Light Bringer: The Son Of Light & Darkness

Luke laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling, his father’s words rolling around in his head. “Unloved, unwanted, pitiful, pathetic, weak, failure, worthless,” He whispered to himself over and over again.

His father had been drunk again last night like he usually was and had hit him. His body was littered with cuts and bruises, and his body ached. He was almost certain he had glass in his hair, seeing as his father had smashed a half-full beer bottle on his head.

He sucked air through his teeth and hissed in pain as he rolled out of bed. He limped to the bathroom, clutching his side. He barely managed to undress as he stumbled into the shower, wincing as the ice-cold water hit the raw belt marks on his back. He sighed in relief as the stench of alcohol left his body. He gently started washing the cuts and bruises before rinsing off and getting out of the shower.

He rummaged through his dresser before deciding on a black hoodie, black pants, and some grey sneakers. He grabbed his green backpack and crept downstairs, scared to make the slightest sound. His father was sprawled out on the couch snoring loudly, a beer bottle still clenched in his hand. His nose wrinkled up in disgust before sneaking out the front door, and shutting it softly.

He shivered in the cold air as the wind howled around him, snow swirling in its grasp. Luke pulled his hood over his head and tucked his head, forcing himself to walk through the cold snow. It was a four-minute walk to school, and he hated every minute of it. When he came within a minute of the school, he started running, pushing open the doors and slamming them. He leaned against them, panting, as he glanced down at his ankle, noticing it swell.

He glanced around warily before pulling his hood off, revealing his shaggy dirty blonde hair. He put his head down and walked to his locker, loading some of his books and supplies into his backpack. He barely managed to slip into his seat right before class started.

He pulled out one of his class notebooks, doodling in the corner. His only acquaintance, Hannah Starr, sat next to him, peering over his shoulder at his doodling. “Nice Dragon,” She whispered with a soft smile before turning back to look at the teacher. The Teacher, Ms. Smith, clapped twice, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. Reluctantly, Luke looked up from his drawing, his eyes glancing at all the students.

“Alright, class. My name is Ms. Smith, but you can call me Mariah. I know most of you don’t want to be here, but you are because it’s required. But trust me, by the end of the year, you’ll enjoy this class. Now, who can tell me who God is?” Mariah asked, her eyes roaming the students.

Jen, who sat in the front row and was known for being a Teacher’s pet, raised her hand immediately. Mariah nodded at her to speak. She began, “In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith.” She leaned back in her seat, a proud smile on her face.

Mariah just smiled playfully. “Partially correct. Now, who is Jesus Christ?” Luke wasn’t surprised when Jen raised her hand again, launching into the answer before she was even called on. “Jesus, also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world’s largest religion. Most Christians believe Jesus to be the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited messiah, the Christ that is prophesied in the Old Testament.” Jen rattled off, smiling triumphantly.

Mariah laughed. “Again, only partially correct. Now, who is the Holy Spirit?” She asked, her eyes landing on Luke. But before she could call on him, Jen cut in, saying, “In Judaism, the Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is the divine force, quality and influence of God over the universe or his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as an agent of divine action or communication. In the Baha’i Faith, the Holy Spirit is seen as the intermediary between God and man and “the outpouring grace of God and the effulgent rays that emanate from His Manifestation.” Jen spoke so fast that Luke was certain she didn’t take a breath.

Mariah sighed. “Again, only partially correct.” Mariah went and stood at the front of the class. “By the end of this year, I want your answers to be different, and completely correct. Now, I’m going to pass out a piece of paper, and I want you to secretly write your answer down to this question; Who are you?” She grinned before passing out a piece of paper and a pencil to everyone.

Luke stared down at his paper, and a tear pricked his eye before writing it down, folding it up, and placing it on his desk. Mariah came and picked up the papers before placing them in a drawer. “We’ll pull them back out at the end of the year, but my hope is that you’ll have a different perspective about yourself at the end of this year, because the topic for this years class is who Christ says you are.”

Mariah glanced up at the clock. “Class is just about over, so I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Have a great day, and God bless you!” She called out as the bell rung. Luke grabbed his things and slipped out into the hallway filled with bustling ninth graders. He slipped into an empty classroom to eat his lunch.

“Hello, Luke.” Luke whirled around to see his worst bully, Eliana Court, standing in the doorway, her posse of girls behind her. She pulled a tube of bright red lipstick out of her purse and gestured towards one of her posse to close the door.

Eliana’s posse surrounded him, and two of them pushed him down into a chair and held him there. Eliana sauntered up to Luke, looking down at him in disgust. She grabbed his hair and yanked it backward, forcing him to look up at her. He winced in pain. She glanced at him disdainfully.

She sighed almost mournfully. “Why do you have to be so pathetic and weak?” She asked, shaking her head. She studied his face for a moment before punching him in the mouth. Luke held his mouth as blood dripped from it.Man, whoever said that girls can’t hit hard, they didn’t know what they were talking about,Luke thought.

Eliana scoffed before sauntering away. “Pathetic,” She told her posse before leaving, them following her. Luke grimaced before stumbling to the bathroom to clean up the blood pooling in his mouth. Luke looked in the mirror. “Surely tomorrow will be better,” He whispered to himself.