An Eternity of Dead Sun (An Eternity of Eclipse Novel Book 2)

  I clutched onto my brother’s diary, holding the bible close to my stomach for the longest time. My mind ran over my family’s death, my involvement in it, and my ultimate entrance into this world. How could anyone have mistaken someone like me to be a miracle?

  I couldn’t help but vocalize my thoughts to Father Baek. “I guess I’m not such a miracle after all, right, Father?”

  “What happened that night, Grace?” I could tell by his expression that Father Baek was aware I knew something. He knew that I wasn’t as clueless as I made myself out to be. There was a mixture of apprehension and hope in his eyes. Hope that I would give him the answer that he had always believed in, an answer that would fully exonerate me from their deaths.

  I gave him what he wanted—a fabricated truth.

  “Someone broke into our home, Father,” I started in a hollow voice.

  A better person would break down and confess the truth. Sadly, I wasn’t a good person. I was a desperate girl who had been exiled her entire life. Now, for the first time, someone who actually knew me believed that I was a good person. And I couldn’t let him down. I had to lie to protect the one remaining bond I had left to my family.

  “Someone broke in and killed each and every one of them. After he was done, he came and handed the gun and the knife to me. He told me that he wouldn’t hurt me if I hid under that bed and didn’t come out until he left. So I waited there, crying because I could see my father lying on the ground beside me. Blood was pooling around him as I felt the bed above me moisten with my mother’s blood. I continued to hide there, crying until I was so exhausted that I fell asleep. When I woke up, the cops were already there and they had already found me guilty. They told me that I was crazy and no matter how much I tried to tell them that I didn’t kill my family, they wouldn’t believe me. When they were interrogating me, one officer got really angry and began to choke me.”

  Father Baek suppressed a gasp of horror as I went on.

  “The trial went on for months. My own lawyers asked for leniency because even they thought I was crazy. I had to be crazy to kill my family in cold blood. They eventually hauled me off to a mental hospital and kept me there for about a decade. It was only when I began to lie and confess to them that I felt guilty for killing my family that they finally released me.”

  I watched tears form in his aggrieved eyes, knowing that I would burn in Hell for lying to such a good man. I was wrong, but in my mind, I had done far worse. I simply didn’t want him to judge me. I didn’t want him to think any less of me.

  Hands trembling with anguish, Father Baek cupped a hand to my cheek as only a father could for a child he had failed. “I am so sorry that all of this happened to you, Grace. I’m so sorry . . .”

  I nodded because in truth, I felt sorry for myself too. To anyone else, they would see me as a miracle because of how I was born. For myself, all I saw was a curse—a calamity. It wasn’t God who brought me back to my family. Something evil killed me, brought me back to life, and created me to be whatever I was now.

  I stared at Eclipse through the corner of my eye as I continued to speak with Father Baek. I couldn’t discuss it with him then, but I knew from the disconcertedness on Eclipse’s visage that there was something about my birth that was disturbing to him.

  If seeing Eclipse—the very spawn of Satan—this bewildered about your birth doesn’t give you chills, then I don’t know what would.

  ●●●

  “Thank you for everything, Father. You’ve been very kind to us,” I said to him the next morning, standing with him on the steps of the cathedral with Eclipse beside me.

  After our talk last night, the three of us stayed up late and continued to talk about our lives. I updated Father Baek about what I had been up to since I was released from the psychiatric hospital and I told him about OinkOink and how much I missed the puppy. Eclipse went on to tell Father Baek about his problematic relationship with his brothers and his estranged relationship with his father. It was heartfelt without having to be completely informational. Though in the back of my mind, I couldn’t stop thinking about everything he shared with us, it was liberating to speak with Father Baek nonetheless. There was this bond that I created with him—something that I had only formed with Eclipse—and it was one that I appreciated. In Eclipse, I found my first possible friend, and in Father Baek, I truly believed I found my first possible family.

  “Come visit again,” he whispered as I gave him a big hug.

  “We will,” I murmured, feeling as if I was hugging my father for the first time.

  “Thank you for putting up with us, Pops,” Eclipse said sincerely, giving Father Baek a handshake and then a one-arm hug. There was genuine admiration in Eclipse’s eyes, and I knew it was because he and Father Baek continued to have conversations about their philosophical views on life, even after I fell asleep on the pew. They had gotten so comfortable around one another that Eclipse even gave Father Baek an endearing nickname: Pops. I kept thinking “popcorn” whenever I heard it, but no one ever said that Eclipse was awesome with giving out nicknames. “Especially last night when I wouldn’t stop venting about my brothers and my good-for-nothing father.”

  Father Baek smiled. “I wish you the best of luck sorting all of that out. We only get one family in life; if you can find it in your heart to forgive them and let bygones be bygones, then I hope you find that peace.”

  Eclipse smirked almost too sardonically. “You don’t know my family. They’re not good people.”

  “Everyone has the potential to be better.”

  “Not my family,” Eclipse dismissed before diplomatically adding, “but thank you for your words of wisdom nonetheless, Pops. It is greatly appreciated.”

  Father Baek nodded. His warm eyes assessed us. As if something had clicked for him, he asked. “You two aren’t really married, are you?”

  “Not even close,” Eclipse and I admitted without hesitation.

  “Gracie here is not even that fond of me,” Eclipse continued by himself. “In her eyes, the only things going for me are my ungodly good looks and my insanely perfect physique.”

  “And the only reason he’s here with me is because he wants to sleep with me,” I added, glaring at Eclipse. I resented him for calling out my superficiality.

  Father Baek laughed as a few cars started filing in. It was Sunday morning, thereby meaning that our private time with him was about to end.

  He shook his head, giving us a playful, chiding look. “You two have gotten too comfortable with me.”

  Eclipse chuckled, taking inventory of how busy the church was about to become. “Get back inside, Pops. We don’t want you to get sick.” He smiled cordially at a church helper in the lot before giving Father Baek a respectful incline of the head. “Thank you again. If you ever stop by Seoul, you have to visit us.”

  “I definitely will.”

  “Thank you again, Father,” I voiced, my heart wrenching at the thought of leaving him. This trip had been a terrifying one, and he was the only thing that made it bearable. “We’ll come visit again soon.”

  “Travel safely,” he said, holding both of our hands. “And make sure to keep in touch. If you need anything, I’m always here.”

  Bestowing him with another respectful bow, Eclipse and I watched as Father Baek waved goodbye to us before he made his way back into the cathedral. Once he was safely inside, Eclipse’s carefree face changed into a serious one.

  Without warning, he began to whisper an incantation over the steps of the cathedral.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, hurrying close to him with my backpack hiked on my shoulders. I smiled meekly at the cars that were beginning to pile into the parking lot, hoping that no one would see what Eclipse was doing. “I thought you had no powers left?”

  “I have enough to do this,” he responded after he said his last incantation, his face becoming paler.

  “What did you just do?” I inquired, racing down the steps with him.

&nb
sp; “Protecting him,” Eclipse shared, his voice also surprised that he had done this. We hurried over the grassy slope to continue our trek home. “I erased our presence from there. Just in case anyone tries to track us, they won’t be able to bother him and interrogate him for answers.”

  I nodded in approval, finding it ironic that Eclipse was voluntarily taking care of a priest of all people. There was no need for me to voice it because I knew he also found irony of everything that happened in this city.

  As we made our way back into town where we had planned on taking a bus home, I could no longer allow the wonderful bond we created with Father Baek to overshadow the important discovery we unearthed.

  “What does this mean, Eclipse?” I inquired, feeling the cold breeze pick up around us. Goose bumps appeared all over my body. “You told me that a Source is supposed to be born like any other human. Does dying and coming back to life thirteen weeks later, and then being born into the world thirteen days afterwards sound normal to you?”

  “Far from it,” he answered distractedly, his weary face looking up at the skies. Dark clouds started to form over us in larger numbers. One storm may have passed, but another one was about to begin.

  “Why do you keep looking at the sky?” I asked on impulse, sensing a strange omen from the weather.

  Eclipse stiffened uneasily. As the wind picked up like an ocean of waves, he grabbed my hand and hurried me down the grass. Just then, the Heavens opened up and rain started to descend from the sky.

  “I revealed myself when I killed all those Demons,” he said quickly, his pace hastening. There was an emerging urgency in his voice. “Now it has not only been announced that a powerful Demon is with a Source, but it has also been announced that a powerful Demon is trying to convert a Source.”

  “It has been announced that a powerful Demon is trying to convert me?” I voiced, terror whizzing inside me. A big gust of wind began to whip at us, throwing leaves in our faces. In a panic, we continued to run down the road while my mind spun in a paranoid circle. Fear undulated in my next words. “What do we do?”

  “We have to leave here,” he provided tightly. “We need to haul ass back to Seoul. Now.”

  I belatedly took note that his face was becoming paler and paler by the second. Before I could ask about it, I felt his grip on me loosen and then—

  “Augh!”

  He collapsed to the ground with a groan, clutching onto his stomach in pain. I kneeled on the ground, trying to help him when an earsplitting cough emitted from the depths of his chest. From there, nothing but blood poured out from his mouth.

  “Eclipse!” I shouted, the panic within me morphing into hysteria. I stared at him with shock painted on my face.

  His body was ice cold and his face was completely drained of color.

  I took off my scarf and started to wipe the blood away from his mouth.

  “This is because you used the last of your powers a second ago, isn’t it?” I asked as he hissed in pain. Anxiety rummaged through me. I didn’t know what to do and seeing him like this made me panic more. “Eclipse,” I started, my entire body shaking. “W-we have to get you help. This is really serious. I really think you need help.”

  “No. No, I’m fine, Gracie.”

  Even though he smiled lightly to assure me that he was fine, I didn’t feel reassured. He inhaled deeply to summon the last of his energy. After a full minute passed, he got up, wiped the blood away from his mouth, and began to walk, holding me alongside him.

  “We have to go,” he continued. “We have to go right now.”

  “But—”

  “I’m fine,” he assured again, holding my hand once we reached the town’s bus stop. “I’m fine, Teacup. It’s just exhaustion. I’ll rest on the trip back, but for now, we have to leave this place.”

  I wanted to object, but I didn’t know the first thing about taking care of a sick Demon. Feeling utterly helpless, I stupidly bobbed my head and agreed. Together, we jumped onto the bus. To keep him warm, I covered spare jackets over him while we sat in the back of the bus. The wheels of the bus moved, taking us away from Serenity and taking us back home.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked uncertainly after having him drink some water to hydrate his throat.

  Eclipse nodded, his eyes closing in exhaustion. “I’m fine,” he said again, his voice drowsy. “I’ll be fine once we get back home, Teacup.”

  “Okay . . .”

  I could feel the weight of his blood on my scarf, haunting me as the bus drove through the rainy countryside. Eclipse had fallen asleep, and I was lost in my own world of fear. After several hours, the fear within me worsened when I saw that there was still blood dripping from the side of his mouth.

  Biting my lower lip, I began to dab at it.

  I shakily touched his forehead and nearly reeled back in shock. It was ice cold.

  I didn’t know what came over me, but at that instant, I was desperate to wake him up. I no longer wanted him to sleep.

  “Eclipse?” I called gently, touching his cheek for him to wake up.

  When he didn’t respond, I felt a pit of dread form in my stomach. Voice trembling, I called out his name again. “Eclipse?”

  My once paralyzed heart began to pound wildly.

  Why wasn’t he waking up?

  I started to lightly slap his cheek to get him to open his eyes.

  “Eclipse?!” I shouted, my voice rising exponentially.

  Everyone on the bus was looking at us now, but I no longer cared. The only thing that mattered to me was Eclipse and the fact that he wasn’t waking up.

  “Eclipse, what are you doing? Wake up! Wake up!” I started to scream out.

  In the background, the people on the bus started to panic with me. I could hear them tell the bus driver to hurry and drive to a hospital—that someone had passed out on the bus.

  “Eclipse.” I framed his cold face with my hands when the bus changed directions and started to head for a hospital. “Eclipse, wake up. Please wake up!”

  The entire time as the bus sped towards the hospital, the entire time as some of the commuters started to push everyone away to give Eclipse some air, and the entire time as I shouted for him to wake up, Eclipse remained as he was: asleep, unaware, and completely unresponsive.

  “I live in a world where my name reduces others to their knees”

  14: Hibernation

  Everything felt like a blur after we stopped at the hospital.

  In a crazy frenzy, the paramedics rushed onto the bus to carry Eclipse out, placed him on a stretcher, and wheeled him into the hospital.

  With panic still surging through me, I tried to fight past the nurses to run into the emergency room to be with Eclipse, but I was held back. Although they kept me from him, I could hear the muffled and confused voices coming out of the room.

  No one knew what was wrong with him.

  At first, I thought they would find the stitches on him and attribute his comatose state to his injury. However, his arm was completely healed, offering no starting point for them to make their diagnosis. They checked everything. His vitals were fine, his heart was fine, and his entire body appeared to be in healthy condition. In theory, he was as healthy as any human being could be.

  The doctors were mystified.

  No one understood why Eclipse was unresponsive and they had absolutely no idea how to help him. The hospital had no explanation for me. The best they could do was to keep him in the hospital and run more tests on him.

  I felt lightheaded as all of this took place.

  It was surreal sitting there as he lay unconscious on the hospital bed.

  “Eclipse, what’s wrong with you?” I found myself voicing softly. I stood over his bed, my eyes moving over his pale face. “Why won’t you wake up?”

  Eclipse had always been the one with the answers. Now that he was unconscious, I had never felt more lost. In the real world, I would know how to get myself out of this mess. Sadly, in this biblical w
orld, I felt like a child thrown into the wild without any directions on how to survive. My only ticket to survival was my Guardian, and he was lying dormant on a hospital bed.

  “Eclipse, you have to wake up soon,” I continued desperately, shaking him. “I still have to go to school on Tuesday. I have a lot of projects to turn in and I can’t cut class.”

  It was a stupid thing to say because my last concern was school, but I didn’t know what else to say to wake him up.

  I can’t believe this is happening, I miserably thought when he didn’t even flutter an eyelash at my comment.

  The small part of me that was human was worried for him, but the bigger part—the sadistic part—was livid with him. How could he do this to me? How could he put me in this situation?

  “Some Guardian Demon you are,” I bit out thoughtlessly, not really meaning those spiteful words.

  I began to aimlessly walk around the hospital room, my mind swirling as I pondered over my quandary. I cursed at myself for allowing us to be here in the first place. I was so careless. I should have done everything in my power to keep them from bringing him to the hospital. Now we were not only screwed because Eclipse was in a comatose state, but also because we had gotten ourselves wrapped in another mess. How was I going to get him out of this hospital when he was completely unconscious?

  Damn it.

  How could I be so stupid?

  What could possibly make me think that our doctors could help cure a Demon’s ailments? Modern medicine was not evolved enough for an immortal being like Eclipse. He needed something else. He needed something rare—something of biblical proportions.

  My heart hammered and I could hear my blood flow through my veins.

  My blood.

  The single drop that saved that Demon I attacked . . .

  Realization struck me. I whipped around to face Eclipse. I recalled him telling me that Royal Demons had no use for a Source’s blood, but what if he was wrong? What if my blood could help him?

  Desperate to do something—no matter how impossible the chance—I extracted a pocketknife from his backpack. With a deep inhalation to quell my frayed nerves, I slit the tip of my left index finger. A small drop of blood was instantly produced from the cut. With my breath hilted in my chest, I hurried over to his bedside, leaned forward, and carefully tipped my finger over his mouth.