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Encountering Darkness: Pete’s Life Changer (The Great Pursuit Book 1)
Pete stood outside of his home, on his front porch. He leaned on the white railing, which went on along the deck. With a drink of jack and coke in hand, Pete looked around at all he had made in Winfield. He saw the new school and the hospital in the background; he made those because he was able to get the job completed. Pete increased the income of the police force and fireman, and also bared down on getting teachers’ pay raised. He was admired by everybody and contributed to many charities, making certain that people would recognize his contributions.
Winfield, an insignificant town, sat in the center of no-man’s-land. The climate was mild with only a less-than-average, but expected, rainfall. In spite of this, Winfield was lush with vegetation. The only area of concern was the grass. The town’s grass was sporadically distributed throughout the town. Only one place had ample grass, but Pete sought to change that. He would destroy that grass and building. Although, even in the one area, the grass was much poorer than one would expect in this region.
Because of this, few people had high hopes for this town of about 15,000, but this was changing. Along the stretch of the road before him, Pete gazed at the small shops, which opened just a block down the street. A barber, salon, and a sushi establishment were its latest additions.
“It’s strange, I mean today is strange,” remarked Pete Pethaford out loud to himself.
Although Pete observed the grand splendor, he thought today was strange because no one was out. There weren’t even cars on the street. It looked as if everything in the town was desolate and nothing was going on. It moved him so much today that no one was out; he had to consider where everybody might be.
As he pondered, he recalled where everyone went to on this day and he pitied those people. Even as there was always an important message; something about hope and salvation…blah…blah…blah. He perceived they were only destroying themselves. The man in black had to give a message about End Times, and how the End Times were approaching just to get people to pay attention to him.
Pete chuckled at that conclusion and declared, once again to himself, People were continually ranting about End Times, but no one actually understands what they were saying. Pete addressed one of his white posts, and with a large grin, he gave it a kick.
After a few minutes with the encounter with the post, he went back inside his house to wait for the people to come back. He went through to the kitchen, but turned away after he noticed a foul stench.
I guess I will clean that up later, he said to himself.
His kitchen often smelled awful, so he often needed to clean it. He walked to his family room so he could watch some TV, but turned away from that room after he observed it was a mess. This was a little more unusual since it was common for the rest of Pete’s house to be in good order.
He left that room, and instead, went on to his bedroom to sleep. When he ascended the stairs, he noticed the sunlight appeared to be brighter, but he shrugged that off and continued to his room to rest. While he was in his room, he observed the window was open and it was cold, so he closed it. When he went to the window, he looked out and recognized the grass wasn’t green anymore. He thought it was strange, but still went to his bed to sleep. It was 12 p.m.
He slept for an extended period in peaceful bliss. When he woke up, he noticed the clock read 6 p.m. He thought it was odd, but the air seemed mustier and something didn’t seem right; something was unusual. He got up and glanced around his bedroom and everything seemed to be the same, but the air was different. If it was possible, the air smelled cleaner and fresher, but his room still carried a musty smell that obscured the clean air.
Must be roaches, Pete said softly to himself.
He decided, after some thought, to leave his room and go back down stairs. As he descended the steps, he noticed that the sun wasn’t out anymore, but rather the clouds veiled the sun. As he drew near to the bottom of the stairs, he recognized the horrid smell again, but this time it was so strong that it was burning his nose. He then sneezed once, sneezed once more, coughed, wheezed, and gagged his way down the rest of the flights of stairs, until he gave in, and let out things from his innards. After he reached the ground floor, he fell, and laid on the floor for minutes, which appeared to go on forever. Pete trembled as he coughed and threw up. He then passed out.
When he woke up, he couldn’t move, but rather laid there until he could will his body to move. He didn’t dare breathe through his nose, but instead his breathing came from his mouth in rapid pants. After several moments of blundering, he got up, and ran to the front entrance. It was his escape! When he got to the door, because he was so out of it, he took awhile to open it.
After unlocking the door, in rushed the cool fresh air, and he stumbled outside to his freedom. He fell down to the earth and let it engulf him. Then he felt himself fade away and let himself completely go.
When he woke up, the sun was blazing and the birds went on singing, well, somewhat. The birds took the several hours he was unconscious to receive free food. They continued pecking at him the entire time he was passed out, but he was too much into his dreams to care. The birds forgot what was provision and what was a soul, so he had small pieces picked out of his body.
When he inspected himself he discovered that the birds had cleaned him and except for the holes in his body he felt good.
He got up and glanced around, and he could hear a bee in the distance, as if he was in a dream.
“Dream!” Pete yelled. “Maybe this was just a dream! Of course! Nothing like this takes place in real life,” he reassured himself.
Pete, even in a dream, could understand he was sleeping. He had this happen ever since he was a child and researched what the phenomenon was called when he grew older. From what Pete could tell, through his investigation, he had lucid dreams and night terrors. Although, he could perceive he was sleeping, he found that he couldn’t shake himself up from one even if he desired to. Because of that recollection, Pete went back to his house, but stopped short at the door. He paused until he could be certain there would be nothing happening inside.
Unlike what was expected, he at once opened the door and drew a whiff of air when it was open. He coughed a little because of the musty air, but the other death smell was gone and he was glad.
Pete took a few more steps into the house and the musty odor was likewise gone. He used that instance to acknowledge himself for his courage, even if it was only a dream.
He wondered if the other smell dissipated in the kitchen, so he moved towards it. As he approached the kitchen, he noticed the scent was gone, but something just didn’t seem normal, so he turned around just before drawing near to the entrance of the kitchen.
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Tooth and Nail: Amy’s Adventure to Pete’s Realm (The Great Pursuit Book 2)
Good evening, this is WBRP. We have a special guest with us tonight. His name is Pete Pethaford; he is the mayor of a small town, Winfield. We will speak with the mayor on an update with his current plans in the campaign for the Principal Law Enforcement. But first, we will start at the beginning of his story.”
The woman in a red dress, which stretches down to her heels as required by the network asks, “So, Pete—is it all right if I call you that?”
Pete, in a well-dressed suit, is now on camera. He looks at the empty lens now focusing on him, smiles, and turns towards the woman. “Sure.”
“Well, few people know about you. What can you tell everyone about your earlier story? Who you
were and how you became the mayor of a small town?”
Without hesitation, Pete gives his response. “I grew up in the same town I currently am mayor of. So, in my opinion, it was easy to become mayor since I was widely known. Before being the mayor, I had aspirations to become a cop. Seemed like killing dangerous people would be a good thing and even fun.”
The interviewer blinks once and speaks in a calm voice. “I see, can you tell us about how you grew up? Who is your family? Did your parents have a desire for you to get into a political office?”
“My parents were murdered when I was young, but you would have known that if you did prep-work and looked into my history before bringing me in on live cable. Anyways, after they were murdered, when I was eight, I struggled for a long time with finding who I was. I went house to house, staying with different people in my city. It seemed like everyone in Winfield was my family growing up. They are the reason I wanted to become mayor. While being a mayor of a small town is not prestigious, it doesn’t pay well, and often I’ve needed to have other part-time jobs, it has been a great way to launch me to where I am now.” Pete turns back towards the camera and grins. The cameraman waves his hands and points him back towards the interviewer.
“So, you were an orphan?”
“Well duh. What else would you call someone without parents? Maybe I was just the kid everyone owned a part of?”
Maybe that’s why I own them now. Pete thinks.
“And you started your political career at a young age, right?”
Pete clenches his fist. He bites hard on his teeth. “Yes, I started at eighteen, although I think age is irrelevant.”
The woman retains her composure and brings up a topic she has the upper hand on. “What’s it like having been in the hospital? Some have stated you were going mad. What would you say to those people?”
“They are liars. I was never in a hospital. I’m just fine.”
“We have records of your stay. Would you prefer us to show them?” The woman pauses and stares at Pete. “What about this fantasy of your house being alive and there being a black floating figure in your kitchen. Would you say those things are rumors, too?”
Pete, making no outward appearance of shock, turns back towards the camera he loves. “Crazy people don’t make things happen. I have created state-of-the-art hospitals, schools, and increased job growth for my constituents. I love all of you. Not this woman to my right though. She’s kind of stupid.” Pete’s grin increases as he continues to speak. “Seriously, who is this gal? It’s almost like my ex-wife is interviewing me. Stupid. Stupid woman.” Pete pauses and turns his face towards the interviewer. His face is blank. “Wait, a minute. What did you say your name was, miss?”
The interview lady takes a deep breath, and she turns towards Pete with a slight smirk. “I’m your ex-wife and I—”
Pete cuts her off and adds, “That’s not what I asked. Be a good girl and answer the question.”
The woman states under her breath. “You don’t answer questions either,” but declares out loud, “Jen Pethaford.”
Pete turns back towards the camera and points two index fingers to the unseen audience.
“You got that right.” Pete’s smile is enormous, but he speaks in a controlled manner, “and if you want to hear more about why this network has allowed a successful mayor to interview with his deranged ex-wife, find out after these sponsor ads.” In one smooth motion, Pete pulls himself up from his chair and heads off camera.
The camera, still focusing on where Pete once was, and where Jen continues to be, cuts after a few seconds.
Someone yells out, “We’ve got three minutes.”
Pete, continuing past the set, takes one look at the executive of the TV station. The executive hurries up to him.
The executive has a quivering voice which rises in volume. “What was that, Pete? We had a deal; you can’t just walk off the set.” Pete backs up to a wall.
Pete ignores the argument, pulls out a .45 from his jacket, and fires a shot at the man in front of him.
The man collapses to the floor while falling backward.
Pete walks right over to him, points his gun at the head of the man gasping on the ground, and fires a second shot.
