The End of Slavery

by Craig Maciolek

Chapter Eight

  The house was dark and quiet, everyone was asleep, and Michael was dreaming.

  -----

  Michael was sitting peacefully in a house that was unfamiliar to him, but a house he knew to be his own. He was all alone and through the window he could see the ocean nearby. The waters were still and quiet, and he somehow knew that it was dusk, with the sun just over the horizon – but he also knew that it was always dusk.

  The dream rolled along like a movie, with Michael watching passively his own roll in the film. His awareness shifted to the people who just seemed to appear behind him. It was the two agents sleeping peacefully on the floor. Then he was aware of a rising feeling that he needed to protect them. Michael went to the window and scanned the horizon for anything that could be considered a threat. Even though he could not see anything, the feeling still continued to get stronger. Water started to rise within the house. He noticed that as the feeling grew stronger, the more water appeared in his house. Eventually the water from his house began to flow out the door and into the ocean, making the ocean a little less still and calm. This continued for a little while and Michael watched as more water from his house entered the ocean, slowly stirring up the ocean until it was very rough. Then, off in the far distance, Michael caught a line of darkness building on the horizon. He watched as it slowly got thicker. By the time he realized that it was a tidal wave it seemed like everything was moving too fast and there was nothing he could do. Michael turned to shout at the sleeping agents but he knew they could not hear him and there was nothing he could do to wake them up. The wave became bigger and bigger and seemed to completely surround them, even though the ocean was only on one side of them.

  In the dream, Michael's conscious mind was aware of the repressive feeling that he would get when dealing with people who wanted to control and confine him; like he felt with Dr. Turnable. He fought against it with ever increasing force. Consciously, he never wanted to go to that place, not even in his dreams. He lost control and panic set in as the huge tidal wave began to crest one hundred feet above his house. He screamed “No!” and threw up his hands to brace against the wave. To his surprise the wave stopped in its place. With the fear just behind him, Michael reached out with his feelings and realized that he could feel all the little details of the ocean. Somehow he knew that the water from his house, mixing with the ocean water, let him sense it. Then he realized that he stopped the wave by controlling the water from his house that was mixed into the ocean. A few moments later he confidently pointed in a direction and the water violently parted into a deep water canyon. The agents woke up to the commotion. At first Michael thought it was the sound of the wave and water exploding that woke them up, but he just knew that it wasn't. They heard him in his effort to stop the wave. Then, in that moment, they all knew that to be safe they had to leave the house and run through the wave along the valley of water that Michael created. The agents ran past Micheal and into the valley. Michael was about to follow, standing on the beach, but something made him take one last look behind him. What he saw made him freeze in his place. There were people as far as he could see. All of whom were in various stages of waking up from a deep peaceful sleep. For a brief second Michael understood, but then he woke up.

  -----

  Michael woke with sharp anger and intent in his heart. He knew that they were not his own. It was the same aggressive energy that he felt before the last two attacks. He almost panicked as he quickly got dressed. He came out of his room and quickly and quietly opened Agent Spencer's bedroom door and made his way to her bed. He gently but firmly woke her up, making it clear that she should be quiet. He said, “trouble is approaching” and walked out of the room. Michael went to the couch where Agent Gonzales was asleep and decided to be much more gentle in waking him up. Agent Gonzales slowly came to and looked at Michael with confusion. Michael responded to his look by saying, “trouble is approaching.” Agent Gonzales started to ask what he was talking about, but remembered who he was dealing with. He grabbed his cellphone and examined it. Whispered, “Damn! No bars. They must be blocking the signal.” Then quickly got up and put his shoes on, happy to have been too lazy to get undress before falling asleep. Moments later he was fully armed and making his way towards the front window.

  Agents Spencer appeared with her weapon drawn at the end of the hallway that led to the bedrooms just as Agent Gonzales reached for the window shade. A quick thought went through her mind about the tiny amount of light spilling out from the kitchen by the little night light that was left on, but it was too late. Agent Gonzales pulled the shade to the side a little and leaned to look out. A few tense moments passed, and just as Agent Gonzales started to pull his head back pieces of window exploded inward as the bullet missed his head by millimeters and buried itself into the wall on the other side of the room.

  Seconds passed like hours. Michael, seemingly reading Agent Spencer's mind, ran and dove onto the floor in the hallway behind her. She simply squatted down where she was, looking to see if her partner was alright and aware of what was about to happen. He was. Agent Gonzales was on the floor crawling towards the duffel of his that carried his arsenal. Only a few long seconds passed, just enough for whoever was outside to use their radios. Then all at once, the walls and windows erupted with bullet holes from all directions.

  Agent Gonzales was at his duffel, getting his assault rifle ready. He knew that they were going to fire until they were empty and had to reload. Then, he would only have a few seconds to fire back, three he figured, but he might stretch it out to four. He also knew that this was just a delay tactic to keep them from entering the house too soon, and that it would not work all that long. Agent Gonzales knew that only the initial excitement of a gun fight would make soldiers exhaust their ammo and reload at the same time. The further they got into this fight, the number of bullets coming at them would decrease, but the consistency would increase as they figured out to stagger their firing. After getting his rifle ready he looked up towards the hallway and saw his partner looking at him. They made eye contact and he knew she was on the same page. He glanced at his gun and nodded towards the front window, then looked at her gun and nodded to the back. She nodded her understanding just as the shooting stopped.

  Both agents jumped up with their guns firing. Agent Spencer stood against the wall and emptied her pistol out through the hole where the sliding glass doors used to be. Agent Gonzales jumped up from behind the couch and fired his assault rifle out the front window, counting to himself. Just before he got to “four one thousand” he stopped firing and dropped to the floor. He was a little late as a bullet went through the meat of his shoulder on his way to the floor. Agent Spencer, having a smaller clip in her gun, was already back in her crouch by that time. They reloaded as they waited for the next break.

  This back and forth went on for a minutes or two, but as they expected, the times where it was safer for them to fire back were getting smaller and less frequent. Agent Spencer was down to her last clip and she saw that Agent Gonzales was bleeding and becoming distressed. Michael was still on the floor behind her, curled up in the fetal position and rocking a little. While she sat, waiting for a break to return fire, Michael stopped rocking and his attention snapped up the hallway towards the bedrooms. She knew immediately what he was telling her, it was inevitable. As she sat thinking about what to do she saw her partner lying on his back, holding his rifle across his chest, waiting for a break. She saw the look on his face. It was clear that they were taking no survivors and there was no way out. A wave of despair washed over her and at that moment Michael screamed “No!”

  -----

  Unlike the Agents, Michael knew immediately how many men were approaching and what their intent was. Ever since he woke up he felt them getting closer, from all directions. And when the bullets started to fly he laid on the ground fighting off the fear and trying to make sense of all the things going through his head. It seemed like everything was trying to go through a
t once.

  He thought of the “untouchables”, the people he would watch as they seemed to repel all the negative efforts to bring them down. He thought of how most people, without being conscious of what they were doing, would make little reactions to each others emotional state. He thought of how his mother and landlady would always show up when he needed them, and how his friends, on the buses and at the diner, once they let go of their prejudices, would respond to Michael's thoughts, even though he did not make them known. He thought of his cards and all that he now understood about communicating emotionally. He thought about evolution and the constant fight to be an individual. He thought of his Grandfather always standing his ground firmly, but gently. But, mostly, he thought of those “untouchables.” And as the pressure mounted all around him, they kept returning to his mind, seeing them peacefully coping with the demeaning treatment of the guards.

  The minutes passed and the pressure continued to build for Michael, and in a flash he understood; he leaped at the understanding for fear that it would slip away. The “untouchables” were like they were, had that unmoving attitude that no one could touch, as a result of random accident. They were the product of the random event of all the variables being just right. With Michael, not all of the variables were just right, as Michael was more sensitive – however, Michael was aware. He was aware of his emotions and how they interacted with his thoughts and behavior. He was aware of the emotional energy around him and how it interacted with his emotions, his thoughts, and his behavior. He was aware. He was conscious. He could choose to become “untouchable”. It would difficult. It would be a constant choice, like his Grandfather taught him about alcoholics who had to constantly choose to remain sober. Or a married couple who had to constantly reaffirm their commitment to work together. For Michael, becoming “untouchable” would require a constant choice. But he didn't know how to make that choice. He had no experience with in. His argument with Dr. Turnable was only a brief reaction and could not remember how he got their. Just then, Michael's attention was pulled towards the bedrooms. He looked up the hallway in fear as he could feel the increased tension of the men coming through the windows.

  A few moments later, on top the ever increasing pressure of the men attacking from outside, he felt the wave of despair coming from Agents Spencer and Gonzales. That was too much and he felt himself being overrun. He snapped. Michael reacted out of fear and anger and hatred of that place he would hide inside of himself. Like he did with Dr. Turnable, but this time far more aggressive. And this time he was paying attention, watching himself react to his environment. Michael heard himself screaming “No!”

  -----

  The Shooting stopped and Agent Gonzales suddenly became filled with rage. He had no idea where it came from. He jumped to his feet and began firing wildly; even yelling curses out the window. When he ran out of bullets he continued to yell and scream, until he heard his own voice over the gun and quickly came to his senses.

  The first thing Agent Gonzales heard after he stopped making noise was Michael laughing quietly. He looked over and saw Michael sitting up on the floor and looking at him. He quietly said, “It's alright Agent Gonzales. We are going to be alright.” Just then a few gunshots were heard outside the house which caused the two agents to flinch. Michael quickly focused himself and said to the agents with quiet, peaceful, confidence, “It's alright... I understand now. What you are about to feel is not your own emotion. I am projecting it. Ignore what you are feeling and focus on what we need to do, which is to get out of here.” As soon as Michael stopped talking he closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. Moments later Agents Spencer and Gonzales felt a wave of emotion.

  Agent Gonzales was knocked off balance, and so he sat down on the couch and drifted away into his thoughts. Agent Spencer stayed sitting in the hallway with her face in her hands. Michael got up off the floor and grabbed Agent Spencer by the arm and firmly pulled her up to her feet. He looked her in the eyes and said, “Ignore it. It is not yours. Go get what you need. We are leaving.” She looked into his eyes for a moment longer, then her face showed intensity and resolution and she walked back into her bedroom.

  Michael walked over to the couch and grabbed Agent Gonzales by the hand, pulling him to his feet. “Focus. Get what you need, and let's get out of here.”

  Agent Gonzales nodded slowly and looked around at his things, then started throwing everything he needed to take into the biggest bag. Just as he was zipping up the bag and standing up Agent Spencer appeared at hallway with her bag. They both looked at Michael, who stood at the front door. Michael asked if they were ready and they both absently nodded their affirmation. They were snapped from their thoughts when they saw Michael reach for the door. They both wanted to yell out and leap to stop him from opening the door, but neither of them did anything. They simply watched in terror as Michael confidently opened the door and walked out of the house.

  The Agents quickly caught up with their pistols drawn and proceeded cautiously. Michael made it to their SUV quickly and stood next to the passenger side back door. The Agents were slow, looking at the two men sitting against the house, crying into their hands.

  “We need to leave. I don't think it would be wise to take too long.” Michael said calmly.

  Agent Spencer was bewildered, “What is going on here?”

  “No time now. I will explain later.”

  Agent Gonzales made it to the trunk door, opened it, and threw his bag in. Then went to retrieve Agent Spencer's bag from her, threw it in, and closed the door. He was about to get into the front passenger seat as Agent Spencer made her way around the front of the vehicle to the driver side door when she let out a little shriek.

  Michael and Agent Gonzales both looked to where she was looking and saw one of the men lying on his side in a fetal position, with his hand in his unzipped pants – masturbating. Before Agent Spencer could say anything Michael said firmly and with some concern in his voice, “Agent Spencer, get in the car, we must leave.”

  As she was getting into the car Agent Gonzales said, “Michael get in the front here, we need to take one more thing.” and hopped out. He quickly went to one of the men sitting against the house crying and stripped him of his weapons, pulled him to his feet, and handcuffed him. He had a little trouble getting the man to cooperate as he pushed him into the back seat and jumped half onto him so he could close the door behind and said, “Let's go.”

  -----

  Agent Gonzales was focused on his prisoner sitting next to him. Agent Spencer was focused on her driving, having recently finished a series of phone calls and telling them that they would have a police escort soon. Michael sat peacefully and watched the little reflectors in the side of the road go past. A tear made it's way down his cheek.

  “Alright Michael, whenever you are ready.” Agent Gonzales said politely, “I really need to know what the hell happened back there.”

  Michael took a moment to collect himself. “The short answer is that I figured out that I was not only very good at feeling other peoples emotions, but I am really good at projecting them as well. It occurred to me that the emotional feedback loop that I was stuck in with my mother, was something that I experienced with everyone. So much of my past behavior was dictated by trying to not hurt other people's feelings,.. whether they were aware of it or not.” Michael paused for a moment. “I had to learn the hard way that my feelings were more important to me than other people's were.” Quickly adding, “That is no excuse to be a jerk, it's just,.. well, you know what I mean.”

  “We know what you mean.” Agent Gonzales said supportively. “So, what were you projecting that made me think of watching my son help our elderly neighbor?” He added quietly, “He was walking home from a friends and didn't know I was watching from an upstairs window, but he spent about fifteen minutes helping a neighbor move some heavy things around her yard.”

  “Pride.” Michael replied. “I was thinking about my Grandfather's funeral. I was a pall bearer.
They weren't going let me at first, but I was persistent. I have never been more proud, walking with the casket in front of all his friends.”

  “Then why were these guys crying?”

  “Pride is the opposite of guilt.” Michael said calmly.

  Agent Gonzales thought out loud looking sharply at the prisoner sitting next to him, “Mercenaries have no pride.”

  Agent Spencer's voice cracked, “There are things I am proud of, but all I could think of where all the things I didn't do for my brother.”

  Michael was quick and soft, “Don't worry Agent Spencer. I am certain that my emotional energy has a signature that is familiar to you and was reminding you of your brother. And to correct you Agent Gonzales, I am also certain that these mercenaries have pride in something, just not what they were doing this evening.”

  Some time passed, then Agent Spencer got up the nerve, “So,.. um... what about that guy masturbating?”

  Michael laughed, “That is why we needed to be quick. There is no knowing how a person will react to an emotion; it all depends on their own personal experiences. Somewhere in that poor man's life he has had experiences that makes him associate pride or guilt with sex. Moreover, I did not want to find out what would happen if all those men were made to feel my energy too long... Not only is it impossible to know how people will react to an emotion, but everything becomes exponentially worse if those behaviors are allowed to evolve. Those men sitting against the wall crying might have started fighting, or shooting at each other, or killing themselves. Remember, according to the story, the voice of God made everyone go crazy.”

  “I'm not necessarily against that.” Agent Gonzales said while looking at the prisoner next to him.

  Michael said peacefully, but with something laced in his tone that made everyone shudder, “With great power comes great responsibility, Agent Gonzales.”

  Everyone was quiet until Agent Spencer's phone rang and several flashing lights appeared on the horizon coming towards them.

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