Synergy (See #3)(61)

They’d been executed for the pettiest crimes I could imagine, things like speaking too loudly or being out after curfew. It took a second or two to find a moment of joy, one that could help them remember love; it was almost like they’d never felt it. I began to whisper; “You are worthy,” knowing they’d been told over and over that they weren’t when they were alive. Those words held more impact than I bargained for; they helped faster than naming scents or moments in their lives.

I felt Brady push past us and rush to Willow’s side. The shadows that remained after our words were said were still in the thousands. Most of them were saying my and Draven’s name, as they always did, but I heard a few of them say Willow’s name. I heard them say, “Show her,” and the advice of my mother and Nana came to me. I had to show Willow how to help them; they were angry that she couldn’t see them or help them.

Willow yelled, “Get them out of here!” to Brady and Olivia, but I wasn’t going to leave there, not yet. Those shadows needed me; they needed to know that Willow would find her focus and help them one day very soon.

I yelled, “Silence!” Complete silence didn’t come, but they were quiet enough to listen to me. I felt the stares of Draven and Madison as I moved confidently through the ghostly images. “You want to be redeemed?!” I asked firmly as I moved closer to Willow. I could see a faint glow of light around her, Brady, and Olivia; it was like a protective bubble. I could only imagine that was what was making these shadows so mad. She couldn't see them or hear them, and everyone knows that you often find answers in the past.

Willow would never move forward if she didn’t perceive them to be real, if she didn’t understand that she wasn’t fighting to redeem what this dimension was today, but what it had endured. “Why do I need to show you when you stand in the presence of that definition?” I said as they parted my way and I saw Willow clearly. “Think of him, Willow -- show them,” I said as I locked eyes with her. I knew Willow had to understand that some of these shadows had never felt the emotion she basked in. I knew that because the ones that I had at home hadn’t either, and when I showed them how much I loved Draven, I helped masses at once; that was what needed to happen now.

Holding my stare, Willow said, “Let it fall, Brady,” and in that instant the glow around her vanished and the ghostly shadowed images moved closer to her. It was hard for me to tell if she could see them or hear them; she looked too calm.

The whispers became even more silent, so much so that I couldn’t hear them over my headphones. I pulled them out of my ears and said, “Show them,” once more to Willow.

Her eyes smiled at me, and I could swear I could see her glowing. Then, an explosion of light erupted in the room; it was near blinding. She had done it: she’d helped well over ten thousand shadows with one thought. I was in awe of her power, the power that she had no idea she possessed.

I felt Draven’s strong arms around my waist, and I turned in to him. He felt so tense; at first I thought it was because that was one of the hardest things we’d ever done, but then I couldn't get him to look me in the eyes.

I knew him well enough to know that he was questioning why I didn’t show the shadows our love. I wanted him to look at me so I could show him once more that both my mom and Nana had told me to show Willow how to do that. I played out the argument in my mind and knew I would more than likely lose, that he would tell me that that was the last moment I should have used to teach anything. I let my eyes fall as Draven released his grip on me. He still made sure his hand was on me protectively, but we were having a silent fight.

“What just happened?” Brady asked.

Aden was elated. I could see it in his eyes as he answered Brady. “We do see the living, but we see way more of the dead. They seek us and we redeem them.”

“How?” Willow asked.

“We make them remember love,” Aden answered. “We say a word, describe something that brought that emotion to them, then they remember that they weren’t meant to be damned, that at one time the power of that emotion, love, belonged to them. They remember, so they’re redeemed.”

“That’s what those words were? Words that simple?” Willow asked.

“These are the darkest souls I’ve ever seen,” I said quietly, letting her know that nothing about what had just happened was simple.

“They listened to you,” Willow said, locking eyes with me. I nodded once, still hearing my ears ring, feeling my heart race. “If I wasn’t here - how would you have stopped that many?”

I glanced up at Draven as I put my arm around his back, hating that she’d just pinpointed our silent fight, which had just begun. I looked down. “At home - at home I show them my love for Draven. I tell them if they want to feel that, then they need to give me some space so I can help them.”

“But you didn’t do that here,” Willow said as she glanced at Draven.

I tightened my arm around Draven, feeling the tension in his body. “I didn’t. I didn’t because this is your world, your darkness. I won’t always be here; but you will. If they know you’re on their side, they won’t feed into the evil you’re fighting. They’ll protect you because you’re their light, their way out.”

Willow moved closer to us, locking eyes with Draven. “When you saw me, did you see Landen teach me the insight of truth?”