The Darkness
“The time is short. We must hurry.”
“But Daddy, why must we hurry?” asked the inquisitive little boy, but his father gave no response. Down the tunnel they ran, deeper and deeper into the darkness. The little buy was exhausted. His father had awakened him while it was still dark. Frightened and confused the boy knew he must move on. He could sense it in his father’s every rapid movement.
The little boy could not keep up. He stumbled. The father picked him up and tried to carry him, but he was not strong enough. He collapsed out of exhaustion. Everything went black.
* * *
Thomas bolded upright in his bed, drenched in a cold sweat. Looking around he was relieved to see the familiar surroundings he called home. It was the fifth time this month he had this particular nightmare. The seventeen year-old did not feel comfortable talking about it with anyone, especially his parents.
The Gabors were not Thomas’s biological parents. They adopted Thomas when he was five. Thomas knew he was adopted, but could not remember a life before. He could still remember overhearing the social worker telling the Gabors that his prior home was bad and that it was best to not talk about it much. Thomas was quite happy with his life as it was, so he had no intention of trying to find out how terrible his biological parents were.
The Gabors did not know what Thomas’s biological parents were like, either. It didn’t matter to them. Before the adoption, Thomas went through the psychological transfer process, so he was a clean slate. Whatever or whoever he was before didn’t matter because Thomas had been wiped clean of his memories and whatever baggage those memories brought with them.
* * *
The United States was in turmoil. The FBI had not completely wiped out the Sect like they had thought. Now members of the Sect were starting to infiltrate society again, poisoning people’s minds with their dangerous beliefs. The FBI requested the CIA to join efforts to wipe out the remnant of the Sect. Cameras were set up everywhere. Every move anyone made outside their home was monitored. The computers connected to the cameral which were programmed to find any suspicious activity that could be in any way related to the Sect and to then notify the local authorities. every effort was made to find any members of the Sect and to take them into custody for treason and attempted subversion of the State.
* * *
The Gabors were watching the news very carefully. Mr. Gabor could barely recall the beliefs of the Sect. Mrs. Gabor didn’t care what the beliefs were, she just knew they were dangerous and wanted its members found and executed as quickly as possible. They were both afraid that Thomas’s past life was somehow involved with the Sect. They were just relieved that the psychological transfer was successful, despite Thomas being over the recommended age for such a procedure.
Thomas walked into the living room after the news was over. Mr. Gabor called him over. “Son,” he said in his best deep father-knows-best voice.
“Yeah, Dad?”
“Sit down. We need to have a talk.”
“What’s up?”
“It’s this Sect thing. Have they told you mush about it in school?”
“A little bit. Most of my teachers don’t like the crack-down because of the first amendment and that other junk. Mrs. Kollinger told us once, though, that if anyone started talking about weird stuff to us, we should let security know. I didn’t think much about it, because my teachers talk about weird stuff all the time.”
“Thomas, this is serious. The Sect is very dangerous. They tell lies. They want us to think that the government is evil and that we all have to believe some book of theirs. They’ve tried to take over the country several times and almost succeeded twice. It took decades to show everyone just how dangerous they were. IT took even longer to find all of them and force them out of society. Somehow the government messed up again and didn’t catch all the subversives. They are trying to leak out their poison and the President has warned that the high schools are their main target. Your mother and I just want you to be very careful. These people would tell you anything to get you to believe their lies.”
“Don’t worry, Dad, I’ll be careful.”
The next Thomas went to school exhausted. He had the dream again that night. It was really starting to bother him. He was constantly distracted. Everyone could tell that something was wrong.
After calculus, James walked up to Thomas. Thomas thought James was a really nice guy, but there was something strange about him. None of the other kids could put a finger on what it was. He hadn’t always been like that. A couple years earlier he had been normal. It didn’t really matter, though, because it didn’t affect any of their lives.
James asked Thomas, “Hey, man, what’s been bothering you?”
“Nothing,” Thomas replied abruptly.
“Don’t give me that. Something’s up and you should probably try talking about it with someone.”
“And that someone should be you? Whatever.”
“Fine. But if you need to talk, just let me know,” and he walked away.
Over the next few weeks Thomas continued to have the dream. It became more and more intense as the weeks went on. It was tearing him up inside. Eventually he gave in and told James what was going on. He described the dream and the effect it was having on him.
“Well, I don’t know what I can do for you,” explained James after hearing everything, “but there is a guy who might be able to help. He seems to know a lot about that sort of stuff.”
“Is he a psychiatrist?”
“Not exactly. He prefers to be called a counselor.”
This sounded strange to Thomas, because the only counselors he knew of were the ladies who told him what classes he needed to take. The dream was bothering him so much, though, that he consented to let James take him to see this counselor.
For some reason that Thomas couldn’t understand, James insisted that they go at night. James picked up Thomas as his house and they drove out into the countryside. They were driving for a good half hour before James turned off onto a little dirt road. They spent another five minutes on this road before reaching their destination. A little wood cabin surrounded by trees.
The two boys got out of the car and walked up to the front door. James knocked and a sweet little old lady answered it. “We’re here to see John,” said James. The woman recognized James and let them in.
Suddenly a large man came into the room. He was pleasant, but there was a sense of urgency on his face. “Is this the young man you told me doubt, James?”
“Yes, this is Thomas.”
“Thomas, could you describe your dream to me?”
Thomas gave a thorough description of the vision that had been haunting him for months. James and the man sat quietly until he had finished. Afterwards, the man started to ask Thomas some very strange questions.
“Could you describe in detail what the father looked like?”
Actually,” replied Thomas, “he looks like he could be your brother or something. The faces are a lot alike. He was smaller than you, though. He had a medium build, brown hair. I don’t know. What is it you want?”
“That’s enough for now,” said the man. “Could you tell me about your childhood?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I don’t remember anything from before I was adopted when I was five...”
“You were adopted?”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t remember anything from before you were adopted?”
“That’s right. But what does this have to do with my dream?”
“Possibly everything.”
“What do you mean?”
The man turned around to the elderly woman who was in the small kitchen and asked, “Does this sound like a transfer to you?”
“Yes, it does.”
“What do you mean?” blurted Thomas. “What’s a transfer?”
It is somewhat difficult to explain, Thomas. A psychological transfer is something the government does to orphans of parents who have received the death penalty. It wipes out all memory of the past life.”
Are you saying that my parents were criminals?”
“In the government’s eyes, yes. But I don’t believe your parents did anything wrong. They were probably Christians.”
“What are Christians?” inquired Thomas.
“They are a group of people who understand the truth. The government currently refers to them as the Sect.”
“If they understand the truth, why would the government give them the death penalty?”
“To be perfectly honest, Thomas, I just don’t know.”
“Are you one of these Christians?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know my parents?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
“What were they like?”
“I believe that the man in your dream was your father.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Thirteen years ago, one of our leaders was chased and captured. He was killed by the government and his four year-old son disappeared. I believe that son to be you.”
“But how do you know that the man in my dream was this leader of yours?”
“Because the man you described to me was my brother. My brother was the leader of the Christians in this area. He was what we used to call a pastor. You are his son, and that would make you my nephew, Thomas.”
Thomas’s mind started racing. He suddenly remembered everything the Gabors had told him about the Sect. He first instinct was to run, but somehow he couldn’t. He had to know more about these people. He had to know about his past.
“What is it you believe?” he asked. “Why is the government so afraid of you?”
“It is a very long story that goes back decades. We’ll have plenty of time in the future to talk about the details. I will tell you now that the main reason the government fears us is that we know the truth about the afterlife.”
“The what?”
“The afterlife; where you go for eternity after you die.”
“You don’t go anywhere after you die. You are just buried or cremated.”
“That is what happens to your earthly body, but your soul, the real you, spends eternity in either heaven or hell. Heaven is a place where you will spend eternity in the presence of God. It is a wonderful place, beyond what I can describe. Hell is the opposite, a place of eternal torment, separated from God.”
“Lies!” screamed Thomas. “It’s nothing but lies! My dad warned me about you people. There is no God. There’s no heaven or hell either. You’re not my uncle, and my real father could have never been one of you. You are telling me all these lies to trick me into becoming one of you. Well, it won’t work!!!” Thomas raced to the door and ran as far as he could out into the brisk night, not looking back. He had been in the darkness for so long that he could not recognize the light of the truth that would set him free.
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