Illumination

“We wait in the darkness for the one who will bring the light.”

I couldn’t wrap my head around this passage. It was a quote from this old journal I had found. Some pages had been torn out and others were burned. The author kept talking about the salvation of Illumination. Some kind of light that would save them from the darkness. I couldn’t figure out if this “light” was a metaphor for God or death, or something else entirely. But I’m obsessed with the damn thing. I had found it in a reject pile at an old antique store. Apparently it was meant to be trash, but to me it was like finding gold in a coal mine. Every passage is like reading about some other world.
“Iggy, can you please pay attention?” Summer asks me. I put the journal down, but it’s still open on that page. “Okay so I made a list of people I want to invite to the party. Have you started yours yet?” She asks. I give her a look that says ‘I havne’t, but I love you and please don’t kill me’. “Oh Iggy. Ugh….I need that list by Friday. Please just take a moment away from that thing to do it okay?” Summer is my beautiful fiancé. We are having a house warming party in two weeks, even though we’ve been settled in this apartment for two months already. “I’m sorry baby, I promise I’ll do it right now.” I get up and grab a piece of paper and pen. I use the hard back of the journal as a makeshift desk.
“Okay here we go.” I say staring down at the paper. The pen idles in my hand as I think. I realize that there aren’t many people I talk to anymore. Ever since my accident, no one really has kept in touch. “Well there’s…there’s…MARK! Yes, Mark.” I say putting down Mark’s name. “How about Shelley?” Summer asks me. Shelley was my best friend growing up, but not so much anymore. Apparently when you lose a limb, you also lose people who you thought were good friends. My hand automatically goes to my leg, feeling where skin goes into plastic. “No, Shelley and I haven’t really been close…in a long while.” I say. Summer sees me rubbing my leg and frowns before getting up. “Oh sweetie..” She comes over to me and kisses my forehead. “Darling you are perfect the way you are. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.” The minute she says this all the lights in the room flicker. My eyes go wide as a feeling of Déjà vu strikes me. I remember reading that same quote in the Journal. “Summer, have you been reading this?” I hold the journal up. Her eyebrows knit together. “No, baby I haven’t even touched it since you got it.” She says. I know she’s telling the truth, but an eerie feeling creeps up inside of me.
“Okay well…did you see the lights flicker just now?” Summer looks at me like I’m crazy. “I didn’t see the lights flicker. Are you okay baby?” She asks me. That eerie feeling intensifies and I can’t seem to shake it. “I’m sorry baby I need a minute.” I get up and leave the room with the Journal gripped tightly in my hand.

I go into my study and sit down at the desk. I flip through the journal trying to find the passage.

“ ‘My Darling, you are perfect the way you are. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.’ These were the last words I had heard her say, and then came the darkness.”

I read the passage over and over. What darkness? Where did it come from and what is it? I have asked these questions before to myself, but now I have a greater need to know the answer. The lights in the room begin to flicker again. Almost immediately they go out and I am left alone in darkness. I resist the urge to scream and instead stand up quickly. “SUMMER?!” I yell out to her. Minutes go by before I hear an answer. I’m about to make my way through the darkness toward the door, but then I see a light coming from the desk. The journal is glowing. I stare at it in shock, as it gets brighter and brighter. My eyes burn, but I can’t seem to look away. A sudden pain engulfs my whole body and I fall to the ground in agony. The light keeps getting brighter as the pain becomes more intense. Then everything stops and I don’t feel any pain. I don’t feel anything.

When I open my eyes everything is black. I begin to panic, but my eyes quickly adjust to the darkness and I scream in surprise. A large group of people is staring down at me. I stand up slowly while they keep on staring at me. I realize that I’m no longer in my study. “Where-Where am I?!” I ask. The people just stare at me with wide eyes. “PLEASE! Tell me where I am! Who are you people?” One of them steps forward. He is an old man with a very large beard. He looks tired and sad like most of the people I see around me. “You are in the Darkness now boy. But you are different from us. You have a light that shines inside you.” He points to my chest. I look down and there underneath my shirt is a dull glow. I open my shirt to look further. All across my skin are gold swirling lines that glow and I gasp.
                                                “You are the Illuminator. You are our salvation!!”