Chapter III

the third part to my short novel, The Light. in this chapter basically the relationships deepen and Ally and Glen decide what to do about Annie.

"Sophie?� Glen called. �Honey is that you?�

�Glen we need to try to find a hospital. Annie�s in really bad shape. I...� Ally started but her words were broken off but the sudden movement he made. The grass broke underneath his sneakers shifted movements and a few blades were kicked up into the air as he set off running. The blades fell on Annie�s face and she tried to blow them away but as she expected, her mouth wouldn�t open. She desperately wanted to call out to Glen, to beg of him not to go too far and to be careful but the words remained but a thought in her head.

In the distance a scream of joy and elation was heard. �I guess he found his daughter.� Ally said the jealousy obvious and plain in her voice. Glen had been looking for someone, just as Ally had been. Only now he had found his daughter when Ally still had yet to find her husband. �How frustrating it must be for her.� Annie wondered. Ally turned her attention back to Annie, her fingers lightly pressed against her skull. She traced the soft and exposed impressions, meticulously looking for each fault in Annie�s head. She pulled her hand away and breathed small gasps of disgust and anxiety as the sticky blood clung to her fingertips. �Oh god Annie, it�s really bad. I wish I could help you some way but I just am not familiar with this type of thing. But don�t worry, we�ll find you a doctor.� She lightly picked the strands of hair out of Annie�s face. �Don�t worry.� She repeated.

�Ally, where are you?� Glen�s voice called from nearby.

�Right here.� Ally said, all emotion drained from her words.

�You�ll never believe it! I was looking off into the light when all of a sudden the light dimmed and I saw my little girl.� I could hear the tears in his voice; practically feel as their salted depths leaked down his cheeks. His hand brushed Annie�s shoulder and he kneeled down beside her, his warmth enclosing the small space between them. He felt around for Annie�s hand and once found, he softly grasped it in his. �Sophie, this is my friend Annie.�

A little hand touched the back of Annie�s and a beautiful voice sung out, �Nice to meet you.� Her French accent was barely there but it did touch her syllables enough to accentuate her high pitched voice.

Glen let go of Annie�s hand and reached out to Ally. �And this is Ally.�

The little hand left the back of Annie�s and said, �Hello.�

Glen returned his stone hands to Annie�s, as he gripped hers tight to his he asked, �Has she said anything yet?�

�No. But I know she�s awake.� Ally said, shoving jealousy aside, concern took control. �When the light dimmed I saw Annie. Her eyes were wide open, moving, blinking, and all. So I know she�s aware of what�s going on, but I think she�s trapped.�

�How could that be? Do you think maybe the fall immobilized her somehow?�

�I know no more than you do. I�m wondering though if maybe she�s paralyzed. If she broke her neck she can�t move without help so that would make sense.�

�I thought if you broke your neck, you�d die? I mean that�s what I�ve heard.�

�Well maybe if you break it in a certain spot, you won�t die you�ll just be paralyzed. I don�t know. I�ve only watched ER so many times. Medical stuff just isn�t my thing.� She said. Annie heard the regret in her voice.

�Well we need to do something. We can�t just sit around guessing what�s happened to her, we need to go find out.� Glen said. His voice got higher and higher every word he spoke and his grip became vice-like on her hand.

�I think he likes me.� Annie thought. �I mean, this goes beyond friendship, I heard that worry and concern in his voice. There�s too much of it for friendship. I wish I could know for sure�I wish I could tell him how I feel about him.� Glen and Ally prattled on for a few minutes about Annie�s condition. But meanwhile, despite Glen�s grip on her hand, her thought couldn�t be pulled away from one word: paralyzed.

�It�s a risk, granted, but it�s one we should take. If we don�t find a doctor soon, she...she could die.� Ally whispered.

�And I don�t want that but I don�t understand how we�re supposed to find anybody in this light. I want to help her, you know I do. But I�m afraid that we�ll walk into trap of some sort or a gang neighborhood. Or that we�ll walk right off a cliff. I care for Annie, but I got to think of my daughter too.� Annie wanted for his words to cut deep into her, but truthfully she understood how he felt. He was a Dad first and foremost. He was all Sophie had; he couldn�t afford to be so reckless with her.

�So what do you propose we do?� Ally said acidly. �She�s dying. Not right now maybe, but she will be soon.�

They sat there in silence after that; Sophie hummed a sweet little melody and ripped grass from the ground. �Alright,� He said after a long time. �We�ll go and try to find a doctor. But first we�re going on a raid. We need food and medical supplies and weapons. Maybe some rope to keep us from separating form each other.� Movements were made and the warmth beside Annie�s arm left. From above her Glen said, �I�ll need you to carry Sophie. I swear if anything happens to her, one scratch on her cheek, you�ll pray that the world will end soon.�

�I promise, I�ll protect her with my life.� What was surprising to Annie was the truth in Ally�s words. She was deeply jealous that he had found who he was looking for and Annie thought that she thus would feel a small resentment towards Sophie, but she didn�t. In fact she felt protective and maybe even a little honored to be entrusted with someone so important to Glen.

�Sophie,� Glen said softly. �I�m going to give you to Ally. Okay? She won�t hurt you; she�s just going to carry you while Daddy helps Annie.� Such love in his tone. It traced every octave and embedded itself deep into his voice, parading his words around with a light, bubbly aura.

�Okay� she replied easily. She didn�t sound the slightest bit afraid.

Ruffling of clothing reached Annie�s ear and then his warm breath swept across her face. He gently put his arms underneath her legs and around her shoulders, leaning further into her, his cheek tight against hers, their rosy mixture of affection clouding her thoughts, he lifted her off the ground and held her in his arms. She could feel his muscles flexing underneath her weight. �Alright let�s go. Now stay close Ally, I�ll have a heart attack if I lose you in this light.�

�Will you stop worrying so much and start concentrating a little more. Listen for noises and I�ll feel for houses.� She snapped.

Neither said anything for a long time. It was all silence and white light. Annie had grown so used to it by now that she didn�t even squint her eyes against it anymore. She had grown accustomed to the fact that everything melted away and lost shape and form in the light. It was like everything blended in, nothing was invisible it all just blended with the light. A scary thought to know how powerful the light was, because of it everyone was blind and everything was white. �What a strange anomaly had come upon us,� Annie thought. �This blinding white light, beyond touch and even sight. It�s nothing really. It�s not like sunlight where the rays come down in streams. It�s just one big curtain that closes us off from the world of shape and color. A screen. A curtain. All the same thing, leaving a reflective white light to cover the world. How odd.�

�I think I�ve found something.� Ally said, her voice was near and Annie could easily hear her grunts.

�Wait. What are you doing?!� Glen cried. �You don�t know what�s in there. There could be another stranger waiting to rape one of us.�

�Well we�ll never know until we get inside.� Ally said roughly. �I promised you I�d take care of her, don�t worry. Here, why don�t you come and sit on the porch. I�m sure you don�t want to carry Annie throughout the whole house.�

He stood still for a moment, Annie could almost hear the gears shifting in his mind and then he carefully reached his hand out from underneath her legs, his fingers searching for the familiar feel of planks. His steps were slow and tentative, carefully judging each space before him before he took another step. Finally she felt her feet brush against the wood, its worn texture tickling her toes. He sat down and carefully laid her in his lap. He brushed the hair out of her face and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. Butterflies burst into song it seemed inside her, rising up in her stomach and twirling around in a dance of elation. She wanted to squeal like a little girl and thrust her fist up the air, jumping all around and doing a silly dance. He cared for her and that made her boundlessly happy.

From inside, Ally and Sophie screamed, their voices streaked through the air and froze Glen and Annie�s world around them. Glen�s grip on Annie loosened, and carefully but quickly he laid her down on the wood. �I�ll be right back for you.� He whispered. His fingers left her skin and the air around her heaved with an icy severity. Annie couldn�t hear what was going on inside the house, no one screamed again but yet he hadn�t come back to her.

She began to worry; sweat crept up through her pores and eased out across her forehead. The darkness that had been pulling at the edges of her consciousness all day was creeping across her irises. She felt unbearably hot and she couldn�t concentrate on anything. Her head spun and her skin lit on fire. She was drowning in the heat and there was nothing she could do to escape it. Her brain felt fried and finally the darkness grabbed at her lids and pulled them down. She fell under its great force and drifted away into the night.

Author's Note

i appreciate and welcome any criticism and advice/suggestions
hope you're finding the story interesting. also i changed up the first and second chapters a little. I CHANGED MARIA'S NAME TO SOPHIE. i didn't add any new events in chapter I & II, I just mostly changed sentence structures and added descriptions and imagery. check them out if you'd like.

Reviews

[Belator Books]

Sophie is a good choice for a name. Used it myself...lol. One thing, you may want to nix using 'Glen' so much, try 'he' or 'her father' etc... after awhile the page starts to look like glen glen glen... yes, we know its glen! Not a bad bit of penning; please continue.