CHAPTER 2
JUST LIKE THEM, THE BASEMENT HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN
Pike’s heart nearly stopped. Gazing up at him were two pools of the deepest, richest teal. They held him hostage—
—for the span of a second before he blinked and saw the whole person behind those eyes.
She was a girl no older than ten, if her lack of height and build were anything to go by. The boy-cut that curtained her forehead was sand-colored—and not one that could spring forward from any of his nightmares. His heart continued to beat (or rather, pound) against his ribcage.
The new arrival also seemed shocked to see she wasn’t the only one here. For a moment more, she stared up at him, wide-eyed and frozen.
“Um… I know I’m not supposed to be here…” the girl squeaked, starting to retreat behind the door. “S-Sorry to disturb your rest…”
Apparently, she thought she had encountered a ghost. “You’re here to remember someone too?” Pike said hastily, trying to expel that notion.
The girl stopped. Then she nodded slowly, her terrified eyes not leaving his decidedly unsettling countenance. Pike knew right away what scared her but, well, there was no helping his face. He offered a defeated smile and took hold of the door, slowly widening the entryway back up for her.
“It’s okay, I’m not a ghost.” Seeing her still stiff and alert, he added, “I’ll be going now.”
“…ches.”
Her mouth barely moved; he almost didn’t hear her. He paused and looked at the girl curiously to see if she would speak again.
She did. “Matches. I forgot to bring matches.”
=-=-=
A few minutes later, Pike helped the girl finish setting up her own miniature shrine. In not so many words, she introduced herself as Lizbette. Her older brother was a glowing man who fought the evils of the world. But then he was corrupted, and his comrades laid him low for becoming evil himself.
“They said it was my brother’s fault for becoming evil. He started to go against everything good and became one of the evil shadow monsters.” Lizbette frowned. “They said I shouldn’t talk about him anymore. But I couldn’t just forget about him. We used to come here before the mall was built. He said this place was for people that other people didn’t want to talk about, so I thought…”
Pike wondered what the whole story was. If her brother knew about this place, he couldn’t have been the typical luminescent—conveniently negligent of what Shades were underneath the chaos. Not even Mindie knew. She wouldn’t understand the need for a memorial ground like this.
“He wasn’t a bad person.” Tears began to well up in Lizbette’s teal eyes. “How did he become a shadow monster?”
There were several reasons that could explain how her brother became a shadow monster. Maybe he had a series of bad days. Maybe it was just one particular bad day. Maybe he was overwhelmed by guilt, or revenge, or an all-consuming compulsion to just tear everything to the ground.
Several reasons, the same root: his emotional energy had turned him chaotic. Once a luminescent went chaotic, they would turn into a Shade too. When that happened, there was only one way the Shade-hunting Stars would know how to deal with him.
There wasn’t an answer Pike could give that would comfort the poor, distressed girl. Maybe if he had some candy or chocolate in his bag to share with her, that would have helped her calm down. Or would offering sweets be considered predatory? If she were Mindie, he would simply give her a hug and coax her with quiet words, but that was out of the question here too, right? Social rules for young men didn’t make sense to him.
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“I think your brother’s happy you remember him,” he managed. It was more than could be said for others. As he cast his glance around again, Pike wondered just how many of the fallen didn’t even make it down here.
That was when he saw a pair of legs standing right behind them.
Startled, Pike scrambled into a stand. He must not have heard the door open again while he was lost in his thoughts. The newcomer he found himself faced with had the visage of a young woman only a handful of years older than he was—maybe even less than that. But the dullness in her eyes made her seem older. Her clothes were worn down. She smelled of the streets.
She leered warily at Pike. “Who are you? What are you doing to Lizbette?”
The way she worded it really made Pike feel like some creep. Scowling, he opened his mouth to protest whatever accusation was simmering beneath her words. Before he could, however, he felt a little hand grasp the bottom hem of his hoodie. Both his gaze and the woman’s shifted downward to the little girl beside him.
“Please, don’t be mad at him, Harper,” Lizbette squeaked, wiping her tear-stained eyes. “I-I forgot the matches, and he was already down here and had some, so…”
The sight of her holding onto him like a lost kid seemed enough to convince her that Pike at least hadn’t done anything overtly heinous before her arrival. Still, Harper steely eyes lingered on Pike a moment longer as she moved to take a seat in front of the shrine that had just been set up.
“Sorry I couldn’t meet you outside your building tonight.”
“It’s okay.” Lizbette joined her on the floor. “Mom knows I’m with you.”
The two of them went silent while Harper closed her eyes—presumably in prayer. Pike stood there beside them awkwardly for a short while, then decided neither would mind if he made his exit from here. He began to quietly back away from the memorial set up for Lizbette’s brother.
“It’s rare for someone to come to his place nowadays,” Harper said, her abrupt address prompting Pike to pause. She was done praying, and she turned her attention back towards him with a scowl. “Who are you here for?”
“My aunt. She…”
Pike caught his tongue. The Luminescence Department had controlled the information that went public about Tita Sheila, so not many knew her fate. He didn’t think any overreactions would happen if he said her name, but he couldn’t rule out the possibility either.
“She… was luminescent. But she didn’t agree with the Department’s way of doing things. And her growing frustration, well…”
Harper seemed to understand. She nodded solemnly and glanced back at the picture they had stuck to the wall. “I see… Same as my boyfriend then.”
Her eyes narrowed, hardening the look on her face. “This mall is a poison. And the mayor made sure any leftover rats were dealt with when their suffering finally broke them.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was built over the lives and livelihoods of other people here in the western district. What do you think happened to them?”
Pike shifted his feet uncomfortably. He found himself looking around as if he might find the answer somewhere nearby. “They… moved out? Went somewhere else?”
Harper nodded, falling silent for a moment. She must have expected more to his answer, however. When nothing followed, her already bitter expression soured into a dark scowl.
“…And the ones who couldn’t?”
The question made Pike’s stomach drop. Not everyone had such a convenient option. Those who stayed might still have found a place to call home elsewhere in Halo Ridge and a new means to live. But if some others fell on hard times…
Small or short outbursts of negative emotional energy were normal for any human; they weren’t enough to make a difference. If one felt an episode intensely enough, though, their energy would turn into chaos, and that chaos would consume them and turn them into a Shade.
Moreover, if one held onto their sense of despair, hopelessness, hatred, worthlessness… These emotions would fester and grow, feeding the chaotic energy that overwhelmed their souls. The Shades that manifested from such a deep pool of chaos would be stronger for it. Chaos was a sickness that could only be cured by a strike of luminescence.
Now that he thought about it, Pike vaguely recalled this area being dangerous a couple of years ago when the mall was under construction.
A quick glance at his troubled expression softened Harper’s. She collected Lizbette into her arms and sighed. “My boyfriend was a kind, amazing Star who took me in when I had nowhere to go. I would do anything for him…”
Harper’s dull eyes darkened further. “He didn’t deserve this.”
A silence passed over them. Stars who became Shades were rare, and adding to that rarity was the lack of their memory in public. Harper’s boyfriend, Tita Sheila… As long as there were luminescents who let chaos overwhelm them, they wouldn’t be the last ones forgotten this way.
Pike grimaced. “It probably doesn’t mean much coming from a stranger, but… I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry for yours as well.”
Harper looked at him again, but she didn’t smile. Not even the melancholic or strained one that was usually offered out of obligatory appreciation. Maybe she just couldn’t—not right now—for fear of simply breaking down in tears. So, Pike showed her one instead.
As soon as he tried, he felt a lump in his throat. It really was a difficult smile to give. He swallowed and managed, “I’ll tell the old security guard you’ll be down here a while longer.”
“I like the guard,” Lizbette piped meekly. “He’s really nice.”
“Yeah. Maybe you can get him some ice cream tomorrow.”