Buried in Sunshine (27 page)

This all seems very familiar to her—it is just
like when she confronted the light that was chasing her in Emma’s
nightmares. She reaches the edge of the glowing, swirling sphere
and places her hand against it. That same familiar strange feeling
overcomes her as she steps in. She takes a few steps forward and is
met by a familiar masked face.

The face is frozen, the familiar creepy grin
spread across its face.

“Is this where the others go?” Emma asks to the
naked, glowing form. She looks strange, Emma had only noticed her
face and chest before, but she looks to her arms and notices that
she is restrained against some kind of wall with chains by her
hands and feet. She is sticking out forward in an odd position
because she is being forced to do so. Emma attempts to reach back
and pull against the strange blue glowing chains.

“Leave them,” A voice booms in her head, almost
causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground.

“Who is this?” Emma asks as she wheels around
and sees that the girl remains motionless. She returns to the face,
the expression and eyes have not changed at all.

“I have been called many things, Sol, Amaterasu,
Ra, Shum… I could spend an eternity listing names given to me. “I
believe that you would simply name me Sun. I suppose this name
would be accurate,” the voice resounds in Emma’s head. “I did not
expect to see you this soon.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m right in front of you,” the voice replies
causing Emma to wince in pain. “I take your being here as a sign
that you have bartered time with one of the others that you refer
to as ‘clones?’

“I gave Alexis tonight,” Emma speaks to the
frozen statue. “I gave her some comfort.”

“That was very brave of you,” the voice responds
in a softer, more bearable tone. “Given that time is so very
short.”

“Can this outcome be…bartered?”

“What can you possibly offer me?”

“I don’t know…” Emma whispers sadly. “I just
don’t wish for the world to end—there are still people I care
about. I’m just starting to learn how to live. I want to live.”

“There is one way. However, it is your only
option.”

“What is it?” Emma asks, grateful to hear that
there is something that she can do to stop this from happening
after all.

“All three of the ‘clones’ must emerge as the
first rays of my light appear on the fated morning. Amongst the
three, one of them shall take my place—to be remained forever
chained by their own volition."

“And what happens to the other two?”

“They shall burn away to dust,” the voice speaks
in a tone that causes Emma’s ears to ring violently. “That shall be
the only ‘barter’ to be made. Otherwise I shall consume Gaia and
all that live upon it to end my own suffering.”

“I care for them,” Emma whispers. “Is there no
other way?”

The voice laughs in a manner that is befitting
of its terrible grin. “The three must emerge from the path. There
is no other way. Be grateful that I even offer you this tribute, as
either way, I will be destroyed. So it matters to me not.”

“What was the point to all of this?”

“The same point you tried to make at the end of
a rope. An ending…”

“Why did you let me get close to them, only to
take them away?”

“You mistook their purpose,” the voice gently
says. “You mistake your own purpose. I can claim no fault for your
actions. If it is of any consolation, your being here does ensure
me that I chose the
right
one.”

“You’re cruel,” Emma whispers.

“Millions of years estranged from my love has
made me so,” the voice booms in Emma’s head causing her to collapse
to her knees. “You would be cruel after a few years.”

“I am sorry,” Emma softly replies as she bows.
“I did not understand….may I ask who you loved so deeply that it
caused you so much pain?”

“Its name is as many as mine, Luna, Bendis,
Tsukuyomi…”

“The moon,” Emma whispers.

“Such a simple name for someone so elegant,” the
voice replies in a soft tone. “It is not fitting.”

“I apologize,” Emma says as she nods. “I knew
nothing of your pain. I will do what I have to do.”

“Do what you feel you must,” the voice replies.
“It is of no consequence to me.”

“Can I return now?” Emma asks. “Thank you for
giving me a choice.”

“I already grow weary of your presence,” the
voice resounds in Emma’s ears.

Without warning she is dropped back into the
darkness. Emma looks down as she is shot like a bullet from a gun,
she can see the Earth beneath her. She speeds towards it. In a
strange freefall, Emma looks back up to the dim light that called
itself the sun—it seems close to the earth. Perhaps it is not the
entirety of the sun itself that is descending upon Earth, but its
spirit. Emma is horrified by what has to be done. As she reaches
the Earth’s atmosphere she begins to burn once more. Her body is
overwhelmed with pain, but as quickly as it begins she turns to
nothing.

Day 6

Chapter 7: Shock and Denial

Emma gasps for air as she finds herself on the
floor next to the window that faces the lake. The sun is full and
warms her cold body. She finds that her regular clothes have been
replaced with one of the bright white dresses that the clones of
her wear. Emma coughs a few times and regains her bearings. She is
back in Justine’s apartment. It is just like the others had
described, however, there is one glaring difference—she
remembers.

The sound of crying gets Emma to her feet as she
rushes to the couch. Hope is lying curled up in a ball, Emma
figures that she must have just materialized as well. “It’s alright
Hope…”

“I feel sick,” Hope whispers. “I always feel
sick when it happens.”

“I know the feeling,” Emma says as Hope places a
hand upon Emma’s thin white dress.

“It…happened to you too?” Hope asks as she sits
up. “Why?”

“It’s okay Hope,” Emma says as she places her
arms around the small girl. “I know it is scary, but you don’t
disappear, you just go somewhere else, but you don’t remember
it.”

“You remember?”

“I do,” Emma says sadly as she looks to the
little girl. She cannot separate her feelings that this is just an
ordinary little girl from that of just being a clone, or a vessel.
To Emma, even if she is just a version of her younger self, this is
a person—she has feelings, she has her own personality.

“You’re back,” Justine says as she emerges from
her bedroom and rushes over to Emma and Hope. “You’re both
back.”

“I know how to stop it,” Emma whispers to
Justine.

Justine looks to Emma and nods. “How do we do
it?”

“I can’t talk about it…here,” Emma says as she
looks to Hope. “We have to head back to my house now.”

“I’m ready,” Justine says as she gets to her
feet.

*

As Emma pulls the car into the rock driveway,
she is greeted by Alexis who is standing outside of the door.

“Is that…” Justine says as she shields her eyes
from the sun. “Elizabeth or…is that the other one, Alexis?”

“That would be Alexis,” Emma says as she
nods.

“She doesn’t look as scary as I thought,” Hope
says from the backseat.

“She’s just like us,” Emma says as she exits the
car.

“Emma,” Alexis says as she nods. “Thank you
again for giving me that night—I hope that it wasn’t too terrible
for you.”

“I remember…” Emma whispers as she passes Alexis
and heads into the house. “I remember everything.”

“I don’t want to go in,” Hope says as she
hesitates by the door.

“I know it is scary in here,” Justine says as
she looks to the broken floor that leads down to the basement. “But
you can be brave for me right?”

“We need you to be here,” Emma says as she
smiles comfortingly at Hope, although she feels bad for doing
so—like leading a lamb to slaughter.

“Okay,” Hope says as she hangs her head down and
pouts. She reluctantly steps into the house as though she is
walking on eggshells. As the door shuts behind her she looks around
the house nervously as though expecting some kind of monster.

“What are you afraid of Hope?” Justine asks.

“I don’t know,” Hope replies as she stares down
at the floor. “I don’t remember.”

“It’s just the creepy old house,” Emma says,
quickly changing the subject. She would prefer that Hope never come
to realize why she fears the house.

“I’m afraid of this place too, with all the
spider webs and the floor all wrecked up,” Alexis adds as she
places a hand on Hope’s shoulder and gives her a little shake.
“There’s no shame in being afraid.”

“We need to talk to Elizabeth,” Emma says as she
heads towards the spiral staircase. “Can you be a really big girl
Hope, and wait downstairs by yourself?”

“I can stay,” Justine says.

“We need you,” Emma adds. “We will only be a few
minutes.”

Hope nods reluctantly as she sits with her back
to the cracked red wall. “Hurry up okay?”

“Of course,” Emma says as she gestures for
Justine and Alexis to follow her.

The three ascend the stairs and arrive at the
shut attic room door. Emma knocks softly. “Elizabeth…”

Elizabeth opens the door and allows the group to
enter.

“It’s almost time, isn’t it?” Elizabeth asks as
she coughs.

“It is,” Emma says as she reaches for
Elizabeth’s hand. She looks thin and sickly. Her eyes have dark
shadows beneath them and her lips are red and torn. “I know how to
stop the end of the world…but, it comes with a price.”

“What is it?” Elizabeth asks as she rest back
against the bed.

“The three versions of me have to go out just as
the sun is rising on the last day—once they are out in the sunlight
they will be met by a girl who has been chained to the sun for
millions of years. One of the three must take her place.”

“And what happens to the other two?” Justine
asks, growing very concerned at where this conversation is
headed.

“They disappear into dust,” Emma says sadly. “I
didn’t want Hope to know—it just…”

“You can’t send Hope out there,” Justine
protests. “She’s just a little girl.”

“She’s not real,” Alexis says. “You have to look
at her like she is one of us.”

“I…I just can’t,” Justine says as she shakes her
head. “We can’t do this.”

“If we don’t do this,” Emma says as she lowers
her head. “Then we all die. Everyone, everywhere…I met with the one
that is coming, and she does not care for our fate either way. She
is allowing herself to fall to the Earth in a final act to end her
suffering.

“Well it has to be one of us two then,”
Elizabeth says as she looks to Alexis.

“I’ll do it,” Alexis says without
hesitation.

“No,” Elizabeth softly whispers. “You’ve all
done your part to be brave—you’ve all accomplished things. Let me
do my part. Let me take on this burden.”

“You are not any less than we are,” Alexis says
as she places her hand upon Elizabeth’s. “I am sorry if I made you
feel inferior in any way. You don’t have to prove anything.”

“I want this,” Elizabeth says as she withdraws
her hand from Alexis’s. “I have felt unimportant for days. I need
this. Let me show that I can accomplish something that means
anything.”

“If you are sure,” Alexis says.

“I am completely,” Elizabeth says as she
nods.

“I am sorry that any of you have to go,” Emma
adds as she wipes away a tear from her eye. “I have grown so close
to all of you that I wish there could be any other way. I would
take any of your places if I could.”

“You’ll live on,” Alexis says as she shakes her
head. “You’ll live on for the rest of us—just be happy. You have
friends now, you have a relationship—as long as you haven’t screwed
that up, but I think he’ll still come around if you let him back
in. You have a purpose. We have a purpose too now. It may suck, I
mean really suck…but like I said before, it’s our fate. I mean, it
would get annoying after a while, all these versions of you hanging
around.”

“I would never tire of your company,” Emma says
as she attempts to hold back tears.

“Come on,” Alexis says as she smiles and
playfully punches Emma in the shoulder. “I’m trying to make you
feel better here. Don’t let some of my final attempts at levity go
to waste.”

“How are we going to tell Hope?” Justine says as
she shakes her head.

“We can’t,” Elizabeth says as she lets out a
heavy sigh. “We’ll just walk out with her—and when the time comes
I’ll take over, and Alexis and Hope will disappear.”

“That seems so mean…and unfair for her,” Justine
says as she looks away from the group. “She’s just a little girl
and she’s not going to understand at all.”

“That’s the point,” Alexis says with a matter of
fact tone. “Would you rather her be scared? Once we leave the room
that will be the last that we speak of any of this. I would rather
her die happy and oblivious to what is to come.”

“I understand…” Justine whispers as she
continues to look away. “I know it is her or the end of the world,
I just hate it.”

“The sun would have drawn me in anyway,” Alexis
says. “I have a feeling that makes me want to be there—like a
magnet that draws me in. It is what we are meant for.”

*

As evening approaches, Justine plays with Hope
is Emma’s room. Elizabeth is upstairs sleeping—she seems to be
growing weaker the closer it gets to nighttime. Emma and Alexis are
in their mother’s room.

Emma picks up a picture of her mother and looks
at it sadly, “Are you still angry?”

“I’m better now,” Alexis says as she looks to
the picture and nods. “That night that you gave me—it allowed me a
lot of time to think about things. I realized that there was no
point in being angry, not anymore.”

“I’m glad that you reached that point,” Emma
says as she places the picture back down and looks sadly to Alexis.
“You know if I could, I would take your place.”