Jaiden Lightning and the Heart of Darkness: Chapter 1

 Hello! Dreamstar here! This post is actually a collab between me and Nia K

“Hide.”
             

“How are we supposed to hide from a shadow?”

Jaiden glared at her friend. Hide from a shadow? Had the blow to his head been more serious than she’d thought? How could you hide in darkness from darkness?

“I know that look,” Aiden whispered. “Come on. Hide now, overthink everything later.”

“Fine.” Jaiden resisted spitting the word. Aiden grabbed her arm and dragged her behind a tree, looking

around frantically and murmuring under his breath. 

“But seriously,” Jaiden started up again, “you do realize that we’re two teenagers stupidly hiding behind

a tree from a shadow?” 

“Shut up,” he hissed. “Do you have a death wish?”

“It doesn’t matter if I want to die, we will anyway!” Jaiden complained.

Aiden gave her a withering look before turning his gaze to the sky, murmuring again.

Jaiden relented. She probably sounded like a brat. “Sorry,” she muttered.

Aiden didn’t reply. Maybe he couldn’t hear her. All of a sudden, a white light erupted in front of them, so

bright it made Jaiden see spots. 

Aiden looked relieved, but the shadow had spotted them, starting to swallow up the light.

“Crap!” Jaiden said, then clapped a hand over her mouth. 

You fools, the shadow hissed.

Aiden looked utterly terrified as he pulled Jaiden through the pool of blinding light still hovering in the air.

Jaiden squeezed her eyes shut as she suddenly felt something colt and swift brush her ankle

“Open your eyes, Jay,” Aiden whispered, a hint of terror still sneaking into his voice.

“Why?” Jaiden felt him squeeze her shoulder. Suddenly, the faraway smell of something salty drifted

across her nose

“Listen, I may or may not have been hiding something but now I’m showing you because if i didn’t, we

were both gonna die or get our souls possessed by the Shadow, and I really don’t want to do this right

now so just open your eyes and get it over with,” Aiden rambled, sounding uncharacteristically nervous.

“If I didn’t know any better Aiden, I would say that you are totally losing your mind after all, and that if I

open my eyes, I’ll see that I’m in an underwater village or something,” Jaiden joked.

“Um…”

“Wait,” she said. “No way. No. Literal. Stinking. Way. You’re delusional. I bet when I open my eyes, I’ll

see something way more normal than THIS.” Jaiden was abruptly aware of how panicky she sounded.

“Open your God darn eyes already!”

“Fine, since you asked so nicely.” Jaiden cracked open her eyes, then uttered something like a scream,

plus a gasp, and a yell combined.

“Pleasedon’tkillmepleasedon’tkillmepleasedon’tkillme,” babbled Aiden.

“Aiden Lynn Stone, I swear to God that if it weren’t for the fact that we’re friends, I WOULD HAVE

ACTUALLY KILLED YOU!” Jaiden screeched.

For Jaiden and Aiden were surrounded by a deep, blue ocean that was swarming with sea life.

Colorful schools of fish darted in and out between enormous whales and sea turtles, and coral reefs

dotted the sandy floor. Far above them, a bright blue sky shimmered and stretched out across the

ocean, hazy from the water.

“I—um… Look, I’m sorry, I know this is something out of a nightmare for you but… hear me out, it’s not

that bad down here.”

He gestured to the huge, wide circle of dry sand, surrounded by a high, invisible dome, and directing

Jaiden's attention to the neat rows of hut-like houses, like a tiny neighborhood. There were people

milling around all sorts of strange things, like a circle of sand where two boys were sparring. They all

seemed to be enjoying themselves, but the water outside the dome and the fact that one of the boys

was bleeding from a scratch above his eyebrow made Jaiden sick to her stomach. Aiden squeezed her

shoulder again. “It’s okay. Just breathe.”

“Yeah..” Jaiden answered, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Breathe. Breathe... Her fury had evaporated, replaced by fear. She knew that Aiden wouldn’t have brought her here if he’d

had a choice.

He brushed his thumb against her cheek, studying the red soaking his skin. “Let’s go to the healers.

We’re both pretty banged up.”

Jaiden was still concentrating on breathing, so she just nodded and let Aiden lead her to the lines of

small buildings. He stopped in front of the first hut, taking a breath before shoving the door open with

his shoulder. 

The Healers hut was very comfortable, with teal walls and four inviting cots on either side of the room.

The Healers themselves were a pair of teenagers who looked about 18. One had amber eyes and

auburn hair that contrasted vividly with the deep blue t-shirt and jeans she was wearing. The other was

a cute boy. He wore an olive tank top, showing off his muscled arms. He had dark skin and a mop of

brown hair. His eyes were deep blue, and he was grinning at the girl, showing deep dimples in his

cheeks. 

“Aiden! Hey, bud,” the boy turned towards the 16-year-olds still in the doorway. “Who’s your friend?”

“Hi Conner. This is Jaiden,” Aiden replied.

“Nice to meet you Jaiden,” Conner said with a wink. “Always great to see new faces.”

“Anyway,” the auburn-haired girl interrupted, “we should see what crazy stunt Aiden’s pulled this time.”

Conner laughed. 

“Probably trying to sword-fight with George again.” 

Jaiden suddenly realized that blood from her cuts was starting to drip onto the sandy floor.

“Come here, Jaiden,” the girl said kindly. “My name’s Katie. Now, what happened?”

Jaiden followed Aiden into the tiled hut, noticing for the first time he was limping. Conner sat him down

on a cot, while Katie led Jaiden to one a few spaces down the row. As they were treated, Aiden

explained the whole long story.  

How they had been getting Ice-cream in the park when everyone disappeared and they were

ambushed by a shadow. How it had knocked Aiden onto the paved path, where he lay unconscious.

Jaiden explained how the shadow had turned towards her, manifesting a blade of pure darkness.

She told them about the hopelessness and pain she felt when that sword pierced her skin. The cuts

were not too bad, but only because Aiden had woken up, pulling knives out of hidden sheaths on his

belt. He’d distracted the shadow long enough for them to escape, but tripped and twisted his ankle

when they were running. That brought them up to the point when Aiden had summoned the portal and

brought Jaiden straight into her worst nightmare, though neither of them mentioned her fear of water.

“Woah,” Conner whistled when they were done, pausing in his gentle wrapping of bandages, “That’s…

Intense.” 

Katie looked Aiden over with approval in her eyes. “Smart, coming here,” she commented. “The

Oceodore Kingdom has protection spells cast over it.” 

“Cool!” Jaiden said, though privately she thought there could be a hundred protection spells over the

kingdom for all she cared.

Katie laughed and produced a small bottle of brown liquid. Jaiden saw the letters ‘HP’ on the label.

Pulling a cup toward her, Katie poured out some of the steaming liquid into the cup. She handed it to

Jaiden. 

Jaiden looked down at the brown substance, then up at Katie, then at Aiden. He was gulping down a

sludgy-green thing from a vial conner had handed him. Jaiden took a small sip. It tasted exactly like hot

chocolate. 

“Thanks,” she said to Katie, who smiled back and pointed at Jaidens arm. All the cuts and bruises that

had been there moments before were gone.

“Sadly, it doesn’t do anything for sprains and breaks,” Katie added, with a regretful look at Aiden’s

bandaged ankle.

Aiden shrugged. “Yeah, I’m used to that.”

“Ade, man,” Conner glanced at Jaiden. “Does… does the Council know she’s here?”

Jaiden looked at her friend, only to realize he was staring at the floor like it held the answers to the

universe and his cheeks had turned bright pink.

“Gonna take that as a no,” Conner suddenly looked worried, a furrow in his brows replacing his dimpled

smile. 

“I take it back,” Katie jumped in. “Bad move. This is going to take so much explaining.”

“What is?” Jaiden asked. Everyone turned to stare at her, as if they’d momentarily forgotten she was

there. 

Katie sighed. “Nothing to worry yourself with, love.”

Everyone else looked pretty worried, though. Aiden was biting his lip and looked like he might burst

into tears. Katie rubbed her temples before adding to him, “She’s going to need to stay somewhere

while we talk to Daryah.”

Conner rubbed Aiden’s back, giving him a strained smile, “Did you suspect it would find you?”

Aiden winced and shook his head. Now he looked guilty, on top of everything else. 

“Calm down,” Conner said to him. “Like Katie said, bad move, but it would be worse if it was someone

with a record. You have support, man, so don’t stress too much.”

“Tell me later,” Jaiden muttered to Aiden. He didn’t answer. 

“How about Jaiden stays here with me,” Katie offered. “And Conner, you take Aiden to the council

and send someone back to take over the rest of your shift.”

He nodded, “Yeah, that makes sense. C’mon, Aiden, Let’s get you into something less beat up.”

Conner gripped Aiden’s shoulder to keep him steady as he hobbled towards the door, looking perfectly

miserable. 

Jaiden stared woefully after him. Suddenly she decided that she couldn’t wait for Aiden to tell her what

was happening. “Katie, what’s going on?” she demanded. 

Katie sighed. “It’s not good.”

Jaiden rolled her eyes. “Oh, very informative,” she said sarcastically.

“You can worry about Aiden’s problem later, for now, let’s get you into some clean clothes,” Katie said

into the silence, striding over to a cupboard in a corner. She brought out a white hoodie with a weird

blue symbol on the chest and a pair of pants, which she handed to Jaiden. 

Katie then proceeded to pull a curtain around Jaiden’s bed so she could have some privacy.

Jaiden slipped into the clothes. The hoodie was two sizes too big, but it was comfortable and clean.

The pants, thankfully, fit much better.

“You should probably get some sleep, while you’re here,” Katie said thoughtfully, once the curtain had

been pulled back and Jaidens new outfit had been approved. “Unless you’re hungry?” 

Jaiden’s stomach chose that moment to give an enormous growl. She grinned sheepishly at Katie, who

smiled back and rummaged through a satchel that was laying on a nearby bed. 

“I’ve got some sandwiches you can have, but then you have to sleep. And if you’re not tired, I have a

stockpile of sedatives right here,” Katie threatened—a gleam of mischief in her eye as she brought out

a Tupperware box. 

Jaiden greedily reached into the container and extracted a very delicious-looking peanut butter and

strawberry jam sandwich. Katie handed Jaiden a glass of milk. 

“There you go!” she said. Jaiden enjoyed it immensely, even letting out a small burp when she was

done, then laughing.

“Alright! Now, back to business,” Jaiden began. “Where is Aiden and why did he look like he wanted to

bury himself in a hole and die?”

Katie hesitated. “Outsiders aren’t allowed in Atlantis.”

“I thought it was called Oceadore?” Jaiden questioned.

“Officially, yes, but a lot of us call it Atlantis, ‘cause why not?”

“Fair enough.”

Abruptly, Katie plunged her hand into her pocket, and pulled out a small vial of clear fluid. 

“Here, drink this,” she instructed. Jaiden looked dubiously at the vial, but downed it in one gulp. It

tasted oddly sweet. Her eyelids began to droop. Katie laid her down gently on a cot, pulling a blanket

over her and murmuring a quiet, “Good night.”

Jaiden didn’t know how long she slept, though it felt like an eternity. She slipped in and out of

consciousness, hearing snatches of conversations that should have worried her but didn’t, since her

mind couldn’t process them. 

She heard a choked Aiden telling her he was sorry, that he wished he’d seen the signs of the Heart of

Darkness— whatever that meant. He apologized for getting her all tangled up in his mess, and for not

being there for her when she wakes up.

She heard Katie and Conner, talking in hushed tones:

“Poor kid’s devastated,” Whispered Conner’s voice. 

“What was their decision?” Katie whispered back. 

“Cleaning weapons, kitchen work, that sort of thing for two weeks, and an extended time away from the

surface. Plus they haven't decided what to do about his Shadowy stalker.”

“He’s getting all guilty, isn’t he?”

“Pretty much.”

And then she was unconscious again. 

The next conversation was between Conner and a voice she couldn’t recognize. 

“How’s she doing?” the new voice asked. 

“I need to re-sedate her, then a team is going to take her back to her house so her parents don’t call

the authorities,” Conner muttered. 

“From what Aiden’s said about her, I doubt she’d like that.”

There was some shuffling before Conner’s voice asked, “How’s he doing?”

“He’s… not himself,” replied new voice. 

“Rowan, of course he’s not himself, what with the situation he’s in!”

Silence. 

“She’s stirring,” the new voice—Rowan—said. “Sedate her and I’ll gather a team of three.”

Footsteps, a door slamming shut, and a sweet taste in her mouth. 

Everything faded to black.