Chapter Two: The Howling Tunnel

Despite the feeling that this may indeed be a set up, Samson agrees to the King's summons and request; Meanwhile, Maqsedeth's life is at stake...

Once the cabin was all cleaned up, Samson pushed his father's canoe out onto the water, hopped inside and began rowing. Since it was nighttime, Samson wasn't sure where the country Pinnaclé would be located or if he would be able to easily spot it if he was within range of it. He wasn't too happy about this new 'job' the king and queen of Manorá had given him, but he still tried to dress nice. He went for snappy casual: a pale blue button down shirt, khakis, and brown loafers; he combed his messy, curly blonde hair back so he would look presentable and not like he had just rolled out of bed. The words of that rhyme still rang in his ears and the vision of planet Xerox's 'would be' future flashed across his mind so many times that he was startled when the ghost that he encountered before was floating before him.

Sure that he was just hallucinating, Samson continued rowing, ignoring the ghost. This seemed to upset the ghost because what followed was what Samson would consider inappropriate behavior. In the midst of Samson's rowing, the canoe jerked and shuddered to a stop. Samson continued to row frantically, but to no avail. Then, rising from the depths of the Flame River Ocean, was the ghost, but more distorted, larger, and angrier. It shrieked right in Samson's face so loud that his hair parted, "Damn!" Samson responded. The ghost didn't seem to like his language either, because it roared and slapped Samson into a tunnel that was on the Ocean. The upside was that this tunnel led to where Samson was trying to go: it was an expressway directly into the country Pinnaclé. The downside was that the blow was so hard, the impact damaged Samson's canoe. It slammed into the side of the tunnel with a loud CRACK! Samson began to panic when he felt the canoe sinking. Oh no! he thought as he tried to scoop the water out of the canoe while still trying to row. The canoe went down and he was neck deep under water. The next thing he heard was a laugh and then the ghost disappeared.

"S**t!" he said as he swam to shore, "That b***h-a*s ghost fucked my snappy casual look up!" He made it to Shooter Camp, climbed out of the water and walked to Manorá. He sighed, "Look at me," he said, "Well, I wonder what the king will think of me, now." He removed the life-jacket and continued walking still very deep in thought about the rhyme that Oracle gave him. What did that rhyme mean? Was it a riddle? He didn't know. He wouldn't know because he was never professionally educated. He was taught grammar from random folks in his village including the Parish twins, but he never learned how to read or write, so he wouldn't know a riddle even if he saw one or heard one. Despite his lack of the knowledge of reading and writing, he could speak surprisingly well for someone uneducated.

Once he had woken up from his thoughts, Samson realized he was more than halfway to the Sunflower Palace and he took one last look at himself, Well, he thought, I'll just see what they say…he walked up the steps to the Sunflower Palace front doors and saw the king and queen standing in front of the doors. The king wore a teal tunic, white trousers, black boots, and he had a mustache and a goatee. His brown hair was short cropped and wind-blown. The queen wore an elegant lavender evening gown, glass slippers, white gloves, and a pink purse hung beside her right hip. She was bronze with long wavy dark brown hair, rosy red lips, and lavender eye shadow. She looked nothing like the king, who was not bronze but tan. Samson approached the king and queen and politely shook their hands, "How do you do, your majesties?" he said.

The king and queen both shook his hand. "We are fine and you?" Queen Martha replied.

Samson looked down at his soaked and tattered clothes and sighed, "Not so well, your majesties," he said.

The king turned a critical eye towards him, "I see," he said, "Had you tried to dress much better than you already have you would feel a great deal better."

Martha glared at him, "Uncle! Don't be too hard on him!" she scolded, "It's not fair for him. He has been through a lot."

Samson nodded in agreement, "Indeed I have, your majesty," he said, "Thanks for noticing."

King Silus glared at Queen Martha. "We will discuss more important matters inside," he said, "Come along."

They went inside of the Sunflower Palace and the first room they came to was the Foyer. It had large paintings on the walls of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and many of the prophets namely, Moses, Joshua, and Samuel; candle-like light fixtures hung on the walls; and the walls were painted neutral colors. There were red velvet plush sofas creatively placed in two half circles in front of the double doors into the first floor, which was a set of elegant metal doors each with a golden phoenix pattern; and the floor in the Foyer was a Crema Cappuccino marble floor tile design. On either side of the sofas was a set of stairs lined with red velvet carpeting and the door into the second floor was at the top. The ceilings were high and in the center of the ceiling, and the room for that matter, was the largest chandelier Samson had ever seen. It was made largely out of diamond and glass and it was beautiful.

King Silus led them through the two double doors into the first floor, turned left and opened a door that led straight into the comfiest room Samson had ever been into. It was the king's Sitting Room and it was lined with elegant furnishings: It had a mahogany coffee table in the middle of the room with coffee cake and coffee laid out and around the coffee table were two plush mahogany sofas and two plush chairs (one chair sat at each width of the table and one sofa sat at each length of the table), the ceiling was also high in this room, but instead of a chandelier, there was a ceiling fan in the center; behind the coffee table and sofas was a huge window which would be overlooking a beautiful view of the Rainbow Falls had the blinds not been closed, and behind each of the chairs surrounding the coffee table there was a bookshelf. The walls here were also painted neutral colors. Samson sat on the sofa in front of the coffee table while King Silus and Queen Martha sat on the sofa behind the coffee table.

Samson sat forward, "I hope you don't mind me asking, your majesty," he said choosing his words carefully, "but, after listening to the letter your messenger read to me, I just have to ask, why would you want to go through such an effort to reclaim a power so ancient? It was locked away into the sewers of The Ghost Town to keep Devious the Deceitful Dragon at bay. Releasing it could bring about the worse: an early return of Devious the Deceitful Dragon. The City of Aristotle is linked to the Paradise Hills and destroying it could destroy the planet, so why...bother?"

King Silus sat back and pondered Samson's question for a while, Maqsedeth raised a smart lad, he thought, but had he let me raise him, he would approve of my plan instead of questioning it!

Samson studied the king's face and while he waited for the king's response, he sipped coffee. King Silus sat forward, "I see you don't approve of my plan," he said quietly, "but, if those two powerful items were returned, we would have all we need to defend our kingdom from the return of Demise the Terrible."

Samson placed his cup of coffee on the coffee table and looked at the king a while. He cleared his throat, "What does this have to do with me?" he asked.

The king glared at him, "You are the only one, as we know it, with the ability of releasing this ancient power," he said simply, "no one else but you could do it, so are you in or out?"

Samson sat back with his cup of coffee, and sighed, "How long will you give me to think it over?" he asked.

King Silus continued to glare at him, "You either do it now or face my ultimate wrath," he said as he stood.

Martha held him back, "Uncle, please," she whispered.

Samson just looked at him, "You think that because you are king I'm supposed to be scared of you?" he asked, "The way I see it is you are only using your authority and power as a way to manipulate others into giving you what you want, but I refuse to be used as one of your 'puppets'. So, if you'll excuse me, I have my father to rescue."

He stood and went to leave, but was surprised to find that the door was sealed tight. He struggled to get it open, but it wouldn't budge. He turned to the king, "What is this?" he asked, "Some kind of joke?"

The king took a step forward, "One thing you'll learn about me is that I don't joke," he said, "Or kid, or jest, or quip." He was closer now and Samson could see that he wasn't too happy about him refusing his order, "Now, you listen to me," he said, "I won't take 'no' for an answer. You will go on this quest, do you understand?"

                                                      *****

Meanwhile, while Samson was away at the king's palace, Maqsedeth is carried away behind the Cleopatra family's old quarters and chained to a stake. The Cleopatra family's old residence was a two story white house. It had a gallery front porch surrounded by a fence. It was raised a stretch so there were a couple of stairs leading up to the porch. There was a pool to the right of the house and a porch swing to the left.

Maqsedeth was unconscious for a while until his head was accidentally banged on the stake. "Damn!" one of the ghouls exclaimed as Maqsedeth began to stir, "Can't trust you to do anything right, Simeon! You're only soft because this is your pops!"

"It wasn't me, Thor!" Simeon hissed, "You're the one holding his head! I'm down tying his arms behind him!"

"Shhh!" the ghoul that apparently was Thor, hissed back, "He'll hear ya!"

Too late because as soon as Thor said that, Maqsedeth was fully awake, "Huh? Where am I?" he asked. He struggled to move his arms, "Hey let me out of here!" He tried to break his bonds with his magic but apparently the chains that held him had magic barriers.

"Not so strong are ya, Maqsedeth?" Thor teased as he flew to the fire pit, "Say bye-bye!" He laughs as he sparks the fire and disappears along with Simeon.

Maqsedeth panicked as the fire began to grow bigger. He tried spitting and blowing at the flames, but that didn't help. "HELP!" he called, "Somebody please! Get me outta here!"

                                                     ****

Back at the king's palace, Samson and King Silus glared at each other for a minute or two before Samson pushed the king off, "Excuse me, your majesty," he said, "But, get off me! What's your problem, huh?"

He dusted himself off and folded his arms over his chest. He was already a little shaken up from the frightening vision of his father being chained to a stake by someone that looked a little like himself, but the king had gone too far.

"And what do you mean, 'I won't take no for an answer'?" he asked, "After what I just saw, I don't think I'm going to think about it. I'm just not going to go."

He turned towards the door and the king called out to him, "Don't you dare turn your back on me!" he said, "If you do you'll never see your father again!"

This hit Samson like a slap to the face. He turned to face the king. By his expression, Martha could see the king had struck a nerve, "What the hell did you just say?" he asked.

The king tightened his jaw, "If I were you, I would watch my mou""

"What did you say about my father?" Samson interrupted closing in on the king, "Did you just say that I will never see my father again, you selfish b*****d?"

Martha held him back, "Samson," she said, "Please. He's still your king."

"I don't give a damn who he is!" Samson said, "One thing he's going to learn about me today is that I don't play about my father!"

"I see," King Silus said crossing his arms over his chest, "It seems you must have gotten worked up about something. You want to talk about it?"

"Oh, now you want to talk?" Samson asked, "Well, it's a little late for that, so bye!" He turned to leave.

Martha took his hand, "Samson, please," she said.

Samson looked at her and back at the king. He sighed, "Fine." he said reluctantly as he gently snatched his hand from Martha's grasp. He walked back to the sofa and sat down. The king and queen returned to their seats as well.

“So tell me, Samson, what’s wrong?” King Silus asked, “Why are you so tense?”

Samson sighed and sat forward, "I had a vision not long after you pinned me to the door to this room. In this vision, I saw two ghouls carry my father behind our old residence in The Ghost Town and chain him to a stake," he said, "and one of them looked, strangely, like...me."

The king studied him a while before speaking, "Interesting," he said, "This could possibly be a vision from the future. Maybe one day you'll turn against your father and burn him at a stake. You see, simple."

Martha glared at King Silus for a while and shook her head, Wishful thinking, she thought. She faced Samson, "Or, maybe this person could be an Earthling that was caught in the midst of the sinking of The Ghost Town, accidentally, since he hates your father enough to burn him at a stake. It is hardwired into their DNA: whenever an Earthling comes around a Xeroxian or an Erosian, they can't help but hate them. It's involuntarily. They can't help it."

Samson shook his head, "Or, maybe you're both wrong," he said.

The king and queen looked at each other and back at him, "How?" they asked.

Samson rubbed his chin, thinking, "I don't know," he said, "but, there's only one way of finding out. I'm going to have to ask this ghost myself. I'm going on your lousy quest, your majesty, but if this turns out to be a death trap you set up, the first thing I'm going to do when I die is come on after you before I go to the City of Paradise."

King Silus stood and pressed a button on the wall beside the bookshelf next to the door they came in. The bookshelf shuddered and slid out of the way, revealing an open storage space. King Silus walked over to the crevice and took a weird machine from it. He gave it to Samson, "Normal weapons are useless against a ghost," he said, "Even your fists are useless. You can't touch a ghost and you can only see them when it's dark, which is useful since this city is underground. Use this to defend yourself against any ghost that you encounter, even if they are friendly enough to talk because these ghosts are tricksters. They may act like your friends, but they aren't your friends."

Samson took the machine into his hands, "Well," he said, "What is it?"

"It's a vacuum," the king said, "but, not just any vacuum. This vacuum was specially designed by your father himself specifically for catching and incinerating ghosts right inside the vacuum. It is called...what did he call it?" He thought for a while, "Ah! The Ghost Incinerator Deluxe."

Samson strapped the machine to his back and looked at the king, "Why did my father give it to you?" he asked.

"This palace was haunted numerous times by ghosts from The Ghost Town years ago," he said, "So, I requested that something be done about it and your father offered to create me a machine for catching and incinerating ghosts. He worked a week before it was done. He used the machine to rid the Sunflower Palace of the ghosts that haunted it. He presented it to me and let me have it in case something like that happened again. Now, I'm letting you use it. I expect it back, you hear?"

Samson nodded, "Okay," he said.

"Now, Martha," King Silus said, "please show our future Xeroxian Warrior the way he should go to get to The Ghost Town."

Samson shifted his weight between feet and cleared his throat, "Wouldn't the easier way to get to The Ghost Town be through the sewers of the City of Aristotle?" he asked.

The king nodded, "That is one of two ways to get to The Ghost Town, but it is not the easiest or the quickest," he said. "The easiest and the quickest way to where you want to go is the pathway off the western side of the Sunflower Palace. This pathway hasn't been walked upon in centuries, but it will lead straight to where you want to go. The Cleopatra family's residence will only be a 15-minute walk from where this path leads compared with the 2 hour walk from where the sewer leads. Now, good luck on your quest."

Martha took his hand, "Follow me," she said.

They left the king's Sitting Room and they took two rights from the king's Sitting Room, and went through the laundry room where Martha moved the dirty clothes hamper out of the way, revealing another door. She opened the door and they stepped into a very dark room. At the very end of the room was a set of steel double doors locked with rusted chains and mildewed wooden boards and a large spider-web covered the locks and boards on the doors. Martha picked up a piece of wood from the floor and began clearing the cobwebs. When she struggled with the wooden boards, Samson stepped up and quickly broke the locks and boards away from the door and opened one of them, getting washed in dust. He sneezed a few times and turned to her, "After you," he squeaked.

Martha walked through the door and Samson closed the door behind them. The smell of the chamber slapped him in the face, "When your uncle said that this place hadn't been traveled for centuries, I had expected him to mean 'centuries' not 'millenniums'!" he exclaimed, "This place smells 2 billion years old!" The chamber reeked of mildew, dead rats, mud and urine, and dead bodies.

Martha looked back, "How did you know how old this chamber is?" she asked him.

Samson cocked his head to one side, "What?" he asked, "I got it right?"

Martha nodded and then returned her attention back forward, "Yep," she said, "You were right. It's 2 billion years old. No one has walked this path for 2 billion years."

Samson shouldered the machine on his back, "Wow," he said, "and this chamber is in this palace? That makes the Sunflower Palace much older than I thought. Did other monarchs live in this palace before you guys?"

Martha shook her head, "The Sunflower Palace may be old but me and my uncle have lived here ever since it was first built," she said, "but, I wasn't the queen then. My aunt was, until she passed."

Samson could hear the pain in her voice, "I'm very sorry to hear that," he said trying his best to comfort her, "I know how it is to lose someone you loved. My mother died when I was just 5 years old during the cataclysm of the last City of Aristotle, the one that has become known as The Ghost Town, and I still mourn over her. My father misses her a lot, too."

Martha looked back, "So, it's just you and your father, now?" she asked, "I'm so sorry."

Samson sighed in the dark, "It's not your fault," he said, "And there's nothing you can do to bring her back."

Martha turned back forward and pushed on something that Samson later realized was a door. Since they had been in the dark for a while, the ivory light of the moon blinded them a little when they stepped outside. Samson breathed in the cool crisp morning air and let out a sigh of relief. It was 2 o'clock in the morning in the country of Manorá in the kingdom Summer Breeze and Samson had until sunrise to save his father or it would be too late: his father would become a spirit in the cursed Ghost Town or he would continue to burn at the stake.

Samson faced Martha, "Thanks for showing me the secret pathway, your majesty," he said, "Wish me luck."

"I hope you find your father, brave warrior," Martha said as she stepped forward, pulling something from her purse. She gave it to him, "Take this. It will be very dark and dangerous there; you'll need all of the light you can get."

Samson took the object and observed it, “What is it?” he asked.

“It’s a lamp,” Martha replied, “May it be of great help to you on your quest.”

The lamp was an odd shape, not like an ordinary lamp, but more like an orb with two knobs: a top knob and a bottom knob. He found out that by twisting the top knob, he was able to turn it on. He switched it off using the bottom knob, "Thanks, your majesty," he said. He placed it in his pants pocket.

Martha put her arms around his neck and Samson caught a whiff of her perfume. Mmm, he thought dreamily, I love the way she smells... "Good luck on your quest, brave warrior," she said. Then before he could react, she kissed him.

They stood kissing for a while until Samson heard a male voice from afar saying, what sounded like, Martha's name. Martha stopped abruptly, "I have to go," she said, "My uncle's calling me. Until we meet next time, brave warrior..." She kissed him again then she turned and rushed off to the palace to see what her uncle wanted.

What just happened? Samson thought, dumbfounded. He stood in the same spot for a while before remembering why he was there and then he started down the path to The Ghost Town to find this ancient power, whatever it was, and return it to the kingdom Summer Breeze. With the Ghost Incinerator Deluxe on his back, Samson hoped that he wouldn't have a problem finding his father before he became a spirit in The Ghost Town forever.

Author's Note

Sorry if the language of this chapter comes off as offensive...
The Ghost Town is also available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Lulu.com