Phenomena

Chapter 1

Isolation. An ingredient, when missing from this all too familiar cocktail, is significantly less potent. However, anyone partaking of this particular concoction was most certainly intoxicated as there was no shortage of that integral component, which was evidenced by an environment considerably separated from civilization. A gentle breeze carried the smell of freshly fallen rain through a forest densely populated with large trees that rose from a floor blanketed with overgrown vegetation. Solomon traversed through the inordinately tall plant life that saw its height further accentuated by his short stature as the ragged tapestry of weeds and grass stretched to just below the waist of his black cargo pants. His movements were silenced by the landscape that was saturated enough to eliminate the shuffling sounds and mute the crunching chorus of what would have otherwise been brittle dead leaves beneath his boots. That, combined with the obscurity provided by the partnership between the night sky and the trees, made him an inaudible ghost.

Regardless of nearly impenetrable darkness, Solomon knew that he was about thirty yards away from his destination due to having run reconnaissance in the area a number of times previously. Only one such excursion was required for him to permanently record the lay of the land, however. Such a thing was his specialty, after all, even more so in his current state. Subsequent visits were done to determine patterns of movement and changes in the environment. With each visit, Solomon thought it increasingly strange that someone this popular took no measures to establish a settlement capable of suitable protection in the form of guards, surveillance cameras, etc.

This lack of security helped to substantiate the general consensus that arrogance had consumed the person with whom Solomon had developed an unhealthy obsession. It was this obsession that led him here, to a secluded campsite where Ian Hemdruff was having one of his retreats.

Invitations to these outings were extended to a randomly selected few of Ian's devotees as a top-tier award for a paid subscription to his page on a fan site. Solomon chose to circumvent that process in favor of more unconventional tactics to gain entry and get close to the renowned motivational speaker and life coach who, as of late, had been much maligned in the press as being a plague. Ian was considered an affliction––an infectious disease that his detractors believed had become widespread enough to hold his doctrine responsible for the deaths of impressionable innocent people. Additional vitriolic allegations labeled him as an overly ambitious opportunist for whom, despite becoming rich, wealth without worship was unacceptable. He had most recently made the news with the release of a video in which he rambled on about 'The Resurrection of Truth' or 'TROT', as he called it, and detailed the role that he and his disciples would soon play in the world's enlightenment. The recording concludes with Ian maintaining that it is false to assert that his fans had been brainwashed into participation in the 'Movement.' The Movement drew about a dozen of those fans here to the retreat where they'd be housed in tents scattered around a larger, more luxurious tent fit for someone who lots of people have dismissed as a self-absorbed would-be object of idolatry.

Unconcerned with the opinions of the masses,

Solomon adjusted his mask and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up onto his head and prepared for the final leg of his objective. He had been careful to approach the camp from the side farthest away from the followers' tents as to not risk having to share Ian's space with someone he'd inadvertently awakened. A similar amount of care was required as he entered the luxury canvas via an entrance facing the smaller tents littered about the campground. The inside was what he'd expected accommodations would be for someone like Ian to consider 'roughing it.' Wealth wasn't a stranger to Solomon. What was foreign, however, was the amassing of it by spreading a doctrine that went beyond the traditional self-help keynote at a symposium. Ian was different, and because of that, Solomon wouldn't rest until he was in the same room with him. And now, there he was, resting on his back, sleeping soundly. But he would soon be completely unaware as to why he couldn't breathe.