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Chapter 9

Light stabbed my eyes like thick daggers, shooting my skull through with an icepick of a migraine. My hands shot to my face, I crouched away from the deathly whiteness and hissed bitterly. Shade shade shadow shade... My only thought was of the need for shelter...
And suddenly, shelter was had. A resounding clash and bang startled me into a little protective ball. Looking through my fingers, I saw polished wood. Broken glass and porcelain glittered in a jagged circle about my feet, reflecting harmless sparks into my confused face.

I recognized my china cabinet... as well as the coffee table from my sitting room, and the cover from the baby grand piano in the music room. Exactly how these came to be surrounding me, I hadn't the foggiest. I lowered my arms slowly. The moment I relaxed, the random pieces dropped to the Persian rug. I stared at them for a moment... then up to the open window.

I looked into the light. And I remained unharmed.

I heard rushed footsteps behind me. I tensed, waited.
I snatched an arm and flung the intruder into the remains of the coffee table. I twisted said arm and instilled passive restraint, my other hand forcing the orange head downward.

“You opened the windows, didn't you?” I growled... then sniffed. That scent was familiar...
Basil gasped beneath me.
I immediately let go my hold and backed away, shoes crunching broken china.

“Yeah...” Basil wheezed, “I opened the windows... but I was coming to warn you, in case you woke up...”

I had turned to regard the daylight once more, a hand to my throat.
Basil rose painfully, and followed my gaze.
“You're not burning...”
“No, I'm not.”

We stood together in silence, contemplating.

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“I've never been able to see the sunlight before.”
I held out my pale arms, looking with a disconnected fascination at the way the light revealed the delicate blue veins beneath my creamy skin.

“How are you able to now? And how...”
He looked around at the dashed bits of furniture and dinnerware.
“I couldn't tell you.” I murmured. I stepped over a shattered board, walked slowly toward a door to the outside.
I turned the knob.
I exited into a world of warmth.

The view is breathtaking from the cliffs at night. During the day... it is almost unbearable to look at in its perfect, natural tropic beauty.

I stood for a long time, gazing out over the scarlet-blossomed trees and swaying coconut palms, gazing into the deep emerald-blue fringed with salty white. I breathed deep the sun-baked smell of the waking world. Sunlight has such a crisp, lively smell.

I felt Basil's arm around my waist... and all at once, I knew.
I turned to him, draping my arms around his neck and gazing through gleeful tears into his tranquil hazel eyes.
The kiss was a mutual thing. It was not initiated by either of us, it just was. His taste was innocent and clean, crisp like the sunlight, untainted.

So began my time in the light. So it was that I, by aid of supplement, became a daylight creature.

__________________________

For once, I was able to tour the local town like a vacationing tourist. I was actually able to visit the various stores during their open hours. We strolled down the sidewalk hand in hand like newlyweds, dazed in our happiness and completely enchanted by the smallest novelty.
Basil only barely complained about his newly-bought attire (he was never a fan of sandals or swim trunks), but otherwise was his pleasant, innocent self.