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L EVI STOOD SILENTLY for a moment and suddenly
felt like locking his door. He slammed the deadbolt into
place and scanned the apartment. Without his
screaming voice, the place now felt empty and devoid of
life. The smell of death had arrived. He stepped away
from the door and experienced a moment of calm. The
eye of the storm was over him and he was detached
from the world.
Levi closed his eyes and drew a long breath. An
unexpected, eerie feeling passed over him and within
moments, he knew that he’d made a fatal error. The
lamp, his protection from harm, was now out of reach.
His anger had overruled his logic and it might just cost
him his life tonight. He faced the doorway and heard a
subtle breeze knocking against the window.
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He moved closer to the window and stood still for a
long moment, trying to summon the courage he’d had
just moments ago. Yet he felt only the swarm of
butterflies in his belly and a raging pulse.
He swiped the curtain aside and saw the ancient
lamp lying motionless in the empty street. He saw no
one; but he felt him. Dev was awfully close and he
knew it. Get out there, he told himself. Get the lamp!
Everything in him, every cell, every molecule, urged
Levi to crawl under the bed and hide — self-
preservation. Forget the lamp, it’s too late. Just hide
and deal with whatever happens to it. There’s nothing
you can do now anyway. A morbid dread passed
through his body, crawling over his skin and seeping
in through the pores. His senses became extremely
heightened. He smelled distant smoke, saw clearly in
the dark room, and heard the faint wind slapping
against his window. Once again Levi pulled the curtain
aside. The street light in front of the stoop crackled
with an electrical hiss and Levi took a step back.
His eyes darted back to the cluster of notes on the
floor. Moving closer, he saw that a few of them had
been scattered in such a way as to put them side-by-
side, reading almost like a complete thought.
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Orchestrated your release… take up this lamp and
guard it with your life… danger is close…. stay
strong… you still don’t trust me?
It seemed to Levi that the notes were talking to him.
K.S. might not have actually been there with him but
his words carpeted the floor. They stared back at him,
daring him to trust, to rely on his mysterious friend.
He was supposed to guard that lamp and K.S. had to
be the good guy. Levi could think of no other option
than to serve him in that moment. K.S. wasn’t the one
setting people on fire, after all. Either trust K.S. or die
as a coward and fail completely. That was all it took.
Levi had an ally whose knowledge and reach were
boundless. He unbolted the door and sent it sailing
open, crashing loudly against the side brick wall.
Levi took the concrete steps in a single leap and
rushed fearlessly into the empty street. He reached the
lamp quickly and snatched it up to inspect it for any
damage. It looked perfectly fine to him. The breeze
picked up, bringing the scent of ash to his nostrils.
Levi froze and felt someone behind him — a heavy,
tangible presence. He hugged the lamp tightly to his
chest and looked up at the night sky, noticing a break
in the clouds. A patch of stars looked back at him and
he felt a strange sense of peace on that cold street.
Then he heard a voice float in from behind.
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“I have been one acquainted with the night. I have
walked out in rain, and back in rain. I have outwalked
the furthest city light.”
The voice was deep and seemed slightly foreign but
he didn’t know the accent. He did know, however, to
whom the voice belonged.
“Robert Frost,” Levi answered, with his back still
facing Dev. “I read his poems often while I was in
prison.”
Levi stood defiant, not bowing to any desire to turn
around. But he didn’t need to: Dev circled around,
slowly, and Levi saw him out of his periphery. Dev was
beside him now, standing parallel and facing in the
same direction. Levi instinctively knew that Dev had
positioned himself between the ex-champ and the door.
He heard that strange, bellowing voice again, almost
feeling in his chest the words spoken to him.
“Nowhere is it written, dear boy, that we have to be
enemies.” Dev was standing almost shoulder-to-
shoulder with Levi. “If I’d wanted to kill you, I could’ve
done so at any time.”
“So why didn’t you?” Levi asked.
He felt Dev shifting his weight.
“Unlike your bloodthirsty friend, there’s actually a
method to my madness,” Dev replied. “I’m trying to
accomplish some rather noble thing.”
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“You don’t think K.S. knows what he’s doing?” Levi
challenged.
“I know him a lot better than you do, Levi. I know
him very well. Do you happen to know the reason he
writes you those letters? Do you know why you haven’t
seen him? Even a glimpse?”
Levi knew that Dev was up to no good but he might
be able to supply a few answers to satisfy his curiosity.
He also knew that the longer he could keep Dev
talking, the longer he’d delay having to run for the
house.
“Tell me,” Levi implored.
“You haven’t seen him because K.S. knows the
moment you do, you’ll refuse to go along. He’s a
weakling, Levi, full of fear and uncertainty himself —
much like you. He’s also close to the end.”
“He’s dying?” Levi asked.
“Oh yes, dear boy. He’s becoming one with the grave
as we speak. That’s why he doesn’t guard the lamp
himself. Better to pull a few strings and get a strong
guy like yourself to do it for him. K.S. never does his
own dirty work, you know. He never has.”
“So what does the lamp have to do with you?” Levi
asked. “Why do you want it?”
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“You’ve seen what it can do,” Dev replied. “You’re not
stupid. There’s someone rather close to me who could
use what it offers.”
“You want to heal someone?” Levi asked with a bit of
suspicion.
He felt Dev’s weight shifting again. The breeze had
died down to a whisper and Dev said, “Do you doubt
that I could kill you right at this moment? Do you not
know the horrors I could subject you to, dear Levi?
And yet I’ve done nothing to harm you. Shouldn’t this
speak to my motives?”
“So you’d have me believe that if I give you the lamp,
you’ll use it for good?”
“Saving the life of a loved one surely counts as good,
by anyone’s standards. Well, except your postman’s
standards. He could’ve easily healed your friend, huh?
That poor darling girl. I suppose he doesn’t much care
for you or your friends.”
“Wait a minute,” Levi said, his mind turning. “I know
the lamp has power to heal, but you said K.S. could’ve
healed Violet.”
“Did I?” Dev offered back, sounding coy.
“So which is it, the lamp or K.S. who has the power?”
“Your postman owns the lamp, Levi. Think of him as
the curator of a grand museum. The one responsible
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for a great work of art doesn’t have beauty in himself;
he simply beholds the beauty.”
“Unless he’s the artist,” Levi answered. “If K.S. is the
artist, then wouldn’t that make me the curator?”
“Your fragile postman is certainly no artist, dear boy.
He’s drifting into the abyss, nearly dead himself. He
might have even expired already.”
Levi knew that calling Dev’s bluff would result in a
confrontation, and not one he was looking forward to.
Things were, for the moment, calm. And as long as Levi
pretended to go along and play nice, Dev might just
fold himself back into the night without any fireworks
or trouble. And yet his conscience itched: he wanted to
stick up for his friend, K.S. But that would surely
mean rousing Dev’s anger and inviting a potentially
unwinnable fight.
Though it didn’t make sense, Levi felt that Dev was
telling the truth about his reasons for wanting the
lamp. Maybe he was hoping to use the lamp for
someone who was close to him. Levi had known that
kind of desperation himself — to give everything one
has to help a friend who’s close to death. Violet entered
his mind and sadness washed over his thoughts. He
knew by this point that she was most likely dead. His
heart grew impossibly heavy and he actually began to
feel a tinge of sympathy for Dev.
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Sure, he was probably lying about K.S., but Dev
seemed to be willing to go to any lengths to get the
lamp. It seemed logical to Levi that his motives were
accurately expressed, that Dev was being honest about
at least that much.
“Why did you kill my friends?” Levi demanded
sharply.
A silence fell between them and Levi wondered if that
question would spark the inevitable physical
confrontation. And then Dev spoke.
“A better question to ask, Levi, is why didn’t K.S.
protect them?”
Levi felt a knot forming in his throat. That question
had actually crossed his mind. Dev had told him K.S.
was weak but the idea had seemed absurd to him at
first. Now it actually made sense. Whatever the
malicious reasons behind Dev’s carnage, he was right
to say that K.S. had not prevented any of it. Levi
dreaded the thought, but perhaps the reason was
because K.S. wasn’t able to protect them. And if that
were true, Levi himself was vulnerable. There was no
actual protection over him. If K.S. was unable to save
an innocent kid like John or even Violet from
excruciating death then he was in big trouble.
“Maybe K.S. had his reasons,” Levi answered back.
He didn’t know what possible reason could’ve justified
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what happened, but he needed to keep the
conversation going to avoid a fight. Levi was, after all,
completely exposed: up against a supernatural being,
or at least one with supernatural powers. And his
possible defense, the lamp, felt cold and lifeless in his
hands.
“You’re entirely correct that he had his reason,” Dev
said. “And that reason is that he was powerless to do
anything. If he were stronger than me, Levi, he’d have
stopped me long ago. You’re a smart man. You’re well
read. Think about it.”
Although he hated to admit it to himself, Levi felt
strongly that Dev was right. In war, the stronger army
overcomes the weaker and the body count was entirely
in favor of Dev. His mind also traveled back to the
comic, to Shadow Lurker. In the comic, K.S. was the
bad guy, corrupting the people of Salem. And it was
the Shadow Lurkers who fought to dethrone him —
maybe rightly so.
“Have I been wrong this whole time?” Levi wondered
out loud, more to himself than to anyone else.
“Don’t be so hard on your postman friend, Levi. He
doesn’t know any better. But it’s the end for him, and
he’s desperate.”
“If I give you the lamp,” Levi said, “can you protect
me and my friends?”
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There was a long silence. Then Dev stepped in front
of Levi and faced him squarely. He was not as hideous
as Levi had allowed himself to imagine. Dev’s face was
kind, almost fatherly. His eyes felt intense and wise.
Levi was taken aback by this strange turn of events.
Have I been playing on the wrong team all this time?
“I have done some troublesome things, Levi. I have
taken lives in order to save those closest to me. But
K.S. does the same thing, no? Trust me, old boy.
You’ve seen what I can do. How no one has been able
to resist me. K.S. stood by, helpless and full of
cowardice, as I slayed his helpers one after the other.
I’m sorry I threatened you; it wasn’t personal. I wanted
to scare you in order to take possession of the lamp.
It’s the only way I can help those I love.”
It all made sense now. Dev hadn’t killed him because
he was not the enemy. It was K.S. who’d sent him on
those bizarre missions, leaving him without any
protection. If anyone had protected Levi, it was actually
Dev.
“I haven’t touched a hair on your head, Levi. I
could’ve done as I pleased and dispatched of you like
the rest, but I left you alone. But the postman, your
supposed friend, has left Violet to die in the arms of
your female friend. The doctor has told her, in fact.
Just moments ago, he informed her that Violet died in
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surgery. Your friend is weeping now. The postman is
powerless to stop any of this.”
And then Levi heard it. That sound. He glanced at the
buzzing cell phone in his pocket. He reached in, pulled
it out, and saw Jenny’s number on the screen. Levi
knew in his heart that she was calling to tell him that
Violet was gone. And yet he didn’t want to hear the
words; he wanted to delay them as long as possible.
Warm tears welled up in his eyes. This intense
sadness was simply too much to handle. Not only had
he failed the girl, but K.S. had failed them both. Levi
had trusted the wrong person. He couldn’t bear to
encounter Jenny’s troubled voice on the other end, so
he silenced the phone and placed it back in his pocket.
Levi’s troubled eyes engaged Dev’s and saw that it was
not an enemy standing in front of him, but a friend —
a friend who also felt his pain.
There was also sadness in Dev’s eyes… and a touch
of something else. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but
something about the way Dev looked at him felt odd.
Levi’s mind began turning, running through their
conversation, going back over the notes from K.S. and
all the events that had transpired. Was K.S. as weak as
Dev had said?
Getting a full pardon from Hinnom Valley, the
darkest shithole on earth, was no mean feat. And the
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comic, the one in which K.S. is the bad guy, what
about that ending? The head of the Shadow Lurkers
had clothed the child in the palace and fallen on his
own sword. Did it all connect or was the comic just a
random story some college kid had drawn up while
smoking too much weed? Dev’s story didn’t quite add
up. Levi took the phone from his pocket and saw that
he had a voice message.
“Give me the lamp, old friend,” Dev told him in a
warm voice.
Levi clicked the “play message” button and put the
phone close to his ear, not wanting Dev to hear it. He
heard Jenny’s voice and his heart jumped. “Levi, it’s
me. Violet is okay. She’s awake. She made it through
just fine.” He then heard her voice break. “Oh, and one
more thing… the doctor said you probably saved her
life. You protected her, Levi. You did it.” There was a
pause, and then Jenny’s voice continued. “Where are
you?”
Then came the standard beep, indicating the
message had ended. He stared into Dev’s eyes and saw
that questionable look again.
“You wanted to come after them, didn’t you?” Levi
asked.
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“Levi, haven’t we been through this?” Dev replied.
“Just give me the lamp and we can be done with all
this.”
Levi’s eyes challenged him, burned holes in him.
“You didn’t come after them because you couldn’t,” Levi
said. “You tried to track them from the hospital that
day but Violet saw you. They both saw you. You don’t
know where she lives. You couldn’t track them.”
“Levi…” Dev started.
“No, it’s true, isn’t it? That’s why the lamp didn’t
work: you would have seen the light. You were waiting
for that. It would’ve brought you right to them like a
smoke signal.”
“I could’ve killed your friends at any time,” Dev
replied, anger rising in his voice. “Enough of this. Give
me the lamp!”
Levi clutched the lamp more tightly and backed
away. Dev’s countenance fell dramatically. Gone were
the friendly eyes. His face became pale and frightful,
his eyes beginning to glow a malevolent red. Levi had
never seen anything like it and he was overcome by the
change in Dev’s appearance.
“You almost had me,” Levi admitted in a weak voice.
“Almost.”
Levi dashed violently toward his front door. Dev
grabbed his shoulder, tearing the shirt from his back.
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Levi ran bare-chested up the stoop and flew inside the
apartment, whipping the door closed behind him.
There followed a menacing thud against the door and
then a whoosh of wind. Levi stumbled into the kitchen
and felt subtle warmth emanating from the lamp.
There were several more loud bangs, as if Dev were
only seconds away from breaking down his thick door.
Just then, the lamp began to glow faintly. It wasn’t
much, just a tiny bit of light, less than that of a struck
match. The banging stopped at once, and the wind was
stilled.
The glow of the lamp then disappeared without
warning and Levi carried it to the window, where he
pulled the curtain aside to inspect the porch and the
street. All was quiet: no signs of Dev. Levi set the lamp
onto the kitchen counter and found himself dialing
Jenny’s number.
“Levi…” he heard from the other end, feeling his
heart melt with the arrival of Jenny’s voice.
“I’m sorry, Jenny,” he said. “I’m so sorry I left you
there alone.”
“It’s okay.” Her voice was soft, caring, full of emotion.
“Violet’s safe. I’m here with her now.”
Levi heard Violet’s mousy voice in the background
say, “Tell him to bring donuts!” A big smile stretched
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across his face and he had a hard time speaking
thereafter for the gladness in his heart.
“Jenny…” he croaked, unable to fully express what
he was thinking.
After a brief silence, her sweet voice came.
“I know,” she replied. “Me too.”
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