The Temporal by CJ Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

anyway.
    Seeing a large intersection a few blocks away, Sam decided to go there to hunt for a taxi. He would find a taxi, get to a hotel, and then return to the hospital by eight in the morning.
    But what would he tell the taxi driver? Would he understand English? Sam began to piece together his beginner level Japanese. Hotel is “ hoteru .” “ Hoteru kudasai .” No, no. That’s “Please give me a hotel.” “ Hoteru onegaishimasu .” He mouthed the phrase a few times, practicing. “ Hoteru onegaishimasu .” But which hotel? The closest hotel. “ Ichiban chikai hoteru onegaishimasu .”
    Satisfied he had constructed an understandable sentence, Sam began walking toward the intersection. While walking, he planned what to do in the morning. He would wait outside the hospital for Suteko. If she didn’t show up by lunch time, he would leave the hotel name and room number with the receptionist.
    His imagination continued feeding that teenage crush, imagining Suteko coming from behind, wrapping her arms around him. Turning to meet her face, he closed his dream-filled eyes, hoping she would touch his lips with hers...
    A rustling sound to his left derailed his ungovernable thoughts just before he could find out if the girl of his dreams would kiss him.
    Too loud for just the wind...
    With a jolt, he turned and began walking with speed toward the intersection and away from that sound. Whatever animal was in the bush, he wasn’t keen on discovering it.
    Somewhere midway between the hospital light and the dim streetlamp at the next intersection, he heard a voice to his right, deep within the bushes.
    “Saaamuel.”
    It was a dark whisper, the kind of voice kids might use in a cemetery to scare passersby.
    “Who’s there?” Sam said as his nose picked up an unpleasant and somewhat familiar smell. It was the same stench he had experienced... with that dark man—the smell that resembled rotten flesh. It hadn’t been a dream. ...the nightmare in the hospital. It hadn’t been a nurse.
    Sam ’s pace increased. His feet pounded the pavement, matching his heart rate. He desperately sought the light—however dim—from the upcoming intersection.
    “ We neeeed you, Saaamuel. Shee needs you.”
    This time , the speaker’s vocal cords vibrated, letting out a louder sound. It seemed to be the same voice but now the sound came from behind. Sam turned around. The only thing he saw was the now distant hospital light.
    “ You are the one shee wants—”
    His feet were on automatic, ready to shift into a panicked run when Sam turned his head forward again and stopped.
    “—the one wee have been waiting for.”
    About ten feet ahead of him stood two hooded figures silhouetted by the light from the intersection. The light from behind made it impossible for Sam to see their faces or catch the slightest detail beyond their silhouette. Even with the best lighting, Sam knew he wouldn’t be able to see their ever changing faces. The black figures stood motionless, hunched over with arms extended, and blocking his path. 
    “ Saaamuel.”
    The voice wasn ’t from the two figures, but again from his rear. 
    Sam wanted to scream, “Who are you?” but no sound escaped his mouth.
    The bushes were to his right, the street to his left. There were no cars or other people around, nothing but the voices behind and the hooded figures directly in front of him.
    Sam felt his knees grow weak as he determined to make them bend toward the street. It wasn’t just his knees. The rest of his legs and body resisted his will also.
    The two figures lurch ed forward toward him, gloved hands reaching. They didn’t move their legs but somehow they were suddenly closer. Sam heard some rustling behind him and on the other side of the bushes.
    “ Saaamuel.”
    Sam felt a sudden prick to the back of his neck. As his body went limp and fell to the ground, he was quickly surrounded by four dark creatures each with arms reaching out above him. His eyes