Samuel's Journey

THERE ARE MANY GRAMMAR MISTAKES IN THIS PIECE, BUT THOSE WILL BE CORRECTED SOON. PLEASE RATE THIS WORK IN PROGRESS AS EVERY OPINION IS APPRECIATED.




PROLOGUE
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The wind howled and the rain blew, but Sam pushed on. He had to get to the end of the alley. He could hear the screams and he knew the end was near for whoever was there. The alley was dark and cold and he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, but when the skies brightened with the lightening, he could vaguely make out the shape of a human form in the distance.

“Help me!” The shouts got more frightening and more anxious.

For a second Sam hesitated about moving on. Who was he facing? Or more importantly, what was he facing? What if something terrible happened to him? Just as quickly as the thoughts had passed through his mind, they were banished and replaced by an unidentifiable need to reach the entity in need of help. All of a sudden hail began plummeting from the skies and it pounded his face with a stinging force he had never experienced. Onward he pushed against mother nature’s fury.
Sam had the urge to stop though when the ground beneath him began to shake violently. Just a few feet in front of him the earth broke open and widened, revealing beneath itself, a burning chasm of churning molten rock and lava. He teetered precariously along the edge and peered down into the gaping crack. More screams inundated him. More pleas for help and at that moment he could finally see the thing that had pulled him to the alley in the first place. It was a young girl, no more than eight, dressed in a flowing white robe. Her blonde hair cascading below her shoulders and eyes so piercingly blue that it almost hurt to look into them.

“You must help me”, she pleaded to Sam.
“It’s almost time and I’m not ready. I must warn the rest of them.”

“How do I help you?” Sam asked her.

“You must find the woman. She knows how to buy me more time. Only she has the answers.”

“What woman? I don’t understand.” Sam yelled across the burning pit.

“She will come to you. At night. I have summoned her to speak to you. I do not have the strength to do anymore. Hurry, Samuel. Do not waste time.”

And with that final word, she backed away; struggling it seemed, from the hole. Fiery fingers leapt from the crevice towards her and then turned towards Sam. He let out a blood-curdling scream as he tried to scramble backwards.

“Sam! Samuel! Wake up!”

Sam bolted awake in bed. His sheets were soaked with perspiration.

“What on earth is wrong?” his girlfriend, Julie asked.

“Man, must’ve been a dream.”

“A nightmare more like It.” she replied. “You better get a move on or you’re going to be late.”, she told him.

After Julie had left the room, he threw his legs over the bed and went to stand up. As he did, he thought he might collapse on the floor. His muscles ached from his thighs to his calves and what he saw when he looked down, almost made him faint. The tops of his feet were red and blistered and his tennis shoes next to the bed were badly burned. It was lucky for him Julie hadn’t seen them. Yet the thought of his shoes being ruined wasn’t what made him scared. It was the thought that the nightmare he had experienced wasn’t a nightmare after all. It had somehow been real.

CHAPTER ONE

On his way to work, Sam thought about the nightmare and what it could mean. He didn’t tell Julie because she would’ve done one of two things.
Either she would’ve laughed or called him crazy or she would’ve freaked out and went crazy herself. It seemed that lately it was getting harder and harder to figure her out. It seemed as though she was avoiding him alot. Not only him, but his questions and comments as well. Whatever it was, he hoped it would pass.
As he pressed on the car brakes, a painful sensation reminded him of his scorched feet.
He had dressed them the best he knew how, but didn’t want to go to the doctor for fear of having to explain why they were burnt. Or at least why he thought they were burnt.
Sam was on his way downtown to the offices of the (newspaper name).
He had presented them with a new editorial column for the paper and they were going to let him know today whether or not they had accepted his work.
He looked in the rearview mirror at himself and noticed a colorless, lifeless face looking back at him.
“Get a grip Sam.”, he muttered to himself as he turned his attention back to driving and entered the parking garage.
He definitely couldn’t go into the meeting looking like a zombie. The nightmare must’ve taken more energy from him than he thought.
He found a tight spot into which he parked his Honda, and after making sure he had everything, he shut off the engine. There was a low humming noise in the distance that almost sounded as if it was coming from his own car.
Probably a car overhead or something, he thought to himself.
As he went to get out of the car, the humming became more definite and Sam cocked his left ear to try and get a better sense of where it was coming from.
Almost immediately it stopped. Weird, like it had sensed him trying to figure it out. Oh, well. He stepped out of the car and turned around to lock it.
“Samuel.”, came his name so low, that it could’ve been imagined.
He instantly stood up straight and swung his head around to all directions.
“Samuel.”, it came again. It sounded like a child and for a moment his mouth just hung open with anticipation of asking who was there.
“You must figure it out soon Samuel, before it is too late. Others need our help.”
This time Sam found his voice. “Who is there?” A chill crept over him and images from the night’s dream bombarded his mind. He could feel the cold yet there were flames leaping before his eyes. He was sweating, but shaking uncontrollably.
“Do not fight it Samuel. It’s good with a heart of evil. You must weed out the evil before it is too late.”
As quickly as it had come the feeling passed and he heard nothing but the swallows chirping who nested in the concrete rafters.
Sam couldn’t seem to move. It was fear that held him there. Fear of the unknown. Fear, for some reason that he would fail at this task. But what task was being laid before him? An important one he surmised, but not really knowing what the details were.
He grabbed his briefcase and hurriedly walked towards the elevators that led up the building. He would push the thoughts away for now, but he knew they would return. And too soon at that.

CHAPTER TWO
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As he got off the elevator and walked down the plush looking hallway to the office of the editor-in-chief, he pondered the uneasy feeling of the days and nights before events. It started giving him a headache right away and he shook the cobwebs from his head. He had to be sharp for the meeting. He had to be prepared for a rebuttal just in case his strip hadn’t made the cut.
Opening the door to the office, he was instantly greeting by a cute petite blonde.
“Hi! Can I help you?”, she asked almost too enthusiastically.
Her red lips almost turned into a pouty frown when he didn’t answer quickly enough.
He was mesmerized by her piercing green eyes and her lilting voice. He tore himself away from her stunning good looks and replaced his concern with the issue at hand.
“Yes, I’m here to for my nine o’clock meeting with Mr. Martin. My name is Sam Birch”, he said with uncertainty. Damn, why was he so unsure of himself all of a sudden? It wasn’t like him to beat around the bush about anything.
“Oh yeah, hold on a sec.”, she said smiling.
Obviously she was fresh out of high school and had stumbled across this job. It was evident in her vocabulary. As she leaned down to speak into the intercom, which would alert Mr. Martin of his arrival, Sam noticed her full breasts, which were snugly encased, in her tight red sweater. They were definitely a full size bigger than Julie’s was and much firmer. My God, what was he thinking? She was surely ten years younger than he was and an image of Julie’s beautiful face appeared before him. It was also not like Sam to notice other women in this way. Upon announcing Sam to her boss she stood back up in an erect position, which was ironically close to the erect position he was beginning to take on.
Blinking his eyes furiously and swabbing his dry lips with his tongue, he was thankful when the door to the inner office swung open and James Martin appeared with an outstretched hand.
“Samuel! Good to see you again. I hope Samantha here has been cordial to you!”, he said with a hearty laugh. Sam could only smile and as he preceded Mr. Martin into his office he heard a healthy slap from outside the door followed by a stifled giggle.
Taking the seat across from the oak desk, Sam crossed his legs and waited for Mr. Martin to sit down when he offered Sam a drink from the liquor cabinet.
“No thank you. I’m ok.”, Sam refused politely.
“I know, it’s early Samuel, but sometimes I like to unwind at the beginning of the day, if you know what I mean?”, he said again laughing.
“Yes, I guess I do.”
There was that uneasy feeling again. Hopefully the meeting wouldn’t last too long.
“So, Samuel. We looked over your query letter and we think, well how should I say this? Are you ok son?”, he asked leaning forward.
“Yes sir, just worried about the meeting a little I guess.”, Sam replied.
“Well, no need to worry. We think you’ll fit right in and you’ll do just fine. Hell, I don’t even know why we had to discuss this in person, but that’s procedure I guess.”, Mr. Martin said.
For a moment the room seemed to spin and the air grew stifling.
“Um, so what your saying is I have the job?”, Sam asked trying to hide his discomfort.
“Well, you are smart like I thought. Actually I was hoping you could tour the facilities and get a feel for where things are today, but you don’t look so hot. Maybe you could come in more towards the end of the week. You could move into your new office and settle in before Monday of next week. Your columns will start appearing in the following issue of the paper. You won’t have a secretary of your own yet, but Samantha could show you around. She’s been here for almost five months and pretty much knows everyone and everything here. Efficient girl if I may say so myself.”, Mr. Martin said with a wink.
Sam grew uneasy in the chair as if he needed to get out and quickly.
“Not to rush the meeting, but you’re right. I don’t feel well and I think I need to go.”, Sam said rising.
“I thank you profusely for the opportunity to work with your publication and can only hope I do it Justice Mr. Martin.”
“Oh, I know you will do well Sam. Don’t you worry. We’ll see you here on Thursday as long as your feeling better.”, Mr. Martin said rising as well while extending his hand.
“Thank you Mr. Martin. I will definitely be seeing you on Thursday.” Sam promised.
Sam quickly walked from the inner office out to the reception area and hastily waved off the affectionate Samantha and welcomed the sound of the door shutting behind him. He leaned against the dark wall of the hallway and breathed in deeply. Still unable to take a satisfying breath he fumbled his way out into the lobby of the big building and tried to compose himself into somewhat of a noble manner. Once outside he stiffly breathed in the humid air and started walking. Not towards his car, not even remotely towards the garage in which it was parked. Instead he walked in the opposite direction. Towards the South part of town. Why, he did not know, all he knew was that he had to go there. Someone or something was taking over again. Like the dream. For the hour of the morning, there were quite a few people on the street and Sam found himself knocking into people quite often as well. “Hey buddy, watch it,” one man told him. A woman, a mother, pushing a baby stroller gave him a nasty look as she swerved just in time to keep from running him over. Sam knew he must look crazy to the people around him. He could feel his heart beating rapidly and felt the moistness of persperation soaking his clothes even though it was fifty degrees out. As Sam continued walking he heard the almost familiar humming noise again. This time he didn’t stop to hear where it was coming from. He knew where it was coming from. There was an elementary school up ahead.

CHAPTER THREE
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The walls to the chamber were cold and dark, like all the times before. Yet this time there seemed to be a difference among them. Like whispers from the machinery in the factory, the overhead zipcams hummed along like ardent soldiers watching guard of their fortress. For it seemed as long as she could remember, the zips were watching. She remembered stories the elders had told about the past people in which a person they called
‘Big Brother’, was watching. How the people of that time were afraid of ‘him’ and didn’t like the idea of not having freedom. Lena had grew up like this. ‘Big Brother’, or what her people, the Darronite, called ‘him’, Darron was watching all the time. She remembered how at one time when she was younger she had questioned her Elder Mother on Darron.

“Elder Nan, how can a machine protect us from evil? How can one
person protect us from what is considered bad?”
The Elder Mother had smiled down at her and took her face into her
Wrinkled palm and spoke.
“My dear Lena. My dear inquisitive Lena. I knew from the first day
you were born that you would have questions. I saw them in your eyes and so did they. Perhaps that is why they picked me. Me, an old frail
Elder to teach you my dear. I have lived through many generations
And heard many questions along with the answers. Some questions
You may never ask or hear, but some you will. And some you will
Know the answer to already and never ask. This my dear Lena
Is your gift. For one day you will be an Elder. Even though it is not
Planned you will be an Elder Mother too and much, much wiser.”, the
Elder Mother explained.
“Darron, is not a person or a thing Lena. It is a way of life. It is the
way that we are taught from the beginning. Not me of course. I was
taught late, but was lucky enough to learn so as not to be outcast.
You my dear will have to find out for yourself, but not to worry you
Will learn in time.”

Lena remembered not questioning again because the woman’s advice had been confusing and fear kept her quiet. Something inside of her had told her not to ask more. Now Lena had begun to see the things that the Elder Mother had spoken of. It had been as if the Elder Mother had wanted to tell Lena of the wicked and corrupt so as to keep her eyes open, but that was not the way of the Darron. The way was to find out on your own and in that sense was wicked upon itself. It was as if they wanted you to find out but once you did you had no time to relish in the fact that you were free. Free to speak and see what the real meaning was. You were abolished. Eliminated as to not open the eyes of others so that they may find out on there own. To Lena it seemed unfair and unreal in a sense. Why reward someone or something if not to let them enjoy their reward?
So it was here, walking down the corridors of the Home Porch, that Lena decided she would be seeing her rewards but for a few moments and then be cast into the wallow tunnels below to live among the swine for eternity. For that is what finding freedom meant. It meant reaping the benefits within yourself but not living them in life. Keeping them trapped inside only for you own pleasure. Once the “swine” were cast down to the tunnels they were instantly plunged back into their controlled lives, teaching their own selves this time that freedom was not good. You weren’t really free.

Chapter 4
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Cynthia Woodard was meeting her husband for lunch. She weaved her green BMW in and out of traffic as fast as she could. She had spent too much time at the nail salon and her dash clock read fifteen minutes past eleven. Her husband would be waiting at the office,very much impatiently, right about now. She turned onto fifth avenue and had to wait for the turn light. She looked to her left and watched a woman in her forties apply base to her wrinkled face. That woman could definitely use a face lift. Cynthia looked at her own face in the rearview mirror. She was lucky to have a perfect complexion considering she was pushing forty. Her eyes were a bright and youthful twenty something and her skin looked the same. Maybe that is what had attracted John to her in the first place. He had always said that it was her charisma and charm, but who knew. Looks couldn't hurt that much either. At the next intersection, she took a right and pulled into the parking garage on her left.