Chapter 7

"Stand strong as one community against a common enemy."

We have been walking in the woods for almost an hour now. Collin is in the front with the map. Jackson was right about one thing, the forest in Light is far different from the one in training and in Darkness.

The Wall of Equilibrium behind me is covered with colourful painting; unlike in Darkness vines covered the Wall. The sun in Light is blazing hot, causing water droplets to appear on my face. I've always learnt about sweat and only sweat during training but have never experience sweat by just standing underneath the sun.

"We're reaching Brightsbury soon. Maybe before sunset," Collin tells us.

Judging by the direction of the sun, it is evening now. I catch the sight of a creature moving in the trees. The birds in Light are much colourful and noisier. They communicate using different pitches of chirps. Some birds are large, while some are tiny.

"Who's there?" a gruff voice yells not far from us.

Collin freezes. Theresa and I follow suit. None of us say a word as we exchange glances, silently asking each other what to do.

"We mean no harm," Collin yells back.

Heavy footsteps are coming towards us. I tense at how close the distance between us and a Light. Someone – a large man – walks into our view. He has thick curly blond hair and a face with thick moustache that is intimidating. He is also wearing white singlet that shows off his huge belly and light blue jeans.

"Who are you people?" he asks us with narrowed eyes. I can see that he's carrying some sort of weapon in his right arm.

It is a gun.

"We're just trying to find out way to Brightsbury," Collin answers him. "Do you have any idea where it is?"

"Yeah, just go down south. A piece of advice. Try not to wander this far in the woods unless you have a death wish," the man says with amusement coating in his voice.

Collin shrugs. "We will keep this in mind. Thanks for your help."

We walk heading south where we receive a lot of stares along the way. The further we walk, the more we see Light and fewer trees. The town of Brightsbury is nothing like Gloom.

In Gloom, the skies are covered with grey clouds and skyscrapers. People wear black, grey or white formal clothes walk in straight lines in the sidewalks. The number of vehicles is limited in Dark to reduce the risk of pollution.

In Brightsbury though, warm orange colour the sky as the sun begins to set. The buildings are about two or three storeys high and those buildings are for business uses, like music store and bookstore. The buildings are arranged parallel on two sides, separated with the road in between.

Collin, Theresa and I walk close to each other as we down the streets where Light children are playing in the sidewalks and adults walking the same direction as we're heading. I study my surrounding with interest.

I have never seen children playing all my life because I rarely see them. Dark children are raised in a separate institution until they reach puberty. There are about ten or more blonde kids, singing and laughing in a circle whereas one kind is jumping whenever the two kids swing a rope with one holding each end.

"Marcus," Collin says, snapping me out of my reverie.

The adults and teenagers mostly have different colours of hair. A boy of my age with green hair skates past me with something sticking into his ears. His mode of transportation is a plank with rollers beneath them. I'm amazed at how well he manages to avoid people along the way in high velocity and keep balance.

"Excuse me, do you know where is the mayor's office?" Collin asks a Light who is sitting on the pavement, staring into space. He looks like he is having troubled thoughts with his hard frown on his face.

The elderly man looks at us with our belongings with calculative eyes, taking his time as he pops a small sweet-like delicacy into his mouth.

"You new?" the man questions.

"Yes."

"Where are y'all from?"

"Vivid."

The man slowly gets on his feet with the help of his walking stick. "Come with me."

We follow the current of the crowd, towards the end of the two streets and loud sound. The sound gets louder as the man guides us closer to the mayor's office. The town of Brightsbury is designed such a way that all the streets are connected in the origin of a circle, where the tallest building is located. Just in front of the building is a piece of green land where a group of Light come together. Apparently, the sounds originate from the assembled crowd.

"You can find the mayor there," the man says, pointing at the tallest white building in this town. His eyes focussed on the small stage. I do the same, observing what they are doing.

There are two male and one female teenage Light, each at different positions on stage. A blue haired boy with weird makings on his hands is sitting at the back beating a pair of sticks onto his instrument that creates synchronized beats. The other boy, who has long blond hair and is slouching due to his tall height, is standing close to the blue haired boy with a golden instrument that releases a high pitch sound. The red haired girl on stage is standing with her fingers gliding over the black and white keys of the electronic music maker that makes different pitches of sound. All of them are also wearing t-shirts of the colour of their hair.

The front of the stage is noticeably empty, since there are unattended music equipment. The teenagers on stage look like they are waiting for something or perhaps someone while testing out their instruments. After all, the sounds they are creating are not synchronised.

Some part of the crowd - mostly made up of teenagers – are seated in arranged plastic chairs facing the stage. The remaining crowd, including myself, stand.

"Marcus." Collin grasps my attention. "Your mother and I will speak to the mayor. Why don't you just stay here and ... enjoy the performace."

"Okay, dad."

They leave for the building while I stay put. The man who showed us the direction disappears among the huge crowd. My hands are starting to ache from holding the luggage, so I put it on the ground.

Suddenly, someone ram into me from behind. Acting on instinct, I keep myself balanced so I won't fall to the ground face first before turning to face whoever bumped into me. The person is a blonde girl with green eyes. She is petite, almost reaching my shoulders but it doesn't make her look weak. In fact, she looks like a person not to mess with.

"Are you alright?" I ask the girl who is staring at me with a lost look. Her mouth hangs open for considerably a long time. I repeat my question and she quickly closes her mouth, looking down at her red shoes with her cheeks turning the same colour.

"I'm okay. I'm so sorry!" she apologizes, taking a step back. I notice that she is wearing white blouse and green jeans that matches both her hair and eyes. The black long bag on her back is the reason why I nearly fall off my feet when she accidentally pushed me.

"It's okay," I assure her. "No harm is done."

She does not listen, only continue to speak faster until I can barely comprehend her. I manage to catch words like 'clumsy' and 'idiot'. It takes her a few seconds to calm down enough to take a deep breath. Then, "I'm really sorry."

I nod. "You're forgiven. It was just an accident."

The girl tucks a strand of her loose blonde fringe behind her ear. Her hand casually wanders to her shoulders and lingers there for a moment. She frowns, tapping on her shoulder before doing the same with her other shoulder. I can recognize the emotion on her face. It is the same emotion I've seen in Dark when people heard of Benjamin's news of his death.

Panic.

She is looking around frantically at the ground. She is looking for something. I follow her gaze, trying to find what she dropped.

"Oh no. I'm late and I lost him. That's just marvellous. Where is he?" she moans, walking off with her eyes glued to the ground.

Picking up my luggage, I catch up after her. The least I can do is help her find what she lost. "Umm... what are you looking for?"

"My friend."

Are Light this crazy? She's looking for her friend that she dropped? Is she imagining things or is she in need of a psychiatrist? Theresa would have been at use if she were here right now.

"Your ... friend?" I ask.

Before she can reply, something small and brown zigzag towards the girl. The girl lets out a squeal as the creature jumps straight into her waiting hands.

"Thank goodness! I thought I lost you, Nuts," the girl tells the animal as she places it on the shoulder she was tapping on.

The brown eyes of the squirrel glares at me with, maybe, suspicion. I have never seen a squirrel up this close before. I've seen them in Dark and I know enough that they are afraid of us which is why they never dared to come close.

Her friend that she lost is a squirrel and the squirrel almost looks like it also has expressions.

Is it normal for Light to have animals as friends? During training, they have never mentioned animals as companions to Light. All they said is that they can feel the environment and that's the reason why they are naturally environmentally-friendly.

I lean away from the girl right away. She developed her natural gift and I must avoid making any skin contact with her. She may uncover my true identity at this very moment.

Fortunately for me, she doesn't seem to remember that I am still here. The girl runs up to stage, where the teenagers greet her. I can see that the crowd is getting quieter, their attention on the last member. She sets her bag behind the drummer where a small hill of bags lay. She takes out a long instrument with strings. The girl and the teenagers form into a small circle and talking to each other for a brief moment. Then they smile and separate to their respective places.

The girl who knocked into me is in the front facing the microphone. Her eyes twinkle with happiness. The squirrel is no longer on her shoulder but eating its food on the pile of bags.

"Good evening, people of Brightsbury. We're The Penny Band. Our first song is an original called 'Secret Admirer'," the girl says into the microphone. I wince at how loud her voice is. Their sound system is terrible compared to the ones in Dark. There is buzzing sounds in her voice but the crowd does not seem to mind it. Maybe they're used to it or their ears are meant for this frequency.

I sense someone next to me. It is Theresa.

"Come. Your father has talked with the mayor. They have come to an agreement. Your father has a job as a doctor and in exchange for his services, we will be provided with an apartment and a reasonable pay to your father."

I turn back to look at the green eyed girl before following Theresa to our new apartment. The town is almost empty. I supposed it is because most of the residents are at the concert. It takes us a while to find our apartment with very few people to help us.

Our apartment is just above a bookstore and about five minutes away from Brightsbury High School. The apartment is small and cosy, suitable for us. It almost looks like a regular Dark apartment except for the fact that there are more strange machines and the walls are painted in blue and yellow colours. Collin has assigned us to different rooms and has given us a briefing about our new life in Light.

"Marcus, I need to talk to you for a moment," Collin says, clearly dismissing Theresa. She wordlessly leaves us alone in the colourful living room. She has a long day tomorrow. She has to find a job. "The mayor insisted that you start school right away. I mentioned that you have taken interest in medicine. This town does not have a doctor since their previous doctor has flee. There is a deadly plague spreading across Light and it is heading right towards Brightsbury."

"A plague?"

"Yes. It is chronic to them, hopefully not to us as well. I'll take a look at the sample tomorrow and see whether they can affect us. The mayor is desperate for a healer and with you interested in medicine, he is willing to do anything so I can help find a cure and you may take over as the future doctor of this town. The subjects you're going to study in school is all related to chemistry and biology, all that you've learnt before."

I nod. "What time does school starts here?"

"At eight in the morning. I'll accompany you to school on your first day. Now, get settled in your new room and have enough sleep."

I obey his instruction.

I feel oddly calm at the thought of being in a school full of teenage Light, but it doesn't stop my heart from beating frantically when I wonder if I'm going to see the green eyed girl tomorrow.

Author's Note

Awww... Marcus is so new to this world and he's so curious about a certain girl. *smirks*

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-M.