Radiance (Riley Bloom 1)

Hadn’t tapped into the deepest part of me like I’d thought.

He was merely tapping into all the usual fears—the ones most of us shared.

And the only thing keeping me here, scared out of my wits and chained to that chair, was my belief that he had some kind of power over me.

My belief that the flying furniture could’ve harmed me, when clearly it would’ve just passed right through.

My belief that I couldn’t overcome the snakes and the dental instruments—that they were bigger than me, too powerful to fight.

When the truth is they weren’t.

And neither was he.

Not in the least.

And realizing that, well, it didn’t make the snakes go away, didn’t make the dental drills disappear, but it did make me stronger—strong enough to conquer my fears. So by the time he reached his arms toward me and threw back his head—well, I didn’t cringe.

In fact, I didn’t do much of anything at all.

I just calmly unbuckled all the harnesses and straps as I watched the Radiant Boy—falter.

Falter in a way that set him completely off balance.

Falter in a way that somehow—split him into three!

I sat there, mouth hanging open, a fresh unheard scream tickling the back of my throat, thinking the only thing scarier than one angry Radiant Boy—was half a six-pack of angry Radiant Boys.

But only when they were all grouped into a pyramid like they were just before the fall. After losing their balance and tumbling to the ground, well, there was no doubt that I was in charge now.

I slid off the chair and cleared the floor of snakes simply by wishing for them to be gone. Then jutting my hip and tossing my hair over my shoulder, I cocked my head to the side and said, “So, you work as a team.” I nodded, pausing for a moment to take them all in. “Well, I guess that explains why no one’s been able to convince you to move on all these years. You’ve probably spent the last several centuries either working in shifts, or ganging up on people in your big scary pyramid maneuver. Not quite a fair fight when you think about it, now is it?”

They scrambled to their feet, trying to assume a tough-guy pose but it was too late. Two of them choosing to hang back, as one of them stepped forward as their leader, and I couldn’t help but wonder why they’d chosen him since they all seemed pretty much the same to me. But as he drew closer, as all of them drew closer, I saw that they weren’t the same at all.

When they were all bunched up, piled high on top of each other and pooling their energy, they took on that same, bright, radiant glow. But, taken in separately and individually, well, they had some very distinct differences. One was tall, one not so tall, and one more or less medium, and while two had hair that could best be described as platinum in color, the one who stepped forward was more of the strawberry blond variety, and he’s the one who chose to lift his shoulders, puff up his chest, tilt his chin high, and address me.

“I command you to leave,” he said, voice steady and strong and more than a little intimidating.

And even though the visions of snakes and the crazy clown wielding dental instruments were still fresh in my mind, I had no choice but to move past it, just clear it out completely. If I was to get anywhere with them, make any progress at all, it was imperative I show them I wasn’t that same scared little ghost girl from a moment ago.

“Please tell me you’re not serious,” I said, knowing I might be pushing it, but still. Even though there were three of them and only one of me, they were still only a bunch of ten-year-olds, which, in my mind, pretty much made me the boss of them. “I mean, you’re not serious about commanding me—are you?” I gazed all around, noting every little detail as I vowed to remember this exact moment. What the room looked like, what they looked like, knowing it would become one of my favorite parts to retell later. I shook my head, correctly reading the sudden burst of flames in his eyes as outrage, when I said, “Oh boy, it looks like you are serious. Okay.” I nodded, trying not to cringe at the sight of it. “But see, here’s the thing, I can’t leave—or at least not yet. I’ve got a job to do—and—well—I’m not going anywhere until it’s done. So, it seems like we’ve got ourselves a little problem, I mean, what with your commanding me and all.”

He glanced over his shoulder and looked at the others, receiving two halfhearted shrugs for his efforts, but still, it was enough for him to face me again and say, “I pronounce you to be gone! You must leave at once!” He lifted his arms, palms facing up as more three-headed snakes slithered down them and sprang toward me.

But I just batted them away, knowing they were only as real as I allowed them to be. In the big scheme of things, there was nothing he could do to hurt me.

I shrugged my shoulders and made for the blue upholstered settee. Turning the chair back onto its feet, and plopping myself upon it. Correctly assuming this was going to take a little longer than I’d hoped, what with all the commandments and pronouncements I’d be expected to get through, so I may as well make myself comfortable.

He stood before me, reddish-blond brows merged over the angry red orbs that stood in for his eyes. But I didn’t react, I refused to give him that. And then after a few more demands, a few more decrees, and a whole slew of urgently stressed proclamations, he switched off.

In fact, they all switched off.

So that they no longer glowed, were no longer red eyed, and a trio of normal pink mouths replaced the bottomless black holes that had recently stood in their place.

Looking pretty much like any other gang of ten-year-old boys as they stood there before me. Well, except for the truly dreadful, completely unbelievable, wish-you-could’ve-seen-it-for-yourself, awful matching white short suits with the matching white kneesocks and shiny, black shoes.

And I couldn’t help but hope those had been the clothes they’d been buried in, because if they’d chosen that ensemble on their own, well, I wasn’t sure I could ever get through to them.

“Why aren’t you afraid of us?” the one I was beginning to think of as strawberry head asked.