Page 109 of White Lights
“You weren’t chosen to come to Acheron this term because you make great films.”
“But I thought you said Acheron’s scouts sawGlimpse,” Dez says. “That they saw promise in it?”
“Sure, but that’s notwhyyou’re here.” He bites his lip, choosing hiswords. “This is a crisis of unprecedented proportions. We need the help of mighty souls. Like you.”
“What do you need me for?”
“To help us replenish our ranks—”
“Stop—”
“So that we can ensure the right next Angel of Death takes Sam’s place,” he says, reaching for her hand. “You were brought here, Dez, to ascend.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP,”DEZsays, and pushes him.
“I know your instinct is to doubt—”
“Due to the fact that it’s insane?”
“If you choose to stay here until morning, Dez, you commit to spending the rest of the term preparing.”
“To become an angel? That’simpossible. I’m from Death Valley. I worked at the Dairy Barn, remember? Making something called Baked Potato Surprise. And it isn’t a pleasant surprise.”
“The arc of mortal lives is charming. Your origins can be so low, your destinies so high.”
“What exactly am I signing up for if I stay past sunrise?”
“Fifteen hundred films in six months,” Rafe says. “Nine films a day.”
It’s a preposterous number. A sick joke. “Why not a million?”
“Fifteen hundred is thedailyrequirement for the rest of us. The angels.”
“You each make fifteen hundred films aday?”
“We have to, to keep up.”
With the dying, he means.
“It took me a month to maketwofilms,” Dez says.
“The first cut is the hardest,” he says. “If you stay here, if you want to be a White Light like us, Dez, we can make it happen. I’ll be here to help. After tonight, the whole film school façade falls away—no more lectures, no more clubs, no more kitchen shifts, no more bullshit. Only the work, Dez, the filmmaking. Only what you’re already so good at—”
“How does it happen?”
“You mean ascension?”
“Yes.” She can’t believe she’s even entertaining this, but it’s one way to postpone her grief.
“We’re forbidden from sharing the specifics in advance,” Rafe says. “But I can say it’s extraordinary when an angel gets their wings.”
Dez tries to imagine this. Wings? It doesn’t seem possible, and even if it was …
“You’re wondering about the catch?”
She nods.
“The catch is relinquishing your life as you know it. If you were to ascend, you would lose ties to your family. You’ve already lost your brother, of course, but your mother wouldn’t see you anymore. Literally.”
