in darkness rises

“Well I’m here now and you’re still not performing well.” Mackenzie smirked, watching his every move. One night stands for her were common. More common than an actual relationship. She didn’t know when the last time she had one of those. Maybe years ago. Maybe Sophia back in high school. But, that was besides the point. Before coming back to the island, she rarely slept with the same individual more than once. She was constantly breaking that here. She couldn’t help it. Everyone was so beautiful she could’t resist. “Right, blame the equipment for your poor performance.” She reached into her back pocket to pull out her lighter before handing it over to the man. 

he rolls his eyes and glances up at her, taking the lighter from her hand. “it’s always good to get a little help from friends.” the lighter sparks and he holds it up to the lantern, which catches fire more easily than it had with his. his lighter was old, but it was his fathers, and he figured he should keep it in use. “someone with skills doesn’t need extra equipment,” he says as he stands up. “except for when it comes to lantern-lighting.”

“Are you having an issue here?” Mackenzie asked with a raise of the brow and a smirk plastered across her face as she took the lantern from him. “You didn’t have this much trouble getting it up the other night.” She couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh seeing if she could lighten the mood that was around them. Mackenzie hated these things. She hated going to them growing up and she hated being apart of them now. She felt as though all eyes were on her. Just waiting for her next move. That’s how the past seven days had gone. 

he snorted and looked up at her as he knelt by the lantern to light it better. “yeah, well, i perform better with a pretty face.” he gave her a cheeky wink. he usually did one night stands, but he didn’t usually do them with people he knew in high school. freddie thought it’d be awkward, and it was, but not as much as it could have been. he attempted to get the lighter to spark, but it’s out. “fuck, i knew i should’ve refilled it. you got a light?”

“You’re welcome.” She said with a small smile as she peers at the centre of the lanterns, peering back at him when he finally gets it to light. “There you go, make sure you’re holding on tight before I let go. I wouldn’t want it to fly away.” She laughed then. “I’m Adrianna, it’s nice to meet you, Freddie.”

he snorts and looks at the lantern. “thanks. i’d hate for it to float off like all the other ones. instead i’ll let it burn to a crisp in my own two hands.” he gives her a look then lets the lantern float free. “adrianna...” he thinks if he’s ever seen her before. “you live around here?”

Mason’s eyebrows lifted at the pessimistic view. He didn’t believe that the lights helped bring the fishermen home, but he did believe that it made the people lighting them feel better about it, because some of them did believe it, much like he had when he was a kid. “Why light one then?” he asked pointedly; he wasn’t sure he understood the other’s thinking.

“i’m a sucker for a group project,” he says sarcastically as the lantern begins to lift off. he gives it a bit of a boost as it goes into the air. “and my sister wants me to be a good example for her kid. he loves these lanterns.” freddie gives mason a look. “are you lighting one?”

Mason had watched his lantern float off with about as much enthusiasm as you might watch paint dry. He remembered feeling hope, when he was fourteen, setting his lantern loose into the sky, that his father might see it and return home. Now it just felt… like wasted energy, and pollution. Hearing the person beside him swear and ask for help, he turned before nodding his head. “Yeah, sure,” the words fell from his lips, lackluster, as he reached out, grabbing the lantern and holding it so the other could light it. “Think it’ll help? All these lights in the sky?” The alcohol in his system had started to wear off, and he was starting to feel more somber than anything. Maybe it was just the weight of the night and the memories that came with it.

he shrugs, trying to get his lantern to light. “i think it’ll choke the birds, but it won’t do much else. if they’ve been in distress this long, even if they’re alive, they’re probably sleeping right now. they won’t be looking for lanterns in the sky.” he was ever the pessimist.

“Yea sure. Can’t say my hand is any steadier but I give this a shot,” he said, extended an arm thought even though he had been drinking a bit he still had control of his faculties. For the most part. As he waited pseudo patiently while the other male tried to light the lamp, onyx hues scanned the atmosphere unfolding around him. People were starting to gather for the event, the overall mood somber. He sighed, figuring it was gonna be a long night. “So were you able to get out on one of the boats? I thought for sure we would have heard something by now.”

it’s easier to light when he doesn’t have to worry about the wind blowing it out of his hand, now all he has to focus on is his lighter. “thanks, man.” he gets one edge going and tries to get it to spread. “yeah, i was out on my dad-- on my boat. it’s small, though, so we didn’t get much done. didn’t find shit, but that’s to be expected. i don’t have the equipment to find anything. you?”

Though he would rather be at home, there was something calming about this entire vigil too. About the whole community coming together for their own and guide their way back home. That’s what he liked about the Island. Everyone on it was in it together. Sure there were the occasional fights and disagreements but in the end if you mess with one islander, you mess with them all. 

With his lantern in hand, lit and all, blue hues shot towards the man who addressed him, nodding as he shifted his own lantern in his other hand so that he could easily grab the one the male held out. “It’s tricky with the wind, huh.” 

freddie nodded, his tongue sticking out between his lips as he attempted to wrangle the lantern. “the wind fucking hates me right now. but so does my lighter, equal opportunity hate.” he finally gets an edge going and sighs. “nice. thanks for the help. i’m freddie.” he held out his hand.

It was odd being home on a now semi-permanent basis, and Ariadne felt like she was seventeen again, awkward and lonely, even amongst a crowd that had, for all intents and purposes, always been her people. She recognized a lot of familiar faces, even the ones she hadn’t seen in years, but it wasn’t like she could just go up to them and strike up a conversation - she hadn’t necessarily been Fremont’s favorite daughter… 

So Freddie’s face was a welcomed one after they had spent an afternoon together on the boat. “Yeah, sure,” she nodded, taking the lantern from his hands and holding it at the proper angle for him to light. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area. “Quite the turnout…” Her snide inner monologue almost added: You could almost kid yourself into thinking all these people cared… 

freddie continued to try to light his lantern even as ariadne talked to him. he vaguely remembered her from school; she was in the same grade as his sister and fremont was small anyway. the edge of the lantern finally caught and he let out a sigh of relief. “i think more people would be back home if the lanterns weren’t a thing. people love fire.”

The night had been an interesting cacophony of sniffles, low conversation, loud tears and somewhat respect. She had absolutely no idea if most people was there on their best intentions, but truth be told, Nora didn’t quite know what was her intention to be there either. She had gotten up from her chair and disposed of her cup as soon as people started lighting their lanterns and while she did have one in hand, there was absolutely nothing to light it with. Shit.

The blonde approached the first person she had in sight and sort of wobbled her way over, and before she could even say anything, she was holding his lantern. “Think you can maybe help me light up mine when you’re done?”

freddie furrowed his brows in concentration as his lighter continued to fail to catch. it was probably out of fluid and he should’ve refilled it that morning, but he forgot. “thanks,” he muttered. “yeah, as soon as this catches i can hold it wherever you need. think my lighter might be out, though.”

          “ no, “ and she didn’t leave room for a maybe later either. instead, she pressed the open bottle to her lips and knocked back a swig. “ never have before, so why start now? i mean ━ they’re gone. another light won’t guide them home. “ 

he detested the tense silence that seemed to stretch between them whenever he tried to meet her halfway. if the world was perfect, they’d be fucking behind a dumpster or something by now, not tersely drinking beer. “ceremonies are always about the comfort of the living, not the dead. case in point: funerals. at least people feel like something is getting done.”

Adrianna stepped towards the male when she heard him call out. While adri hadn’t been the fondest of the idea of using lanterns, she knew that not doing so may be more damaging to the families who needed this tradition in order to feel better. They’d done it for everyone else. “Sure, is this too low or too high?” She asked then, brow furrowing as she didn’t actually realize that they were still heavy. 

“I’m Adri, by the way.” She said on a laugh then.

his forehead creases as he attempts to get his lighter to spark on the lantern’s base. “that’s fine, thanks for helping me out.” his voice sounds distant, but when he’s able to get to to catch he straightens up, letting out a breath. “finally. i thought it would never light. i’m freddie, nice to meet you.”

     Lydia pushed her brows upwards and frowned, head nodding in acknowledgement as he mentioned his sister. “Ah, I see—” Stories of siblings had often made her thankful that she knew none of hers, it was seemingly an easier way to live. “Well look, if you follow societal expectations then you’ll know the wreaking of garbage isn’t acceptable.” The woman shrugged a nodded, the smell of the man the least of her worries. “Depends, are you a cop?”

“all cops are bastards,” he says with a grin, pushing away from the wall. “and if it were up to me, i wouldn’t be here at all, but i’m allergic to tears.” he glances out to edge of the bonfire, lanterns glittering in the sky. “you send one up yet? they’re killer on the birds, but they sure do look cool. i think the island takes too many cues from disney movies these days.”

cameron didn’t personally know the men that disappeared at sea, but he had been following the news. the man couldn’t help but feel bad for the families, couldn’t even imagine what each other them was going through. but he showed up to the virgil because he hoped that the families felt like they weren’t going through this alone. he was on his way to join his friends when he was stopped by the man. “Oh –sure thing, man.” he said, as he approached the other and held the thing for him angling towards the side so the wind wouldn’t blow out the fire.

freddie nodded at cameron and clicked his lighter a few times, finally getting one edge of the lantern to light. “i’m so shit with these, so thanks for the help,” he says with a grimace as he tries to light the other end. “i think fire doesn’t come as naturally to elisabeth islanders as water does. have you sent one up yet?”

          on edge, focus narrowed in on a particular lantern in the sky, june found her heart skipping a beat when the other approached from behind. “ you shouldn’t have, “ she replied, her tone dry as a bone as she eyed the sweat on the bottle. pausing. and then taking the beer anyway ━ her first of the night. “ thanks. such a gentleman. “

“don’t say i never got you anything,” he returned in the same tone. he chuckled to himself and glanced down at the bottle in his own hand. “have you sent up a lantern yet?”

She’d just lit and released her second lantern of the night, this one done on her own without her son and his father, their absence enabling her to truly be there with her feelings and allow herself to cry. She’d been holding it together for Niko, only allowing herself to truly feel the anxiety and fear regarding the situation when he’d gone to bed, but the vigil, as nice as it was, was only a stark reminder of how serious the situation at hand was. She wasn’t able to lie to herself, to hide from her emotions, so instead she’d allowed herself ten minutes to fully feel before wiping her cheeks with the backs of her hands and turning away from the shore to head back up to the fire. She was stopped, however, by the familiar voice’s question as she nodded her head and moved over to take the lantern. “Yeah, sure. Having a little trouble?” She asked, sniffling slightly as she forced what she hoped was a convincing but small smile onto her features. “These things can be tricky.”

he recognized hannah in the half-light, if only because it had the same lighting as the bar typically did. “i’m just shit at lighting things on fire. guess water’s more my thing, huh?” he attempted to joke, but his heart wasn’t in it. “or my lighter sucks. that’s a likely culprit.” finally, he gets a corner of it to light. “well, would you look at that?”

— skimming through the crowds, sienna felt a keen awareness as she let her eyes scan through the small groups of townspeople blending into one another, hoping she wouldn’t come face-to-face with the one person she had come to see. it was happenstance and simple word of mouth that had led her here yet she couldn’t turn away from the stark familiarity of seeing grieving families in mourning. though their grief and distress was different, more tangible perhaps knowing there was a small slither of hope to guide them home. with her work camera, a mark five canon camera, hanging from her wrist, sienna moved into the fray a little more, intrigued by the soft mutterings caught on the cool ocean breeze. tugging the strap further up her arm until it rested awkwardly on her shoulder, she found the orator. “ oh, uh, yeah ” came her brief confirmation that she was in the mood to help him. “ you should know lantern holding is one of my many talents ” she assured her new pal as she did as instructed, lifting up the paper lantern in line with her hips. “ like this? or higher maybe? ”.

freddie chuckled to himself as she grabbed the lantern. he flicked his lighter a few more times and tried to get the edge to catch fire. “you know, it’s always good to have a diverse set of hobbies. cycling, running, lantern-holding... all great choices.” he struggled with his lighter. “fuck, i think it’s out. do you have a light?”