The Blinding Light

Prologue

People seem to be scared of the darkness, when they should really be scarred of the light. Darkness is your friend; it hides you from the unknown. Light however, can blind you- can leave you openly vulnerable. Light can be your downfall.

They had come and she had seen them. The windblown girl ran swiftly through the tall, intimidating trees; attempting to escape the bitterness of the unknown. Each tree seemed to be apart of the eeriness lurking in the looming, extensive forest. Not your typical thousand acre Oaks. While desperately trying to escape she couldn’t help but ponder what she had just witnessed. The utter horror of it had been mind numbing. As the wheels in her brain were desperately turning to try and figure out how the world had ended up this way- she stumbled into a low stump, protruding out of the ground.

Unbeknownst to her, her fall actually would be action to postpone her unavoidable death.

"Are you a friend or foe?” A raspy voice asked out to the darkness. Only traces of the forest could be seen through the moonlight that shown beyond the canopy. The young girl on the ground stayed down in shock. After a few silent minutes, the same voice asked again.

"Are you a friend or a foe?"

While lying on the ground, the girl silently debated with herself. This person obviously knew she was there, but should she risk her unknown location?

"Are you just going to lye there all day?" The voice asked exasperantly. Accepting that this person knew exactly where she was; the girl picked herself up from the ground.
As she stood, she noticed she could make out a tall figure. From the broadness, she determined it was a man.

"I'm a friend" she said croakingly. She had not talked in so long, almost six days now. There was silence. The man seemed to be sizing her up, trying to figure if she was telling the truth. After a few minutes of tense silence the man finally broke it.

"Follow me" he said resolutely.

The man made a swift turn and strolled hastily to a wide oak tree. He tapped it roughly twenty times- all to a very complex rhythm. As the man gave his final knock- a crack in the wood widened to be a door. As the door opened; light poured out behind it, blinding the two new arrivals. The girl was frightened beyond measure, but quickly realized it wasn’t THAT light.

When the girl's eyes adjusted to the brightness- she could now see the full description of the brawny man beside her. He was tall, around six four, and he had a bald, cleanly shaved head. His muscles were practically bursting out of his shirt. He reminded the girl of what she used to read in books about bodyguards- wishing that they were real so they could protect her family from the evilness. But alas, wishes in her world never came true.

"Chiles, your back!" A young boy around her age said from the door. The boy looked to be around seventeen, and looked to be a little malnourished, but despite this he was quite handsome- with sandy brown hair and extremely clear hazel eyes.

"And with a friend" Chiles said. The boy seemed to have just noticed the girl, who was standing apprehensively next to Chiles. She held an air of power around her and despite her dirty and frizzled appearance- her beauty was undeniable. She had long deep brown hair that was cascading down her shoulders in frizzy curls. Her turquoise blue eyes shone dully towards the ground, occasionally looking up.

"And what is this friend's name?" the boy asked Chiles.

"Arissa" the girl replied quietly.

"Arissa? Does Arissa come with a last name?" the boy asked.

"No. Just Arissa" Arissa replied testily.

"Whoa, there's a temper on that one isn’t there. Well Chiles, Arissa, I suggest you two get in here before...well, just before." He opened the door wider to allow entrance for the two new guests.

"Welcome to the Oak tree getaway, Arissa. The vacation getaway under the forest, the honeymooner's dream spot, the..." the boy said in a sarcastic announcer voice but he was interrupted by Chiles.

"Treyald, stop it! Don't you see the girl isn't in the mood for jokes" Chiles said admonishingly.

"Good just trying lighten the mood, put a little humor in the situation. If I don’t do that, what good am I?"

"Bait" Chiles said.

"That's cold, Chiley" Treyald said dismissively.

The door leads to a small platform with two staircases. One going up, one going down. The three walked down the rickety staircase in tow. When they had finally reached the last of the stairs an extensive hallway with red peeling paint could be seen.

"Where is everyone?" Chiles asked while looking around.

"Well let's see. It’s dark outside, the moon is out. I’m guessing its night. And what is that thing humans do at night, Chiley?"

"Sleep, you dimwit" Chiley said dismissively.

"Exactly!" Treyald said happily, as if he was kid who earned an extra slice of cake.

"What is this place?" Arissa asked quietly. The question was inferred more to herself than the others but they answered her anyway.

"It's a headquarters, fighting those that are doing the hurting and protecting the hurt." Chiles said proudly.

'Fighting them? All you can do is run and hide, how can you fight them?" Arissa said amazed.

"Every creature has their flaw, Arissa. Even those things. Speaking of which, how did you get here- in our cheery old woods." Treyald asked. Both men stared at Arissa expectantly but soon realized she wasn't telling them anything any time soon.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, but I'm really tired- I've been running for hours and…I would really just like to sleep." Arissa said, completely ignoring Treyald's question.

"Oh right, sure. This way" Treyald said. "See you in the morning, Chiles"

Chiles nodded in reply and walked to a green, wooden door and disappeared behind it.

"Follow me" Treyald ordered. As he walked to then end of the hallway and turned, Arissa pondered just how big this place is. He finally reached a pale blue door.

"We've had a lot of people arrive here. Some just stay and try to survive here, while others volunteer to actually join the fight. There are only two available beds left- I have my own room with an available bed and then there's Felicity- who has her own room because know one really wants to bunk with her. In short terms- she can be bit of a bitch. So which room do you want?" Treyald asked.

Arissa didn’t like the idea of rooming with a boy and she was sure she could out bitch Felicity any day. But she really didn’t need that, she needed to rest.

"I guess I'll stay with you, for now" Arissa said unsurely.

"Girls are always choosing to stay in my room." Treyald said with feigned arrogance.

"Don't get your hopes up pretty boy- I’m just not up to handling some prissy bitch"

"Harsh words for someone you haven't even met yet"

"I've learn to trust other people's first impressions of someone. They're usually right."

"Pensive, aren't you?"

"In this world you gotta be" Arissa said resolutely.

"True- k, welcome to the humble abode." He took out a worn, brass key and inserted it into the keyhole on the powder blue door.

"How did you know I was going to choose stay with you?"

"Well, look at me" he replied as he opened the door. Arissa shook her head at his arrogance followed him inside. As Treyald moved to shuffle some old books off the spare bed, Arissa took a look at the room. It was a small, typical room with four walls and no windows. There was a neat hole the size of a jar cap in the ceiling, most likely for ventilation. The walls were painted a pale with gray with various posting on the wall occasionally. Arissa inferred that Treyald was apparently researching something from all the worn post it notes and the stacks of ancient looking books on the floor. There was one Chester drawer that looked to be from early 20th century- surely an appraised antique.

"How did you get a room all to your self?" Arissa asked to break the silence.

"I used to have room mate, he got married- and they had to share a room. Then my other roomy went out on a mission, he never came back. I should have taken that mission for him, I had a feeling he wouldn't be able to handle it."

"You don’t have to blame yourself for it; it'll tear you apart if you do. If you want to blame someone- blame them" Arissa said compassionately.

Treyald looked up at her and stared at her for a few minutes, unblinkingly. His intense gaze was starting to make her uncomfortable and soon she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Who are you?" he asked her seriously. There was dead tension in the air. Arissa just met this person, but she was sure she could trust him- and she was ALWAYS right about people.

"Swear not to tell anyone." She said as she sighed.

"I swear" he said sincerely.

"My family...my family were the Brandishes."

"You’re a Brandish- the most powerful family in America?"

"The same, at least we used to be."

"But I thought they were the first ones to get taken out? I mean it all over the news."

"My father faked my mother and I's death before that incident. We didn’t understand why before…but now I see. There were rumors for months about them. I guess my father found out something."

"Oh now that I think about it, I do remember something about a mother and daughter dying in a car accident. It wasn’t really dwelt on because your father married soon after."

"We were in hiding the whole time- I guess my father figured out that underground was the safest place for us- no one knew our real location except for him. Not even us"

"What do you mean, not even you. Surely you must have known where you stayed right?" Treyald asked with clear confusion etched into his handsome face. Dozens of complicated explanations drifted through her head, making her already tired body, exhausted.

"I’m so tired; can we continue this in the morning, please?" Arissa said softly as she yawned. Treyald went and turned off the dim light in response.

"Goodnight" Treyald said as he laid down on his small bed.

"Goodnight" Arissa replied. The last thing that crossed her mind before she fell asleep was why do I feel like I can trust this boy when I only just met him.