Samuel

Chapter 30

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On his knees, remaining motionless, weakened, lost, closing his eyes, Alm surrendered to his lack of power. Spending a few moments in this sanctuary, feeling the monsters close in on him. Alm's suffering erupted.

As his eyes tightly shut, a familiar sight shifted into focus before him in the darkness of his lids. With the oasis of his shielded vision, Alm's haunting past could not penetrate his inner mind. The recognizable character, however familiar, remained troubling. The broad shoulders, muscular frame, and smooth scalp ridiculed his current form.

Standing in front of him, his current self-stood still. The pulsation emanated from the grown man feeling heavy. Thick as honey covering his body, it clung to him, weighing down his movements. Wheezing, he struggled to regain his breath as the pressure mounted on his chest. Tears flooded his vision as he gazed upon his older self. His luminescence blinded the child. His youthful eyes standing no match for his own power.

"Was I so weak? Pitiful. An absolute disgrace." The older Alm said looking down upon himself. "Draw yourself up out of this mess." Pounding upon his own chest as he forcefully commanded the youthful Alm, he continued, "This is our mind! We are not slaves! Do not let our victims haunt you. Remember, it is we who slaughtered them! They were nothing but weak prey. Our vengeance meted out their sorrow. These dredges of the world no long have breath due to retribution attained at your hand!" He boomed, his voice gaining in intensity.

The younger Alm dropped his head while his older self, attempted to persuade him. Alm's words hit true, expecting nothing less from his own persona, Alm relished his own words. A mind developed from the pain of his youth. The persistence of anguish honed his instincts. His calloused will, instinctually strived to keep him alive. He was nothing of the child he spoke to before him.

The current Alm drew his hand out towards his younger self pointing at his solar plexus. Touching the area, the adult Alm used his other hand to press his own solar plexus. A glowing beige thread formed between the two. In the center of this beige filament, the light fluttered as the strand spun to intertwine itself. Pulling each other close, the adult Alm embraced himself. The youth stood motionless, waiting, collecting his strength and his will.

"None of this is your fault. Know this; you are superior to this lot. Your power. Our strength. Remember the joy of killing these fools? How it was to hunt them, so weak, so frail? Now, show them our current capabilities."

His voice started strong, yet wavered, at times, to become a near whisper in the boy's ear. Becoming translucent, he fused himself into his younger half. The boy opened his eyes to the phantoms that enslaved him. His pupil and iris no longer dominated the features in his eye. Now a sand colored, vibrating energy pulsed. Appearing as a wave washing ashore, the constant motion of color brilliantly contrasted Alm's caramel skin and dark features. The power filled his brain, concentrating on the occipital and frontal lobes of his mind.

The core Alm gently placed his hand on the chilled ground. Not quite solid nor ethereal, his hand rebuffed itself as it pressed downward. It was almost as if the apparent ground only responded to a belief that it was there. Attempting to stand, he slowly looked over the phantoms of his past. Revealing a malicious smile, his brilliant sand-colored eyes squinted. With this renewed determination to escape his invisible bindings, Alm stood tall and confronted the demons of his past lingering in front of him.

Not appearing affected by the conversion in the boy, they remained unchanged. Their smiles steadied as spittle continued to leak down their chins. Their eyes fixated on the boy. Refusing not to shift their gazes from their prey.

Alm looked at each man in turn. "You do not hold any sway over me. You are just ghosts of your former selves. I, myself, have destroyed any vestiges of you and your kin. You have no power over me any longer. Now, go. Leave me be! I see you are just projections of my fears that have lingered. I am no longer a slave to your trauma and cruelty."

Walking determinedly towards the phantom in front of him Alm pointed, defiantly stating, "You have made me who I am today. A man working for his own gain. A man who has never found nor desires a companion." Continuing towards each man in turn, Alm continued pointing definitely in a large sweeping motion, "A man who feeds on anyone in my path. You all have prevented me from developing connections with others. A man who has felt loneliness and abandonment. Now, I have purpose." Alm said, thinking of Samuel. "Now, Alm swallowed before bellowing, "Now leave me BE!"

The last word pulsed heavily, echoing in the endless void as Alm's sand colored energy radiated into the abyss as waves crashing upon the shore that are the phantasms. The ghosts began swaying back and forth as smoke wafted from their being. Their forms faded then congealed above Alm as vapor in the void.

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Alone, finally freed from the monsters of his past, Alm breathed in the fresh scent of independence. Looking down at his hands and shirt, he noticed the disparity in size. Feebly, it hung on him. Not back to his older form yet, confusion muddled his mind, once more. Trapped in his childlike form as exhaustion inundated him, Alm's body trembled as he fell to his knees. Crashing down into the bundled clothes below him Alm fought to stay conscious as the abyss around him twisted and turned. His eyelids grew heavy as light attempted to pierce through.

A familiar voice whispered sapped of their strength, "Nice work fucker. Leave one prison and get to another."  

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