Exit Darkness, Enter Light: Book One of the Earth Cycle Read online

  ***

  It was the day of the flight. Nadia was rushing around the flat checking to make sure she had packed everything. She had filled two large suitcases, whereas I had just one holdall – I always travelled light. It was mid-July so I had taken mostly T-shirts and shorts. Nadia and I had spent the weekend building up to the holiday in various shops buying her several dresses. She was so excited about the holiday it was infectious. I had watched her try on different things and we had only bought items that had met my seal of approval.

  “Honey have you got the passports?” Nadia asked, as she hurried around the bedroom.

  “Yes they are packed. Get a move on the cab will be here soon.”

  As I said that there was a buzz on the intercom. I walked into the hallway from the bedroom and answered. I let the cab driver know we would be down in a few minutes. Nadia finally emerged from the bedroom and was stuffing a few bits in her handbag.

  “I’m ready,” she announced standing in front of me. I looked at her, she was a vision. She was wearing a bright red dress and dark red lipstick, which was stunning with her black hair. I smiled.

  “Ok babe, let’s go to Valletta!” I swung my holdall onto my back and picked up the suitcases, one in each hand. Nadia opened the front door and I walked out into the main hallway of our block of flats. I heard Nadia lock the door behind us.

  “You know what sweetheart, we forgot to give a set of keys to my mum.” As I said that Nadia winced.

  “Heathrow Airport?” the driver inquired, as we approached the cab outside. He was a jovial-looking man with a friendly demeanour.

  “Yes please,” I answered. After putting the bags into the boot we entered the cab. Nadia rested her head on my shoulder while I looked out the window. We drove through London, to take a route the driver assured me was very quick. It was around 8 a.m. and I could see people on the streets rushing to work. Everyone looked robotic, the men with grey suits and black briefcases going to their offices, the odd woman amongst them looking uncomfortable in a tight skirt and high heels. I felt happy watching them, the nameless shapes and faces on the pavement – no work for me for two weeks, I thought. The cab driver intermittently talked to me while Nadia dozed on my shoulder. She had not been able to sleep all night due to the excitement and now that the journey was finally underway she was feeling the tiredness, very ironic! I felt excited; the anticipation of the trip had been building up for weeks. Neither of us knew much about Valletta or indeed Malta. We knew it was quite hot in July and that the island had a rich history so we were keen to go on as many excursions as possible. More important than all of this was the fact that it was my first holiday with Nadia. We had not really discussed the out of body experiences or her dreams since that night. I had not told her about any of my nightmares either. We had just carried on, but there was a new found depth to our bond, almost a silent realisation that we shared a profound link that no one else could understand. Somehow all the questioning about my purpose in the world and the point of this thing we call life had evaporated, as long as Nadia loved me nothing else mattered. Nadia made me feel the beauty of everything, just her touch made my atoms sing and soar. My energy felt lighter when I was with her. This was important to me as I had always felt I held a lot of anger within me, maybe even evil. I often found myself wishing bad things on people who crossed me. Nadia made me feel innocent, it was as if her purity neutralised any darkness in me.

  The cab pulled into the airport drop-off zone for travellers; I kissed Nadia’s hair gently to wake her. I got out of the car and waited for the jolly driver to open the boot, I pulled the bags out of the back, paid the driver and thanked him for getting us to the airport in one piece. We said our goodbyes and he got back into the car. The day was bright and sunny. I looked across the pavement and saw Nadia approaching with a trolley and we loaded it up. I was glad I wouldn’t have to lug her suitcases around. We made our way into the airport to check in.

  After checking in and answering the usual silly questions about potential luggage tampering we made our way to the departures area. Nadia was gliding as she walked. She looked like an angel of light, the only one to exist in the airport. I could feel people staring at us as we held hands and wondered around the duty-free shops. We were in a blissful bubble.

  “Shall we get breakfast somewhere,” I said to Nadia, I was hungry. Nadia nodded. We found the nearest sandwich store and were seated by a somewhat agitated teenage girl. Poor girl, I thought, having to work in such a busy place with everyone around her going off on holiday. The grumpy young girl handed us menus. I cracked a joke to see if I could put a smile on her face, but it seemed to just irritate her even more, probably because she could see our happiness. We placed our orders and she disappeared.

  “Cyrus,” Nadia said.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “Do you love me?” Nadia was looking at me intently as she asked the question. Her hazel eyes were sparkling. I was absorbed by them.

  “Of course I do,” I answered touching her hand. Nadia fluttered her long eyelashes.

  “Why do you ask?” I added sensing there was something on her mind.

  “I just wanted to check you hadn’t gone off me since I told you about my dreams,” she replied.

  “Not at all, in fact I feel closer to you.”

  Nadia smiled at my words. Our order arrived and we ate in silence looking up at each other occasionally. The food tasted great, I don’t think I had ever enjoyed a chicken salad sandwich as much. All the problems of the world seemed trivial. We were just two lovers sitting at a restaurant about to embark on a romantic journey. I understood now what Maslow meant about a peak experience. This was a joyous and exciting moment in my life, I felt intensely happy with a sense of immeasurable well-being, and the anticipation of our journey filled me with wonder and awe. Running away somewhere else seemed a great idea!

  I paid the bill and we left the sandwich shop. We walked to the departure lounge and found some free seats. After we sat down Nadia rested her head on my lap, while I stroked her hair. A middle-aged woman was sitting opposite us. She was blond with bright blue eyes. She smiled at me as she watched me stroke Nadia. I grinned back. She glanced disappointingly at a man – probably her husband – sitting next to her. He was engrossed in a newspaper and ignoring her. She wanted some attention, I guessed. I looked down at Nadia. I hoped we would always be so much in love.

  I took my phone out of my jacket pocket trying not to disturb the dozing Nadia. I called my mum. I told her I had forgotten to give her a spare set of keys and that we would be flying soon. She sounded hyper excited; that was my mum, very enthusiastic. My dad spoke to me next and gave me a lecture about being careful and not to trust anyone easily! Lastly, I spoke to Aiyana. She always made me laugh. Aiyana was really jealous that I was going on holiday without her. She was fifteen now, but still not old enough to realise going on holiday with your parents and older brother was not hip!

  “Look after Nadia and make sure you don’t get sunburnt,” Aiyana demanded.

  “Ok sis whatever you say,” I replied.

  “Oh and don’t forget my souvenirs,” Aiyana said, making more demands. I just laughed. Aiyana was amazingly brazen; she had been sending me text messages with pictures of jewellery and other possible gifts. It was her way of ensuring she was not forgotten. I ended the call. As I did a very peculiar feeling washed over me. I turned to the side and noticed a man staring at me. He was sitting in a coffee shop on the outskirts of the waiting lounge about ten metres away. There was something strange about him, he realised I was looking straight back at him and then he averted his gaze. I felt a knot in my stomach. I gently stirred Nadia and told her I needed to go to the lavatory. She sat up disorientated, but still amazingly beautiful in her striking red summer dress. I got up and looked around for the toilets. I spotted them just past the coffee shop.

  “I’ll be right back,” I told Nadia.

  I walked towards the coffee shop. The same man who had b
een staring at me sat on a high stool and as I walked towards him, the peculiar sensation became stronger; a feeling of dread grew in the pit of my stomach. As I got closer, he looked up and our eyes met. I had involuntarily stopped just in front of him. Only a table separated us. He was slightly lower than eye level even though the stool he sat on was very high. He had very pale skin, platinum blond hair with weird black eyes. He didn’t look very old, but his features all looked unusual. He had a fake-looking face; like a mask. We stared at each other.

  He did not speak although words started to materialise in my head. “I knew you would come back to us,” he seemed to be saying to me. The strange-looking man glared at me intensely, as if to confirm the unbelievable. Then he glanced over my shoulder: “she will prove very useful”, I heard in my head. I knew he was referring to Nadia. Deep anger surged through my body. “Go away or you die,” was the overpowering thought that I directed back at him. Suddenly, the blond man fell violently backwards off his stool and crashed onto the floor. Someone in a nearby chair rushed over to see if he was all right. I quickly put my head down and walked straight for the toilet without looking back. I pushed open the door and rushed to the nearest sink and threw up. I was weak and drained. I turned the tap on and washed away the contents of my stomach. I took a mouthful of water and rinsed the taste of vomit away. My head was throbbing, but my stomach felt better. I splashed water on my face. Was I going mad? Who was that man? Had I imagined him? I was dazed and confused. I looked at myself in the mirror and tried to regain some composure. After a few minutes I felt my breathing slow back to normal and some calm return, so I turned and left the toilets. Outside in the departure lounge everything was normal, people were strolling around and there was another flight announcement. I walked back to where Nadia was seated and glanced at the coffee shop, the man had gone. I began to doubt his existence.

  “Cyrus you missed all the drama,” Nadia said, “a man fell in that coffee shop just as you were going to the toilet. Some airport people had to carry him away in one of those transport cars they use for disabled people.”

  “Really…” is all I said in response to Nadia’s story.

  “I hope he is ok,” Nadia said innocently.

  “Well I hope he isn’t,” I replied without thinking. Nadia stared at me as if she hadn’t heard me properly. Then shaking her head she said, “Someone is getting grumpy with all this waiting.” She smiled and took my hand as I sat down next to her. I kissed her on the cheek. We talked about the holiday and a few minutes later heard the announcement for our flight. Boarding by seat numbers had begun.

  Nadia and I held hands as we waited to board the plane. We had our boarding tickets and passports ready. Everything seemed mundane again. However, something had changed inside me. I glanced around nervously scanning the departure lounge. We continued to stand in line waiting for our tickets to be checked before final boarding. I couldn’t see the strange-looking man, but I felt uneasy. Forget about it, I thought to myself.

  “Boarding passes please,” an airline staff member said. She was middle-aged and looked bored.

  I handed her my ticket. She took my boarding pass and scanned it in her machine and handed it back to me. I waited for her to do the same to Nadia’s ticket. We walked pass the counter into a tunnel leading to the plane outside. Nadia was giggling and rubbing my hand like an excited child. I on the other hand was trying to ignore a mounting feeling of anxiety, as we prepared to fly to Valletta.

  Chapter 3

  “Valletta”

  The hotel room was amazing. We had got a cab straight to our hotel, which was just over three miles from the airport. We both loved the hotel; it was called Phoenicia Malta and set amidst seven acres of gardens, surrounded by sixteenth-century Valletta bastions. The room was stylish in an understated manner, warm colours, new wooden furniture with a huge four poster bed as the centrepiece.

  “Look we even have a balcony!” Nadia shouted as she disappeared behind one of the closed curtains. I followed her voice and pulled the curtain aside as I walked through the patio doors onto the large balcony. Nadia was seated in a straw chair looking out over the hotel grounds and city beyond. The view was breathtaking. It was early evening in Malta and a warm orange light was being cast over the horizon by the slowly setting sun. I sat on a chair opposite Nadia.

  “So what shall we do tomorrow?” I asked.

  “I want to learn something about the history of this city; we can go down to reception and see what the hotel staff would recommend,” Nadia replied, smiling and still looking glamorous in her red dress.

  “Ok sounds good. Do you want to go out and get some food to eat or should we just order room service?” I said with a little wink.

  “Oh that’s a tough one, room service please,” Nadia replied laughing. We both knew that meant an early night. We sat on the balcony a while longer enjoying the view. I went back into the room and ordered us a couple of appetising-sounding items from the room service menu. Once the food was delivered Nadia joined me in the room and we ate, laughed and finally made love before going to bed peacefully.

  ***

  I awoke in the middle of the night drenched in sweat after a terrifying nightmare. The dream was the same: fire, destruction and a huge reptilian creature marauding around shouting commands in an alien language. Nadia was fast asleep next to me. It was a warm night. I had left the patio door open. The bed was really comfortable and spacious. I sat up. I was naked apart from my boxer shorts. The sheets were near my feet having been pushed off during my fitful sleep. I felt uneasy again. It had been a long day. I lay back on the bed. I could hear Nadia breathing. I listened to the rhythm and started to feel tired again and began to drift off.

  “Get up Cyrus, you lazy hunk,” I heard Nadia shouting as I slowly opened my eyes. It was morning and light was pouring into the room.

  “What time is it?” I asked.

  “Ten a.m., I let you sleep in. Now get up and get ready we have some exploring to do,” Nadia was at the edge of the bed looking at me. She was dressed in a short black skirt and purple top.

  “You look great,” I said, as I got out of the bed. I stumbled into the bathroom and got myself together. A few minutes of self-pampering and I was alive and raring to go. I went back into the bedroom and saw that Nadia had picked out what she wanted me to wear, a blue T-shirt and one of my comfortable shorts. I got dressed and picked up my watch and wallet. Nadia was out on the balcony.

  “I am ready to go!” I shouted as I opened the door to the hotel room. Nadia came running out with a large satchel packed full of essentials, no doubt. We raced out into the hallway towards the lift. The hallway was lavish with elegant paintings on the walls and marble tiles everywhere giving the place a clean cool impression. The lift came and we went down to the restaurant area. Breakfast was a pleasant experience with unbelievable choice at the buffet. My stomach felt contented as Nadia and I left the restaurant.

  “Let’s explore the garden,” Nadia said as we saw some open doors leading outside. The garden area was immaculate with gorgeous flowers of all types a bloom. Nadia and I strolled through the gardens following the path and found ourselves emerge into the open pool area. A few people rested on lounge seats strategically placed around the rectangular swimming pool, while children splashed each other in the water. The area was overlooked by the Valletta bastions, some imposing fortifications. We spent a few hours relaxing on sun loungers interspersed with lazy swimming.

  “Let’s go and see some of the city,” I suggested, getting bored of sunbathing. Nadia agreed.

  Back in the hotel lobby the receptionist listened to all our questions and gave some more than adequate answers, as well as suggestions of what we should do and where we should go for the remainder of the day.

  “Most visitors like to see St John’s Co-Cathedral and the Grand Master’s Palace,” said the rather stern-looking female receptionist. Nadia starting asking various questions, but I was distracted by an unsettling sensation
in the pit of my stomach, rather like the feeling at the airport the previous day. I turned around and saw a man sitting on a couch behind us in the lobby area. He was looking at me; he had jet black hair and sunglasses on. He reminded me of the man who had been at the airport; he had the same look of fakeness, although he was definitely another person. He glanced over at us for a few seconds, and then got up and walked away, disappearing into the hotel hallway.

  “Cyrus I wish you would pay attention,” Nadia was nudging me. I was shaken out of my curiosity.

  We decided to find our way to St John’s Co-Cathedral on foot, with me, map in hand. It didn’t seem like a long walk according to the map, but now I was not too sure. We had been walking for about fifteen minutes and the sun felt hot on the back of my neck. Nadia seemed in good spirits, donning a pair of new sunglasses she had bought at the airport from duty-free. The sky was bright blue and not a cloud to be seen. The buildings all around us were yellow and white and looked old. The whole place seemed steeped in a strange energy.

  The receptionist had recommended we attend a movie audiovisual spectacular “The Malta Experience.” This movie was meant to trace the history of the island. The island had been a strategic place during the Second World War, but even before that it had been important to various religious groups such as the Knights Templar. One of the key reasons we were going to St John’s Co-Cathedral was to see the famous seventeenth-century Beheading of St John the Baptist, a painting by Caravaggio. Nadia loved paintings. As we walked further along the street I could see the faint outline of the Cathedral in the distance. It took us another ten minutes before we were outside the Cathedral near the main square. The front view of the Cathedral was impressive, with pillars on either side of the entrance.