THE LIGHTLESS Character Profiles #10: Samantha Redding

Fifteen, Sam enjoyed her time alone as much as her time with friends and family.

Tunnel Creek was her favorite spot in Morrowtown to soak in some of that sweet, sweet solitude. She, Jace, and Iacob had dubbed it so as it was a quaint little creek that ran through a tall and wide concrete tunnel. The three of them loved meeting up here, and it had been a headquarters of sorts for them as they ascended from middle to high school. High school saw this meeting ground less frequented by Iacob, though Sam and Jace still found use for the location. Always Sam could get her dose of uninterrupted thinking done there, sometimes even with Jace doing the same for himself.

She had no quarrels with her parents, Devorrah and Martin, who loved her more than anything, and she them. The three were terribly close, and spent a lot of time together on weekend trips: hiking trails and camping sites, and long, bombastic dinners at Sortiellie’s. She was nearing the time when such bonding with her parents was going to be rapidly declining, so Martin and Devorrah cherished these memories, holding firmly onto each and every day, as their only child matured into a young woman.

She and Jace talked frequently, and she had been helping him try to cope with his coming off of anti-depressants again. Her advice and friendship during his other dips in and out of medication had been invaluable to Jace, a sentiment he had expressed to her on multiple occasions—and still did to this day.

Dreams of escaping her small town occupied her mind, as it did many kids her age, and even younger. However, she loved Morrowtown, her friends and family, and of course Tunnel Creek, and wished to see none of them removed from her life. As long as she had them, she would be happy here, and she would feel the urge to take flight from her hometown fading with each passing year.

That is, until the Lightless arrived…Nothing would ever be the same once that happened. Her dreams of leaving would return, spiking themselves into her mind, twisting, and tearing out the pieces that owned her happiness and content. The worst part of it all, she knew she might not ever be able to leave now. The choice was no longer there as an alluring, albeit dismissed reality. It was in the past, along with so many of her good times and memories…And what lied ahead, it was only dark, grim, and filled with strangling tribulation.