Light in the Shadows

An Accident

The morning rays felt great as I sunned in the poolhouse. It was still a bit too cool to open the house for the summer, but the pool was heated in the winter and the spring rays were still warm through the glass. A splash in the pool announced the arrival of David.

I sat up and for a moment, through the shimmering water, I saw a masculine form with long fins running down the legs and arms. The image was gone in a second, replaced by a boy in swimming trunks, but I was sure I had seen it.

I stood and walked to the small table that sat in a garden in the corner of the poolhouse. I had a sketchpad and pencils spread out. It wasn't unusual for me to draw in the poolhouse. In fact, I sketched just about everywhere. I sat and quickly sketched what I had seen. A shadow blocked some of my light and I looked up to see David studying the image.

"Not bad, most people show Nixies as female," he said.

I turned the sketchpad so he'd get a good view of the creature that I had drawn from the front, back, and side view. He traced the lines of his own face without saying a word. "I thought that after breakfast we could go for a ride. I haven't ridden a horse in a long time."

I nodded. I was still confused about what I had seen in the pool. Water was said to unveil spirit magic. Could I have really seen a truth? David would never tell me.

"I'll get dressed," I said as I stood.

"May I borrow a sheet of paper and your pencils?" He asked.

"Sure," I replied as I left the poolhouse.

I returned a few minutes later in shorts and a t-shirt. David was studying a portrait of me. Its lines were perfect; how could he already know the lines of my face? We had only spent a few hours together, but there was even a slight scar on my left cheek and on my forehead. The light had to be perfect to notice them. My eyes were interesting; they somehow drew the observer into them. I couldn't tell what caused that sensation. I would need to study it later. "Are you ready?" I asked.

In answer to my question, he stood and grabbed his t-shirt, pulling it over his head.

The morning air was still cool as we took the wooded trail on the back of the property. This was a hundred acres of forest that divided our estate from the Millian Estate. We rode for about twenty minutes in silence. "You don't talk much, do you?" I asked.

David glanced at me, then a loud c***k almost like a gunshot split the air. Sunflower whinnied and shied away, just as a rabbit broke from the underbrush. Sunflower reared and I felt myself falling...the world spun as a strange crashing sound resounded through the forest. I vaguely heard someone calling my name.

The world went white, then black. For a moment, I still heard the crashing sound, then the ground trembled. Then there was silence. A wave of power washed over the world and my senses started to return. First was the voices.

"What is he doing?" I heard my father ask.

"She's no longer dead, but she has no heart to speak of. I feel him building a new heart." Peter whispered.

How could someone make a heart? How could I be alive without a heart?

"How is she alive?" My father asked.

"He has anchored her soul. I've never seen anything like it..." The voices lost coherence.

My eyes fluttered open. I was aware that I was bare to the waist. Someone handed me a t-shirt. Something was on the ground beside me. It took me a moment to recognize David's body lying next to me. He was breathing. I went to stand.

"Careful, don't move too fast." Vivian said as she placed a hand under my arm and helped me up.

Peter was lifting David. "Roberto, take the horses," Peter commanded, and the world spun.

Somehow, we were in David's room. Nothing was making sense. Peter laid David on the bed. "What's wrong with him?" I asked.

Peter looked at me. "Please sit, Jayla."

"What's wrong with him?" I demanded again.

"He's just tired. He used too much energy."

I remembered the wave of energy I had felt. "Magic is real," I whispered.

Peter smiled. "You've known that for years."

"A rabbit scared Sunflower and I fell...I must have hit my head." I raised my hand to my head. "Strange, it doesn't hurt."

"David healed you." Peter said. "How do you feel?"

As the confusion wore off, I realized I was hungry. "I'm starving," I replied.

"Let's get you some food then," Peter stated.

I looked down at David. "I can't leave him," I didn't understand why I couldn't leave him, but as the words left my mouth I knew they were true. I expected Peter to say something; he had rules about food in the bedrooms. Instead he nodded. "I'll be back."