What if there was no concept of time and just being. Being alive and marked by the curse of life caused by the forbidden fruit. A promise of painful birth and death.
An uncursed man paced back and forth in a black suite in a lab-room filled with testing tubes and lab jackets. It reminded him of his days in medical school.
"Dr. West!," announced a man who came through the door abruptly and eagerly.
"It is a pleasure to meet you! I have heard so much about your unique condition," he said as he greeted Samuel with a smile and shook his gloomy red hands in his own.
"Can't say I feel the same," he replied sarcastically.
"I'm Doctor Hotdog-" the brown eyed frail figured man began to say but was shortly cut off by the laughter of Samuel.
"Sorry Doc," said Samuel as he fixed his composure and tightened his lips.
"I get that all the time. You can call me Doctor H," he said blushing and awkwardly scratching the back of his blond-haired head
"Now we'll just go ahead and get started with some tests," said Doctor H as he reached for a lab jacket and medical kit filled with testing-tubes and needles.
He gestured for Samuel to sit down in a nearby chair and promptly took his arm and cleaned it with a disinfectant solution. Doctor H examined his arm before placing the needle inside. He struggled as he tried to find a vein to draw blood from.
"Here," said Sam as he gestured for the needle. Allow me, you'll blow my vein," he said.
"Only authorized professionals here," Dr. H responded humorously as he patted Sam on the shoulder.
Sam reaches in his pocket for his license and presented on the desk. "I am a professional and I can assure you that you're going to blow my vein. That would make me very agitated," Sam said hastily as he took the needle from Dr. H.
"Okay Doc, lets see what you got," Dr. H responded testily.
Sam carefully felt his arm for a vein before pricking himself with the needle and liquid oozed out. They both watched the body liquid ooze from his arm and into the tube in shock and amazement. Blood and glowing liquid oozed from Sam's arm.
"This is amazing...Impossible," said Dr. H under his breath. He looked as if he was about to faint but only gather more tubes to fill.
After Dr. H filled as many tubes as he could possibly find in the lab, it was time for a break.
Sam was given food and water to restore his body liquid after the blood draw. The researchers persisted he replenish himself before further testing. However, he felt fine and had no appetite. He accepted the food but quickly gave it to one of the homeless in the streets of New York before taking a seat on a nearby bench.
He wondered about himself. He wondered how long he'd live and what death must feel like. He shivered from the cold and wrapped his arms around himself. The cold reminded him that he was only human and was not invincible. He had second thoughts about giving away his food away as his stomach growled. He could still bleed, bruise and heal just as anyone else. He could still die, just not from age. He took a deep breath and went back inside the Jared Mathis Institute.
For the remainder of the day, they continued to do several tests. Researchers and doctors tested his heart rate, took samples of every fluid and hair on his body. By the end of the day, he felt like some strange experimentation and not human. He considered walking out several times but thought of all the lives that could be saved from his condition.
He reached for his jacket and prepared to go home to his wife. He longed for her company and comfort at the moment.
"Great job, today," said Dr H as he came up behind him with his jacket and briefcase in his hands.
"Thanks," said Sam noticeably unpleasant.
"What's wrong?" asked Dr. H
"I just feel like an object. I know I'm doing it for all the right reasons but... I have other obligations as a Doctor and being here makes me give up this," he replied, and he dropped his eyes.
"I see," said Dr. H rubbing his chin with his free hand. ''There is a clinic next door in need of doctors, maybe you could help? I'm sure twice a week is more than enough research we will need from you. Five days is a bit too much. I'll see what I can do," said Dr. H.
Sam smiled, "You'd do that for me?"
"Yes, now take it easy tonight. See you tomorrow," said Dr. H as he patted Sam on his shoulder and proceeded towards the door.
After a stressful and overwhelming day at the Jared Mathis Institute and long ride home, he had looked forward to a quiet and warm dinner with his wife.
He quickly learned she was sound asleep in bed and decided not to wake her. She was pregnant and needed her rest.
His dinner was already laid out for him on the table and he loosened his tie as he sighed and sat at the table.
"Room for one more?" said and woman's voice but it wasn't Rain's. It was Selena's. She was dressed in nothing but a nightgown. Even in the candlelit kitchen, he could depict every curve and feature of her decanter shaped body.
''Yes,'' he said. He was astounded to find her taking a seat on his lap and pulling his hand between her legs of delicacy. He was even more astounded to find himself willing engage in such adulteress activity.
She abruptly got off his lap and began to undo his breeches. ''Stop,'' he said.
''You know you want it,'' she said as she reached for his hardness.
''I said stopped!'' he yelled quietly as he grabbed her hand and shoved it away. He couldn't see her face but he could feel the pain of hurt emotions. He didn't realize how loudly he had yelled but felt thankful for such a big mansion, where his wife was comfortable sleeping on the other side of it.
''Just please, let me!'' she shouted
''Would you look at yourself?!'' he responded annoyingly as he stood up from the chair and backed away from her as if she was a viral disease.
''Please, just let me...I can do it! I can do it!'' she shouted in desperation. She wailed even louder as she fell to the floor on her knees and dug her fingernails into his thighs and proceeded to pull down his breeches.
He slapped her and she staggered backwards. She tasted the blood from her mouth and wiped it from her lips. She suddenly got to her feet and her entire demeanor changed and she yelled, "I'll tell Rain!"
He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, " I want you out!''
"You think no one knows, but everyone sees it!" She said shaking her head with disapproval and a clicking tongue.
"The maids, servants, cooks, everyone! Like, we can't see you and your adulteress ways. It's only a matter time before you start beating her ass, just as you did mine,'' she said.
This time he completely lost his temper and pushed her so hard, she slid across the floor and landed hard up against the wall.
"Is everything alright in here?" Asked one the maid looking concerned.
"Everything's fine," Selena responded and shooed the maid away.
She eyed Sam before getting to her knees and then on her legs and turned to go.
Before she left, she turned to face the guilt-stricken face of her ex-husband and said, "I thought you really had changed," she said as she turned to go.
Selena has a way of bringing out the worst in him. After Selena's presumptive death, he had vowed to never hit a woman again. He lied.
He buried Selena and her memories a long time ago. He had never wanted to remember the person he was, especially the night of her disappearance. He had told Rain the story about the night of her disappearance, but he did not tell her the whole truth. He considered himself a monster for it and never wanted to relive or speak of that night again. Maybe it was time to face his fears before his restitutions ended him.
He remembered it like it was yesterday and the memory emerged like a thief in the night.
It was a brisk and chilly night. He waited at the dinner table for his wife to arrive who was late.
She finally arrived unpleasant and uncanny. "What's wrong, Seal?" he asked.
"Your unfaithful," she blurted out with tears streaming down her face. He walked over to grab her hand and comfort her but she only shrugged him away.
He looked down with guilt because it was the truth.
"Tell me it isn't true!" She shouted
"Keep your voice down," he scolded.
"Why? Everyone knows!" she shouted even louder with the look of insanity in her dark eyes.
His eyes squared on hers and he pounded his fist on the table. "I'm warning you" he said sternly.
"What are you going to do?" She asked quietly. "Beat me, like you did a week ago for not being your perfect little wife."
"Hey, everyone! Lord Samuel West is an unfaithful bastard!" this time she yelled so loud he was certain the residents who lived a few meters away could hear her.
That's when he completely lost his temper. His eyes were bloodshot, and his cheeks were as red as fire.
Before any thoughts of rational had entered his mind, he found himself dragging his kicking and screaming wife across the field towards the shed.
"Let me go! I'll go die fighting, if I have too," she wailed.
He ignored her wails and awkward stares from the servants. They wouldn't dare interfere with their Royal Master.
Her legs started to bruise and bleed from the scrapes of rock and nature on the ground. It hurt her like hell, but she had been damned if she gave up the fight and let him win.
He dragged her in the shed and locked the door behind him. "What are you doing?!" she cried.
"Teaching you a lesson. That is the last time you will ever speak against my name in that manner," he said before flailing his fist back and punching her in the face hard.
She fell on her backside astounded and feeling her face to see if it was still there. Her cheek had gone numb and there was a slight ringing in her ear. She shrieked from the pain, but she would let him see her cry.
He on the other hand had started shaking from anger. He didn't know what was happening to him, but he couldn't control the boiling rage and the need for control inside him. If she tried anything more, he knew he would lose control and that scared him. However, he knew fear wouldn't stop him.
Selena got up and ran to unlatch the locked door, but it was too late. Sam has grabbed her by the arms and threw her so hard she landed several feet away and into haystack. She closed her eyes because she knew what was coming.
He beat her sensually to a bloody pulp for what seemed like a lifetime. Kicking, punching, and slapping her until her body had gone limp and life seemed to almost escape her. She didn't scream or fight him the entire time. She had lost all the energy in her body, but she would not give him satisfaction of see in pain in her eyes, so she held her tears back.
"Now get up," he said as he walked over to grab a bucket of water.
"Clean yourself up and go to bed. I'll be sleeping in my study tonight," he said as he exited briskly without giving her another glance.
She was in finally alone and she could cry. She could be free with her emotions and feelings. Then it hit her, she needed to escape. No, she needed to be brave and leave him!
She cleaned herself up and her dignity. She walked out the shed ignoring the awkward stares and concerned glances from the servants and maids and made her way up to the bedroom where Sam awaited before going to his study.
''I'm leaving...I'm taking a few things and I'll be back for the rest of my belongings in the morning'' she said facing him as brave and as strong as she could. She stood firm but her heart was shivering. He stormed towards her but this time she was prepared. She reached in her skirts for the small pocketknife and without another thought, she flung it at his head. Sam ducked as the knife missed him by a few millimeters. She braced herself however she didn't feel anything except the soft sting of wind on her shoulders.
''Well take your shit and get out,'' he said as he stormed passed her without even giving her another glance. That was that. She packed some of her belongings and made her way out the place she had called home for years. She planned to stay with one of the men she had been having an affair with, after learning of Sam's affairs. She didn't know which one, but they would all surely enjoy her company. They were both adulterous, she guess that made her hypocrite, but she didn't care. She considered herself a decent human being.
So, she ran. She didn't know what she was running towards, but she ran like hell. She ran until she couldn't run anymore. She stopped at the stream to wet her face. The wet coolness felt amazing on skin and in her mouth. As she attempted to splash more water on her face something or someone had hit her in the head.
Then she was surrounded by darkness, whereshe would remain captive for