Grey Eyes and Sunlight Hair

By Sonja

Chap 1

      John was late again. Mark sighed, glancing nervously at his watch every few minutes. Occasionally he would twirl a strand of his long black hair around his finger. Traffic was going to be bad. On his fourteenth glance, John bounded out the door and down the sidewalk. His pale, long hair trailed in his wake. Mark smiled inwardly, everyone always said John’s hair was like sunlight. He was pretty sure the comparison was only made because of John’s fantastic personality.

      “Heya Mark” he crowed as he hopped into the open passenger door.

      “You’re late”, Mark sighed.

      “Yeeeeah, sorry ‘bout that.” Mark hated it when John grinned, it was impossible to be angry at him.

      “So how’s it goin’?” John leaned back and flung his feet on the dashboard. Mark glanced at him before revving the engine and racing around the corner to the highway.

      “S’alright” he shrugged. The unusual silence that followed prompted Mark to sneak a peak in John’s direction. His friend was watching him, in a determined, dead silence. Uneasy with the quiet, Mark flipped on the radio.

      “It’s been 10 years,” John’s voice was sharp over the blaring rock. Mark didn’t answer. “You still haven’t even looked at another girl since Emily.”

      Mark shrugged off the comment. “Never really liked any of the others.”

      “Ya sure you don’t want me to bust the guy’s face?” John grinned, running his fingers through his hair. “What was his name again? Joe? Mack?”

      “Jack” Mark spit the name out.

      “Could bang ‘im up real good. Don’t know where they live though.” John looked like he was day dreaming about his favorite past time. “Show that girl who was her future.”

      Mark made a disgusted face, but continued to avoid looking John in the eye, pretending instead to concentrate on the road. The idea was still tempting after all these years. “Naw,” Mark forced a smile and flashed it at John. “S’ok. I’m ok.”

      “If you say so,” John stared out the window as a large sign flashed by: VALLEY ROAD OVERPASS. He started to doze as they approached the bridge. The city was just over the hill on the other side of the river.

      John woke suddenly to the squeal of brakes and a large crunch followed by the tinkle of shattered glass. He flung his eyes open just soon enough to watch the crumpled body roll off the hood of car. Jaw wide open, he stared through the spider web of cracks before spinning to Mark, screaming “What the f*&% is wrong with you? You hit a f*(%$ing person!” He gulped in air to continue the tirade, but paused, noting for the first time the stone cold terror in Mark’s face. John followed the look to find the road ahead of them littered with blood and corpses. Cars faced every which way on the narrow pass, the river winding slowly beneath them. Slowly Mark opened the car door and climbed out. John jumped to follow him, yanked back by the seatbelt. Scrambling to free himself, he stumbled out of the car.

      Mark was staring at the body in front of his shattered windshield. “He just fell from the sky” he muttered. The man at their feet barely looked like a man anymore. John surveyed the rest of the scene; most of the people were sprawled out on the street. Others huddled over the wounded. Something was wrong though. The picture was not one of the usual disasters. A cold sweat made it’s way to John’s face as he watched one of the people huddled over a little girl look up. Blood dripped down his mouth as he grinned manically. “Mark…” he whispered, as his gaze moved from body to body, watching the feeding frenzy. “Mark,” he called a little louder, snapping his friend out of a daze.

      Mark finally looked up from the man on the street. His reaction was immediate. Before John could stop him: “OH MY GOD!” The people hovering over the dead all looked up in unison. Each one smiled, some wiping blood from the lips, others not even bothering. They launched at the pair as John turned to run. Mark, however, froze in sheer terror. John only saw a quick glimpse of his friend as he was enveloped in black cloaks. An instant later, they fell upon John, clawing at his arms and legs. Death was near. John knew it. Then they were gone.

      Slowly opening his eyes, he saw nothing. Thinking it a dream, he bolted upright. His head ached from the move and he had to lean back to keep from fainting. The carnage remained. With a groan, he struggled to his feet. Gripping his bleeding side, John hobbled over to Mark. There was only one cloaked figure between him and his friend. As he got closer, John grew nauseous, scared, cold. The long silver hair draped over the man’s back seemed dead, almost like rays from the moon. As he got closer, a light sucking sound could be heard. John’s stomach churned. In a moment of panic John yelped “Hey!” The man spun, faster than any human possibly could. Grabbing John by the shoulders he slammed him against Mark’s car. That’s when John saw his eyes. Red, not just red, blood red, hatred red, pained red.

      John saw visions then, of people in the distant and not-so-distant past. They were nailed to walls by various body parts, clawing through their own eyes, ripping out their own nails. They would bite themselves, huddle in balls and scream. In the middle of the chaos, John saw the man standing, laughing cruelly. It was sheer evil personified and his eyes filled John’s vision. He was back against the car, with the man standing in front of him. John screamed. He screamed in terror, in pain, in want of death. The man leaned against him, chuckling in his ear, before a long tongue snaked out of his mouth to lick a spot of blood from John’s cheek. The last thing he saw before blacking out was Mark’s face: the nose had been bitten off.

Interlude Part 1

      He woke to sirens, the sun beating down on his face. A light breeze buffeted the soft fabric against his bare arms. The darkness behind his eyes was now god-awful. Throwing his eyes open, blinded momentarily by the light, he forced his mind to focus. There was a green, metallic wall two inches from his nose. It was twisted and scratched, but he could make out white block letters. Reaching out slowly, he ran his fingers over the writing… V-A-L-L…..O-V.

      “Hey, this one’s still alive!” The shout seemed near and yet distant. He heard shoes on pavement and felt his body move. There were people, real people, not like THOSE people. They crowded around him, bombarding him with questions. “What happened?” “Who were they?” “Did you see them?” “What did they look like?” He trembled slightly, forcing himself to think back.

      “Who was the leader?” He turned to answer the last question, asked by a man in a black cloak. The night’s images came rushing back to him. He slowly began to inch away from the man. “Come now sonny, you must tell us.” The man moved closer. With a shriek, he pushed himself to his feet and went running down the road.

      He reached the city, trying to tell everyone what he had seen. The words poured out in floods, but no one believed him. He wandered the streets for days after that. Chattering to anyone who would listen. He broke into a tanning salon and slept with on the floor with one of the beds glowing out of door. It was only a few weeks before the streets were filled with screams every night. It didn’t matter, he didn’t sleep much. His dreams had been infected by the man with the red eyes. After two years of that existence, he gave up and slit his own throat. He dreamed his only dream one last time, replaying the night on the bridge, always waking to the sign. The white letters, so pure against the fake green background, the twisted metallic world, were his last source of hope for the world.

Interlude Part 2

      He woke to those letters. The graceful white, neatly painted on the twisted metal.

“Good morning.” The voice was familiar. He wasn’t sure where he had heard it. Slowly he opened his eyes to see a man with hair the color of moonlight and blood red eyes. He felt as if he should fear this man, but he didn’t. Turning his head slightly (noting the metal plate around his neck), his gaze found another man sitting on a table against the wall. He was sulking, purposely not looking in his direction. “This is your new charge,” the voice of the silver haired man sounded in his ears. The command did not move him from his place, but a curious desire to be closer to the dark one in the corner got him to slide off the table. Shifting in front of the man, he waited. He wasn’t sure what he was waiting for, but he was sure this was the thing to do.

      As the silver haired man chuckled, he felt a small trickle of hatred pool in his chest. “I’ll leave you two to get better acquainted then.” The door clicked behind him, the man with the black ponytail glared after at it for a while, as if daring it to open again. He waited, not taking his eyes of the dark one in front of him.

      After a few minutes of silence, the dark man turned to survey the tall creature in front of him. “What’s your name?”

      He thought for a moment, not remembering. Nothing from his life came back to him, except those white letters. “Vallov” he mumbled.

      “I’m Jack,” the man offered. The name sounded familiar to Vallov, he decided then that whatever was close to his past life was best. The long black hair seemed vaguely reminiscent of a former companion. It was comforting to him. Vallov thought there was an appropriate action for this feeling of comfort and acceptance, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was, so he nodded.

Chapter 2

      The tall character of light hair strode into the candlelit room. He stopped, towering behind the red couch in front of the empty fireplace. “How was it?” Jack lowered his arm to stare up at the golem with bright red eyes.

      “The clouds from the night’s rain were just beyond the edge of the horizon. The sun was able to get beneath them for a few moments. It made everything the color of fire. The actual rays were visible just north of the sun due to a slight fog. Closer to the light was a faint rainbow.”

      Jack watched as the expressionless face fell silent once more. “So it was beautiful,” he sighed. Vallov’s features shifted slightly, looking pained at his failure to make Jack happy. Jack quickly smiled, recognizing the change. “Oh well, the moon rising is prettier” Vallov nodded, unreadable yet again. Jack sat up and walked towards the cabinet.

      It had been years of ritual. On their free nights, Vallov would watch the sunrises and sunsets for Jack, describing as best one can when they can’t feel much. Jack would always seem slightly saddened by this. Vallov would become upset (as only Jack could tell from years together). They would play Vallov’s favorite game to make everything better.

      Jack finished plucking the Vallov’s king off the board. Vallov always let Jack win. It made him feel better. Jack grunted and stood up. “I’m going to go sit outside for a while,” Jack called over his shoulder. Vallov only nodded and began to put the pieces away.

      Jack returned as the golem finished rearranging the furniture. “There’s something to be done tonight,” Jack spoke in an irritated voice. Vallov walked over to his master, offering him his sword when Topaz burst in.

      “Jack! It’s Mai!” Jack looked up, slightly unimpressed. “She’s runaway with Raff.” Jack looked at Vallov who only nodded and followed. They paused outside the mansion in the short grass.

      “Topaz,” Jack called from the steps to the young man racing ahead of him. “There’s something you’re not telling us.” Topaz paused before turning, looking at his feet. “I understand you want to protect Mai, so it’s in your best interests to reveal your information now.”

      “I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you Jack. I wanted to reach them before they got there.”

      “Got where Topaz?” Vallov could tell that Jack already knew, but Jack believed in honesty among companions.

      “I…I think they went to raid the base over the south ridge,” Topaz stammered.

      “Why didn’t you stop them sooner?” Jack’s voice was still calm as he began to walk, Vallov following close behind.

      “I thought I had. I spoke to Mai about it, and she said she wouldn’t go.” The hurt in his voice from this betrayal was obvious, even to Vallov. Jack clearly noticed and let the topic go as they swiftly made their way across the plains.

      “Vallov, wait here,” Jack threw over his shoulder as he and Topaz rushed down the last dune towards the base. “If you see Mai or Raff, don’t let them go anywhere.” Vallov froze, like a giant statue, standing guard over the barren spot.

      A few minutes later, a giant ball of bright light exploded behind him. As he turned to investigate, he saw the outline of a figure emerge from the glare. ‘Raff?’ he thought ‘No, a girl. It couldn’t be Mai, she’s wearing the wrong clothes.’ He stepped into the path of the approaching person. His eyes adjusting to the darkness after the explosion, he found a small woman in combat gear. Her blonde hair was a tied back mess. She came to a screeching halt in front of him. It was then Vallov noticed the tears in her grey eyes. This fear he had seen so many times before. But this feeling he had looking at her, it was new, different. It was… nice. There was something he was supposed to do here, but he wasn’t sure what it was. Just as he felt the muscles on the sides of his mouth twitch, he saw a piece of metal burst through the woman’s chest.

      Vallov’s eyes shot to Raff’s face as he pulled the knife from the woman’s back. Shortly after, his hand shot to Raff’s neck. As Vallov plucked the now squirming punk into the air, he heard the voice. “Well, well what do we have here?” Jack strode up beside Vallov. The golem chanced a glance at his master, the rat in his hands was a small matter. Jack was standing in front of him, staring at the crumpled figure on the ground.

      “Sir?” Vallov ventured a remark to break Jack’s trance. The dark one turned to look at him for a moment. It was the pained, helpless look he had seen in his master’s earlier days. In frustration, his grip tightened around Raff’s neck before tossing him to the ground. The creep made a move to stand, but Vallov shifted his weight to stand on Raff’s leg, hopefully breaking it. During all of this, Jack’s gaze was stuck on Vallov, looking confused and scared, looking for answers. Vallov did not know what response to give, so he gave the one he wanted. “We should help the girl.” The trance was broken, Jack returned to way he had been for years. Shrugging at the suggestion and kneeling down beside the girl.

      Topaz followed shortly after with Mai’s arm around his neck, helping her hobble over to the group. She must have been disoriented, because she didn’t immediately complain about Vallov’s treatment of Raff. “I can’t do it here,” Jack mused. “Let’s take her back to the house” Vallov felt the muscles in his face twitch again. They continued to do that all day, as Vallov happily beat Raff senseless, each time picturing the teary grey eyes.

Chapter 3

      He stopped only towards nightfall to dream his usual nightmares of red eyes, bridges and missing noses. The calming white letters signaled the end of his restless sleep and he rose to fulfill his duty, walking outside to stare at the deadly circle of flame as it disappeared behind the hills. The rays caught in the trees and made the leaves dance brilliant green in the shadows. Vallov took note, Jack would like that. He watched the distant ball, now glowing red and shimmering in the last of the day’s heat slowly dip behind the hills. Turning solemnly, he walked back into the house to wake Jack.

      His master woke readily, quickly jumping out of bed to his dresser. He was dressed in no time, wearing the same jacket and sash as last night. Sitting at the elegant, carved table in the next room, Jack began to brush his long, black hair. Vallov took this opportunity to fulfill the usual regime. He told Jack about the trees, the wind and the dancing light.

      Jack paused for a moment, looking at the non-existent reflection in his full-length mirror. “Vallov,” his follower looked up, viewing his own visible reflection. “I turned her last night.”

      Having lived so long without reaction, Vallov didn’t know how to respond to this new information. Nor did he know what to do with this new feeling that was slowly welling inside of him. For a moment, her grey eyes flashed through his mind. Something inside him moved at the thought of never seeing those eyes again. It was all too much to consider at this point. Instead he did as he always did: nodded.

      Jack watched the bobbing head in the mirror. Placing the brush on the table he stared at it for a long moment before speaking again. “I don’t know if I did the right thing.” Jack’s pain was his pain and Vallov began to feel discomfort with his master’s words. “But she looks so much…” Jack’s voice trailed off as he turned to look out the window, watching Vallov shift his weight out of the corner of his eye. “More importantly, we need to protect her from him.”

      At this reference, Vallov felt a flare of his only true feeling: rage, burn through his mind at the thought of the treacherous red eyes. Visions of Jack screaming in agony played in his mind, forcing a growl through his throat. He continued to threaten the empty space in front of him as if it were his mortal enemy. Just the slightest inkling of what the demon might do to those grey eyes brought the sincerest hatred to the surface of his pale face. The moment of concentrated determination was broken at the sound of his name.

      “Vallov?” Jack’s voice was quieter. Softer like when they first met. It surprised Vallov and forced his complete attention, the lingering vision of grey melting in the distance of time. “What do you think of Jill?”

      Vallov returned a questioning look. “Who sir?”

      “The one we picked up yesterday.”

      Vallov paused, searching for the words, thinking of the previous night and those tears. He could have said her hair had been long and bright, like the rays of the sun (much like his used to be). He could say her grey eyes had been desperate and scared. He could say she looked small and fragile, but when he looked in her eyes he only saw courage. None of these seemed enough. So he said the only thing he could think of, “She’s beautiful”

      Jack continued to gaze at his own missing image. “Yes,” he answered after a while, “she is.”