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Echoes in Darkness, Chapter 16: Darkness at the break of noon
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“Then why is your house all lit up like Christmas?” the neighbor sputtered. “While the rest of us are sitting in the damned dark!” He took a menacing step forward.
Helena felt her mouth go dry and her palms begin to sweat. She needed to end this now, before it escalated out of control. One showdown was enough for this night. She wasn’t sure she could bluff her way through another. And then, just like before, she felt something flow through her, icy and hot beneath her skin, gathering behind her sternum, something powerful, something that was almost frightening in its cold fury.
“Robert, you all are sitting in the darkness because you weren’t prepared. Before I bought this house, I did my research. This neighborhood is on the list for rolling blackouts, any time LA gets close to brownouts. So I prepared myself. Some flashlights, a few oil lamps, and candles. Yes, lots and lots of candles.” She drilled her gaze into Robert’s eyes and watched them shift away.
“And you want to know why so many candles, Robert?” Do you?”
He nodded numbly.
“Because I like them!” she tossed her head slightly. “I like candles. And if you were half so nosy as you appear to be, if you’d been watching my house all along, you would have noticed that there are many occasions when I turn out the lights, when I light my house with candles. And why do you think that is?”
He ducked his head and shuffled uncomfortably.
“Because I find candlelight warm and inviting, comforting and, upon occasion, even romantic. You might try it sometime, Robert. It might do something for that surly attitude of yours! Now if you don’t mind, I’m keeping my guests waiting. Good night, gentlemen.” She turned on her heel and walked away, Shane at her side.
Behind them, the men gathered to a small huddle, muttering and swearing to reclaim the manhood that had just been stripped away, exposing not just their foolishness but their fear. Shane and Helena walked slowly, with as much strength and dignity in their bearings as they could manage. On the porch, Alice threw up her hands and struggled to squeeze herself between the porch railing and one arm of Cinnamon’s chair.
Shane watched with her customary humor, then leaned over and whispered to Helena. “So, just why DO you have all those candles?” Her blue eyes met Helena’s gaze head on. Unwavering.”
“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you,” Helena joked weakly.
“You’re afraid of the dark,” Shane told her, reading the truth on Helena’s face.
“Yeh,” Helena looked away.
Shane patted her shoulder reassuringly. “S’OK. So am I.”
More than a smile passed between them…some new understanding, seeing beneath the strength on the surface to the soft underbelly of the vulnerabilities they shared.
“Good. Now I don’t have to kill you,” Helena laughed.
“Could have gotten messy,” Shane agreed. “It’s all good.”
“Yeh,” Helena nodded. “Let’s go see what’s troubling Alice. She looks seriously annoyed.”
Arms around each other, the two guardians followed the walkway to join Alice, who was swearing and gesturing wildly. “Shit Shit Shit! Hell!”
“Now what?” Helena asked.
“She won’t go in,” Alice huffed.
“Who won’t? Cinnamon?”
“Yeah! Cinnamon!”
“Why not?”
“She won’t say! God, Helena, I’m so tired, I just want….” There was just the hint of a whine in Alice’s voice.
“You go on inside, get settled, get comfortable,” Helena soothed. “I’ll speak to Cinnamon.”
“You want…?” Shane started.
“No, you go on in, too. I think this is between Cinnamon and I.” She wasn’t quite sure what she meant by it, or even how she knew it, but there was some bridge to be crossed with Cinnamon before she would enter her house. It was time. In her head, she heard an old Bob Dylan tune one of her nannies used to play:
Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child’s balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.
“It’s Alright, Ma (I’m only Bleeding),” Bob Dylan
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Why have you stopped posting? Please tell me it wasn’t the ratings, because you can’t let that get in the way of this story. I think it’s fantastic. Please, post again if you can.