3. Light Control

        Though it may not appear to be true, hope is never out of reach….  You can feel like you have nothing left, but there is always that light that never goes out on the inside.  All you have to do is find it.  


        Stopping the car and putting it in park, Vaun got out.  This is all that’s left? He stared at the dismantled house before him.  Battling with his emotions, he shut the car door and walked forward, silently willing his body to obey.  Much to his relief, his legs began to stride in rhythmic earnest towards the porch.  Not that it helped the anxiousness that rumbled in his stomach.    
       
         Parts of the house were strewn everywhere, a layer of dust giving testimony to how long everything had lain there, broken and hollow.  The front door swayed on its lowest hinge, creaking in anguish with each breeze.  Half of the doorframe was demolished along with a large portion of the wall.  Vaun looked at the visible innards of his old home.  Family photographs littered the hallway, shattered glass trying in vain to protect the lifeless images from the wooden floorboards that were sticking up in random places.  I wonder how this happened.  Hesitating for a moment, he stepped over the door carefully so that its eternal suffering would not be disturbed.  
          
          The memories that haunted the skeleton of his former home made Vaun uneasy.  Visions from the past illuminated whatever he looked at, horror and happiness intermingling until they became indistinguishable.

          Why did I come back here? I had forgotten about this place.  Why do I care about what happened to them?  They’ve been dead for years so why do I care now? Creeping past the stairwell, he forced his eyes forward in fear of the memories they could unleash in their ignorance if they looked up.  Managing to escape into the kitchen (or what was left of it), Vaun stood up straight and gazed at his destination:  the basement door.  Past that threshold he hoped to find the answers to all of the questions that threatened to damage his sanity beyond repair.  He turned the doorknob slowly, increasing the sweat his hand was already producing in its eagerness.  

           The stairs were practically clean compared to the rest of the dismembered home.  Halfway down the steps, Vaun realized that he did not have a source of light to guide him through the numerous files his family had stored away in an attempt to forget about the world and its countless formalities.  The world had never let them forget that it controlled them, that the government could take everything away from them with a single phone call.   
          
           Running out to his car, Vaun stole a single glance up the stairs.  The screaming that echoed in his mind a second later made him regret it.  This is stupid, I should just leave.  He shook his head and sighed, jumping through the large hole in the wall and continued on to his car.  No, I need to know what happened here.  I can’t leave, not without some sort of closure.  Opening the car door and hopping into the driver’s seat, he fumbled around in hopes of finding that flashlight he vaguely recalled tossing somewhere not long ago.

           Finally finding the small contraption in the glove compartment (where he had thought it was), Vaun ran back inside the house and to the basement, trying to ignore the shadows that seemed to form familiar faces in the moonlight’s pale gaze.  He turned on the flashlight halfway down the stairs and ran to the nearest file cabinet, wincing as it protested being opened with a loud squeal.  He groaned at the copious amount of paperwork.  This is going to take a long time….    

           “‘Taxes’, ‘Receipts’,” he browsed through the headers, unsure what he was looking for.  “‘February Files’, ‘Vaun’s Journals’,” staring at his step-father’s barely legible handwriting, he pulled the divider open.  Inside were five composition notebooks, torn up and rotting away.  

           Vaun took out the first one and flipped through the pages for a few seconds before putting it back.  There was something about the next notebook that caught his attention.  He picked it up, studying it.  Some of the pages had post-its stuck to them.  He turned to the first marked page, eyes flowing across the paper as he read:

June 4th, 2024

    They destroyed the Sun.  Can they actually do that?  Mom said it was to protect us from the alien oppressors but Keith said that was a lie.  He’s so stupid and thinks he knows everything just because he works for the government.  His daughter’s got that same know-it-all attitude.  She’s the only one he won’t beat.  I wish they were both dead.  I have to go; Keith wants me to make dinner.

            Vaun paused. I got my wish, I guess, for some reason that did not give him much comfort.  Pushing his feelings aside, he flipped to the next marked page:

June 12th, 2024

     Everyone is freaking out around here.  The news says that the government has started construction of underground facilities to house the world population now that there’s no more sun.  Apparently, with our technologic advances the government council has been able to harness the power of the Earth’s core.  I’m just a freshman but that sounded kind of risky to me, not that anyone ever asks for my opinion.  Anyways, they’re calling the Councilmen saints.  The Pope has declared that the lead government guy—Chairman Delorio was his name I think—be forever remembered as the greatest man in history.  Mom looked like she wanted to throw the interTV out the window, mumbling something about back in the day when each country had their own government body.  My brothers, Aln and Jaren, laughed at her.  Aln’s younger than me by two years.  Jaren’s the oldest and tries to take care of Aln and I.  If you ask me, the two of them are taking after Keith too much.  I hate him.  There’s something about him that bugs me.  He always seems off, like there’s something inside of him that’s eating away his intestines or something.  His reaction to the whole situation made no sense to anyone in the family, even his own daughter.  All he said was that it was all a lie and walked off.  I still wonder what he meant.   

             Vaun stared at the paper, remembering the day behind the words.  Memories flooded into his mind and nearly overwhelmed him with their potency. All he said was that it was a lie….  Making a strange connection, he quickly put that notebook down and grabbed the next one.  It had one marked page.

March 3rd, 2025

     He won’t stop beating me.  Ever since he caught me eavesdropping on his intercalls it’s been worse.  I honestly didn’t hear much.  The only thing that I could make out was him yelling something about the fact that he knew the truth and was not going to let anyone stop him from telling the world some day.      

             No…. The pieces were beginning to make sense.  Throwing the notebook down, he ran to the back of the room, flashlight furiously searching for the right file cabinet.  Keith would have kept all that information, even if it cost his life.  
           
             Vaun jumped as his pocket vibrated.  He pulled out an outdated cellphone and flipped it open.  “Larz, what the hell man?”
             “Where are you?”
             “Nowhere in particular, why?”
             “Cut the crap, Vaun,” there was a muffled sigh on the other end.  “You never go out on your own, I know you better than that.  Now, where are you?”  
             Vaun made a split-second decision and closed his eyes.  “You remember back when we were fifteen and I moved in with you?”
             Pause.  “Yeah, why?”
            “Remember a year later, when my family… you know?”
            “Is that where you are?”
            “… Yes.”
            “Shit, Vaun!  That’s government property; you could be shot if they catch you.”
            “I know, I know but I had to find out what happened to them,” he exhaled, emotions welling up.  “Wouldn’t know want to know why your family died?”
            “Vaun… they said it was the oppressors.  The whole area was demolished,” another long pause, the static a perfect accent to the silence.
            Vaun walked forward, caught up in the moment.  “Ow!”
            “You okay?” Larz’s voice hit a high note.  
            “Yeah,” he looked down.  A metal safe box was protruding from under Keith’s old worktable.  “C-can I call you back, man?”
            “What?  Why?”

            Vaun shut the phone and bent down to inspect the box.  It was unlocked, waiting patiently to be examined further.  Opening the lid, he took out the small key that slept inside.  Keith’s desk key?  He sat down in the desk chair, looking for the keyhole.  “Aha!” He put the key in to the keyhole of the left drawer, sliding it out as fast as possible.  This has to be booby-trapped.  Why else would the government be willing to leave such important files down here?  
            
            He grabbed the files and bolted for the basement door, briefly leafing through the papers to see what they were.  What little he managed to read while he ran to his car astounded him.  Turning on the car, he heard sirens in the distance.  Shit!  They’ll have ID on this car in a matter of minutes. He got out of and sprinted towards the woods as fast as possible.

             His phone vibrated.  “Larz, I’m a little busy right now.”
             “Yeah, I know you are.  Look, I’m coming to get you.  I was hacking their inComs as usual, right?” he made some strange half snort, half scoff noise.  “All of the sudden it was like they called in the cavalry man,” he made the noise again, “and guess where they’re heading.”
             “Straight to my old house.”
             Larz nearly squeaked.  “Yes.  So, what’d you find that pissed them off, huh?”
             “The truth.”
             Silence.  “What… do you mean?”
             “Just pick me up and take me to the underground new station,” he grinned mischievously.  “I have an idea.”
             “All right, I hope you know what you’re doing.”
             “Always,” he hung up again. I should at least say bye sometimes, he mused before jumping over a large root.  

             Vaun looked up at the trees, ghosts of their former glory.  He tried to think about a time when everything was green and found that he could not.  A great yearning to know that wondrous emerald world flooded over him, mind conjuring up images of luscious vegetation growing under a warm and giving sun.  Humanity will know that world again.  He chuckled out loud.  “Damn you Keith, you were actually doing something good for a change.”

              Bringing himself out of his wistful curiosities, Vaun listened for any sign of people following him.  Panic began to slither in to his feelings, embedding itself into his mind.  Panting heavily, he started to worry about where he was going, illogical fears spurring him to run faster.  

              He heard a car horn up ahead, its shrill call magnified by the lack of sound in the forest.  What if it’s the government? Panic grew into sheer terror.  It immobilized his senses, causing him to stop running.

              The car called again, the horn repeating itself in rapid succession.  
              Vaun’s phone vibrated.  “H-hello?”
              “Come on, where are you man?  They’re close—real close.  If we have any chance of executing this plan of yours I suggest you get your crazy ass over here!” Click.
              Revitalized by his friend’s voice, he followed the honking noise.  After a few moments, he could hear the rumble of the engine.  
              “Vaun!  Hurry, they’re three minutes away,” Larz opened the passenger door and Vaun slid right in, still panting as he turned to his friend.
              “This was not what I expected to do tonight,” laughing while trying to catch his breath at the same time, he smiled.  “I think I owe you some explanations.”  
              “Yeah, because that car wasn’t yours you know.”
              “Forget the car, that thing is like… microscopic compared to this.”
              Larz looked at Vaun for a second before turning back to the road.  “You have my attention.”
              “The sun is still there, Larz.”
              Larz nearly swerved off the old road.  “You’re bullshitting me!”
              Vaun laughed and held up the stack of papers.  “These don’t lie,” he grinned, “looks like they were trying to gain a monopoly over everyone.”
              Larz scoffed once, sputtered a bit, then scoffed again.  “That makes total sense.  Those greedy assholes!”
              “Take me to your underground news guy,” Vaun looked down at the papers.  “It’s time the world knew that their source of hope and light wasn’t put out after all.”

    
                                                        * * *


              Larz parked in front of the tunnel that led to the underground living facilities. “Once we go in there, I’ll contact my underground friend.  He can re-write the interTV network to only play his feed but it’s going to be risky for all of us,” he turned to Vaun, “How serious are you about this information?”
              “I’m going to get it out to the public,” remembering Keith’s words he flashed a sardonic smile, “even if it kills me.”   


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