to himself.
"We all have photoconverters in our hands. I haven't been able to get them chemically analysed, but they're made of some type of gemstone-like substance that converts light. It converts it into different energy stores, based on the colour. That's why we all wear gloves. I don't know why, but once it happens once it doesn't stop. Do you know what sort of potential this has? The things we could do?"
He rambled, faster as he went on. I was (understandably) confused.
"Wait, slow down. Energy stores? Once it happens it goes forever?"
"The energy stores! Did you ever do physics lessons?"
"Yeah, but I never listened or really understood..."
He seemed a little bit offended.
"There's a few of them. Thermal, electrical, gravitational potential, kinetic, elastic potential, light... And a few more. Once... Things happen, any light that goes through your photoconverters becomes a form of energy. Mine's kinetic."
This only confused me further.
"What things? What's mine? How did you find me?
"I saw camera footage on the news of the fire and came to investigate it, as for a second I saw a shadowy figure within the flames. Your powe-"
Dots connected in my mind and I gasped.\

I was not lost in the throws of madness.

He could see the shadows too!

"Oh fuck!"
He had been lost in explaining and they had come to a dead end street. There was a graffitied wall, with a small blank door. For a second, two dark shapes stood staring at them in the police headlights.
"Arlo it's the-"
"I popped a tire. Anyway, what was that?"
Completely oblivious to my panic, he undid his seatbelt and opened the door of the car.
"Oh, nothing..."
I replied as I also got out, feeling the cold night wind on my face. The street was lit by only a single lamppost now, barely shedding light on us. Stinking of dingy city air, the street was not a pleasant place.
"Keep your hands in your pockets. It's best to cover the photoconverters, or things go wrong..."
Even though he was used to this, he was nervous.
I nodded, and did as he said. Out of his pocket he pulled a key, and unlocked the blank door before stepping in.
Turning back to the empty city and all the lights of the city blocks around us for one last moment, I followed him in.