Darkness Survives
Most people think that darkness can't be a living thing. They're wrong. I've met darkness and it's actually pretty nice. They're right about it not being able to breath but that's about it. That's right at least. Darkness is actually extremely kind and all together caring about everything and everyone. It will sit there and listen to all of your problems that you have and try to make you feel better. Sometimes I will sit there and listen to its problems too. That's how I found out it was kind and gentle. The darkness is feared by lots of people and many animals as well. One night when we were just sitting there talking about random stuff my mom walked in and turned on the light, seeing darkness for a split second as it took for cover under my bed. She got scared, turned on all the lights in the house, and dragged me to the center of the living room where it was the brightest. That's when I understood the fear of the darkness. I tried to explain to her what it was that she saw and why it was there but she wouldn't even let me talk nor let me move from her grasp. Finally I managed to get out of her arms, turned around, and started screaming at her. At this point she was so scared that she was crying and didn't know what to do. Seeing this I sighed, walked over to the light switch, and turned off the lights. I slowly walked back to where my mother was sitting while the darkness crept out from under the couch and on it with just as much fear as my mother had. She saw this and started to slowly calm down not moving an inch from where she sat. i introduced them to each other while neither of them moved and scarcely said hello to one another. I explained to my mother who darkness was and why it was in our house. Darkness changed form to look like her and she got frightened by that. I explained that it has a habit of taking other people's forms. She eventually saw that it meant no harm to me nor her. We all ended up sitting there talking and laughing all night. We didn't realize until the sun started to hurt darkness. We said our 'see ya's' and went on with our normal day. I went to school, my mom went to work, and the darkness went to safety from the light. That day felt like any other day at school. Boring and worthless. Like always I finished all my homework in class so I don't have any at home. For my free time in class I just drew in my sketchbook as usual. When the last bell rang I was out of the class faster than usual. I want to talk to darkness and ask it what it thinks of my mom. When I got home though I was surprised to find my mom and the darkness sitting in the living room waiting for me. I was glad that they both were more comfortable around each other. From then on things were different. When my mom and I got home we would turn off all the lights and sit there and talk to the darkness. My mom ask if the darkness wanted to be called something else because she thought calling it 'it' and 'darkness' was a little rude. The darkness liked the name 'Jasmine' so we started to call it that and referred to it as 'her' or 'she' as a normal human. After a while my mom went to bed so Jasmine and I went to my room to sit and talk for about another hour or so before I did the same. After all, us humans do need our sleep. I ended up asking Jasmine what she does during the day while it's light out. She told me she usually hides and waits for me to get back so they can talk. I blushed and smiled thinking about all the days in school wanting to come home to do the same thing. Without realizing it, I frowned and wished out loud that she could come into the light so she doesn't have to hide any more. I looked up to see Jasmine blushing as well. Then I realized what I had just said. I covered my face with my pillow and blushed even more. I could feel her moving around on my bed so I removed the pillow to see what she was doing. She had moved to sit next to me and kissed me on the cheek. I almost immediately covered my face with the pillow again while she started laughing being careful not to be too loud and wake my mom. After a while I removed the pillow so we could talk some more making sure to change the subject to help us both stop blushing. She eventually saw me yawn and told me to go to sleep and that we can talk more tomorrow night. Of course I take her advice, lay down, and close my eyes but I could still feel that she was still there and smiled. The next day was a little different. For some odd reason the whole school was talking about her as 'darkness'. It felt like because of what happened last night the whole universe has to talk about her as if she was a bad thing. It was about half way through the day when I lost control over myself. I couldn't let them talk about Jasmine like that. I stood up and started to scream and yell. I explained to them that she wasn't evil. That she was kind and gentle and caring. That it was Light who was hurting her. By the time I was finished I realized what I had done. Out of shock and embarrassment, Iran out of the classroom, to the nearest bathroom, and locked myself in one of the stalls. I didn't know what to do other then hide. The teacher and some of the other students eventually found me there and tried to talk to me from the other side of the door. I told them that I wasn't coming out. Then they told me that I'll eventually be able to go home and that made me think of her which was what brought me out. For the rest of the day I had to deal with being called 'the darkness lover' but when I got home I was happy. I didn't have to deal with that anymore and I got to talk to Jasmine, the one thing I looked forward to every day. When I felt relieved to see her I realized how much I cared for her, but when I did see her she looked scared. The look on her face made the hair on my neck stick straight up. I tried to ask her what was wrong but she just kept telling me that she needed to leave and get out of there. Seeing Jasmine walk back and forth like this was really starting to scare me. I grabbed by the arms, looked her in the eyes, and told her to just breathe. When she had calmed down I repeat my question. In a scared, shaky voice she told me that the light had found out were she's been hiding and was planning to come get her and hurt her. I felt confused but I felt more protective and told her I wouldn't let anyone or anything hurt her. She smiled and hugged me tightly and for a moment I didn't want her to let go. Just then we heard my mom unlocking the door so we both pulled away from each other so she wouldn't see us. She walked in and saw us standing there awkward and asked us what we were doing. I shook off the moment and told her about Light and that we needed to protect Jasmine. Like me she was confused and protective of Jasmine but not as much as I was. I was already ready to beat the crap out of this Light guy even if he was bigger, faster, and stronger than I was. If there's one thing though that was past down in my family it's our ability to use our irritation. I have that ability and it can make me stronger and faster. All he has to do is at least make it seem like he's making fun of my size and strength and he's done for. I had spaced out and what brought me back was a sudden banging at the door. We all turned to see who was there. My mom and I heard Jasmine say that it was him before she disappeared to hide. My mom opened the door with me standing next to her. The man standing on the other side of the door looked mad and serious. I couldn't help but to notice that his hands were rolled into fists and his entire body was tightened as if he were ready to pick a fight with someone. My mom tried to act natural and asked if we could help him. With lots of anger in his voice he asked if there were anyone by the name of 'darkness' in the house. I told him that my mom and I were the only two here. He pushed us aside and started to search our house telling us that we were lying to him. I got mad, walked up to him, and told him he couldn't do this. He turned around to face me and to look me in the eyes while he laughed. Light asked me what I was going to do about it and told me that I was small and weak. Those were the two key words I was looking for and now that he said both of them I'm twice as strong as before and ready to fight. I through a punch and connected with his right jaw. Light laughed grabbing his jaw to sooth the pain and told me that I'm gonna have to try harder than that to beat him. I through a few more punches with more anger in them but the same result came out. I was shocked that this wasn't working. He looked at me, said that it was his turn and started to punch back at me. Light's punches were hard but they didn't really hurt me. What really hurt me was the shock that nothing was affecting him. He was just about to through one more to knock me out when Jasmine came running out and stood between us telling him that that was it and that he didn't need to do that to me. Light smirked, grabbed her by the arm and started to whisper something to her. By the look on Jasmine's face, light was hurting her and at that moment I felt stronger that I ever have before in my life. I got up, curled my fingers into a fist and connected with his right jaw one last time. He let go of Jasmine and collapsed to the ground. I had knocked him out. Jasmine ran over to me and hugged me so tight that I couldn't breath but I didn't care. Jasmine is okay and this jerk was knocked out so everything was okay. Now we have to get him in a chair and tie him down so we can ask him some questions when he wakes up. Finally Light woke up and I had the urge to punch him again but I didn't. I had too many questions to ask him like 'what do you really want?' or 'why are you trying to hurt Jasmine?' Before I could even ask either one of these he answered both of them. He said he wanted her back and that he was her boyfriend. Boyfriend? Jasmine had never said anything about this. I looked at her in a question and betrayal. She just turned away and told Light that she didn't want to be with him anymore. After she said that Light told us that that was the reason he hurt her because he wanted to be with her but she didn't want to be with him. Hearing this made me mad and I punched again but being sure I held back some so I didn't knock him out again. The only thing he had for this was laughter and what I think was blood coming from his bottom lip. He told me that I was good with my fists. I didn't smile at this but I did tell him to imagine what I could do if I could kick him where the sun doesn't shine. Jasmine told him one more time that she didn't want to be with him anymore and to leave her alone. I added on to that by telling him that if he didn't I would kick him where the sun doesn't shine. Light said that someone must have fallen in love with her. It took all my strength not to knock him out again but I did get in his face, looked in his eyes, and told him that he doesn't know me. He smiled and said that he doesn't need to before he got knocked out again. I was in shock because I wasn't the one who did it this time. I looked over to Jasmine who was in more shock that I was of what she had just done. I laughed thinking about how much I actually did love this girl. She's so cute and funny about everything she does and says even if she doesn't know it. I grabbed the back of the chair that Light was tied up in and dragged him out the front door. When I came back inside my mom was staring at me. I asked her why she was looking at me like that and she just said it was for no reason and walked away to clean up the house. I looked at Jasmine for some answers but she just shrugged with question. We went to my room to talk while my mom was cleaning and went to bed. I told Jasmine that I wasn't taking any chances with leaving her at home by herself with Light running around. She reminded me that she couldn't be in any lit places. I had to think for a little bit before I got an idea. I went to my closet and pulled out some of my clothes. I gave them to her to try them on. When she got them on I turned on the light and she got scared that it was going to hurt her but realised it didn't. The light wasn't touching her skin so it didn't hurt her at all. I had just found a way for Jasmine to come to school with me. We decided to go to sleep early so we could get ready tomorrow morning. The next morning we got ready and left for school. I was surprised but glad we didn't see Light the whole walk there. I could tell Jasmine was excited to be coming with me. Almost as soon as we got there we ran into my only friend at school, Lexi Cooper. Lexi could be a chatterbox sometimes and that's what I liked about her. She would talk while I listened. She started to tell me about her morning so far until she saw my face and asked me what happened. Light had beaten the crap out of me and left some cuts and bruises behind. I told her that I got into a fight yesterday and when she asked me what for I gestured toward Jasmine and said it was for protecting a friend. Lexi knew me better than that. She knew that Jasmine had to be more than just a friend for me to be getting into a fight for her. Lexi looked at Jasmine then back at me, smiled and squealed. I covered her mouth to shush her and told her that no one needed to know about this. Looking around I found an empty room and pushed Lexi into it with Jasmine automatically following me in. the school was new to her so she wanted to stay by me so she didn't get lost. I closed the door behind Jasmine and asked Lexi not to tell anyone anything about Jasmine or my love for her. Lexi promised while Jasmine blushed with surprise that I actually just said that. I turned off the lights and told Jasmine that it was okay to take her hood down. While taking off her hood Jasmine asked me if it was really a good idea to be telling Lexi about her. Lexi was shocked by Jasmine's appearance. She interrupted by telling Jasmine that she made a promise and even though she can be a bit of a chatterbox she wouldn't break a promise even if it meant everything. Jasmine smiled and hugged her new friend. I was glad that they were friends now so that Jasmine has someone else to talk to. We all heard the bell and went to class. Everyone kept asking me who my new friend was and why she was hiding her face. We just ignored them until it was my teacher who asked. I sat there frozen not knowing what to say. I guess I didn't think this far ahead. Jasmine started to introduce herself and told everyone that she was very shy and feared her own appearance and the judgement everyone would surely give her. Of course this was in a was in a way true. My teacher said that Jasmine could hide as long as she needed to and that he would email the other teachers about it but hopefully she would eventually feel comfortable around everyone. I didn't need to look at her to know that Jasmine was smiling to that. I could feel it. She once told me that she wished for more friends to talk to and be okay with how she looks. I turned my head just enough to see Jasmine out of the corner of my eye and told her soon. I could feel her smile growand that made me smile a little. At the end of class I told Jasmine that she could hang out with Lexi for a little bit and that I had to talk to Mr. Carlson, the teacher, really quick. She was okay with that because she was happy to have a new friend. I went and asked him if I could set up a school meeting sometime soon. Mr. Carlson said sure and asked what it was for. Like usual, everyone's got to know my reasoning for everything. I just told him to trust me and that it was important that everyone hears what I have to say. He said that he would see what he could do and I left the classroom to go find the girls. I found them in the commens talking and laughing. I walked up to them and asked if they were having a good time. Jasmine told me that Lexi was really funny and that she loved her. Hearing her say that hurt me a little and she realized that. She got up, walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek telling me she loves me more though. I couldn't help but smile at Jasmine, the most beautiful girl I have ever met. Just then I heard someone behind me. It was Jonah Moss, the jock of the school and the only one that still calls me 'the darkness lover' since they've met Jasmine. When she heard him call me this Jasmine blushed a little. I just told Jonah to leave me alone, but when he asked me who my friend was I hesitated and told him that her name was Jasmine.