Read The Light Who Shines for Free Online Page B

Valley. I can see the parapet
surrounding the tar and pebble roof of
the building I live in next door. There are lights on in my friend Alexis’
apartment, but my windows are dark. Large, winged gargoyles decorate each corner
of the roof as though standing guard against some unseen enemy. I take a couple
of deep breaths of cool evening air, letting the stress of the day flow out,
and head back downstairs.
    When I reach the bottom landing, I gingerly open the door
leading back into the church. No matter, though, because Father O’Brennen
catches me anyway.
    “There you are, Bluebell! I thought I heard a mouse in my
bell tower!”
    “You could hear me?”
    Father O’Brennen chuckles. “No, I saw you slip through the
door on your way up.”
    “Oh.” I smile. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”
    I’ve known Father O’Brennen since my orphanage days. We used
to come here on Sundays for church. I’ve never been very religious, so I would
always sneak away from the housemothers before the sermon and spend the hour in
the bell tower, pretending it was my very own home.
    “You’re not disturbing me at all,” Father O’Brennen says. “Why
don’t you join me? I was just getting a snack in the kitchen. You can tell me
how your apartment is doing.”
    The building next door is a defunct school belonging to the
church. It’s mostly used for storage space now, except for the top floor where
the nuns’ living quarters used to be. Some renovations have been done to make
it suitable for a few modern apartments. When I was of age and ready to move
out of the orphanage, Father O’Brennen offered one of the apartments to me and let
me live there rent-free until I found my first job.
    Well, I suppose, there is no polite way to get out of a
conversation with Father O’Brennen, so I decide to make the most of it. I need
some answers from him anyway. “Do you happen to have any cookies left over from
the church ladies?”
    Father O’Brennen chuckles again. “That’s exactly what I was
after myself.”
    We walk down the hall to the roomy kitchen. It has beige
tile counters, dark oak cabinets, and a slate floor. It’s lit by electricity as
this is holy ground, so no magic works here. Father O’Brennen pulls two glasses
out of the cabinet and fills them with milk from a pretty glass decanter. Then
he fills two plates with fresh gingersnaps, bringing the container of cookies
with him. I arrange the plates and the milk on the beige tile counter outfitted
with stools for impromptu meals. I feel as though we’re sneaking a forbidden midnight
snack.
    Father O’Brennen stands medium height with deep-set, dark gray
eyes. His salt and pepper hair is mostly salt now, and he has a shiny spot on
the top of his head that I can only see when he leans forward. He’s quick to
laugh but otherwise has a quiet, wise look about him. I do like Father
O’Brennen, and he has always been particularly kind to me. I’m just not a fan
of God since he has never gone out of his way to make my life easy. So I
usually avoid the kind of deep conversation with Father O’Brennen that I’m
about to embark on. However, I am twenty-three now, and it’s high time I get
some answers about my family.
    “How’s your apartment doing?” Father O’Brennen asks.
    “It’s fine. It kept me warm all winter and I expect it will
keep me warm all summer as well,” I say with a grin.
    Father O’Brennen leans back and laughs a deep, throaty laugh.
“Well, that’s what the terrace is for.”
    I pause for a moment and crunch on a gingersnap, thinking of
how best to approach the topic of my family with him. Then I ask, “Father, I
think you told me once that you knew both of my parents, didn’t you?”
    “I did, certainly. They were wonderful people.”
    “You were also the one who brought me to the orphanage.”
    Father O’Brennen nods in confirmation.
    “Well, the housemothers told me my parents were killed by
Dark Vampires. Several of the children were