Immortal Light: Wide Awake Read Online Free PDF Page B

a
distraction.
    Flipping on the dome light, she
examined the mess of books on the passenger side of the car. They
had all slid to the floor like fallen dominoes in the crash. She
reached down and picked up a copy of a fantasy fiction book about
mythical creatures living in the United States. She tried to read
it but couldn’t, so she rested her head back and closed her eyes
with the book open across her lap. She tried not to think about her
fate and instead focused on the blackness. She thought of Sunset
Bay in the summer time, how she would try and stray away from her
parents down the beach, but her mother would inevitably call her
back. For a moment, she felt as though she could feel the warmth of
the sun and the sand of the beach, when her repose was suddenly
interrupted by a knock on the glass.
    Opening her eyes, she looked up at Benjamin
again outside her window. With frustration she opened the door just
enough for him to peak his face in.
    “ Jack’s coming with the truck and
trailer. I described what happened and he says he can fix it. He
should be here in about ten minutes.”
    Lucy just shook her head. “There’s no way. How
can he fix that?”
    Benjamin stared back for a long silent
moment.
    “ He’s got some magic in
him.”
    Lucy just rolled her eyes. “Okay, I’m dead
anyway. Might as well give it a shot.”
    Benjamin nodded and Lucy looked into his
fantastically green eyes.
    “ May I join you?” he
asked.
    After a moment’s hesitation, Lucy leaned over
and unlocked the passenger door to let him in.
    “ Thanks for your help. I don’t
know what Jack can do, but I appreciate the help.”
    “ Not a problem,” Benjamin replied
as he turned to walk around the car.
    After getting situated in the passenger seat,
Benjamin examined the books at his feet. Lucy could feel her heart
rate return to normal.
    “ Don’t look at those, they’re just
for fun. I don’t really read that stuff.” The selection of fantasy
and science fiction novels sprawled on the floor embarrassed
her.
    “ No, they’re great; I’ve read
almost all of these.”
    He sorted through the spines. Lucy
watched him and was intrigued by his interest in the stack of
mediocre literature.
    “ Was that you I saw out there on
the beach?” Lucy had to say something to ignore her wracking
nerves.
    Benjamin looked up from his sorting. “Yeah, I
was going for a walk.”
    “ In the rain? At midnight?” Lucy
asked incredulously.
    “ Why not? I love lightning
storms.” He just smiled at Lucy and went back to his
books.
    “ You know, this is all your
fault,” she said to him.
    “ Why do you say that?”
    “ If you hadn’t been out there,
standing like a lightning rod on the beach, I wouldn’t have been
speeding down the hill.”
    She wanted to blame him and be mad at him, but
the fight was pretty much gone.
    Benjamin sat up and gave her his full
attention. “I’m sorry. I should have known it would look
weird.”
    Lucy sat back in her seat. She crossed her
arms as Benjamin stared.
    “ So, what happened with the deer,
was he really not that hurt?”
    “ I think he may have had some
broken ribs or something, but he was well enough to run off. I just
sort of helped him up.”
    Lucy shook her head as she looked at the hood
of her car again.
    “ It’s amazing that he could do so
much damage to my car and still be alive.”
    “ You’d be surprised at how
resilient animals can be.”
    The words had barely finished reverberating
off the car’s interior when, from down the road, Lucy saw
headlights grow brighter and larger until the nose of a pickup
truck appeared. It pulled into the parking area and turned around.
In the light of her lone headlight, she could see that it was
pulling a long trailer with a car already on it. The whole rig came
to a stop and a tall figure emerged from the truck. Lucy could tell
already that Benjamin’s brother, Jack, was not a small person. He
stood almost as tall as the pickup next to which