Amelia Atwater-Rhodes - Token of Darkness

“If you two would just be quiet …,” Delilah started to say, but trailed off.

Cooper sat back down.

The first indication that anything was happening was the sweat that seemed to gather on his skin despite the steady hum of the air conditioner. The room didn’t get hot exactly, but rather stifling and muggy. He shivered.

Twenty minutes passed without anyone speaking or moving. The air continued to thicken, until condensation built up on all the surfaces. Drops ran down the inside of the window-panes. It was so foggy Cooper had to move his chair inward to keep both Brent and Delilah in sight. He hoped that whatever Delilah had done to the nurse would keep anyone else from responding to the change in atmospheric conditions.

He realized Delilah’s lips were moving, as if she were speaking without sound, and it was becoming harder and harder to breathe. Suddenly the room seemed to constrict. He dropped his head, trying to pull air into his lungs as the edges of his sight turned from white fog to black mist. He tried to make it to the door, to get out and somehow break the effect, but succeeded only in falling to his knees on the floor.

Thank God, he thought, as the door opened with a bang.

The sound was followed by Samantha’s petulant accent, coming from Brent’s body, as she said, “I have Brent’s phone! Did it not occur to anyone to call me?”

The fog started to clear, and Cooper drew in deep, gasping breaths. Ryan helped him to his feet.

“Would you have come?” Delilah asked. She sounded winded, but not as badly as Cooper.

Samantha hesitated, before saying, “Maybe.”

“What are you doing here?” Brent said, looking up at Ryan.

“Samantha needed a ride,” Ryan replied nonchalantly.

Brent’s voice was choked as he demanded, “What did you do to my car?”

“Your mother took the keys!” Samantha shouted back. “I didn’t know how to stop her without hurting her.”

Cooper’s head had finally stopped spinning, and the air had returned to normal, when a nurse walked by and looked into the room. “What is going on—”

“We’re fine,” Ryan, Samantha and Delilah answered in unison. The nurse literally rocked back on her heels before nodding, her gaze unfocused, and continued down the hall.

Ryan closed the door.

“Did you even have a plan for what you were going to do next?” Ryan asked.

He looked exhausted, which made Cooper pause. Ryan acted so much older then the rest of them, but it occurred to Cooper that he was probably young enough to still be in college. He had the type of responsibility Cooper hoped to avoid for a long time.

Delilah and Brent both hesitated, Delilah visibly bristling at the scorn in Ryan’s voice.

Cooper faced Samantha. “Brent and Delilah think they’ve figured out who you are.”

“You mean what,” she said bitterly.

He shook his head. “No, I mean who. I mean, yes, I guess we’ve all figured out that you’re not human, and that you never really were. That you used to be some kind of massive, formless power. But you’re more than that. You’re …” He looked from Samantha to the figure on the bed. “I know you don’t have a lot of memories, but I also know you sometimes do remember things once you see them. Look at her, Samantha. Do you recognize her at all?”

Samantha stared at Margaret’s body. Brent’s hazel eyes widened, and then flashed silver, but then Samantha shook her head. “Not … really. It’s like I almost remember.”

“I don’t understand it all,” Cooper admitted, “but she created you in the image of someone she cared about a great deal. She’s the one who made you Samantha.”

“If you’re willing,” Delilah said cautiously, “the rest of her memories, and the memories she would have given you, are still locked in her flesh. I know you’re probably very angry with her. You probably don’t even really understand why. But if you give Brent back his body, and use Margaret’s instead, then it will help you be—”

“Excuse me?” Ryan protested. “It was bad enough when Cooper suggested it, but did I just hear you offer up someone else’s body to—”

“To Samantha!” Delilah interrupted, shouting over Ryan. “I was only in her memories for a short while, but I can tell you, Margaret would have given everything to save her sister. If you worked with her, you must know how close they were.”

“This isn’t Samantha,” Ryan insisted. “It looks like Samantha, but it’s—”

“And this isn’t Margaret. It’s a shell. It’s a body. And Samantha is all that’s left of either sister.”

“What if I don’t want to go anywhere?” Samantha argued. “I like this body. It’s loud, but if Brent could learn to control that, so can I.”

“Samantha.” Cooper stepped toward her, and took her hands, trying to get his mind past who she looked like and remember who she was. “We’ve spent most of the past few months together. You’ve gotten me through hard times. And no matter what anyone says, I know you’re a good person. You’re giddy to have a body at all right now, but you have to remember that this one isn’t yours. You’ve stolen it from someone else. Someone who was doing everything he could to help us.”

Samantha chewed on her lower lip. “What if I don’t want Margaret’s memories?”

“Remember how scared I was?” Cooper asked, still holding Samantha’s hands. “You helped me get through everything that happened to me. We’ll get you through this now.”

“Can’t I just keep this body for a little while?” Samantha asked. “So I can, I don’t know, get used to having a body before I need to deal with her? I want to go out dancing. I want to … God, I want to run away. I’ve never been as scared as I am when I look at her, and I don’t even know why.”

“The longer you’re in Brent’s body, the more of a permanent effect you might have on it,” Delilah said. “You don’t realize how much power you possess, Samantha. You limit yourself by claiming flesh at all.” Ryan cleared his throat, and Delilah snapped, “What? It’s true!”

“I don’t want power,” Samantha said flatly. “I know Ryan’s afraid of what I might do if I actually decide to be what I am, but I don’t want to be some kind of immortal thing. I just want to be … alive, a person.” She drew a breath. “Isn’t there another choice?”

“You’re not powerful enough to create your own body,” Ryan said with a sigh. “And your consciousness as Samantha is too restricted to allow it to survive long without a mortal form.”

“Then … then I guess there’s no choice.” With a lopsided smile, Samantha said, “Brent, I guess we’re swapping. And … I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”

“I’ll leave you crazy kids to your games,” Ryan said, turning away.

“You’re not going to help?” Delilah asked.

“I’m going to cast a secondary circle outside this room, to keep the hospital staff and scavengers out, and any other power inside. If you screw up, I won’t let it hurt anyone else in the building. That’s my role in this. You’re all too old for me to hold your hands. Delilah …” Ryan paused, and shook his head. “Be careful.”

He closed the door softly behind him.

Cooper could taste his anxiety as Delilah, Brent and Samantha looked at him hopefully.

“This is all you, Coop,” Delilah said. “The only thing I can do is try to temper Samantha’s power so it doesn’t go crazy again.”

“I got scared before,” Samantha said. “In the woods. I got so scared.”

“I guess you’ve got an excuse for it,” Delilah said grudgingly. “The last time anyone around you tried to work with an elemental, you kind of died in a raging inferno. I’m going to have to ask you to try very hard to stay calm this time.”