Flesh: Chapter 1 by Nicola Collings (best novel books to read txt) 📕

                     The light was beginning to tire. It was now that Luna faced a dilemma.

                     Should she leave them to fight and watch it to it’s finish, the lights would indefinitely find out that a shadow colonial had killed or maimed one of it’s lights and come for them, risking exposure and another war. Maybe even the threat of being forced back to sleep.

                     However, if she stopped the fight, the shadow would be her immediate problem. It would be seen as consorting with a light. As a threat to the colony. The shadow would tell. Word would get out. They would do what shadows always did to a leader who didn't act as they pleased. Luna thought about the way shadows treated their leaders. Even someone who didn't want to be in charge. The shadows didn't like change. If their leader wasn’t leading them correctly, or didn't assert the proper authority, then they would attempt a Cleanse. Torture. Re-education.

                     Now, Luna was eons old, far older than the rest of her colony, probably the only one left from the beginning of the Earth, when there was nothing but shadows and the lights hadn’t been born. The age of her colony was about a hundredth of Luna’s. The difference between their ages would make a Cleanse very difficult. If all of the shadows had survived the Purge and the slumber, then it would be different, but the attempt on Luna’s mind would be painful. It wouldn’t work. It would take years to achieve something of this magnitude.

                     So, should Luna risk her own sanity in order to save the colony from it’s reckless ways, or should she save herself and put the colony at risk.

                     Luna watched the colours for a moment, the strands of black smoke mixing with the tendrils of white seeping from the battle, causing grey shapes to rise in front of her.

                     Luna made a split decision and leapt down from above, standing between the two, who were thrown apart at her arrival. The light went silent, dropping her hands, letting the white weapons pulsing from her body wash away in the wind.

                     The shadow growled; he stared at her, knowing who she was and knowing what her had to do.

                     “You risk us a war with the lights for what? Your little adrenaline rush? Go, tell the colony, I don’t give a fuck.” Spat Luna, already regretting her choice.

                     The shadow melted away to darkness and Luna turned to the light.

                     “Thank you.” She said, politely.

                     “What’s your name?”

                     “Rhiannon. Why did you do that? I was beating him.”

                     Rhiannon grinned, something Luna had only seen children do. “You’re a light. I don’t want another war between us and I don’t want any harm to come to my colony.”

                     “Hey, just so you know, I picked the fight with him. Fighting’s my thing, I like to get practice by beating up weaker opponents.” Rhiannon leaned against the wall behind her, casually.

                     Luna felt her insides cringe. So, if she had just left the fight to itself, it would have been ok. Well, shit.

                     “Well, I best be going. Enjoy having your mind crushed by your colony.”

                     Rhiannon was about to leave. “Wait, how do you know about Cleansing?”

                     “They do it in light colonies. But far less often. If there’s something wrong with our elders, we try talking it out before we take extreme measures. But hey ho, I s’pose they do things differently in shadow colonies.”

                     Well that was something that Luna didn’t know. Maybe it was worth a try in the shadow colony. Maybe.

                     “What was your name again?” asked Rhiannon.

                     “Luna.”

                     Rhiannon reached out and shook Luna’s hand. “Nice knowing you, Luna. That was a good thing you did, risking your life for your colony. Good bye, Luna.” And with that, Rhiannon walked down the alley way and around the corner.

                     Part 3: Scottish Countryside.

                     Jesse sat at the dining room table feeling sick to his stomach. The vision had forced it’s way through his thoughts, pushing and pulsing with pain. As his the vision slowly returned in his eyes, Jesse saw his mug of coffee, splayed over the wooden table, the thick, brown liquid seeping through the cracks.

                     The vision had been brief, but he could still see the image clearly. Just one image. Fran’s face, staring at him. Her face was different. She wasn’t the soft, cheerful Fran he knew her to be. Nor was she plain angry or sad. Her emotion went deeper, a look of pure loathing and hostility that couldn’t possibly belong to Fran! It was like a poison had putrefied her skin and possessed her eyes.

                     It wasn’t Fran.

                     It couldn’t have been.

                     There was something else too. Not an image, but the sense of another presence. It was familiar, he felt like he knew it. But not yet. It was strange.

                     Athens:

                     When Luna returned to the colony, she knew what awaited her. She stepped out onto the balcony and gazed at the shadows below. They stared back, their yellow glowing eyes either angry or saddened or both. When she stepped out onto the dance floor, they didn't part to let her through. Instead, they surrounded her on all sides.

                     “Luna. Why?”

                     Luna turned to see David coming through the crowd.

                     “I have a duty. Something that none of you seem to understand.” She replied.

                     David looked down, approaching her and putting a hand on her face. “You’re so beautiful. Such a shame.”

                     He turned and walked away. Her hands were forced behind her back and someone pushed her to the ground. She could only gaze at the blood-stained ground. The heavy thumb echoed around the silent room as she was knocked to the floor.

                     The next thing Luna knew, she was waking up, staring around at the walls of a small, dark room. The walls were dirty and peeling and there was water on the moss-covered tiles of the floor. Her wrists were tied and so were her ankles, with chains that were cold against her skin. Her studded leather jacket was on the floor in the corner and so were her boots. She only wore black skinnies and a pale grey, thin vest top. The sound of dripping came from somewhere.

                     The door was metal and a small window was barred. Behind the window was a pale face.

                     The shadow of a smile flickered across it’s face and footsteps faded away into the distance. And then Luna felt tired. She’d seen it happen before. She’d taken part. She knew the drill.

                     The thousands of shadows in her colony were currently sat, all thinking one thought. One thought that linked their minds and empowered them. One, communal thought that caused thousands of separate minds mould into a singular being. This one mind pushed against Luna, each wave washing away of a part of herself. Luna sagged in the chair, the room dark and cold; no matter how many psychic walls she tried to put up, there was always the endless waves of power, pushing....always pushing...

                     In her life, the longest Cleansing Luna had been a part of had lasted a week. Although, the recipient had acted as though it had lasted centuries- she’d heard about how the concept of time means nothing when you’re having your life erased. And to Luna, it felt as though a moment was an eternity. She started to feel pain in her head, the chains rubbing against her skin, which felt sensitive and itchy. A headache thumped against her efforts to protect herself from her followers. Her muscles tensed in effort.

                     She started to think about other colonies. It was scary to think about how this kind of thing went on, and colonies actually succeeded in rewriting the minds of their leaders to suit their benefits. People, walking around like zombies, shaped and moulded just because some small aspect of their persona wasn’t quite right.

                     It felt like days. Luna felt tired, an ancient ache that constantly pushing itself against the walls of her mind. She slumped in her chair, the chains rubbing against her red raw skin. There was now a constant ringing in her ears and she felt her body start to give. You see, the physics of shadows and lights are different from humans. The force from the shadows performing the cleanse where physically affecting Luna, who was pushing back. It was like two walls closing upon her from either side. If one side of the force is greater, then the other force will break. Luna could not push much longer.

                     There was a crack and she felt her ribs begin to break. Her legs began to fracture with the pressure and her skull started to warp.

                     Through the pain, Luna felt her skin go cold. Pushing through the cold wall of her mind, pushing through the waves from her colony. There was something wrong, though. Whenever she’d taken part in a cleanse, the force was far more greater and it was so much more easy to get into a mind and start to rewrite it, as a whole thought. The singular thought from her colony, however, was not as strong. It was enough to cause immense pain, but nothing as amazing as changing parts of a personality!

                     This wasn’t even a cleanse at all! Luna opened her eyes and felt blood seep from them and role down her cheeks. She stared into the dark corners of the room. The darkness came to life and bent at her will. Black smoky shadows started to stir and awaken and become like an ocean around her, the waves creating a whirlpool around her bare feet. She didn’t know how she was doing it, but one, profound thought rang out in her head.

                     One thought that took up all her remaining energy to maintain. The shadows rose up like snakes around her, their sharp edges cutting at the metal around her wrists and body, breaking her free. Before Luna fell from her chair, she let go, sending her body into the darkness, not forgetting her boots and jacket.

                     At first, there was a pause. Luna stopped, collecting herself, readying herself, gathering her energy. With one scream that echoed out, she flew forwards, the shadows darkening the hallway before her, exploding through the walls yet leaving behind no evidence of the sort except for unconscious bodies of shadows. Luna’s darkness swallowed the club, rebounding off walls, trying to find some escape, until she found the front door and sank through it, her shadows receding.

                     And then she was free. Soaring through the night sky, she began to search. Somewhere familiar, away from prying eyes.

                     Luna flailed slightly before picturing a place in her blur of a mind and putting all her energy into speed and flight. The night was only so long...

 Edinburgh:

                     Jesse stood at the back of the church, his hands fumbling and his eyes down. A group of people stood near the alter before a huge stain glass window depicting Jesus. Of course, the rest of the catholic cathedral was decorated with the crosses and angels that thrive in the Christian faith. It was normal for lights to be religious; they believed themselves to be so righteous. Jesse knew better.

                     “Jesse.”

                     He heard his name, and even jumped slightly at the deep, masculine voice that sounded it through the cloisters and pews, causing it to echo.

                     He looked up.

                     “You wanted to see us?”

                     “He does. He’s had another vision.” Fran appeared next to him. Jesse resisted the urge to recoil.

                     The group of lights were dressed as vicars, all apart form one,