Digitals Saga

Spector in the Moonlight

…From the muck of planets’ surface. The Dark Beings created life. The life thread woven in scum and death. From the ground they arose. Beasts of flesh and metal, abiotic and biotic, they were guardians of the Dark Ones. From the size of mountains to the size of vermin, the creatures held no fear and no regret…

…Fear the hounds of death for there are many…

CHAPTER 3                                                                     THEY’RE STALKING ME!        

Sam sat at the dinner table, tapping his pointer finger nervously against the hard wood. He heard his mother’s footsteps on the stairs. Her feet made a soft pitter-patter that reverberated throughout the house.

His sister had barricaded herself in her room for hours now. The news needed to be processed by all of them differently. It was the way bad things were dealt with in the Levi household. By now, the method had been perfected.

His sister would lock herself in her room, get her PJ’s on, and brace her body against the wall. She would hold Dev, her stuffed bear, across her chest and whisper what she needed to be said in its ear. Dev was her guardian, a tattered patchwork of fake fur and stuffing now. Rebecca could never will herself to give it up.    The black bear was always there when she needed it and absorbed all the emotion Rebecca fed into it.

Mrs. Levi also had a method. When money was tight, or bad events transpired at work, Alexandra Levi would make a cup of hard cider: apple juice, vodka, and a pitch of cinnamon. With a little alcohol in her system, Mrs. Levi could relax and forget about life for a moment. Sometimes when thoughts of Sam’s father drifted into her head, Mrs. Levi would grab the picture of him from the mantel, set the photograph down her bed, and would sleep next to Mr. Levi like she did when Sam was still little.

For Sam this was through incisively tapping. Whether it was a finger or a foot, the subconscious movement helped distract him from the events that were unfolding.

This situation was different. Sam couldn’t picture Mrs. Crink without getting images of her dead body confused with images with his father. For the first time in years, the painful memories of his father’s disappearance emerged, raw and unchallenged. He felt like crying or screaming. Why did he feel so broken? He never felt like this before, not since he was a toddler. Images…more and more images… He saw the police men, their faces stern and solemn. His mother collapsed in agony, tears streaming down her still youthful face. Years of hardship and sadness forced themselves on him.

It was this damn town and that god-forsaken sub. Everything was fine before—   

Sam didn’t finish the thought as his mother came into the kitchen.

“I thought we should cancel the doctor’s appointment due do the…well you know, but then I’m not going to let some psycho dictate my life. I’m worried about you honey. You’ve been different lately, more distant. You know you can tell me anything, I’m here for you okay.”

Sam was tempted to tell her everything. He wanted to put it all out there. Then again, that would only make her more worried. He didn’t want that, she had enough on her plate.

“I’m fine.” Sam feigned a smile to make it more convincing.

His mother knew there was something he wasn’t telling her, Sam could see her struggling to read him. Eventually she gave up the fight.

“Alright then, shall we go? Your appointment is in half an hour.”

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