by Platt, Sean
Sullivan, Keenan, Jade, and Teagan all discussed the offer, and Teagan asked to speak to Sullivan — the man inside, not The Darkness.
Keenan then jumped Sullivan. They struggled, with Sullivan gaining the upper hand. However, just as Sullivan was giving his ultimatum (join or die) once again, Steven’s body was killed by Rose, and The Darkness had momentarily lost Its control over Sullivan. In that moment, Sullivan realized what was happening, and shot himself in the head to save Keenan and his family.
Keenan and company then went to the diner to meet up with Brent and find a new place to lay low, unsure of who they could trust any longer since there was a hit out on them.
Marina woke in her father’s crypt, and while searching for an escape, discovered a secret room. In that room, her father’s ghost (or spirit) somehow spoke to her, telling her where to find two of the alien vials. He told her to take them to a Father Thomas Acevedo, and it was their job to save the world.
AND NOW, YESTERDAY’S GONE: SEASON FIVE…
CHAPTER 1 — LUCA HARDING
Irvine, California
October 2013
Beneath a blue sky baked by an Indian summer sun, astringent chlorine blended with the too-sweet scent of coconut suntan lotion and the happy sounds of careless play coming from the two hundred or so children and adults swimming under Luca, who couldn’t feel more out of place.
The water park was thriving with life, and he was teeming with something that could eradicate it all.
Luca stood on the diving platform, staring down at the pool’s surface, trying to calm the paralyzing fear that gave his body a tremble and threatened to send him back down the ladder.
Luca had thought that being at the pool was supposed to help test his ability, and that Rose had brought him to such a crowded place because it would be easy to infect and control others.
People’s defenses are always low when they’re gathered together and distracted by fun.
That’s what Rose had said when she was telling Luca where they were going to go, then again once they got there. But after seeing Luca’s crushing fear of heights, she had decided it was time for an impromptu lesson in overcoming that fear.
“Come on,” a boy called out impatiently from the ladder behind him.
“Jump!” a girl ordered, and added to Luca’s already heavy apprehension.
The Darkness inside him spoke. You’ll be safe.
The Darkness, as the alien had thought of itself, was comfortably nestled in Luca’s thoughts, but unlike Rose it had not taken over his body. Luca wasn’t a mere puppet or host like most other humans the alien had entered. The alien promised that he was a partner, because It found him different than the others. It said It wanted to work with Luca, not just through him. It could have easily forced Luca to leap from the edge of the board, but It merely advised him instead, knowing that given time Luca would make the right decision.
For that, Luca was thankful. When Rose had forced him to ingest the blue liquid full of alien life just two weeks ago, he had thought it was the end of himself. But it had been the opposite: Luca had been changed by the alien’s brother, calling itself The Light. Luca’s memories had been replaced with those from another Luca, from this world. The Darkness lifted the veil, scrubbed false memories away, and proved to Luca that his life was a lie.
His parents were not his parents. Nobody could ever understand him, not what he’d already gone through, or what he still had to survive.
No one could understand him as The Darkness did.
“Come on, faggot.” The boy behind him was getting louder, petty impatience filling his voice. Luca could feel him, halfway up the ladder, staring holes into the back of his head.
Luca flinched with the word, remembering the kids who’d taunted him at school.
Ignore them, The Darkness said. Just focus on the water’s surface. See that it is only a distance of ten feet, and know it.
To Luca the board wasn’t ten feet above the water. It was five hundred, and thin as a reed, slippery, with a ladder that took an hour to climb. If he hit the water wrong, he’d be dead for sure.
It’s a clear drop to the water below, Luca. There is no danger unless you slip. Your desire to retreat is only the fear. You must kill the doubts and whispering fears that will never be true. If you turn around and scramble down that ladder, you’re more likely to slip and fall, plunging to the ground and cracking your head like a melon on concrete.
Luca looked down at the water, gleaming bright beneath the sun. He felt dizzy, his stomach churning.
“I can’t.” Luca turned from the water. He was about to scramble back down the ladder, even though he could crack his head like a melon on concrete.
But the ladder was blocked by the boy who had been yelling at him. He broke the rules and climbed to the top of the ladder before Luca had dived. He was tall, a few years older than Luca, probably around sixteen. The boy’s face was big and full of zits, his thick brow was low and angry. He made Luca think of a shovel.
The Darkness said: Funny how the angriest of people look the least evolved.
Luca laughed.
“Whatcha laughing at, faggot?” Shovel Face asked.
Luca looked down. Even though The Darkness ran through him, and gave Luca certain gifts, he’d not yet learned to master his new abilities. Part of The Darkness not claiming his body meant that Luca had to tap into these abilities on his own. That’s why Rose was helping him. She was like a coach, like when Luca’s father who wasn’t really his father was teaching him how to fight.
But in the meantime Luca was still vulnerable, and about to get his ass handed to him by a bully at the top of a diving board.
“Jump,” said a voice in his head.
This time it was Rose, who could tap into Luca’s thoughts, seemingly whenever she wanted. Unlike Luca, she was controlled by The Darkness. It was a collective alien with shared memories and experiences, but her Darkness felt different. Better, Luca was certain. His Darkness had changed somehow, evolved for having been in him. Luca wasn’t sure how he knew this, whether he was picking up on thoughts from The Darkness or realizing these differences with his own senses.
Luca looked down at the chairs lined up around the pool and found Rose lying back, reclined in a pink-and-blue bathing suit, looking just as carelessly happy as everyone else in the park. She looked up at Luca and smiled.
“OK,” he said, both to the jerk and to the voices in his head.
Luca turned and walked from the platform to the ice pack-colored diving board, which bowed slightly beneath his weight. The distance between Luca and the blue water below seemed to somehow expand by another hundred feet. He was staring down from the top of a building into the rippling surface of an inescapable death.
Luca remembered watching the people who had jumped before him. They had bounced on the board then launched into the air. He used his weight to jostle the board.
One, two, th—
Shovel Face screamed, “Boo!”
Startled, Luca turned to look back. He lost his balance and slipped, his leg banging the board hard as he plunged over the side.
Luca screamed on the way down, his stomach hurled down an elevator shaft.
He slammed into the water, his stomach and face smacking the surface and knocking the air from his lungs.
Time turned to goo as Luca plunged deeper into the pool, desperate to touch bottom, propel himself to the surface, and suck some air into his lungs. Panic stabbed his brain and made his limbs do stupid things, screaming inside that he was seconds from dying, sending his legs into kicks and his arms into thrashing.
He’d never reach the surface in time. Luca would drown and no one would miss him, all because of some asshole kid.
His feet hit the bottom, and Luca kicked, thrusting upward toward the refracted sunlight.
He broke the surface, gasping, filling his lungs and feeling like a target for the park’s every eye. He turned, desperate to orientate himself and locate Ro
se. He longed for their hotel, now. Practice was over.
He spotted her, sitting on her lounge chair, leaning forward, looking at Luca, making sure he was OK.
As he started to swim toward her, Luca felt a sudden danger descending a moment before the shadow draped him. He looked up to see Shovel Face diving like a blade straight at him.
Luca tried to move, but wasn’t fast enough.
The boy barely missed, instead crashing through the water about two feet away, splashing Luca, getting water in his mouth, and causing him to gasp again.
Shovel Face surfaced through the water with a lunatic’s laughter.
Luca glared at him. The boy chuckled, almost like Johnny Thomas, then turned and swam to the pool’s side. He pulled himself up and joined another three of his friends, for a total of four assholes laughing and looking at Luca.
He turned away and swam toward Rose, hoping she’d let him practice his infection on Shovel Face.
“What was that all about?” Rose asked as he approached.
“I dunno, some jerk who decided he didn’t like me.” Luca sat in the lounge chair beside her. “Can I infect him first?”
“No,” she said, surprising him.
“Why not?”
“Because his guard is already up. He’s in adversarial mode, and a far harder person to get into. Start small. Find someone relaxed and having fun. Oblivious.”
“And then what? Are we going to bring them back to the hotel?”
“That’s not how it works. We are adding to our collective. We leave some of The Darkness inside them. It grows over time, slowly taking over until it’s ready to do whatever we need. But you’re not leaving anything in anyone today. You’re testing to see if you can enter undetected, take over for a bit, then leave.”
“OK,” said Luca, disappointed.
Though he hadn’t been keen on infecting anyone before their trip to the water park, Shovel Face had quickly changed his mind.
Rose had explained that infection was a blessing to humans, and would help to evolve them. Luca wasn’t completely onboard but could feel himself warming to the idea. Still, he didn’t want to evolve Shovel Face.
He wanted to hurt him.
Rose, as if sensing — or perhaps reading — his thoughts, said, “Forget about the boy. Find someone else.”
Luca looked around and spotted two girls lying back in chairs near the pool’s shallow end. High schoolers, or maybe in college.
“Does it matter how old they are?”
“No one too young. The truly innocent can rarely handle infection, and it would be foolish to draw attention.”
“How about those two?” Luca asked, looking at the girls.
Rose smiled. “You picked them because they’re hot?”
“No, I dunno why I chose them.”
Luca felt his face burn red. It was weird. Though The Darkness inside Rose was neither male nor female, it used Rose’s femininity to embarrass Luca during moments such as these. Rose had even caught him looking down her shirt when she leaned over, and had smiled at him in the creepiest way both times. The third time she winked. Fortunately, his Darkness pretended not to notice Luca’s occasional arousal around girls.
“They’ll do fine.” Rose smiled, leaning back in her chair, pretending to read the same book she’d been using as a prop for days.
“What do I do?”
The Darkness inside him answered. Focus. Can you see them?
Yes.
Good. Now I want you to really see them.
How?
First, you must unsee them. Stare until they blur.
Luca stared, a brunette and a blonde, both in tiny bikinis that barely covered their oily curves. He couldn’t help but stare at their breasts, the thinnest white tan lines peeking out from their straps. He wanted to see more, not less.
The Darkness interrupted his leering. Maybe you should pick someone else?
No, I’ve got this.
Luca shook his head to clear thoughts of oily breasts from his mind, then focused on the girls’ faces again.
He stared until they became a blur.
Now he was seeing with his mind instead of his eyes. A switch had been flipped. Then Luca somehow went from his mind to capture their thoughts.
The blonde girl, Ashleigh, was wishing she’d stayed home. Her mom had asked for her help with some flier she had to make for Junior League. Ashleigh had promised to help, but when Brie called she bailed on her mom. Now she felt bad. Worse, Brie wouldn’t shut up about all the expensive shit Daddy was buying for her ever since the divorce. “Guilt gifts” she called them.
Why am I friends with this person?
Luca felt odd inside Ashleigh’s head — like he was peeking straight into her mind, feeling things she felt, hearing thoughts in her voice, and seeing the movie of her life in flashes of memory. He could see the girl’s mom as she pictured her, home and sick in bed. Luca wondered if the girl’s mom was truly so ill, or if her guilt was shading the picture.
Luca wanted to dive deeper and see how the girl had last seen her mom, but wasn’t sure if he could access specific memories or was only there for the ride, seeing, hearing, and feeling along with Ashleigh.
The Darkness responded. You are in her head. But you should go with whatever she’s thinking. The more you try to direct her thoughts or explore her memories, the more likely she will feel your presence. She won’t know what’s wrong, but she will sense something, and that will decay your connection. Control requires discretion.
The longer that Luca stayed in her head, the more connected he felt. The more he liked being inside, exploring her perspective, watching, almost living her memories. He was more than a voyeur. It was like Luca was wearing her body, living the girl’s life through her.
In a rush of ten minutes, where his every cell felt fully alive, Luca learned that Ashleigh was an aspiring dancer but had suffered an injury last year that had eliminated her chances for competition. Now she was weighing her options. Ashleigh felt overwhelmed with possibilities, unsure what her next passion was — whether she should continue trying to get into CalArts, or pursue drama instead. And there was always the option for something more practical. Her father was pressuring her to take pharmacology like he had, but Ashleigh would rather wait tables forever.
Luca was intrigued by how different the girl was from how he’d originally seen her. He had thought she was a fun party girl and nothing more, hanging out and laughing with her vapid friend by the pool. But inside she had so much going on, so much internal strife and uncertainty.
The Darkness asked: You feel the connection is strong?
Yes.
Good, now I want you to try and get her to do something.
Like what?
Something small, nothing to draw attention or put her in danger. Just something to validate your control.
Luca knew what he wanted to make her do. But being inside her head had made him feel a closeness he didn’t want to violate, even if it meant not seeing her naked.
How do I get her to do it? Do I say it? Tell her to do something?
Just think it. Imagine you’re in control of her body no different from your own. You think, I’d like a drink, then will your body to get you that drink, right? Same thing here.
OK.
Luca pictured the girl sitting straight in her chair.
After he thought it, he saw through her eyes as she sat up.
Look at your friend.
She did.
“Whatcha doin?” Brie asked.
Tell her you’re going for a swim.
“I’m going for a swim.”
Ashleigh’s voice sounded odd, as if doubting the words as they fell from her mouth. Luca felt Ashleigh wonder why she was going to the pool.
The Darkness spoke inside Luca. She’s starting to resist, to sense your presence.
What do I do?
Ashleigh thought, do about what?
The Darkness said: You’re broadcasting your
thoughts. Stop it.
I don’t know how.
Ashleigh then thought: I don’t know how to what? What’s going on? What’s wrong with me?
Luca felt someone shaking him and was jolted from Ashleigh’s head and back into his own. Rose was rattling him by the shoulders to get his attention, but stopped once she saw he was back.
“Why’d you do that?” he asked.
“You were losing her.”
“Sorry,” Luca said, sad to be gone from Ashleigh’s head. After his life’s fifteen most intimate minutes with a girl, he felt like he’d known Ashleigh for years.
“It’s OK. You did good for your first try. You were able to connect and control. With practice, you’ll have it down.”
“Can we go home now?”
“No. We’ll find a few more people. But first, I want you back on that diving board.”
“What? Why? I already went off it.”
“Yes, but you’re still scared. I want you to smother that fear. You are no longer limited by your human constraints. We can help you be better.”
“A better diver?”
“Don’t be a smartass. It’s not about diving, and you know that. It’s about overcoming your weaknesses, killing them if you can.”
“It would’ve been easier if I just let It take over.”
Rose smiled. “We can still arrange for that.”
He saw her smile for what it was — a threat designed to remind Luca of his place. He was important to the scheme, but only a piece of the puzzle, a bit player in The Darkness’s plan for humanity. It had no time to waste on Luca’s whims and worries. If he was too scared to conquer a diving board, they’d likely make him a host like Rose.
Whatever remained of Luca would be gone forever.
He couldn’t allow that to happen.
“OK, I’ll do it.” Anger fueled Luca’s trip to the board.
He stood in line behind a dark-haired girl with pigtails. She looked around eight years old. There was a tall black kid with red shorts climbing the ladder in front of her.
Pigtails looked up at Luca and smiled sympathetically. “That looked like it hurt.”
