Shine light into darkness 1: Recovered from Rubble

[ronfiction]

In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There came a man who was sent from God.

"And I am certainly not that man."

Lou said to himself as he tossed the bible aside back into the draw it had come from. It was getting onto noon now on Christmas day and as he grew more and more restless in his hotel room, Lou was running out of things to kill time with. His last act of desperation was taking the bible out of the hotel dresser draw and reading for the last hour.

"She said she would call early in the morning."

Lou said to himself and he looked at the cell phone he had on the night stand. It was Adam Morsi's, Lou had taken it when they went through his things. He had given Dallas the number to it and had been using it since. Lou had taken a lot of Adam's things since he passed. A letter Adam had left in his brief case detailed the man's last wishes and legal obligations. Adam had left Lou more than his possessions, he left him with a list of tasks that needed to be done. It was fitting considering their relationship, even in death Adam was ordering Lou around, not out of disrespect but because he knew Lou was the only one who would care enough to get the jobs done.

Lou looked at the phone again and watched as it continued to sit silent. The time on the phone struck noon and Lou frown deepened. Dallas said she would call in the morning. It was noon now, and that meant she wasn't calling because she was gone. Lou leaned over while sitting on the bed and held his face in his hands. Having an extended heads up about her leaving did not make her passing any easier. He knew this day was coming and coming soon, shame it had to be on a day that was normally a happy one. Lou loved Christmas; he was always a sucker for holidays but Christmas especially was important to him.

Christmas used to mean, seeing Ashmore at midnight mass, seeing his family actually getting along for once, getting his once a year Christmas card from his brother. Christmas was feasts, and gifts, and usually the Patriots and the Celtics wrecking some team from some other crappier part of the country. Now, and forever more, Christmas would be the time where Dallas went back to save the world and never came back.

Lou sobbed softly for a time, his eyes blurred with tears and his sleeve became a makeshift tissue more than once. Time and time again, it would seem that Lou was leaving a place behind and the shadow of a dead woman would be there haunting him. He pulled out a slightly burnt photo he had in pockets and looked it over. The smiling face of Hannah and the rest of her family looked up at him, frozen in a better time. It was one of the few things he could recover from the Winter's burnt house. Mason had been so worried about the darkness taking their bodies that in the horror of finding the entire Winters family dead, he had the house burnt down. Lou was wasn't sure if such a thing was needed but at the time he was too torn up about it to talk him out of it.

Lou looked over the photo a little long and slowly brought his tears to an end. He had other duties at this point, and they would distract him from his sorrow. Lou pocketed the picture once more and picked up the cell phone and searched for a number in it. He found the Number for Jacob Carrier, listed under 'SCIENCE' and dialed the number. He steadied his breathing and wiped his nose again while the phone rang, hoping to be ready to talk by the time Jacob answered. When the line picked up and he heard Jacob on the other end, Jacob sounded just as upset as Lou did.

"Hello Lou."

Jacob said simply. Lou hesitated for a moment, about to lose his composure again, but he steadied himself and with a hard swallow spoke.

"Merry Christmas to you and your brothers Jacob."

Lou said in as steady of a voice as he could. There was a pause on both sides of the line and then Lou started again.

"She's gone Jacob."

Lou said plainly. There was an other pause then Jacob gave a heavy sigh.

"I know. She was able to tell me good bye before she left."

Jacob said. Lou awkwardly tried to offer his condolences but eventually was able to hammer out some plans for later on in the evening with him down in Berlin. Lou promised that he would buy them some drinks at a bar he knew of and Jacob in his effort to cheer up Lou told him he was buying the first round. The two hung up their phones and Lou did his best clear his head but pacing around his hotel room. While pacing around his hotel room he noticed that an envelope had been slid under his door at some point.

Lou walked over to the envelope and picked up it. He tore the envelope open and looked at the Christmas card inside. It was strangely horrifying but it was clearly a Christmas card with joyful intentions. Lou chuckled at the sender's dark sense of humor and put the card in his pocket next to his picture of the Winters family. Lou walked over the the single window his hotel had and he pulled the curtain aside to see the snow swept parking lot. After today's break Lou had a long couple of weeks planned out ahead of him, but tonight, he would take it easy and reflect on not only the holiday, but the time he spent in Whisper Hill.