The Darkened Light
Chapter 01
The dream
The night was dark, and strong wind was blowing, when a woman was carrying a baby in her lap beside the road, her black clock half-covering her forehead, she was bending down over the baby and saying something to him in pure sadness, her tear fell over his cheeks and her eyes got bigger than usual and her expression of grave concern, then she hurriedly rolled her eyes away from the baby. She put him down and turned away "No, No, please mother" he woke up breathing heavily and sighed realizing it was a dream.
Jack was cutting wood in the backyard of his workshop. He is a man of build, not because he has been doing regular gym but because his everyday life gives him tough physical time. The sunlight is pouring through the leaves of the tall and thick tree standing with pride in protecting Jack from the burning rays of the sun for years and falling on the sweaty skin of his shoulder. Every time Jack is working on wood, his uncle James, who is stealing sight of Jack from time to time knows that something is wrong with him. Jack usually works in a shop on cars which he loves to but sometimes he cuts wood in the backyard alone to distract him from his memories. "you're gonna hurt yourself, be careful". A voice interrupted his work and he stopped suddenly but did not look up. Meesha noticed jack's hair falling on his forehead, half covering the frown which was now darkening. He threw his ax and gave Meesha a harsh look which disturbed Meesha and also scared her. Jack stood there for a moment scanning Meesha from top to bottom and then left in hurry without saying a single word.
Meesha was going to meet her grandmother when her car suddenly came to a halt. She could not understand what happened and found the nearest workshop from GPS. Meesha was already afraid because of the loneliness of town. This was her first visit to meet her grandma which was now worsened by Jack's behavior. "How may I help you" was the voice of uncle James which snapped her back to the present. "oh, hi I was passing by and my car suddenly broke. Would you please have a look? " she said with a stammering voice. Uncle James had an idea that she had interacted with Jack "he is a nice man, sometimes he gets rough but he would not hurt anybody. Do not be afraid" upon hearing him, Meesha gave him a relaxing smile. She still could not find words to speak. Uncle James accompanied Meesha to her car.
Jack sitting on the bark of a broken tree, held a cold drink in his right hand and was drawing something on mud with a broken bark when Sam startled him with the sudden inquiry of his saddened posture. Jack did not answer and went back to his drawing. Sam sat beside him and picked a branch to join Jack. " mother, I saw her again" Jack said without moving his gaze from the ground. Sam looked at him for a brief moment with thoughtful regard and then drew his eyes back to the ground but to Jack's drawing and noticed that he has drawn something bizarre, looking like a woman but not clearly a woman. Her eyes are more significant than usual with a sharp nose and slim lips and her expression was concerned. No doubt Jack was best at drawing as he could draw a clear picture in mud. "does she look like that in your vision? " Sam inquired. "quite similar" jack replied with his frown darkening. He got up with a sudden discomfort. "I gotta do something bye," he said a hurried phrase and left Sam screaming behind him "do you think I have nothing to do! Why did you call me then? " jack did not notice and kept taking hurried steps. "What am I gonna do with him ever!" Sam said with concerned thoughts. Sam and Jack had been friends since childhood and shared everything but Sam always noticed that Jack was suspicious and sometimes rather rude. He left conversations incomplete often and went places without telling anybody the true reason. Sam thought of it as his mental disturbance because of the absence of his parents since his birth. Sam's father found Jack on a footpath near their house when he was a few months old.
"Hi" Sam was startled by the sudden voice from his back. "oh, hi, hi," he said in a muffled voice with a smirk. "sorry I didn't mean to startle you, " Meesha said feeling sorry for his lost breath but the reason for Sam's lost breath was not only the sudden call of Meesha but her astonishing beauty. She was a bright girl with brown hair and blue eyes. Sam noticed that her eye color was the same as that of Jack. No doubt blue eyes added to Jack's attraction but on Meesha those eyes suited more than anybody else. She had sharp features but a round face. Sam could not stop himself from noticing that Meesha had an ideal body figure. "no, it's okay" Sam managed to answer Meesha with a smile. "it's my friend who starlets me all the time. can you believe he called me all the way here from my work and left without telling me why! " Sam was always talkative and did not consider that he was meeting Meesha for the first time and was already telling her stories of his friend's habits. "I am sorry about that" was all Meesha could say. "you are beautiful," Sam said without hesitation which raised Meesha's eyebrow "I am sorry I talk a lot" he tried to cover and Meesha smiled. "I haven't seen you here before, are you new" he added "yes, I am visiting my grandmother nearby and my car broke" Meesha explained. "I thought, I can look around in meantime my car gets repaired". "don't worry it won't take him long" Sam assured Meesha and she gave him a confused look. "he is my father, that is the only workshop around so I guess your car is with my father right now".
"Oh, I see," Meesha said with a smile and there was silence for a moment which Sam broke by offering her a tour of the place. They walked north to one of the spots around that Sam cherished most.
"got a new buddy," Jack said surprising uncle James. James looked up and smiled "thank heaven you are here, this boy Sam never stands by my side and I needed help". "let me take a look", Jack took over Meesha's car. Uncle James looked at him for a while but left without asking any questions popping into his mind.
Jack slipped from under the car when Meesha and Sam entered the workshop. Sam walked up to Jack and gave him a tap on his shoulder "seems like your car is ready to hit the road" said Sam calling Meesha. Meesha was noticing jack who was admiring his friend's audacity when suddenly the pendant in the locket around Meesha's neck started to feel like a hot iron stone. Meesha grabbed it but her hand burned with heat. She screamed a little which dragged the attention of Sam and uncle James back to Meesha while Jack was already staring at her pendant. Sam ran up to her to figure out the reason for her scream and Jack moved his gaze to uncle James who was thrilled by the scene. Meesha's pendant went back to normal in a second and she said it was nothing to worry about. She grabbed the key and said her greetings to everybody and left the place. Sam was still staring at her car becoming invisible beyond the crop fields. "snap out of it, she is gone buddy" Jack teased Sam. Sam gave him a confused smirk to which they both laughed understanding something. Jack was that kind of person. Scary like a monster at one time and humorous at the other but most of all he was kind at heart which his uncle loved about him. He could be angry at somebody to the extremes but he will rarely hurt people.
Chapter 02
Meetup
" Hands up old woman" the tray slipped from Cacelion's hands and she was trembling when Meesha ran to her and hugged her tight "I am sorry grandma I didn't mean to astonish you. I wanted to surprise you" Cacelion looked at Meesha over her shoulder and sighed deeply "you were about to surprise me with a heart attack," she said with an ironic smile and turned to hug Meesha and kiss her. "I have been waiting for you since your mother called about your arrival," Cacelion said while walking towards the lounge to offer Meesha a seat "you were supposed to be earlier this morning". "my car broke and I had to wait till it got repaired" Meesha explained. People are quite nice around here". "you must have met Mr. James. He is a very gentle person. I get my car repaired from him every time." "yes and his son Sam is a good person too, he showed me the village around the workshop". "oh I see you have already met his son and liked him" Cacelion said stressing "like". "please grandma don't start it" Cacelion laughed "you should think about someone seriously" she said while getting up to bring some food from the kitchen. There was no response from Meesha. Cacelion looked at her and asked with motherly concern "are you alright honey" Meesha was still quiet then Cacelion put her hand on Meesha's shoulder and asked again which brought Meesha back to her grandma "I don't know grandma, there was another strange guy at the workshop, one moment he was the aggressive and second time I met him, he was so calm and gentle". Cacelion was concerned about Meesha "its okay darling don't think too much, you had a long journey so now get some rest and I will cook dinner for you".