The MST, Ch. 25

Samuel walked out of the airport, he hailed a cab and instructed the driver to take him to the nearest luxury car dealership. Once there he purchased a black sportscar and drove southeast out of the city. He took the route that would take him past the Kipling Neuroscience Research Facility. It was a large facility with an incredible amount of security for a research institute. He wondered what they were researching inside. He made a mental note to get his contacts working on the Facility first thing in the morning.

    Samuel took the interstate and found himself outside of Llanview in no time. The first thing he had to do was close the deal on the penthouse he had purchased. He found the realtors office, signed the closing papers, and received the key to the property. Samuel was curious about what his money had bought. He drove into downtown, heading for the address given to him by the realtor. The more he looked at the address the more familiar it seemed. He pulled into the parking garage and headed up to the penthouse floors. It couldn't be, but Samuel felt that definite sense of Deja Vu. As he stepped out of the elevator he headed straight for a very familiar door. Was it the right one? He checked the address, there it was, Penthouse # 2, he put the key in the lock and walked in.

For a moment time stopped, a memory assailed him and he again saw Blair on the floor as he walked into the living room. Then the scene in his head changed and he saw Dee standing in front of him vulnerable and crying in her red negligee. God!  He remembered what had happened next. He, or rather Pete, had thrown Dee out. It had been snowing that night. Samuel wandered around, the furniture from that time still was there. He saw himself, sleeping fitfully on the couch and suddenly waking up and accidentally flinging Dee to the floor. That had been the night Dee had stayed with him and watched over him as he slept. Samuel neared the stairs and saw Blair looking out the windows, waiting for a surprise that Todd had promised her. He saw her face light up as Fireworks exploded in the night sky. He set his luggage down and walked to the window looking at a building across the way. There it was. The Manning building. "I'm home. Look out Llanview, we're here to stay."

Samuel came out of his daydreams, there was work to be done. He walked over to the desk and blew some of the dust away. He needed to get a cleaning crew and he needed some food. He reached for the phone and realized he still didn't have any service. It was probably better if he stuck with throwaway cells for the time being. Well, he better find a grocer, and he needed to locate a frame shop. Samuel wanted to get the Girls on the wall as quickly as possible. This penthouse was familiar but it wouldn't be home for him until the Girls were where he could see and talk to them. He also better check with the building manager and find out if his supplies had arrived yet. Samuel needed the smell of paint and canvas surrounding him.

It was a nice day, as Samuel stepped out of the elevator. He decided to take a walk, figuring to pick up some food while he was out. He needed to get familiar with the area, as his memory still had plenty of holes that needed filling. Samuel had walked for over an hour and found himself walking into an area with a statue of an Angel in the square. He was getting hungry and saw a cafe called the Buenas Dias Cafe and then noticed a grocer not much farther down the street. I should probably stay out of gathering places like restaurants for a while. Now isn't the time to run into someone who might have known Todd. He walked to the grocers and purchased some staples like bread, fruit, and cheese and walked back toward his penthouse. He stopped at a Liquor store and picked up a couple of bottles of wine too. With his arms full he flagged down a cab and rode back to the penthouse. He got to his new home and once inside put the food and wine away. He had found out his supplies had been delivered while he was out.

After putting his food away Samuel opened the one box he had labeled cleaning supplies. Although that basically applied to his paint cleaning supplies he knew he had some clean rags that he could use to get the dust off most of the furniture. Samuel went to work making the living room more usable for him. After some rearranging Samuel was satisfied with the setup. He had set up his easels for the time being close to the windows. He hadn't check out the upstairs rooms yet, one of them might make an ideal studio, if not then where the easels sat would work. Samuel hadn't passed a frame shop on his walk so he pulled out the telephone book and looked a few of them up. He found one out close to the cemetery. He would drive over and see what they had.

While he had the phone book opened, Samuel looked up the only two names he knew,. Blair Cramer and Todd Manning. Hmmm, Blair lived in one of the fancier neighborhoods, that was close to some estates. One of the estates was called Llanfair, that name rang a bell as he remembered something about Todd hiding out on the Llanfair estate. He found Todd Manning had a home in another exclusive area of town. So tomorrow he would look into those households, but he wasn't sure if he should let Blair know he was in town yet. Better to keep her in the dark until he figured out what was really happening here.

Samuel opened his luggage and pulled out the three canisters containing his portraits. He unrolled them to make sure they were undamaged and laid them side by side on the couch. "Welcome to our new home my dear ones. I have to go out but I should be home shortly," then he left for the frame shop. When he pulled into the parking lot of the frame shop he noted it was across the street from the entrance to the cemetery. His eyes were drawn to the gates. The place seemed to be drawing him in. He shook his head and went into the shop after a bit of searching he found the frames he needed to make the girls beautiful and whole. He purchased them and exited with them on his arm.

As he got to his car, he felt the pull of the cemetery. Something was telling him he should go in. Samuel put the frames in his car and started to walk across the street. For some unknown reason, he felt there were answers waiting for him in there. He was halfway across when a horn blared in his ear. Careful, Samuel, you almost became a permanent resident. A chill rippled through his body. Samuel turned and returned to his car.

Todd was petrified as he saw where Samuel was headed. “ No! Don't Go There!” He tried shouting at Samuel, but no words were coming out, what was the matter with him? He felt like he was going to pass out.  That was it, something happened in the cemetery. Todd managed to get out one word before collapsing. "Help." Pete was next to him and caught him as he toppled.

"Ms. Perkins something's happened," said Pete.

Ms. Perkins rushed to the bed where Pete had just laid down Todd. "What happened! Pete do you know what made him collapse?"

"How the hell, should I know, I was working on the wall like all of you," replied Pete. " I heard his cry and he dropped into my arms. That's when I called you."

Ms. Perkins looked out the windows trying to see where Samuel was. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. Samuel was driving back to town. He wasn't acting like anything was wrong. His heart was beating strong. Still, something Samuel did cause a relapse in Todd. She needed to find a way to communicate with Samuel. Of course! She could use the mirror in the car, but they needed to get Samuel to pull over. "Ok boys, we need to get Samuel to stop and get off the road. I have to talk to him. All together now. Everybody yell, Samuel Stop, on the count of three. One, Two, Three. SAMUEL STOP!"

Samuel jerked as the words popped into his head. They wanted him to stop. But why were they yelling, and how come Todd wasn't talking to him? Samuel saw a parking lot in front of him and pulled in. He stopped the car. Now what? He thought, "Todd what do you want?" No answer. Something was wrong, he tried to recall what he had done when he first heard the voices. Oh yes, he remembered the mirror. Well, it’s worth a shot. Samuel flipped down his visor and opened the mirror "What happened? Where's Todd?... This isn't going to work, I'm crazy."

     "You’re not crazy, Samuel. This is the only way we can communicate when Todd is out," said Ms.Perkins. "Something made Todd collapse, what have you been doing recently."

"What do you mean Todd collapsed? How long ago?" asked Samuel.

"It just happened, that's why I need to know the last few things you did. Something you did, caused this and whatever it is Todd has retreated. I hope only temporarily but we need to know the cause, so when he faces it again he does it with us supporting him. So tell me where have you been?" pleaded Ms.Perkins.

"I just came from the frame shop where I picked up some frames," said Samuel.

"Did you see anyone or talk to anyone?" asked Ms. Perkins.

" Other than the shop owner, I saw no one. I left the shop and put the frames in my trunk. I didn't speak to anyone else. Of course, I almost got run over." answered Samuel. "I had been on my way across to the cemetery. Right after I almost got hit, I remember thinking that I almost became a permanent member. It was weird, a sudden chill ripped through my whole body right then, do you think that is when Todd collapsed."

"Yes, I'm certain of it. Something about the place terrifies him and he's not strong enough to face it yet. For now, you must avoid it. I believe that it’s the key to the memory that is buried so deep right now. He's stirring I think he's coming back. Remember Samuel this particular memory is yours to protect until he's ready for it. I think you'll know when it's time to return to the cemetery. For now, it's too soon. Keep up the good work we're close to freeing all the rest of your memories. Goodbye for now,"

Just like that he was alone in the car again, Samuel took in her words. Something had happened in that cemetery. Something far worse than all the horrific memories he had encountered so far. Once again the cold raced through his body. Ms. Perkins was right, it wasn't time. Todd wasn't the only one who wanted to avoid that memory, Samuel wasn't ready to face it either. Samuel arrived back at the garage and parked his car. He gathered the frames and went up to the penthouse. After some dinner of bread, cheese, and wine, he got to work mounting and framing the Girls.  Soon he had them hung on the wall above the fireplace. With the Girls in place, Samuel headed over to the desk and got out a piece of paper. He started making a list of things to do in the next couple of days.

Samuel knew he had to keep a low profile until Todd was ready to reappear, but he wanted to catch a glimpse of Vicki and Tea. He wanted to see the two women who had helped him all these years. It was going to be tricky but he knew there had to be a way. One thing he could do was drive around and find out where everybody lived. Samuel grabbed his coat and headed out for an evening drive. It would be fun the see places that were starting to pop up in his memory although he was sure some of those places might have bad memories too.

Samuel had several memories of the docks so he decided to head there first. He parked his car and took a slow walk towards the end. He paused at several locations, as he came upon them. He recalled sitting on the edge at one point and talking to Marty, he felt a twinge of pain around his heart when he realized the conversation had been about the loss of his child with Blair, with that memory a little too painful, he moved on to a portion in which he remembered standing over Delgado, his Dee, holding her necklace and then carefully putting it back around her neck. For one moment they had been so close but he had managed to mess even that up.

Samuel stared out over the water and thought about how messed up his and Todd's life had always been. For eight years he had been living in shadows but Todd, he had been living in hell most of his life and had only had glimpses of warmth and love brighten his existence. Samuel felt deeply for Todd and hoped with all his heart that one day Todd might be free from his personal hell.

****

Todd laid there, he couldn't make himself open his eyes, something inside of him was terrified. He felt around and breathed a sigh of relief he was on the bed. Slowly he opened his eyes, he faced the windows and saw that Samuel was standing on the docks. He was cold and found a blanket suddenly next to him. He wrapped it around him and sat up shakily. "Ms. Perkins, what happened?" She was there next to him. Then she sat down and joined him on the bed.

"You collapsed. At first, we didn't know why but I was able to have a talk with Samuel. I think we might now have some idea what brought you here eight years ago. Todd, I don't think you're ready to face it yet." answered Ms. Perkins.

"Maybe I'm not ready to face it but I need to know as much as you can tell me. The last thing I remember is watching Samuel go into a frame shop. What happened afterward?" asked Todd.

"Brace yourself then, Samuel came out of the Frame shop and after stowing the frames Samuel started to cross the street. He said he felt drawn to the place across the way. Before he made it across though he almost got run over so he changed his mind and headed home." said Ms. Perkins.

"That's it, he almost got run over. That doesn't make any sense, You're leaving something out. Just where was Samuel headed to?" Todd looked at Ms. Perkins directly into her eyes and said grimly. "Tell me."

"Very well, Samuel was headed into the Cemetery." as she told him, she kept a close eye on his reactions.

"The Cemetery." Todd gripped the edges of the blanket and drew it around him tighter. He felt so cold. He was shivering. Todd held on to the blanket for dear life and Ms.Perkins held on to Todd. He didn't collapse again, but he couldn't stop shaking. Slowly the shaking subsided and Todd turned to Ms. Perkins and held on to her as if his life depended on her. He whispered in her ear. "That's it, I know it. Something in there waits for me. It's been waiting for a long time. I don't think I'm strong enough to face it. I don't think I'm ever going to be strong enough." Even as he said those words, Todd remembered saying something similar to his sister Vicki. He was on that ledge again. Only this time he was trying desperately to hold on. The abyss below was trying to pull him in and it was taking everything he had to not let go.

Like his sister many years before, Ms. Perkins merely held him and said. "You are strong Todd, you've lived a horrible strife-filled life but there is a strength in you that has always kept you going. It was that strength that created us to help you. There is also innate goodness in you that has enabled you to have the love of others even though you feel unworthy. You must believe now that somebody out there does love you. That love is yours for the taking don't let the darkness win."

Todd withdrew from her arms and sat up straighter. "You're right, I can do this. I lived through bullets and knife wounds, injuries that would have killed a normal man. But I'm not normal, I'm Todd Manning. I've beaten Death and I can beat this Abyss. I always have been and I always will be Todd Manning."