Little Lightning

“Do you remember what I told you, Little Lightning?”

“Grandma, do you have to call me that? I’m not seven anymore. I’m seventeen. I don’t need your nicknames anymore.”

The old woman sighs, staring at the scratched mahogany table. A map stretches over the wood, small tears and markings decorating the stained parchment. Large cities and small towns are drawn in black, surrounded by the mountains. Arcadia, their home.

“I am sorry, Ashni. You once loved that name,” the old woman says.

The girl rolls her eyes. “Key word: once.”

“But do you remember what I told you?”

“Yes. I must always keep my hair brushed.”

“Ashni,” Grandmother says in a warning tone.

She sighs. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

“From?”

“Joshua one verse nine,” Ashni recites, running a hand through her dark hair. Her grandmother nods, pleased.

“Your father would be proud,” she says as she pushes away from the table, letting the chair creak over the floorboards.

Ashni rolls her eyes again, resting her head on the table. She had been in this room a thousand times, probably more. Sometimes she forgets when she came to live with her grandmother, but it always feels the same. The warm orange glow that fills the room from the dodgy lamps reminds Ashni of her first home and her father.

It reminds her of life before The End. When she would get ice cream along the beach-front and fly a kite over on the hills. But then The End came. It wasn’t safe for her to live with her father anymore. So she was sent into the city, where the tides couldn’t swallow her. Where the Bone Men and their Queen couldn’t reach her.

Now she’s surrounded by odd trinkets, old smelly books, rotting carpet and dead plants. She loved her grandmother more than anything, but Ashni always believed she was an odd little lady.

“Now, do you remember what this is?” her grandmother returns, taking her seat and placing a dented, gold heart-shaped locket.

Ashni shrugs. “I’ve seen you wear it. I just thought it was something from your past. Maybe Grandfather is in there?”

“Such a sweet mind,” she smiles. “It does not have your grandfather in it. He escaped the horrors of being my husband.”

Ashni snickers.

“It is no joking matter. There is a reason why your mother left your father. We are a cursed family.” Grandmother shakes her head. “There is a reason why your father sent you to me when the Bone Men rose with their Queen. They hunt us.”

“What?”

“This little locket is precious, even though it looks nothing more than a piece of the past. But the Queen wants it, and the Bone Men hunt it.”

“Uhuh… I don’t get the game you’re trying to teach me here.”

“This is no game, Ashni. I fear we are out of time,” the old woman glances over her shoulder. “The Bone Men are near.”

“What? We have to lock the apartment down now. You know the drill. You taught it to me,” Ashni says, pushing back on her seat.

Grandmother shakes her head. “It is too late. They know we are here. And there are things I must tell you, before it is too late.”

Fear burst in Ashni’s chest. The tone of her grandmother’s voice claws at her insides as she slinks back into her seat.

“The Bone Men are born heartless. They function like robots but look and think like humans. They are mere men who do not die. But their Queen, the Amative Queen, longs for them to have a heart, for then they are completed.”

“But if the Bone Men have hearts, they can finish The End.”

Grandmother nods. “And we cannot let that happen. There are still a few good people who are worthy enough to live and create a new, better world. Humanity is still redeemable. The Queen does not believe so. She will stop at nothing to end us all.”

Ashni takes a deep breath, looking at the locket on the map. “What am I supposed to do?”

“You must protect this,” Grandmother replies, picking the locket up. “As I have done all my life.”

“Have the Queen and her Bone Men existed that long?”

“The End has always been near, Ashni, but it is she who began to drown the earth. Soon she will burn it all.”

Ashni shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”

“I know. It will not make sense for a while. But as long as you have courage, you will be protected. As long as you have trust, you will be safe.”

“Trust in what?”

“The Lord, Little Lightning. Who else suffers every pain with you and still comforts you?” Grandmother smiles a little.

“But what else do I do? Like, can I bury it? Can I destroy it?”

Grandmother shakes her head. “Only Adamma can destroy it.”

“Adamma? Like from your childhood?”

“My old friends,” Grandmother smiles softly. “She was the wiser one. She insisted we destroy the locket, but I was desperate to keep it. And now you are suffering from my foolishness.”

“Grandm-”

Gunfire hammers outside the hall, followed closely with screams and a thud. The old woman rises slowly, calm as a pyromaniac walking towards the flames of hell. Ashni’s heart races in her chest as she watches her grandmother, waiting for directions.

The old woman closes her eyes as muffled screams come through the wall. “We must pack, or we will never make the journey. Quickly now.”

Ashni scrambles out of her chair, rolling up the mat and rushing towards her room. The small square only held a single bed and a shelf, but Ashni had grown rather fond of it. She pulls out her backpack, stuffed with a change of clothes, a picture of her father and other little things.

Grandmother has a bag sitting on the table as she sorts through food supplies. The gunfire amplifies in sound.

“They’re getting closer,” Ashni says nervously.

“Do not rush me, or I will pack the wrong fruits.”

“Grandmother, it doesn’t matter. Food is food.”

The old woman sighs, throwing three cans at Ashni. She quickly shoves them in her pack. She reaches for the lamp switch, removing the warmth of the room and welcoming the cold. “Come on! We can still make it. They sound like they’re upstairs. If we run now, we should be okay. And maybe they’ll be stupid enough to think we died or something.”

“Bone Men are not fool-”

A crash comes from the entrance to the apartment and Ashni freezes. Grandmother hisses and runs towards Ashni, pushing her into the living room and behind the tea-stained lounge. Gunfire rains down the entrance hall as Bone Men stomp inside.

The old woman hands Ashni a map, motioning for her to quietly shove it in her pack. Her hands are shaky as she moves to put the parchment in her bag, trying so hard not to make a sound. Bullets fly over their heads, losing their way in the curtains, and Ashni falls against her grandmother’s chest.

“Hush now, there’s no reason to be afraid,” she whispers, stroking Ashni’s head. “They will pass and we can run.”

Ashni clutches to the clothes of her grandmother, her bones stiff with fear. She didn’t dare breathe, but she could feel sobs piling in her chest. She bites her lip, begging herself to stay quiet, no matter how scared she was.

The sound of gunfire echoes through the room again. Shadows of their hunters fall across the ground. A tear rolls down the girl’s cheek as she watches the shadows disappear again.

“Shhh,” her grandmother hums, running her fingers down the back of the girl's head. “Promise me something, Ashni. No matter what happens, you must run. You must survive. You must keep the locket safe and away from the Bone Men and their Queen. Away from the hunters.”

Ashni looks up at her, pushing away slightly. “What about you?”

“I can distract the Bone Men. They will expect me to have the locket, not you.”

“But they’ll kill you,” Ashni swallows hard, not wanting to believe her own words.

Grandmother shakes her head. “I am the only connection they have to the locket. I am the only one who knows its secrets. Please, Ashni, you must run and find Adamma. She will know what to do with the locket, and then you can both save me.”

“No, I won’t,” Ashni shakes her head, gripping onto her clothes harder. “I can’t just leave you. I can’t let you die.”

Her grandmother grabs hold of Ashni’s hands, pulling them from her clothing. Their eyes lock and the old woman lets a tear cascade down her cheek. With her wrinkled hands, she unhooks the locket from around her neck and places it in the hands of Ashni.

“Sometimes things do not happen the way we wish, my dear Ashni, my little lightning. But we cannot control the current, we can only choose which way to swim--”

“Grandmo-”

“I did not wish this upon you. I thought we were safe. I have failed you, Ashni,” the old woman closes her eyes, sucking in a deep breath. “Your father would be disappointed in me.”

“Gra--”

She opens her eyes again, squeezing the locket in Ashni’s palm. “Promise me you will protect this at all costs. Promise me you will be strong and courageous.”

“I…”

“Promise me,” she whispers, her desperation pulling at the strings in Ashni’s heart.

She nods. “I-I promise.”

“Good,” Grandmother sighs and reaches to stroke Ashni’s face. “When the time comes, my little lightning, strike them down.”

The old woman leans forward, planting a kiss on her forehead before shakily rising to her feet. She looks at her granddaughter one last time and steps out into the hall. Screams rise in Ashni’s throat as she squeezes the locket hard, the metal biting her skin.

“I love you,” she whispers before hooking the locket around her neck with the rusty chain. The shadows of her grandmother disappear and Ashni shakes. Salty tears threaten to spill, but she swallows her emotions and begins to crawl through the lounge room.

Her grandmother was right. She can’t control the current, she can’t change her fate. But she can either fight it or dance with it.

The carpet burns her knees as she stays in the shadows. Gunfire echoes through the room again, making her body cringe against the cabinet. Her grandmother’s face flashes in her mind, stained with death and covered in blood. Ashni grips the carpet, pushing the thoughts away. She grits her teeth and pushes herself to keep going.

Her grandmother will not die in vain. She will not fail. She will run. She will survive.