He heard so many stories of the recent adventures of the Order of the Black Sun that were going on. The ones that he knew he should have been a part of—the ones with Purdue and Nina—were the hardest to hear secondhand. He knew he should have been there with them at the time, helping them and working with them. He wanted to go with them but was rejected both times, something that he never expected to happen. Their reasoning was they wanted to focus on building bonds with the newer members. He understood that and he accepted it but he had more experience than any of those people; his experience was worth more than meeting new people, he thought.
From the sounds of it, he could have been a big help if they let him go on some of their more recent expeditions. Purdue had led a mission to find the tomb of Genghis Khan that led them all over Asia but almost got them killed when they were attacked by a new enemy. Nina led her first expedition as leader to try and find the sword of Julius Caesar. Once again, it had been a difficult task that almost killed her. Sam would have been furious if either of them had been hurt when he wasn't allowed to be there.
It was a hard thing to get used to and he wasn't sure if it was just a temporary situation or if this was going to be the new status quo for his place in the Order of the Black Sun. He certainly hoped not. While the others had gone on these dangerous and exciting adventures, Sam spent most of his time around the Black Sun compound, just stewing in his own frustration. There were some days when he just wanted to march up to Purdue and tell him that he was quitting; that this drastic change they made to their lives wasn't working for him. But he held on to the hope that things would get better. He had to believe that at some point, his life would get back to some normalcy; that he, Nina, and Purdue would reunite and work together like they used to despite now being under the moniker of their former enemies.
It used to just be the three of them, and being a part of their trio had been something that meant so much to Sam. The bonds they had forged and the things they had managed to accomplish together were things that managed to pull Sam out of some of his darkest moments. The world just seemed so much less bleak when they were working together.
If only things could bring them together again, but Sam wasn't going to hold his breath. Everything was changing so quickly, it was never clear what things would be able to survive the shifts in life that were so great.
Sam walked through the Black Sun compound. He wasn't very close with the new faces that were around him. He knew they came from all parts of the world and the majority of them were more than qualified to be part of this reworked Order of the Black Sun since they were chosen specifically by Purdue. They were probably fine to work with but to Sam, they were all just strangers. They all seemed to sense his displeasure of the circumstances so kept their distance from him. There were times when Sam felt like some grouchy old uncle that was refusing to adapt to the new circumstances. Maybe that was partially true, he wasn't sure, but he knew that he felt quite a bit of resentment toward all of these people.
“You're Sam Cleave, right?” a young man asked from his left.
Sam stopped but had trouble hiding his irritation at the interruption. He had places to be and didn't really want to waste time making small talk with some fresh-faced kid who didn't know anything about what they had gone through to make this new order even possible.
“You know Mr. Purdue really well right? Everyone says you go way back.”
“We do go way back,” Sam said disinterestedly. “Way further back than most of the other people here. Why? How far back do you go with him?”
“We've only ever exchanged a few passing sentences so far...”
“My point exactly,” Sam said. “I'm actually on my way to go talk to him right now...so if you don't mind...”
Sam stepped away but the young man asked him to wait. He looked like he couldn't have been older than twenty-five years old, probably fresh out of some fancy college. Sam couldn't imagine what potential Purdue saw in this boy but there had to be something of value...because in those brief moments, Sam couldn't see anything that warranted needing this kid.
The young man looked at Sam with wide eyes. “You're practically one of the founders of this place?”
“The founders? No? We didn't find anything,” Sam explained honestly. “The Order of the Black Sun was founded a long time ago and it was a terrible, terrible thing...maybe it still is...the point is, we didn't build the Order up. The Order was already here, it was just run by murderous psychopaths. Purdue took it and made it something better...at least, he hopes so. Believe me, I'm no founder of anything here. If we had done things my way, we would have let the Order of the Black Sun fall apart and rot. That's what I wanted. Purdue had other plans...”
Sam turned away and started walking back down the hall. He didn't know what effect his words had on the kid but he was glad to at least inform someone that this whole situation wasn't exactly normal and it wasn't all fun and games. That young man was proof that the new Order of the Black Sun wasn't at all aware of all of the trials that he, Nina, and Purdue had gone through.
Hopefully, a talk with someone he actually knew would make him feel a bit better and not like he was living with a bunch of people he didn't know.
2
THE FLOOD'S MESSAGE
Sam had known David Purdue for a long time. They had gone on countless adventures together over the years. It used to annoy him that Purdue seemed so unfazed by all of the dangers that they faced. He had always been so carefree, but it made sense given that Purdue had been a billionaire. What did a billionaire have to worry about when they were richer than God? Nothing usually seemed to ever be able to get to Purdue—up until recently.
Purdue was nearly completely destroyed by the leader of the Order of the Black Sun at the time, Julian Corvus. He lost his home, all of his money, and all of the relics that he, Sam, and Dr. Nina Gould had collected over all of their expeditions together. Purdue fought back and was mostly able to recover but he had never been quite the same. That carefree nature was beaten out of him—or maybe he finally just grew up a bit and got a taste of reality, Sam wasn't sure.
Purdue's decision to take over the organization that had plagued them for so long was a good tactical decision that seemed to be paying off. The Order of the Black Sun members were spread across the globe on various expeditions, finding priceless artifacts and keeping them out of the wrong hands.
Still, the responsibility of being the new leader of the order seemed to be taking a toll on Purdue. He was usually huddled away in his quarters, surrounded by papers and books. He was researching something—something big apparently—but he wasn't sharing the details with anyone; or at least he wasn't sharing them with Sam.
It was hard seeing Purdue look so utterly fatigued, like he was barely even eating or sleeping. He was a far cry from the thrill-seeker that he used to be. It looked like it would take all of his current energy to just leave his room for a few hours.
The relationship between the two men had been a bit of a rocky road. There were times when they were practically best friends and then there were times when Purdue felt like a complete stranger to Sam. There were plenty of times when they butted heads and didn't get along but there were also just as many times when they worked extremely well together. That was part of what made them work. They had been through it all together: the good, the bad, and everything that could possibly happen in between.
Purdue was exactly where Sam expected him to be—sitting on the floor surrounded by a field of paperwork.
“You kind of look like hell,” Sam said bluntly.
Purdue gave a halfhearted chuckle and shrugged where he sat. “Aye, I've been getting that a lot lately. I feel like I've been right in the middle of Hell for a little while now. And I'll tell you one thing, it's too damn hot down here in the fiery pits.”
He wasn't making much sense but Sam nodded anyway, slowly pacing the room and looking over all of the papers that were strewn about. Purdue sat at the epicenter o
f the mess, looking like he hadn't moved from that spot in days. Maybe he hadn't, Sam couldn't be sure anymore.
Sam couldn't help himself. He had to know what all of this was about. “If you don't mind me asking, Purdue, are you doing okay? What the hell is all of this even about?”
“What it looks like,” Purdue said, like all of this was completely normal. “It is research, of course.”
“I've done plenty of research myself...and I've seen you do plenty yourself. This is much more than that. This is...” He wanted to say insanity, madness, or ridiculous, but he chose a much less hostile word. “...excessive.”
Purdue laughed but even his laughs seemed tired. “Excessiveness is unfortunately what this requires. Anything less than that and I won't learn a bloody thing from any of this. It will just continue to be nearly invisible.”
“What will?”
Purdue's face grew gray. “This new enemy we might be up against.”
Sam had heard whispers about that around the compound. Nina mentioned something about some mysterious man trying to kill Purdue's team back when they were searching for Genghis Khan's tomb. Sam hadn't been invited on that expedition, though, so there was no way for him to gauge just how serious of a threat this new enemy was. He wasn't too bitter about being left behind anymore but it would have been nice to be there, if only to have seen this apparent threat with his own eyes.
“Have you learned anything about them yet?” Sam asked. “Please tell me your sleep deprivation is paying off for you.”
Purdue looked somewhat defeated. “I have learned very little so far. Not much more than what I was told initially. It's some sort of shadow organization that has a history with the Order. There is someone that is referred to as the Old Lady and Julian knows about them but refuses to tell me more about them unless I let him out of his cage.”
Sam didn't miss Julian Corvus. The former Black Sun leader nearly ruined all of their lives. He was probably one of the most dangerous people Sam had ever met. Worst of all, he was immortal now thanks to being stabbed by the Spear of Destiny during an attack that was meant to kill him. Purdue now kept the immortal Julian in a reinforced display case down in the Order's vaults. It served as his cell, trapped with the rest of the world's oddities around him but out of his reach. Maybe some people would consider it a cruel punishment but Sam wasn't one of them. He had seen how deadly Julian was and agreed with Purdue that he should be locked down there. Nothing was too cruel of a punishment for a monster like him.
“You're not going to agree to that, right?” Sam asked. “You're not going to let him out...are you?”
“Of course not,” Purdue said, his eyes wide with surprise. He looked shocked to even be asked that question. “How daft do you think I am? After what Julian did to me...to all of us...he's staying right where is. I can promise you that.”
That was comforting but why did Sam still feel a little unsure? It might have been because of how desperate Purdue looked; he was desperate to learn more about this old woman and her group but what happened when he filed through all of his papers and came up empty? Would he go to another source like Julian if there were no other options left? Maybe...only time would tell.
“I went to the Order's archives and pulled up all of this. For a secret society, the Order of the Black Sun kept up on all of their record keeping...but so far I haven't seen a single mention of the Old Lady or any other group that the Order knew of. There were no associates that stood out and no rival factions to speak of. There was nothing to go off of...not a single scrap of helpful information that we could use.”
Purdue swore under his breath, looking extremely frustrated with himself.
“You want to know the worst part?”
Sam wasn't sure that he did, but nodded anyway. It was just nice that Purdue was confiding in him again. It had been so long since they had gone over something like this together, digging through any facts they could find to discover a greater truth.
“When I tried asking Julian about it...the way he talked about it...he made it sound like these people are above the Order. It was like the Black Sun had to answer to them.”
Sam folded his arms. That was worrisome but it was hard to believe that it could really be the case. “We would have known about that. With the amount of times we fought the Black Sun, don't you think someone would have said something? Especially once you became the leader...”
“It's not like there was an instruction manual or anything.”
“That would have been nice.”
“Aye, real nice,” Purdue said. “Instead, I walked into this with very little insight into the secrets the Order had. That might have been a mistake...since now I'm completely blind to whatever this actually is…”
The whole room shook. The rumble almost knocked Sam off his feet and crashing into the field of paperwork on the floor. He regained his balance and waited for the quaking to settle. It did after a few moments.
“Earthquake...” Sam said.
There was the sound of metal groaning and grinding around them. A large drop of water came down on Sam's brow. He looked up and another droplet plummeted onto his nose. More drops of water started falling, soaking through the ceiling. Purdue was pelted by a few more drops. Suddenly, water was raining down on them like they were right beneath a storm cloud. It was a torrential downpour in the room.
Purdue scrambled to pick up all of the papers around him, trying desperately to salvage whatever he could from being drenched. Sam moved to help him as pipes in the walls burst and jet streams of water exploded all around them. Sam had to pull Purdue from trying to save anymore documents and nearly dragged him out of the room. The hallway outside wasn't much better. Pipes all around them were shooting water out violently.
“What the hell is going on!?” Sam shouted over the sound of rushing water.
Puddles already started to form and were building up around their shoes. Purdue shook his head, looking extremely agitated. He still clung to the sopping papers he had managed to pick up—not that it mattered since water was spraying everywhere and those papers were practically disintegrating in his grip.
Other members of the Order of the Black Sun were in the halls, yelling to one another. Pipes all over the facility had burst, spilling water throughout the compound. The strangest part was how erratic the streams of water were; they bent and twisted around through the air like the limbs of a flailing animal. They were like tentacles, desperately trying to reach out. None of it seemed to make sense logically, but the puddles were defying gravity and physics. It was like the water had a mind all of its own.
August Williams was soaked from head to toe, and that was an impressive feat considering the size of that man. He pushed through water that was blasting him to get to Purdue and Sam.
“Purdue!”
“What is it?” Purdue asked, looking around with confusion.
“This all started in the deep vault!” August yelled, wiping water off his face. “That's where it is coming from!”
Sam and Purdue looked to one another with confusion before following August at a brisk pace toward the vault room. Their steps splashed loudly beneath them as they ran to the apparent source of this catastrophe.
August called back to them as he moved down the corridor. “I was dropping off a diamond I found in India, for Elijah to store away, when everything started to go crazy. Water just came out of everywhere.”
“The diamond you brought here is doing this?” Sam asked. “Where did you get it from? Because it seems like you brought a bomb into our headquarters.”
August looked a bit embarrassed but shook his head. “It wasn't the diamond. This wasn't me. This was something else. It started inside the deep vault itself!”
Sam had never been a fan of the deep vault, a pit in the floor of the vault room where the world's rarest items were kept safe from outside forces. It just felt too locked away, like they were forgetting about the relics rather than protecting them. But he didn't blame Pu
rdue for wanting the collection to be extra secure—not after what Purdue had been through with his own private collection. The Order of the Black Sun had already built and developed the deep vault so they might as well use it.
The massive door leading to the vault room was closed. August put his hand on the scanning pad in the hall and the huge metal doors slowly opened, revealing chaos inside of the vault room.
Elijah Dane, the Black Sun's curator, was practically wresting with the huge amounts of water that rushed around him, ensnaring him with its tendrils. The walls of the room had numerous holes punched through them from the pipe water that had forced its way out. Water was everywhere, but the majority of it was swirling around near the deep vault pit in the floor.
Elijah saw them through the water in the air and yelled across the room to them. “It's that pearl, Purdue. That pearl!”
The curator pointed to a pearl that was on the floor in the middle of the room. It was a mixture of pure white with blue swirls running across its smooth surface. It was the pearl that Purdue found at the bottom of the ocean...the one that Sam knew could control water. Someone just had to be holding the pearl, and they could bend even the sea to their whim with just a thought.
Purdue tried to go pick up the pearl but was slapped across the room by a funnel of water before he could get to it. August tried as well, probably hoping his larger size would give him a better chance, but it just helped him take a few extra hits from the water blasts before being knocked aside too.
Order of the Black Sun Box Set 11 Page 37
