Dark Knowledge
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Synopsis:
When good and evil intertwine, taking one means accepting the other.
A mentally challenged man can't resist a gift of knowledge, but it comes with a dark destiny. He's thrust into a deadly contest where he must fight for his life while piecing together his mind and his heritage. The more he learns, the harder it becomes to distinguish good from evil. The greater his intellect, the more difficult his choices - and sacrifices - become.
Book Excerpt:
Wesley returned to his room. The mind-world tugged at his consciousness, luring him to enter. It pulled the way the smell of food did when Wesley was hungry, or sleep when he was tired. He might not understand his needs, but he felt the desire to fill them. He recognized the promise of relief.
The pull led to a scary place, though. Wesley knew that much for sure. Sometimes he could remember why, but not now.
Think, he told himself, but he couldn’t remember. His frustration strengthened the pull’s force. It would be so easy to follow. And he had a reason to go.
He closed his eyes and remembered Bobby’s white face, Bobby on his hands and knees on the grass. “I’m sick,” Bobby had said. “I need help.”
Bobby needed. The mind-world promised.
Wesley thought of the fog. Then he saw it.
His mother would tell him to be afraid. He was afraid, but the pull was even stronger now, irresistible with promise. Whatever could help Bobby lay hidden somewhere in the fog of his mind.
Wesley crept forward, allowing the fog to steer him into its depths, retreating ahead of him, closing behind. It swarmed like a billion gnats controlled by one mind, and Wesley recognized its power. This world contained the knowledge he wanted, but it would remain hidden unless the fog decided to expose it.
It stopped leading him. Wesley waited, conscious that, although he hadn’t gone far from the entrance to this world, he was at the fog’s mercy to lead him back.
A patch began rotating slowly in front of him. The surrounding fog remained gray, but the spinning mass picked up a tint of color, emerald green. Green was bad. His mother told him so. The color deepened, replacing the original gray like an infection. Wesley wondered if the fog was bad now, but it didn’t matter. He’d been led here for a reason. He meant to learn why.
“Show me,” Wesley commanded.
The green fog gathered into a sphere. The ethereal mass concentrated, shrinking while it gained density. Once the sphere appeared solid, tiny black lines poured over the top edge. Twisting and squirming, they moved freely over the surface at first, then sluggishly, as if they were tiny eels swimming through thickening gel. The lines became dense in some areas, sparse in others, forming shaded features and highlights, forming a face.
Thousands of lines clustered into the shape of wide, parted lips. More lines rushed past the lips to form the darkness inside a toothless mouth. Some lines still squirmed weakly when the lips closed over them.
Light contoured and fleshed the face with green, rippling skin. Two holes appeared and expanded, creating gaping eye sockets. Golden globes moved forward from inside the sphere and filled each socket. More thin lines found homes as pupils, others as lids and short, spiky lashes.
The gold eyes came alive and focused on Wesley. He saw their threat but felt his own power building. This was his mind, and the eyes held meaning he should have.
Fragments of thoughts rushed by him like small birds, daring him to reach out and catch them. He wanted to follow them and learn, but they were a distraction. The eyes held the knowledge he needed. Thoughts rushed by more quickly, some almost colliding with him, but he stood his ground, unflinching.
The face snarled but, despite its posturing, the eyes revealed their message, and Wesley understood. The golden eyes were the infection, not the green around them. His mother had deceived him. He shouldn’t fear green.
The gold eyes saw his realization and glimmered with joy. Wesley recognized something in them and shivered.
Edges blurred.
His mind dulled.
He sat still in his room.
Good and bad together.He shivered again, without knowing why. Something glittered at the top of his vision then winked out. A thought had followed him back. It was gone now. It couldn’t exist in this world. Wesley hadn’t had time to understand its message, but he knew the subject. It had tried to tell him what he was.Author Comment:
Strong paranormal element and somewhat dark, deals with Satan and has some violence, so avoid if those things aren't for you. There's also a sweetness to Dark Knowledge, I think. Would love to hear what you think.
Topics/Categories:
action/adventure, good vs. evil, mentally challenged, Paranormal
Genre:
Fiction, General Horror, Genre Fiction, Horror, Occult - Paranormal, Speculative Fiction, Thriller
Type of Work:
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Original Publish Date:
October 19, 2009
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