The Luminosity Series (Book 1): Luminosity Read online

  “Aubrey? What’s wrong?” But he didn’t wait to find out. “Someone help! Please! She needs help!” Racing out into the hall, he pressed his hands against the sides of his head in panic. His distressful screams continued, ringing down the busy hallway before help arrived. Now, in a sudden refusal of acceptance, I pried my eyes open as a nurse shouted out the doorway.

  “Get a doctor. She’s going into shock!” the nurse warned a team in the hallway. This only made him resist their orders to leave even more. “Aubrey, you need to try and relax, okay? We’re here to help you,” she said, approaching me.

  “Hold on, Aubs. Just hold on,” he panicked with wide eyes, eager to reach me. But getting past the barrier of flustered nurses proved useless.

  “Sir, it’s time to go!” A police guard pulled him back. He was armed, dressed in a thick, black uniform and helmet, unlike the normal, on-duty officers we’d see around town.

  “No! You have to let me stay here! Please!”

  Without forewarning, a team of doctors hastened down the hallway, their footsteps slapping against the shiny hospital floor before rushing into my room. Now, urgent voices and movement surrounded me. My bed rolled down the hall as the weight of my heavy eyelids blinded me. But I could still see light behind them. Evan’s shouts grew more desperate as he struggled to break free from the added security guards pulling him back several feet behind me. Numbness overtook me, drifting me into darkness again. After so much pain, I didn’t think I could hold on. I wasn’t sure I wanted to. And the last image I saw was the glint of fluorescent light before everything faded.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  After losing track of the incomprehensible days spent in recovery, I woke to a fuzzy vision of dying orange roses—like the ones my mother grew near the garden. They sat lifelessly on the table beside me, soaking in the golden light glaring in from the window, the rays revealing a sea of dust particles in the air, then disappearing again like fireflies. My bones still throbbed from the impact, but at least my energy seemed better.

  When I built up the strength, I adjusted the bed to an upright position. To my relief, the shouts and screams outside had vanished, replaced with a hollow, bitter calm.

  The door squealed open, breaking the silence as Evan reappeared. I didn’t expect to see him after that night. Nor had he expected to see me, I assumed. It took several glances to accept this was real, his face frozen upon standing there, never once blinking. Beaten by the elements, his tired posture reflected the outside world—messy, weary, and broken. His hair looked dirty, unwashed in a tangle of wavy strands, just like the night he brought me here. The image of it triggered fragments of my memory—the auroras, the accident, the pain.

  He swallowed as he strolled closer.

  “Hey.” He cleared the grogginess from his throat. I turned my head away from him, hiding the emotion that accompanied his presence. After dragging a chair beside the bed, he leaned forward to gaze at the floor, contemplating something. His expression tensed, struggling to witness my fragile spirit. “You’ll be okay this time. I promise.” He snapped out of scrutiny as he watched my eyes fill to their capacity.

  “What happened?” I asked. He took a deep breath, searching for a believable explanation.

  “You were in a car accident. I found you lying upside down off the side of the road. You don’t remember?” His dark eyes threw me a heavy glance. My eyelids fluttered in denial as I shook my head. “They brought you here not long after I got to you. You’re lucky to be alive, Aubrey.” He clenched his jaw tightly, struggling with the emotion that followed. Then, without wanting to, I exploded into tears in front of him. He shot up from his position, catching me as I leaned forward, gasping on air. Several moments passed before I collected myself again.

  “How long have I been here?”

  “A week…” He took his seat again.

  “It’s been that long?” My eyes swelled at his nod.

  “When they wheeled you into the trauma unit, I thought for sure you wouldn’t make it, Aubrey…” His voice tapered off to a whisper. My heart raced again at the flashbacks of the accident, hoping to remember how it happened. “They said you were lucky to have gotten here when you did.”

  He released a quick breath.

  “How’d you know to come after me?”

  “You never returned my calls or texts.” He turned his head to obscure his emotions.

  “How did this happen?” I asked in a confused grimace. He rose from his chair hastily to pace the floor.

  “We should focus on your recovery right now. We can talk about the details of the crash later.” His tone startled me as he faced the small, rectangular window situated high along the wall.

  “Was this my fault?” My lips trembled.

  “No. The other driver hit you. He—he died at the scene.”

  “All I remember were cars pulling over on the highway, and… the sirens...” A tear fell as I spoke.

  “You should be fully recovered before I explain.” He raised his voice, letting out a troubled sigh.

  “Why? Don’t I deserve to know why I’m here?” His resistance only elevated my curiosity. With worried eyes, he glanced back up at the window, his breathing accelerating before its release.

  “Isn’t knowing you’re alive enough? You could have died, but you didn’t…” He sighed in frustration, cutting off his sentence. Evan never spoke to me this way—so rattled, so dismissive, and so insensitive.

  “Evan, what’s wrong with you?” A tear fell from my grimace. He shook his head, knowing I wouldn’t quit without a thorough explanation.

  “I should have opened my mind to the possibility the second I saw it.” He blinked harshly.

  “Saw what?” I asked. Then, the memory of it returned—the guard, the helicopters, the glow in the sky. “Please... just tell me.” He paced back and forth from one end of the room to the other. Already, I grew tired of his delay.

  “The rumors about the sun… they’re not a hoax, Aubrey. They’re real. That’s why you heard the sirens, and why that car hit you… Everything those people warned us about is coming true.” He focused his attention to me in hesitation, my heart pulsing at his weighty look.

  “What do you mean? How is it even possible?”

  “I don’t know, but it is,” he said. “NASA confirmed the discovery the night of your accident. The whole world knows now. The President called in the military to protect against a panic. Obviously that didn’t stop it.” He swallowed with an afflictive glance. I stared back at him, lifeless, weak, and empty. The sudden realization paralyzed me as his dreadful eyes reunited with mine. “Aubrey, they’re giving us about a decade before we have to evacuate,” he said gingerly.

  “What do you mean a decade? Evacuate to where?” I expelled in a shriek, catching the concerned look of a distressed nurse passing by.

  “Shh… We don’t know yet. That’s what they’re trying to figure out.” I closed my eyes after aiming my head down, refusing to believe it. “Riots are happening all over the country. The President’s address has been replaying on the news ever since,” he said.

  After my curiosity took over, I refused to tune into the television in the hopes the possibility would go away. It hadn’t.

  “How long have they known about this?” A tear slid along my cheek.

  “I don’t know, but people are claiming this was classified knowledge, that this was never meant to get out to the public. A lot of houses and shops were looted in the last few days. The hospital was in lockdown since the night you arrived. I spent the past week waiting by the barricades outside just to get in to see you. I didn’t even know if you were alive,” he sighed, shaking his head as his voice rattled. I squeezed my eyes shut as I pushed the tears from their corners. Hunching over in the bed, I tended to the onset of nausea. Inside me was an abyss, sucking the life and energy from every pore in my body. Ignoring the pain in my chest, I glanced back up at him.

  “Wait a minute… so the military is still here? For how l
ong?” I asked.

  “For however long they need to be, I’m guessing. There’s a citywide curfew in effect. They’re telling everybody to stay off the streets until the situation is under control. The President is planning to speak about preparation efforts later this week. But I don’t want you to worry. You need to recover. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you yet.” He took a few steps away while I processed everything.

  Evan was stubborn, choosing not to leave my side, as if he knew how broken I was about to become. After choking down the assortment of bland hospital food beside me, I glanced outside the doorway. Several police officers and military personnel stood in the halls. One spoke to the doctor treating me, striving to get answers about my accident. They paged through a series of papers, confused about something, but I wasn’t sure what. When I turned back to Evan, there was a glossy numbness manifesting in his gaze, like he needed a moment of denial. Not that I could blame him.

  Just before dusk approached, my mother arrived. Evan stood up as she entered the room, almost like he felt unwelcome with her around.

  “Aubrey, I’m so sorry! They weren’t letting anyone else in!” She rushed to my side in a panic of black tears and messy hair to match them. Leaning down, she pulled me from the back of the hospital bed, giving me a long, suffocating embrace. I trembled before exploding into a deep, ugly cry. Evan walked to the window, lifting his head back to view the auroras. The cosmic glow remained above us, still hauntingly real. My mother sprung over to him, reaching out to deliver a hug.

  “I don’t know how to tell you how grateful I am... that you were there to save my daughter’s life,” she said. Still in tears, the heartbreak of seeing him, so expressionless, paralyzed her body, but gratitude overwhelmed her voice. Evan did his best to hold himself together, his jaw twitching while he struggled to speak.

  “She’s more important than she thinks.” His eyes came back into focus now. Behind his glance was a darkness I couldn’t figure out. My mother observed him in suspicion as he exited the room, keeping his sight fixed on me through the large, square window before disappearing from view.

  “The doctor said you can come home in a couple days, isn’t that great?” my mother sobbed, attempting to appear hopeful with a smile.

  “Yeah...” I said, exhausted by the burden of emotional weight hovering in the air.

  “I’ll explain what’s happening outside later... just rest. I’ll be back in the morning to check on you.”

  “Mom, I know what’s going on. Evan told me,” I said through tears. She dropped her shoulders and swallowed.

  “Oh...” She stopped in reluctance before gliding to the bedside, taking my hand as if to convince me we’d all be okay. But I was already fed up with the pretending.

  “I don’t need to rest. I need to go home. Please just get me out of here.”

  “You have to stay here so the doctor can decide if you’re healthy enough to leave. Besides, you’re safer here. We’d be risking your life by taking you home too early, especially with the violence happening out there,” she said.

  “What’s the point? It’s already over, mom,” I exhausted.

  “Stop it. I don’t care what people say, there’s still hope for us. You’ll make it through this, and one day you’ll understand why you did,” she reassured me through angry sobs of denial.

  “How do you know that?” I asked in a terrified whisper. She avoided the question for several seconds.

  “Because you’re a fighter, just like your father,” she said firmly, without a hint of sympathy. I turned my head away from her.

  “Evan’s the only reason I’m still here.” I was out of breath as she reached out to pull my face back in her direction.

  “He’s not the only reason. You need to give yourself more credit, Aubrey. He may have prevented your death, but you’re the one who has to fight to survive now. From now on, you have to be strong.” Tears descended her shaky face as I nodded in exhaustion. And before she could be pulled away by guards, she gave me one final hug.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Three days later, I rolled down the hallway in a wheelchair. Evan accompanied my mother, walking beside me with my bag over his shoulder and the crisp, dried out roses in his opposite hand. His reassuring smile came unexpected. The world was ending. I couldn’t imagine finding a reason to be happy again. And I didn’t want him to fake it for the sake of pity. The way the two of them looked at me as if everything would be okay again frustrated me. I’d never be able to pretend like they did.

  Outside, the National Guard, FEMA, and The Red Cross had taken over the town. It felt like a war zone. Judging from the broken windows and protesters flooding Main Street, it already was. Even the old church was overwhelmed with people pouring through its narrow doors. But now we’d be forced to swallow the truth—our lives were a one-way path leading to darkness, and we were powerless to stop it, regardless of our faith.

  Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes as we drove home. Evan grabbed my hand against the back seat as we stopped at a set of barricades before heading onto the highway. I dismissed his comfort, squinting out the window at the surrounding land leading home. Construction began on the south end of the city limits—a black wall, a border, a cage. And at that moment I knew my home, my life, the world would never go back to what it once was.

  3 PROGNOSIS

  By the end of one week, our country was at war. That night, I curled up on the couch in the safety of my mother’s arms. Between a flickering television screen of static and distorted images, we observed the President deliver his speech of reassurance. If reassurance is what you’d call it.

  “Today, I encourage the people of this great nation to have faith. With the support of the United States Federal Government, our military, space, and technological institutions, along with our brave citizens, we will prosper and rise above this dark hour,” the President stated.

  Cameras flashed as he continued to speak, producing a strobe-like effect behind the podium.

  “I would like to turn your attention to the director of NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory for a more scientific interpretation of this anomaly. It is my honor to introduce the man accountable for this surprising, yet terrifying discovery, Astrophysicist and Solar Research Analyst, Mr. Edwin S. Malcolm.” But there was no applause, and the silence between his words only heightened the concern. The man stood before the nervous crowd, towering over the podium. He wore a dark blue suit the color of midnight, the lighting above him emphasizing the shadows from his long nose and angular face. Embroidered designs of space shuttles and sun rays were stitched within his jacket—a prideful status symbol within the NASA community.

  He cleared his throat before speaking.

  “Thank you, Mr. President,” he said, his voice a mixture of baritone and articulate monotone. Six long seconds passed in silence before his announcement was delivered. “The Solar Dynamics Observatory at NASA has observed a series of massive eruptions on the outer layer of our sun. These storms, or coronal emissions, are multiplying at a rapid pace that we don’t yet fully understand. Due to this anomaly, we’ve determined that our scientists were wrong about our sun’s spectral luminosity classification.”

  He paused to take in the ominous silence and ghostly, confused faces of the crowd.

  “For billions of years, our sun has exhausted a large magnitude of gases. But within the last few decades, we have observed it burn up its fuel more efficiently. Due to the increase in sunspots and solar flares, we have observed its energy diminish at an unprecedented speed—a pace never before observed in the history of star observation. If our estimations are correct, within just one decade, we predict that Earth will only be able to absorb ten to twenty percent of the sun’s current x-ray luminosity.”

  A crescendo of chatter, whispers, and commotion overlapped his words before the crowd was hushed by his microphone’s sudden spike in volume, creating a deafening screech to interrupt their panic. “When this shift occurs, global temperat
ures will plummet, creating what scientists and astronomers refer to as a solar ice age. With years of extensive research and stellar observation, we conclude that this development will last tens of thousands of years as our sun transitions into a dimmer star.”

  He stalled to capture his breath. Aside from the intermittent clicking of the cameras, the room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

  “As this process accelerates, solar storms will become a more serious threat. Solar flares have already produced massive auroras that have appeared not just at the poles, but as far south as the equator. The intensity of these flares give them the power to destroy Earth’s ozone layer and magnetic field. In addition to atmosphere depletion, it will strengthen the effects of solar winds over the course of the next several years. Because of this, radiation will become a far greater threat to this planet and its ecosystems.” He swallowed before continuing. “Without the help of technological innovations, life on Earth would go extinct in years to come.”

  And with that, the room erupted into roars of outrage before the television broadcast blacked out. My mother gripped me tighter, as if to stop the fear from shuddering through me. When the screen lit just seconds later, the room was quiet again before the man nervously raised his voice.

  “As I mentioned earlier, with this threat brings the increase in solar winds. We are uncertain at this point how quickly this will affect our weather patterns. But the effects of this unprecedented event will become more predictable as we move into the future. Thank you,” Edwin said.

  “Thank you, Mr. Malcolm,” the President said in a wince before aiming his focus back toward the alarmed audience. Now, body guards in black armor stood beside him, ready to act if needed. “Due to this frightening, life-threatening crisis, I have declared a state of emergency for the entire country. Preparations for our future cannot afford to wait. NASA and our military have agreed to team up, beginning construction for several underground safe zones we refer to as colonies. These colonies will open a new era for mankind, capable of sustaining and producing new life for generations to come. Timing is crucial, as we expect to build fifteen bunkers, each with a capacity of supporting twenty thousand people. With the assistance of the public, military, and our emergency organizations, we can all help prepare for this dark transition. I’d like to take a break now to address any and all concerns,” the President explained. Enraged voices exploded at once. More cameras flashed before he could continue, nodding at a reporter in the front of the room.