Chapter Two: these shadows are my friends.
Soft voices floated from every corner of the room. Sam smelled smoke all around him. His eyes shot open. There was no blackness coming up from the floorboards. He broke out into a mild sweat as the voices started speaking in low tones again. "no." whispered Sam. "no." he cupped his hands over his ears. "go away!" he spat through gritted teeth. The smell of smoke grew stronger. The voices quickly went into screams. Sam growled keeping his hands over his ears. A mist formed in the room playing some sort of odd music. "stop!" he yelled. "go away! All of you!" Charlie heard his brother screaming upstairs. He quickly darted up the steps taking two at a time. He kicked his brother's door in. "Sam!" He went over to his brother holding him down. "Sam snap out of it!" he ordered. Sam let out an animal-like growl. His nails dug into his brother's wrist. Charlie howled in pain. He managed to pin his brother down. "forgive me, Sam." He cocked his fist back decking his brother across the face. The voices and smells stopped all together. Sam came back into the real world. He rubbed the spot where Charlie struck him. Charlie held his wrist. Sam realized what he had done to his brother. He gulped painfully. "sorry for hitting you. You were so far gone that it was my only way of bringing you back." Murmured Charlie. He checked Sam's jaw for any bruising. "good thing is that I didn't leave a mark on you. Though you'll be sore for a while. I heard you screaming. Are you okay?" Sam looked down. "the voices. They never stop. The voices are always with me." Whispered Sam. "I heard them." Charlie looked around. "there's no one here, Sam." Sam grabbed his brother by the collar of his shirt. He had a haunting look on his face. "you don't understand. I can hear these voices. They've been with me ever since I was first in the bad place. The mist always comes playing its music. It drives me crazy. They don't like talking to you that's why you can't hear them." Charlie gulped painfully. He pulled away from his brother. "right. Whatever it is you say." Sam laid down again. "I'm going to get you something to eat. I think you'll feel better once you've eaten." Charlie got halfway to the door before his brother spoke again. "No sandwiches. That's all the fed me there." Charlie nodded.
Bronwyn looked up at her husband. "is he okay?" she asked worriedly. "he had an episode. He went on and on about voices that only he can hear." Charlie wrapped a bandage around his wrist. "he doesn't want a sandwich. Apparently, that's all they fed him there." Charlie leaned against the counter. Bronwyn touched her husband's shoulder. "he'll get better. I know he will." She kissed Charlie on the cheek. Hoshi crossed his arms. Charlie walked over to Hoshi. "come on, Son. Let's go and catch some fish." Hoshi got up from the wall. He made sure to say farewell to his mother before leaving the café with his dad. Bronwyn fixed Sam's dinner. She carefully knocked on his door. Sam opened the door slowly. "I brought you something to eat." Sam took the plate of food from her. She gave Sam a patient smile. He sat down at his desk. He began to eat his dinner in front of her. He kept his gaze away from her. "I heard that you had an episode." She whispered. Sam just gave a nod of his head. "I really hope you do get better soon. Charlie and I are getting worried about you." Sam clenched his fist up on the fork. "Don't worry about me." He snarled. Bronwyn was taken back by his sudden anger. "I'm not a child." Bronwyn's gaze lowered. "Sam, we are your family. We're always going to worry about you. You've been acting strangely ever since you first returned. We just want you to get better." Sam growled lowly. "you act like I'm some sort of sick animal! Yes, there's something wrong with me!" his voice started to get louder and angrier as he continued talking. He got up from his desk. "I know that there's something not right with me!" He punched a hole in the wall. "if I worry you so god damned much then why are you here?!" Bronwyn gulped. "cause I care about you." He sighed relaxing. "I'm sorry Bronwyn." He flopped back down in his chair. She laid her hands on his shoulders. "we're here for you. I want you to know that." She held him close to her. He laid her head on her stomach. "I'm sorry I got you worked up." Sam closed his eyes. "it's okay." She kissed the top of his head. "go ahead and finish eating. I'll leave you alone now."
Elvis headed down to the Wholefish Café after work. The bell above the door chimed once he entered. Bronwyn was working behind the counter. "hello Elvis." She greeted keeping her focus on her work. "hiya Bronwyn. I'm here to see Sam." She pointed upstairs. "be careful around him though. He had a tad bit of an episode." Elvis frowned. "oh dear. Thanks for telling me, Bronwyn." He tip toed upstairs being careful not to disturb anyone else who happened to be up there. He knocked on his mentor's door. "Sam?" He turned the knob feeling it lock into place. He frowned knocking on the door again. "Sam?" He felt the knob move in his hand. The door was yanked out from underneath him. Sam stood just a few face-lengths away from him. He stared at Elvis sternly. Elvis smiled at his mentor. "Hello Sam." He greeted. He motioned for Elvis to come in. Sam sat down on his bed. Elvis coughed in his hand. "I came by to see you after shift like I promised. I haven't told Station Officer Chance that you've returned." Sam raised an eyebrow. "Station Officer Chance?" Elvis scratched behind his head. "oh, yeah I forgot. You haven't been around an awful lot. Station Officer Chance took over for Station Officer Steele when he- "He didn't continue the sentence. Sam shifted uncomfortably. His nails dug into the sheets causing the veins to poke up through his skin. Elvis sat down next to his mentor. "how about we go outside for a while?" he suggested. "some fresh air could help ease you a little." Sam nodded. He got up from the bed. He grabbed a small bag and tied it to his belt. Elvis heard something metal click inside of the bag. "what's that Sam?" Sam gave a look that said, "Don't worry about it" Elvis shrugged. "alright. If you say so."
The boys left the café. The sun dipped into the horizon leaving the ocean in a sea of orange. The tip of the sun was barely visible over the water. Sam walked down the beach with Elvis. Elvis tried to start a conversation with Sam only to have his attempt fail. Elvis stuck with being quiet around Sam. He kicked a rock a few feet away from him. Sam paused suddenly near a pile of rocks. He unclipped the small bag from his belt. He reached in and pulled out a small vaping pipe. Elvis tilted his head to the side as he watched his mentor pour some of the liquid tobacco he had into a vile. Sam then clipped the vile onto the vaping pen. He turned the vaping pen on taking a puff from it. Vapor escaped his mouth as he exhaled. "what's that?" Sam looked at Elvis. "I got a vaping pen from a buddy of mine in the hospital. It helps me relax." Elvis nodded. He stood next to his mentor. Sam took another puff from the pen. "I can't do it in the house. I don't want Charlie knowing about this. Not a word to him. Okay?" Elvis crossed his heart. "I won't breath a word Sam." The two of them stood in silence. Sam turned off his pen and stuck it back into his bag. He tied the bag to his belt again. He leaned against the rock. "I about killed Charlie. I don't know what I am going to do if these outbursts get worse. I don't want to hurt my family." Sam held his arms. Elvis looked up at him. "I'll help you get through this. I'll find some way of helping you." Sam chuckled softly. "thanks Elvis." Sam frowned. "I have a feeling that my brother thinks I'm crazy." "what make you think that?" Sam shrugged. "when I had my outburst, it was like he didn't believe me. I could have sworn I heard voices. I could smell smoke that really wasn't there. I saw this mist." He blinked trying to make sense of what he was seeing in his head. "I can remember them so vividly." Elvis touched his friend's shoulder. "sometimes your imagination has a weird way of interacting with you. I don't think you're crazy in the slightest. I just think you have a very vivid imagination." Sam sighed. "I guess you're right." He had a sneaky feeling that Elvis thought he was crazy too.
Sam tossed and turned in his bed that night. He cried out in his sleep. He begged for the voices to leave him alone. Hoshi was the one that snapped his Uncle out of it that night. Sam held onto him sobbing. "it's going to be okay." Comforted Hoshi. He rubbed his Uncle's back gently. He rocked him back and forth trying to lure him back to sleep. He felt his Uncle relax in his arms. Hoshi tucked him in carefully. He tip-toed out of the room leaving the door opened a crack.
I really hope you guys have been enjoying this so far. I will be working on trying to produce more chapters for this story. As always I do enjoy feedback it keeps a man like me out of trouble.
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-The Doctor