-——————————————-

“GRIZELDA, I NEED HELP DOWN HERE!” I screamed up the stairway.

“COMING!”

A few moments later, the sound of boots on metal met my ears, a blur quickly followed. Before I knew it, she had the succubus in a leg choke hold on the ground. “Holy fuck, thanks.” I quickly situated the neck snare around the escapee’s throat. “How’d you get out?” I asked, getting the shade on her feet and taking her to a new cell.

“Oh come on, why does any of that matter, don’t you wanna—”

“Just tell me, I’m not playing games. If you aren’t willing, I can just have her put a bullet through your head.” I turned the demon to Grizelda who had the cell block gun in her hands.

“I-I think it was a power short or something,” she sighed.

“Great, that wasn’t so hard now was it.” I turned the shade back the other way, “Check and make sure no others got out. If you see any outside their cells, feel free to put a bullet in their heads, it’ll get into their bloodstream fastest that way.”

“Aye aye captain.” Grizelda retorted sarcastically.

Shoving the succubus into a new cell, I made sure the door locked behind her, “Next time, just holler, and I might not put a bullet through you—” A gunshot rang out, “your head.”

Turning back to the entrance, I saw the second floor was open, which explained why the sound was quieter than it should’ve been. Two more shots rang out, causing me to make my way down to floor two.

What was left was far more blood than I expected. Grizelda turned to meet my gaze, “Oh hey, tranquilizer didn’t work so I had to put him down. Isn’t everything here supposed to be military grade?”

I observed the obliterated corpse, which seemed to be a dead shapeshifter mid transition, or one of those deep sea abominations we get washed up from time to time. That was about the time I finished processing what she’d said to me, “Military grade just means it’s 20 years old and prone to breaking due to poor maintenance and constant use. But the wiring should be up to date, they did some work about a month before you got here.”

“Maybe it’s due to the cold? What if there’s a leak in the cable and it rusted?” She began heading back up, and I followed close behind.

“That’s a possibility, but again, it seems like something they would’ve noticed. I’ll call them on the emergency line, I should be able to get a hold of the electricians.”

She pulled the lever to close off the staircase, “Should we though?”

I paused in place, a grimace taking over my face, “What, you think we should just let them all go?”

“That’s not exactly what I’m saying.”

“You remember what I told you about Megami right?” Saying the siren’s name sent a shiver down her spine, “She murdered Bill, my MENTOR, do you understand the repercussions of what you’re suggesting?”

“Hear me out Xavier, I know he meant a lot to you, but when you stop to think about it, this lighthouse is why he was killed—”

“NO, if shades weren’t so aggressive, he wouldn’t—”

Her tone ticked up, “If it was never built, he wouldn’t have worked here, and she wouldn’t have had a reason to kill him! It’s th—”

“IT’S WHAT?!” I turned to face her directly, throwing my hands up, “It’s his fault for getting a job here?! Get off your fucking high horse Griz—” Her slap damn near put me on my ass, shutting me up.

“IT’S YOUR TURN TO LISTEN ALRIGHT?! YOU won’t even let me explain myself! I’m trying to make YOU understand my point! It’s the government’s fault don’t you get it?! Whatever they’re doing with the shades, they need this lighthouse to collect them. The lighthouse attracts, we contain, the government collects. Don’t you get the moral implications in that? We’re luring conscious beings here to put them in prison and have the government do whatever kind of messed up experimentation on them.”

Bill’s body flashed in my mind, intestines loose, I heard his words, “You gotta stay strong, cause if you don’t, more people’re just gonna die.”

Blinking the tears back I spoke, “You don’t get it! No matter what we do, the government won’t stop! This is the US we’re talking about, they don’t even give up if oil is on the line. This is one lighthouse out of who knows how many. It won’t make a difference, even if we blow this entire place to hell.”

“But we can at least make this place worthle—”

“NO MATTER WHAT WE DO, it won’t mat—”

Grizelda tackled me to the ground, my head bouncing off the ground, I was disoriented. She was talking but I couldn’t process her words as I fought for control of the situation. What started as directionless fighting on the grass morphed into a grappling match.

After some time, I finally began understanding her, “… I DON’T KNOW HOW ELSE TO MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND!”

“NO! I don’t know how to make YOU understand. They’ll rebuild this place and have inexperienced kids running this place, there’ll be so much more death!”

She wrestled back control, “Sure, human life! But how many shades could we save? They can’t all be dangerous! What if they’re only hostile because of the methods we use?!”

I narrowly blocked her arm from going around my throat, “Are you really gonna try to defend the shades over humans here? After all the death they’ve caused? Not even just here, through all of time, they’re… murderous.” Grizelda had managed to lock down both my arms as she began choking me out.

“THEY WANT TO SURVIVE SAME AS US! Humans don’t question killing a cow to get its meat, but the moment something else comes around and eats a human, we need to hunt it to extinction! It’s fucked up, the world is natural no matter how crazy it is. It’s sad when people die, sure, but are you going to suffer the rest of your life just to prevent the suffering of others?” I began missing whole sentences as I struggled for one more breath. “…It isn’t like the government is kidnapping people, they are willingly applying and getting a job… Don’t you remember when I got here?… but I KNEW what I was signing up for!…”

I laid there, vision blurring, heart slowing, a trickle beginning to stream out of my nose. I kicked, trying to break free, all sounds left me as darkness consumed me.

-——————————————

Regaining consciousness, I found myself on my bed, thirsty as hell with a splitting headache turning the well lit room into a tanning bed. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to remember what led me here. I couldn’t remember laying in bed. The last thing in my memory was hazy, but it felt like it happened outside.

Getting out of bed left me with an uncomfortable soreness in my muscles. I tried to open my eyes as few times as possible while stumbling my way down the stairs. I felt emotionally drained for some reason I couldn’t understand, but it must have something to do with my spotty memory. Maybe once I get some water it’ll come to me.

I finally reached the last step, and began shambling over to the kitchen. First reaching into the med cabinet above the stove. I popped a couple advil and immediately forced my head under the faucet to force as much water down as I could.

I reached for the paper towels, gasping for air. As I leaned on the counter I began drying off my face, then I just stood there, staring out the reflective window. I was trying to process what I was seeing when I realized.

“GRIZELDA—” I immediately fell into a coughing fit, my vocal chords not yet ready for the abuse. My headache immediately went into overdrive as my coughing ended.

“Yeah dickhead! Lighthouse is on!” She called out from up the stairs.

Her aggressive behavior knocked something loose in my memory. While the fight was blurry, I could make out what we’d been arguing about. Now clear headed for the most part, I could tell I was being a pretty big asshole. Granted, Grizelda had said some stuff that was uncalled for, and tackled me to the ground, which caused a rough grappling match to ensue, but I knew I’d need to apologize. But first… I had to drop by the restroom.

Shutting the door behind me, I immediately pulled down my pants. About 15 minutes later, I was washing my hands and reaching into the cabinet. At the top was a small bottle of pills. I cursed myself as I pulled it down, I stared at the container for a few minutes, wondering when I planned on quitting. Shaking the bottle made a light rattling sound. Maybe when this one’s empty? I mean I can’t have any going to waste, I spent a lot of money to get it here, so it only makes sense to use it all. Opening the cap, I poured two pills into my hand and threw them back, the dry texture carving a path down my throat.

Leaving the bathroom, I made my way upstairs to meet with Grizelda, hoping she’d accept my apology. Reaching the top step, I saw her sipping a mug of coffee, overwatching the forming and collapsing waves making their way to shore.

“We need to talk about earlier.” Grizelda stated, slowly turning in her chair.

“I was thinking the same thing.” I began making my way over to her, “I wanna apologize for how I lashed out at y—”

“There’s no need for that, I took it too far, acting like Bill was just a nobody. I should’ve understood how much you cared about him and respected those boundaries.”

“I appreciate the apology, but,” —I rubbed the back of my neck— “I should’ve had more control over my emotions, I know you weren’t harboring any malice toward me or him, you were just being pragmatic. So, I’m sorry.”

“I gotta be honest, I think I got all my anger out earlier. Feel free to have a seat.”

I shambled my way over, headache beginning to subside, “Yeah, I think I did too. I really hope we don’t get into a grappling match every time we have a disagreement.”

She let out a breathy snort, “Yeah, we might end up killing each other one of these days if that ends up being the case.”

A few minutes passed in thick silence, the air felt solid, “So, you still on the side of the government or what?”

I tumbled the question around in my aching mind, “Can I take a rain check on that one? Still thinking about our conv—”

Grizelda immediately bolted for the stairs, “Stay up here while you wake up!” Then, she was gone.

I felt for my ear, but there was nothing in it, so that’s what’s going on. Feeling around, I noticed I didn’t have any of my usual stuff. With my headache beginning to subside, I ran around the lighthouse, checking each floor for any of my stuff. Eventually, I found it all on the desk next to my bed, of course, the place I didn’t check.

I put my earbud in, put my necksnare and gun in its holster, then headed downstairs right as I heard Grizelda scream. I swung open the doors to find her pinned under a lanky man wearing a tophat shrouded in black, “What the fuck?” I let out, before shooting the man twice, but he just stood there unaffected, staring at me, “Shit, a spirit? Grizelda, keep it busy.”

“Ten steps ahead of ya.” She grunted right before a cracking sound reverberated, shortly after a pained, “Hurry!” could be heard as I ran up the lighthouse.

Running to the top, I slammed the yellow button and slammed my eyes shut. Once the light had relaxed, I opened my eyes. What’s the deal with all the spirits recently? We didn’t have a single one till Bill died. Now two in just a few months? Something isn’t right, could it be a test?

There was a stumbling sound coming from the stairway and reality hit me. Running down the stairs, I helped Grizelda to her bed. She was bleeding profusely, bruises everywhere, one of her molars missing. Once I set her on the mattress, I ran to the bathroom, “I’m getting the med kit, don’t fall asleep!”

The med kit under the bathroom sink hadn’t been used in a while, which meant we were pretty well stocked. Hurrying back to her bed, I began prepping the supplies, “Are you queasy at all? Have you puked?”

“No, no… I’m fine.” Her eyes weren’t focusing on any single spot, but they weren’t dilated.

“I’d sure hate to see you when you’re bad.” She let out a short breath of air, “Did you get any cuts on your back?”

“I don’t think so, but I can’t say for sure… everything kinda just hurts.”

I finished wrapping a bandage around a gash on her shin, “Can you take aspirin?”

“Yeah, but I feel like a bottle of whiskey would be better.”

I forced a chuckle, “I’ll be right back with some water.”

The sound of feet on metal reverberated around me, only stopping while getting the water and giving Grizelda the glass.

“Here take these too.” I stated, handing her a couple pills. Doing so reminded me of the canister Bill had left me, “I’ll be right back, sit tight. I’ve got something else for you.”

Heading to my bed, I grabbed Bill’s old bag out from underneath. After rifling around it for a bit, I found the small container I’d been looking for. Opening the top, I popped one of the slightly glowing crystals into my hand and put everything away. I headed back to Grizelda right after, “Here, take this with some water too.” She took it without hesitation, “Just remember, be yourself.”

“When am I not?” She coughed out, “You remember the conversation from before, don’t you?” I nodded as I sat at the foot of her bed, “Well, I just wanted to say, I’m still holding strong by what I said. If we weren’t here, I wouldn’t be like this right now. I know you want to stick by what your mentor taught you… but you—” she yawned, “you need to be able to think for yourself y’kn…” Just like that, she was out like the lighthouse.

I wanted to be angry, but I knew she was onto something. Bill had worked here for decades, doing something for that long is bound to leave you with biases. While I had watched him get murdered in front of me, it was true. If the government hadn’t built this place to begin with, he wouldn’t have died how he did.

I sighed, putting my hand over my face, “Man, what are we gonna do?” Dropping my hand to my side, I glanced at Grizelda, “Even if we could blow this place up, where are we gonna get explosives…” I trailed off, my mind wandering to the laptop, “Shit, am I really considering this?” I thought to myself as I made my way downstairs.

Walking out the door, I found myself contemplating. Shades aren’t human, I can say that much, but, don’t they have humanity? Are they capable of such… humane behavior despite being what they are?

I found myself rubbing the 50 pound dumbbell on the dumbbell rack as I gazed out over the calm ocean. What would it mean for everyone on shore if we set all the shades free? Would they simply go back to where they came from? If they can be like us, wouldn’t that mean they would likely hold a grudge, just like I would had I been lured and trapped by one of them? Though, if I would feel the same way, that must mean they’re justified in their anger right? To be completely fair, I’ve never seen one not under the influence of the light house. So… could that mean they aren’t as dangerous as I thought?

Glancing over to the false floor panel, a crazy thought jolted my mind to alertness. What if I let them all go? Would they let me off scott free? Or would they rip me apart?

I gazed longingly at the shack. I mean, the power to the cells is coming from the lighthouse isn’t it? I mean, even if it isn’t, I’m sure I could find a way to dismantle the electricity right as the light house blows up. But then… how would we escape?

Making my way to the shack, I’d come to a decision. Was it the best plan? No. Was it a good plan? Doubtful. Would we end up dying? Most probably. But, there might be a way to end all of this, at least at this location.

As I stared at the contents of the safe, my heart rate picked up. If I’m going to do this, I’ll definitely need to hire someone to bring supplies. Fortunately, I knew just the site to get it all here discreetly, and in a few hours.

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