Bright Light

this is the first of many stories of a vigilanty known as Bright Light mild langauge

A noise, not loud enough to wake most people, but loud enough to wake Quade, his fingers grasp the knife hidden just under his pillow. His eyes may not be open, but already using his hidden talent he searches through his apartment with his mind’s eye. There it is, the noise, yet again. His mind’s eye frantically searches. There, a presence in the kitchen not a big one, but big enough to catch his attention. Without any noise he slips out of bed, and with snake like reflexes he grabs the katana that lies just under his bed. The knife is now in his belt and his katana in his right hand, although in a split second it can be swapped to his left. Another noise. Whoever or whatever it is in his apartment has chosen the wrong apartment. Almost flying into his kitchen he switches on the light and pulls out his katana at the same time. In front of him, his cat, the innocent eyes look up at him, almost to say “what the hell are you doing out of bed.” Quade sheathes his katana, looks around, and says to himself “it was just the cat”. As he has says that the cat walks up to the open window and jumps onto the fire escape just outside.

 “THE WINDOW! It’s open, I never have it open after 5 pm. I closed it 2 hours, 52 minutes and 5 seconds ago.” His OCD goes into overdrive. He drops the weapons and rushes to the window pulling it shut, cleaning the window and the window seal hard enough that it takes the paint off the seal. He then realises the cat isn’t gonna open the window itself. Then he senses it, the overhead swing of a crowbar that’s about 2 metres in length. Without turning he grabs the clumsy weapon and throws it to the ground, shocking his attacker so much he throws a wild punch that connects with the back of his head. Quade falls to his knees, click the sound of the hammer on a gun being pulled into place. Without thinking Quade spins around and head-butts the attacker in the crotch with the top of his head,  which gives him enough time to roll over and grab his knife. Quade spins and throws it, BANG! The shot of the gun hits him in the shoulder, but the knife connects with the attacker’s forehead as well. They both drop at the same time and then everything goes white.

 

He wakes to the sound of the machines of the hospital room. “There is no such thing as heroes, just idiots with a death wish” the quote that he got from his father, the person responsible for his life style, the genes he passed on to him, that damn instinct that controls his life that thing that has destroyed the lives of both criminals and his family alike.

“Quade Barker, have you been playing with weapons again?”

“Detective Mathews, are you asking questions that you know the answers to?”
The sight of the detective triggers old memories, such as the first time he had to steal to eat and the very first time he fought back against the criminal underworld. Quade’s hidden talent starts up, searching through Detective Mathews figure, searching for a threat or anything to show that Quade should start running. There, on his side, a snub nose - the piss weak gun that wouldn’t be able to kill someone even if you shot them in the eye.

“Why do you carry that thing around? The only successful thing it would do to your enemies is to piss them off”
“That’s the point. If I come under fire I could shoot them, and in their rage they would allow me time to escape.”

“You’re a cop. Your purpose is to arrest or kill, not annoy.”
“No Quade not kill, to serve and protect. To protect life, not just the life of the innocent, but also the life of the criminals. I will not kill, life is important. God gave life to us and only God shall take it away”

“Come on Mathews, enough with that God crap. If God was real, why does he allow bad things to happen to good people? Why does he leave the saving to people like us?”
“To people like me, Quade, not you. You have been the suspect in close to a thousand murder cases, and you have admitted to nearly all of them. But someone in the government is stopping us from chucking you in jail and throwing away the key.”

“What, you come to tell me that if I don’t stop I will end up in Queens Asylum for the criminally insane?”
“No Quade I am not here for that, but mark my words that day is coming. I have come to warn you about something else. I am very close to finding the mole in the government, so after he’s in jail I will be coming for you next.”
“Good bye Mathews. See you next time,” The ice in Quade’s voice tells the detective it was time to leave.
“God I hope not,” comes the reply from Detective Mathews as he leaves the room.

 

 

“JENNA! HELP SOMEBODY HELP!” The scream carries across two blocks.

A blue flash can be seen jumping from Quade’s apartment window across the road and onto the roof of the building on the other side of the street. Obstacles are nothing to this blur as it flips, vaults and runs over the buildings. All of a sudden the blur stops and is easily visible, a figure dressed in a blue hoodie, on his back a homemade katana in perfect condition. Below him on the street, a mother and daughter are being harassed by six men all dressed in black. Their evil presence can be felt from miles away, their guns seem like little toys in their hands.

“The gun it’s pressed to that 10 year olds head”.

 The ground seems to vibrate as the figure slams into the ground in the middle of the group.

“BRIGHT LIGHT,” shouts Jenna.
FLASH
The light blinds everyone and all anyone can hear is the slashing of the katana and the screams of the criminals. Then all of a sudden Bang! The sound of a 45.,loud enough to deafen anybody, is heard over the screaming. Then it all goes silent, and then the sight comes back. Bright Light is standing among the dead bodies of the criminals, his blade dripping red.
“JENNA, OH GOD JENNA! BRIGHT LIGHT, HELP HER PLEASE!” He turns to find the mother cradling the limp body of the 10 year old girl.
He sheathes his katana and runs over to the mother.
“Please Bight Light, my life is meaningless without her, please,” the mother cries the tears streaming down her face.
Bright Light looks into the eyes of the child, those dead eyes. He searches for the injury, what killed her? There on her chest, the injury he has seen close to a thousand times. The slash of his katana, the blood streaming down her body, pooled underneath her.
The sound of the police siren is then able to be heard.
He looks at the mum “everything will be ok,” he lies.

The site of the girl’s body is surrounded by police as he walks up to the body. Detective Mathews was shocked, the slash of Quade’s katana across her chest. Without realizing tears rushed from his eyes, he found himself praying for the girl, hoping that she made it to heaven. Something inside him, something he had never felt before, pushes into his mind. Tearing off his gloves, he runs to his car. The screeching of the car’s tyres can be heard from 2 blocks away.

 

Something above saw everything, and still remained watching, as the tiny body is removed from the murder site and placed into an ambulance. The lights flash twice, as if to show that they are carrying something as important as a heap of gold and then drive away. The mother of the deceased still sits there, screaming for her life to end, asking for her daughter back. Her pleas humour him, he smiles as an idea comes to mind. He floats down to where the mother sits, his body transforms into flesh and his cloak transforms into a suit, he becomes a business man.

“Claire Williams?”

The mother looks up at him. “Who are you?” she manages to say mid sob.

“I am Malach HaMavet also known as The Grim Reaper”.

 

The doors of the apartment buildings fly open as the detective’s body slammed into them.

“God made the earth in 6 days and on the 7^th day he rested,” the saying that helps him remember which apartment Quade lives in, the 7^th apartment on the 6^th floor.

The amount of force he puts into knocking on Quade’s door seems to shake the whole floor.
 “QUADE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!”…... “QUADE OPEN THE DOOR NOW!”………“QUADE NOW!”……. “QUADE!?”........... “Quade, answer me?”……. “I’ll kick the door down? ……., QUADE!?,”

Crack!, the shock of the door being kicked in knocks over anything what wasn’t nailed to the ground. There in the middle of the room is Quade, his wrists pouring with blood, his dagger lying next to his almost lifeless body.

“QUADE!?!?!?!?! CALL THE PARAMEDICS” Mathews screams.

He rushes over to Quade, “Don’t you dare, don’t  you dare leave this world. You were trying to protect her, you made a mistake. God forgives you, stay with me please.”

Spinning his head around he shouts, “HELP!”

 

 

Quade woke to the familiar sound of the hospital room. “S**t, why aren’t I dead?”

“I found you Quade. Why did you do it?”

“It was an accident, I didn’t mean to kill her. I was trying to help her.”

“No Quade, why did you try to kill yourself?”

“I deserved it.”

“HOW…… QUADE!” The burst of anger scares him. “You may be a vigilante, but you are the only thing that stands between this city and complete chaos……… You probably haven’t heard yet, but there is a very deranged man out there killing, raping and stealing. Every time a cop goes to arrest him, they die. We have called in the SWAT and the army, even the FBI have tried, but everything small of a nuclear war has failed.”

“Have you tried a nuke yet?” prods Quade.

“THIS IS NO TIME FOR JOKES QUADE! ……. He has killed more people than the plague did. If I went after him I would get to spend time with God ,if you know what I mean. Only one person I know would be able to stop him even if it means killing him……….

Go get your sword…”

“It’s called a Katana” Quade says sarcastically.

“It can be a bloody tennis racket if you want it to, just get out there and stop him. You’ll be going with God’s blessing.”

“I don’t need God’s blessing. I will go if I want to” Quade hisses.

As Quade  walks out of the hospital he bumps into a nurse, her beauty he has never seen before.
“Oh excuse me, I am sorry for that,” her voice is like the sun.

“Oh no, excuse me, that was my fault,” he manages to choke out.

Their eyes meet, “I’m Anna. It’s nice to meet you, and you are?”

“Anna……” Quade replied.

“Hahaha, what a coincidence. We have the same first names,” she smiles.

“Oh no… no, my name is Quade. Quade, not Anna.”

“Oh ok. That’s an interesting name what’s it mean?” she queries.

“Oh I, Oh I..I don’t know” he stutters “It was my mother’s last name.”

“Well, it’s a great name. I hope to see you again” she voices as she turns and walks away.

“Dido” Quade laughs, “Wait, I didn’t catch your last name!”

“It’s Brown.”

“Mines Barker.”

“See ya later Quade Barker”.

 

“I am sick of being death” complains Malach

“And I have picked the perfect human being to take my place” he grins “Quade Barker.”

“But master, isn’t he God’s champion?” his demon servant asks.

“Shut up! Did I ask you to speak?” Death’s voice shakes the earth, sending Tokyo into chaos.
 “Yes he is, but what can God do to me. I am already dead, I feel no pain, food turns to ash in my mouth! What else can he do to me?”

“He can make you non-existent”

“What do you think I want? You idiot”

Death stands and slaps his minion, sending him across the cave where they stood.

“I’m sorry, my dark prince, I did not mean to upset.”

“I am sending you to a body, its 10 years old and is a female….”

“But my elder, a female body……”

“Silence! You are my slave and you will do as I say! ...... The body will also be occupied by another demon a shadow demon, it shall help you.”

 “Help me do what dark lord?”

“Don’t interrupt, you waste of energy!......... You are to destroy the hero’s body and deliver his soul to me. ”

“But why Malach, can’t you do it you’re……?”

“HOW DARE YOU USE MY NAME YOU TINY SPEC OF DUST!

The cave in which they stood starts to collapse.

“My apologises my lord, my dark prince, my master I apologise for my existence. I am dirt under your nails”

In a final stage of anger Death stands and shouts “I have no nails!”
The cave can’t stand anymore, it collapses, revealing hell. The screams of that torturous place fill the air.

The demon falls to his knees “Please my lord, I beg your forgiveness. Please send me to the body, let me do thy biding, let me make you happy.”

“I shall do that.”

“Oh thank you my lord!”

“I should throw you in the pits with the human souls, but instead I am giving you this chance to show me you are worthy,……. If you are defeated, I will not give you another chance. You die on earth, you die down here. Now leave before I change my mind.”

“Oh thank you my lord, my master I am most grateful for this opportunity”.

 

“I have had to go a long way to hunt before, but this is just stupid” Quade mutters to himself as he vaults over an air conditioner.

“Why am I chasing leads for Mathews? He’d never do this for me, bloody Billy….. What’s the name again Billy?,..... Michaels that’s it, Billy Michaels also known as sinner”.

 Ahhhh!

The scream catches his attention.

“Well, no rest for the wicked” Quade comes to a complete stop, turns, and runs towards the scream. His blue blur trails behind him, lighting up the roof. Underneath him on the street runs a mugger, gun in his right hand a women’s purse in the other.

The look on the muggers face is one of pure terror.

“Hmm, maybe he has seen me” Quade thinks to himself.

The mugger takes refuge behind a wall just below Quade.

“Where is a ladder when ya need one?” Quade voices as he falls through the air.

His bones protest as he slams into the ground, “that’s gonna hurt tomorrow…”

“Oh God, Oh God” the mugger stutters. The mugger turns to see Quade, and runs over to him “Ya gotta help me man.”

“You’re a criminal?”

“I am, please take me to jail, anywhere but here. Please keep me away from him, please?”

“Who?” Quade spoke as he gets closer.

“Dea-..”

The criminal’s voice is cut off as a metal gloved hand tears through his chest, holding the criminal’s heart in its hand. The heart is still beating, blood pours from both the criminal’s chest and the heart that lies in the hand.

Without any resistance the hand shuts, sending blood everywhere.

“Son of a b***h!” Quade screams.

The corpse bursts into flames, the ashes fell to the ground in front of Quade.

Directly in front of him a figure materialises, dressed in black robes and carrying a scythe.

“My demon will test you” the figure grins as it dematerialises.

“S**t! What is happening to this city?”

 

“GET YOUR BODIES ON THE FLOOR AND YOUR ARMS IN THE AIR!” The bank robbers seem like they had been pulled out of Grease, dressed in leather and jeans, their gloves reaching half way up their arms.

“I SAID ON THE F*****G GROUND NOW!”

Each gunman has his AK-47 pressed against someone’s head.

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, we are now your hosts for the next hour. My name’s Sinner and I would like you to know, if you have any questions or anything to say keep it to yourself else, I will blow your damn brains over the wall! heheheha, we are here to make a withdrawal of, let’s see, all the bloody money in this fine building heheheheha……..
 BLOW THE BLOODY SAFE BOYS!”

These explosives are specialized, when they exploded ,they made no noise and the only shaking that was done was when the safe door hit the ground.

“Load the money into my chopper”

“Jimmy….” The whisper comes.

“Jimmy….? James…..? Valcum?”

“What?”

“Use that electric grenade you made?”

“No it’s still in prototype stage”

“Bright Light isn’t here. We need help, use it.”

“If I use it, I won’t just kill those robbers but everyone in the room. No I am not gonna use it unless I know we are all gonna die. And plus, Bright Light’s not a hero, Blake is a cold blooded killer. Something’s wrong?, look”

As he says that a robber runs up to Sinner and whispers in his ear.

“Bright Light’s here boys! I want him dead” after saying this he ran to his helicopter, leaving his criminal friends to die.

“Hey Sparkie, can ya see him.”

“No I can’t, and don’t call me Sparkie” James hisses.

The blood splatter hits James on the face, “There he is” he growled as he wipes the red liquid off his face.

FLASH

Everything goes white and all James can hear are the panicked screams of the criminals.

When the vision comes back, the cops are walking amongst the dead bodies of the criminals.

“Hey Sparkie, have you ever seen him?”

“Who!? And don’t call me Sparkie, Jimmy or Jim. It’s James!”

“Bright Light? Have you ever seen him?”

“No of course not, there are only two people I know that have seen him. One’s in the morgue and the other one doesn’t talk to me anymore”

“Why don’t they talk to you?” …… “James why?”

“Leave it Blake”

“Come on James why?”

“Because my daughter was killed by the so called hero and I wasn’t there to help her!”………………. “Now leave me alone”.

 

The only thing Quade can hear as he clings to the bottom of the helicopter is the engine as it strains to lift the weight of the cash stored in the back of the chopper. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this thing stops working.”

The altitude began to drop and Sinner steers them towards the top of a building.

“What the hell is that?!” Quade thinks to himself. “Oh crap, it’s a bomb!”

Quade throws himself off the helicopter and lands on the edge of the building. He can’t help himself but to look down off the edge of the building. “S**T!!!”
The cars below look like little specks, like ants. Quade feels himself slipping backwards, his heart jumping into his throat as his feet lose grip, and he falls. The first time in ages his mind races, he is blocked by blinding panic.

“HELP!” he screams.

He realises that if he doesn’t stop himself from panicking his life will end, and Sinner would continue on his warpath.

An idea, one that seems slim and unlikely to work, but he has to try. He grips his katana as it slides out of it’s sheath, he knows this might be the last time he would listen to its song.

The vibration of the katana slamming into the building sends a shockwave up his arm, shattering his wrist.

He puts all his weight into swinging into the window, as he lands he catches sight of his arm. His left hand seems to sway in the breeze, then he feels the extreme amount of pain that shoots up his arm as though his nerves have just realized what has happened. He can’t help himself but to let out a scream of pain.

As he becomes accustomed to the pain and the numbness of his hand, he reaches out with his right arm and tries to force the blade out of the wall.

 His favourite weapon snaps and he falls backwards, landing on his left side. He finds himself looking at a blade no larger than his lower arm.

“I can’t let this affect me at the moment I need to stop Sinner.” In response his body sends shocks of pain through him, and his OCD tries to get a hold.

“NO!” he screams “I AM IN CONTROL” ……..
Nothing, he feels only pain from his wrist, no OCD. He finally is in control of his own body.

“Hahaha yes. Oh my God yes, haha I am now in control” he grins.

Then he realises he is in pain for a reason. “I will party later” he chuckles, “first let’s end Billy the Sinner.”

 

“Michaels!..... Your time is now.”

“Who the hell are you” Sinner hisses.

“I am Bright Light, but seeing as you’re going to die, you can know my real name. It’s Quade Barker and I am the bringer of your death.”

“No Mr Barker, I am the bringer of my own death.”

Quade hears the sound of a heart beat monitor.

“What the hell is that?”

“It’s a dead man’s switch, it reacts with my heartbeat. Have a look at this,” he slips his sleeve back to reveal a white patch “this monitors my heartbeat and this” he holds up his left hand “is what will end both our lives… Goodbye Quade Barker.”

He starts to peel the patch off, Quade throws his katana at him.

 FLASH

This time it’s not his katana, it’s the flash that will collapse the building.

Quade feels the blast hit him,“So this is how I die” he grins.

 

In charge of the clean-up and keeping everyone under control, Detective Mathews searches the bombsite, hoping not to find what he is searching for, the body of Quade Barker.

 The corpse of the psychotic killer known as Sinner has already been peeled away from the cross that stood on top of the roof of the church, 5 miles away from the site. Clink, the sound of shoe on metal distracts him, he has just kicked something as small as a lower arm, but metal.

“Please no, please lord don’t let this be ……… Quade’s katana?” he sobs “It’s broken, he can’t be, there is no way, Bright Light is dead!?” he cries.

 

“You have failed me” the voice echoes down the apartment.

“Please master I couldn’t get to him in time, I apologise greatly”

“No excuses you have doomed me to an eternity of reaping. You shall stay in this body”

“But my Dark prince what will I do?”

“Jenna, are you watching a movie in there?”

“There is another hero, he will show himself any day now. You’ll know him from his electrical discharge, you can do the same thing to him.”

Claire Williams turns the corner to find her daughter’s body has rotten away, her skin peeling off her body.

“Oh my god! Jenna, what’s happened to you?”

The body seems to turn around on itself, unnaturally twisting around to reveal a skull with pointed teeth smiling from ear to deformed ear.

“Hello Mother”.

Author's Note

please review the hell outta this story. The only way i can improve is from others opinions

Reviews

[wkbooker]

Definitely a very creative plot. I might play with tense a little though, past tense is the natural writing voice. Present tense makes it seem a lot more awkward and often takes more words to say what you mean than past tense.
Your characters are very solid, and you establish them for the most part through action which drives the plot nicely enough, but it seemed a little stilted in places due to overwritten description of action. Instead of saying, for example, in the beginning where he grabs the dagger and then the katana and where he puts everything, have him swap one for the other and that's it. Don't try to give every little detail a place in an action scene, because you'll drown the action and suspense. (Since the katana is his signature weapon, I would nix the dagger anyway.)
Your writing has so much potential, I can't wait to read more! You should come take a peak at mine if you have the time :)

[Ethan]

thanks mate very constructive