3: Life and Its Surprises
Life reverted back to normal for Robert, he had to go see his doctor a few times about his little episode, but after a year of monitoring with no further inclinations, they dropped it all together. Robert continued to grow in his desire to become an FBI agent, enough that his parents finally broke down two years later and took him back to SODM, which went much better. Robert was forced to go down the hallway again, with his mom this time. He still found himself trying to picture things from Frennur’s point of view, which scared and fascinated him at the same time, but he did not faint this time (though he did get cold and clammy). Ryan made Robert stick his head in the tree trunk, and Robert swore he could hear Trent muttering about killing someone, partly to annoy Ryan who heard nothing, but mostly because he did hear something. After two more visits Mr. and Mrs. Drake finally gave up on SODM. The county prison fared worse; it showed Robert some real examples that further sparked his career aspirations. The last two visits to SODM Robert barely spent any time in the museum, mainly because he knew everything and somewhat because he still found it creepy and didn’t wish to risk fainting again. Instead, he and Ryan found a small clearing in the woods not far from the building where the guards obviously made their camp fires. They found some interesting trinkets buried there such as keys and even a long forgotten badge. After the last of the visits the Drakes stopped trying to persuade Robert anymore, though they hoped his college years might change his mind.
The years leading to college held much hope as Robert soon became known as the quiet guy who seemed to know more than he let on (which in fact he did). He had mental notes on many of the students and even evaded a few plots against him as he saw them coming from a long way off. In his free time he would study law books and get made fun of by Ryan, at least until he would put the books down and enter into a friendly game of paintball. By his high school graduation Robert already has sixty nine college credits and soon found himself at Harvard, blowing through homework and tests. Three years later he found himself a graduate with a law degree. His parents, especially his dad, had one last hope of him taking a different job, maybe as a lawyer, but they were disappointed. Having made sure he took every physical exercise class he could and working as a security guard on campus, he didn’t find many problems finding his way into the FBI. After his parents had finally accepted this fact, they found something more worrisome. Robert had already lessoned his attendance to church during college, now he quit going altogether, except on occasion to make sure nothing new had come out. He claimed, when cornered, that he still believed in God and knew all he needed, and he didn’t need anymore at the moment to continue his career.
Meanwhile Ryan, Robert’s older brother had graduated from college with an engineering degree, was married, and already had one child. Of course he attended church, the same as their parents, and seemed to be the favored child. Robert and Ryan still talked, Ryan seemed to be the only one who Robert could talk to without explaining why he was living his life the way he was. It wasn’t as if he was going out partying every night or anything, he didn’t even have a girlfriend (seems that girls are hard to come by when you don’t give them any attention). He was busy doing his job and enjoying it. Whenever Ryan caught Robert mentioning his accomplishments, at least what was allowed, he made sure to congratulate him and warn him not to faint while on duty, it might hurt his ego. Despite the jab, he always made sure to wish Robert well and though he didn’t state it, often prayed that Robert would find his way back to church, and find a wife.
In the FBI Robert started low but soon found he was helping agents with analysis and even some field work (nothing too exiting though). He soon became the favorite to help sort through clues and figure out next moves. He had helped capture four at large bank robbers, one man that was attempting to kill all his ex-wives, and solved a big case trying to track down check fraud. After that case he was promoted to a field agent where he continued his success. Here he found himself working under Guy Branding, a man who had weathered the agency for many years, and after not being able to pass his last physical, was promoted to a desk job managing other agents. Robert respected him highly and thought of him as a second father. Guy was a well set man of six feet who maintained a calm demeanor most of the time, but could easily show his tough side when needed. Those were the times you saw the agent in him. He missed little and could break a man just by staring at him. He liked Robert and made sure he got the highest profile cases and allowed him free access to other information as Robert still frequently assisted others when they hit a brick wall. It was this access to the case files that revived old memories, and stirred a familiar feeling, one that Robert hadn’t completely understood at the time.
From Darkness Page 3
