Into the Light

124

I nodded and felt my chest tighten. How was he so sure? All we had to do was think about our friendship and we would defeat her? That didn't seem very plausible to me. "We'll need Anna too. She plays an important role in this," he continued. I shook my head. "No, she's been through enough," I replied. I didn't want to put her in danger again. She had been through way more than any normal person ever should be. "Colby, we need her. She has to work with me. There is no other Dream Walker, that I know of, and I'm going to need help. Plus, she's connected to the Darkness and the other souls that it has taken. We need her help. Don't you understand?" I did...but I didn't have to like it. "Yeah, I do, Ash. I just don't want to put her through anything like this again. Plus, she just got her life back. I don't want it taken from her this soon." "Trust me, Colby. I won't let anything happen to her. We've got this. We will defeat her. You have to believe that, or we're all in danger," he replied. I sighed and looked back over to where the others were. They were pretty far away , but I could still hear the peal of laughter that Anna let out. I really didn't want to be the one to wipe that beautiful smile off of her face. Damn it. "Yeah, okay," I sighed into the phone. "Whatever you say." "No, Colby," he replied, hardening his voice. This was the first time that I had ever heard Ash even be close to sounding angry. "I mean it! You Have to believe that this will work. You have to SEE it working, in your mind. So does Sam and Anna. It's important! Do you understand me?" he continued. I felt like I was a child, being chided for not doing my chores or something. "Yeah Ash, I hear you!" I exclaimed. "Okay then," he replied. "I need you guys to come over tonight. To my place. We need to go over what you're going to be doing a few times, before we actually call Her to us. We have to be ready, because tomorrow night, there can't be any mistakes." "What? I thought we were doing this tonight!" I exclaimed. I was glad that we had another day, but at the same time, the waiting was killing me. "No, I needed your answer by tonight so that we could prepare. Tomorrow night is the blue moon. If we don't do this then, we will have lost our chance. This won't occur for another two and half years, Colby. Don't you get it yet? We don't have that long!" His voice was getting more and more frantic and I could hear his heavy breathing in my ear. "Ok Ash, chill. I got it. I was just surprised, is all," I replied. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rash. I just- can't you feel her? Can't you feel the darkness growing around us? She's angry, Colby. She wants revenge and she's growing stronger. She knows that we plan to stop her. I can feel it in the air...there's a heaviness," he replied. His voice drifted in and out, at different volumes, making it sound even more ominous. My hands were starting to shake with the fear that was creeping up my spine. "What time should we be there?" I asked, stopping him from saying anything else. "Be here at 8. No, 9. Ugh, no, be here at 8," he replied, sounding frustrated. "Are you okay, Ash?" I asked, swallowing the nervous knot that tried to crawl up my throat. "No, I'm not. All of this dark energy...it isn't good for me or my ability. The spirits are getting restless. They can feel this war on the horizon. Their thoughts and feelings are overshadowing my own, making it hard to concentrate. I apologize for my erraticness," he sighed. "It's okay, man. I believe that we can do this. We'll see you at 8. Just...I don't know, get some rest or something, man," I said. He let out a short bark of laughter that didn't sound humorous at all. "Sure. Rest. I'll see what I can do," he responded. "See you at 8." I stood there, holding the phone, for a few minutes after he disconnected. I was almost afraid to go back to my friends. I didn't want to ruin today. Not when we had been having so much fun. The sun was starting to hand low in the sky now, casting a reddish glow over everything. It was already starting to get late. I glanced at my phone and saw that it was already after 5. We didn't have much time. Shit. I took a deep breath and steeled myself against my own emotions. We could do this. It would all be over tomorrow night, one way or another...I really hoped it was over in our favor though. I trudged through the sand, back towards where my friends were sitting. Kat and Anna were sitting side by side, with their heads thrown back and mouths wide open. Sam was kneeling, tossing grapes towards their mouths. They were all laughing, as the girls tried their best to catch the grapes with their mouths. It didn't really help their mission all that much. I smiled and let out a low chuckle, as I watched them. I stopped a few feet away and pulled out my phone again. I wanted to remember this. I captured a few pictures, then a short video, without anyone noticing that I was there. They were having too much fun, just acting silly. I wasn't going to tell them yet. They already thought that we had to go fight tonight, so telling them that we weren't would be a good thing. Or it could have time to really get into their heads, and cause them to start overthinking everything, effectively ruining their moods. No, I wouldn't tell them yet. Instead, I would join the fun for at least another hour. Sam was about to toss another grape, so I dove in front of the girls and tried to catch it in my mouth. Instead, it bounced off my nose and flew back towards Sam. I landed on my side hard, and heaved out a hard breath. "Ouch," I groaned, rolling onto my back. When I looked up, I saw Anna looking down at me, smiling. "Well, hey gorgeous," I said, smiling back at her and wiggling my eyebrows. "You gotta boyfriend?" She giggled and rolled her eyes. "I don't know," she replied, coyly. "I suppose that I do." "Really now..." I mused, still playing the game.