{"id":23,"date":"2019-01-30T23:10:41","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T23:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jamesvesping.com\/mainsite\/?page_id=23"},"modified":"2019-02-06T18:07:51","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T00:07:51","slug":"the-chaos-of-life-sample","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jamesvesping.com\/mainsite\/?page_id=23","title":{"rendered":"The Chaos of Life – Sample"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\t“Why did this happen, Esther?”\r\nHelena asked shakily, the droning from the engine of the slave\r\ntransport adding an annoying buzz that made it difficult for Esther\r\nto hear.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“I don’t know, Helena. We were just\r\nan inviting target, I suppose,” Esther replied, her soul drained.\r\nIf it weren’t for Helena and the other children, Esther would have\r\ntried to escape — or tried to kill herself.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Why us? What did we do? Are the\r\nSeven angry with us?” Helena was barely above mumbling, her pain\r\nwas so intense. Sister Zuzanne said it was a miracle she even awoke.\r\nIt had been an arduous journey so far, with Sister Zuzanne and Esther\r\ndoing everything they could for Helena. Then the slavers took Sister\r\nZuzanne away — fulfilling the boss’ promise that she would be sent\r\nto the Protectorate. The anguished screams of the children and\r\nHelena’s sobs did nothing to soften the slavers; they simply fired\r\ntheir rifles to calm them down. Sister Zuzanne had simply smiled at\r\nEsther and embraced her with a firm hug. Then she had whispered into\r\nEsther’s ear, “Never lose your faith, Esther. It has been tested in\r\nso many ways over the past few days. Do not allow that evil man to\r\ntake it from you.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tEsther could not bear to tell Sister\r\nZuzanne the truth: she had already given up on the Seven. Her faith\r\ndied the moment that man plunged the knife into Helena’s eyes. In its\r\nplace was a raging hatred, a hatred that rivaled the power of the\r\nEbony Crystal. Esther vowed that she would get her vengeance, as soon\r\nas she could guarantee the safety of the other children; that was now\r\nher key purpose in life. The Seven had taken everything from her —\r\nnow she would take everything from the Seven.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Esther? Are you still there?”\r\nHelena asked. Esther drifted away from her thoughts and back to\r\nHelena. She squeezed Helena’s hand.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Yes, I’m here. I’m here, Helena.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“What’s going to happen to you,\r\nEsther? I heard some of the men talking; they say that you’re going\r\nto be with the boss tonight.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tEsther did not want to give Helena\r\nmore to worry about, so she tried to bluff her way through what she\r\nknew was going to happen. “Because Sister Zuzanne is gone, I’m\r\nresponsible for everyone. The slaver’s boss expect me to provide\r\nreports on everyone’s health and status.” Esther surprised herself\r\nin how cold and robotic she sounded. She hoped her tone of voice\r\nwould mask her bluff.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Please, Esther. Tell me the truth.\r\nI have to know,” Helena said. Even though Esther knew she couldn’t\r\nsee her head, Esther shook it all the same.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“No. It’s better that you don’t.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“He’s not going to hurt you, is he?\r\nEsther, please!”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tEsther had hardened her heart, but she\r\nfelt a lump in her throat as she had to commit this one sin to\r\nprotect everyone. “Helena, calm down. There’s nothing you can do\r\nabout it. It’s out of your hands. You have to let go of me — for\r\nyour sake and the sake of the others. I am already dead. I died with\r\nFather Petrov. Esther is no longer here.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tHelena sniffled and gripped Esther’s\r\nhand tighter. “No, Esther! You’re still here! With us!”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Helena! That’s enough. I know it’s\r\nhard, but you have to let go. You’re all that’s left for the\r\nchildren. I can help you and them no longer. This last act is all I\r\ncan do to protect you. Just let it be.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tHelena sighed and rubbed her face.\r\n“Run, Esther. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself for us. You can\r\nget away.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tEsther scoffed. “To where? There’s\r\nnothing but desert out here. I would die from the heat before I made\r\nfifty paces.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Better to die in the graces of the\r\nSeven than to live as a slave.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“And if I die, you will all die as\r\nwell; I won’t make that decision for you. You still have a chance.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tHelena sobbed slightly, letting go of\r\nEsther’s hand. Esther looked off in the distance and noticed the sun\r\nwas setting. Soon, the boss would drag her away, just as he said he\r\nwould. One of the slavers signaled to stop the convoy and prepare to\r\nsettle in for the night. And if I get the opportunity, I will kill\r\nhim in any way possible.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The driver killed the engine on\r\nthe transport, bringing the convoy to a stop. Slavers rapidly grabbed\r\nequipment off of the transports, setting up tents and living\r\nquarters. One of the slavers started coming for Esther. So it\r\nbegins. The end of my mortal form.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

“It’s time. Goodbye, Helena.\r\nLook after Johnny for me, please,” Esther said, preparing to get\r\noff the back of the transport. Helena did not acknowledge Esther\r\nbeyond a stifled sob.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tThe slaver came up to Esther and\r\npointed to her. “You, girl — the one they call Esther. The boss\r\nwants to see you.” Esther nodded and steadied herself as she jumped\r\ndown. The slaver motioned for her to stick her arms out, which took\r\nher by surprise.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Boss says you might try somethin’.\r\nWants to make sure you’ll not give him any problems. Sorry miss, but\r\nI gotta bind you.” The slaver wrapped a small piece of rope around\r\nEsther’s wrists, tightening them and leaving a small end to lead her\r\nwith. He checked it one last time to make sure it was tight, then\r\nstarted to walk away.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tA scream permeated the air and Helena\r\njumped out of the transport, crashing into the slaver and knocking\r\nhim over. Esther was jarred to the side and looked back with surprise\r\nas Helena started hitting the man.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Run, Esther! Run!” Helena\r\nshouted, just as the man gave Helena a solid punch to the face,\r\nknocking her out. Without thinking, Esther started running off into\r\nthe desert, trying to use what light remained to navigate her way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Hey! Stop!” The slaver shouted,\r\nhis gear clattering as he tried to run down Esther. Esther scaled a\r\ndune, then looked for a good way down. The clattering got louder, so\r\nEsther took a leap and rolled partway down the dune. The slaver\r\nstayed on his feet and quickly descended the dune, giving him a huge\r\ngain over Esther. Esther was running as fast as she could, but her\r\nbound hands restricted her motion. Then the end of the rope caught\r\nunder her feet and the force jerked her arms down, sending her\r\ntumbling. The slaver caught up to her and held her down, rolling her\r\nto see his face.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“I told you to stop! What is wrong\r\nwith you, girl?!” The slaver looked around for a moment and tried\r\nto catch his breath. He noticed that no one from the convoy could see\r\nhim.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Well, how’s about that. Maybe the\r\nboss won’t mind me taking first dibs. You a pretty girl, y’know\r\nthat?”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tEsther gasped. “No. No!” She\r\nwhined, trying to squirm to get away, but the slaver held his weight\r\non her.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Oh c’mon. You’ll like it. All gi-”\r\nThe slaver’s voice was cut off with a nasty liquid sound. Esther\r\nfrowned as she looked at his frozen form, then she felt blood on her\r\nlap. The sound of bone cracking permeated the desert air; then his\r\nbody started rising, his voice gagging, his breath choking, and his\r\narms flailing toward his chest. It looked like something invisible\r\nwas lifting him up, but Esther could not fathom as to what.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tA strange whirring <\/em>sound filled\r\nthe air, and a figure appeared behind the slaver. It looked human,\r\nwith its left arm held at the side and its right arm behind the\r\nslaver.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Wh-wha-what’s… Happ.. En…\r\nIng…” The slaver mumbled, causing the figure behind him to speak.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Your death. Now. In this desert. By\r\nmy hand. Insect.” The voice was masculine, but inhibited by\r\nsomething — it sounded alien to Esther; almost inhuman. The figure\r\nmoved its right arm around to come face to face with the slaver.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“What-” Was all the slaver managed\r\nto blurt out before the figure shoved its left hand into the slaver’s\r\nface and another strange sound echoed over the air. To Esther, it\r\nsounded like a knife moving at an impossible speed. She focused and\r\nshe could see what looked like a human hand in the back of the slaver\r\n— a human hand that had grabbed his spine and broken part of the\r\nvertebrae away from the rest of his back. The figure discarded the\r\nlifeless body of the slaver, his gear making a clattering thunk <\/em>as\r\nhe hit the sand. Esther looked at the figure standing before her and\r\nwas somewhat surprised to see a smaller man than she had imagined.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tThe man looked at his right hand and\r\nopened and closed his fist. In doing so, Esther thought she heard\r\nanother strange sound emitting from it; the man then opened it up and\r\nheld it out to Esther.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Can I help you, miss?” The man\r\nsaid, this time in almost perfect, high-class dialect, the kind\r\nEsther’s father used to speak in. She was dumbfounded, and his\r\nfeatures difficult to discern with his back toward the sun. Not even\r\nthinking, Esther reached out with her hands and took his offer. His\r\nhand felt strange, almost metallic mixed with the hide of a horse.\r\nShe carefully stepped around to get a better look at him and finally,\r\nin the light, she could make out his features.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tHe wore a strange cap with a bill over\r\nhis face, a strange emblem above the bill, and his eyes were shrouded\r\nin some kind of tinted glasses. His right temple had a central hub of\r\nsome kind, with what looked like dark vessels radiating out under his\r\nskin. His arms were the strangest features, appearing an alternating\r\nblack-gray, with yellow vessels moving between them. Several holes in\r\nthem made it appear as if they were mechanical in nature — in a way\r\nthat Esther had never seen before. She looked over his face — what\r\nlittle she could see of it — and he seemed to be in his third\r\ndecade, maybe his fourth. She allowed herself the possible belief\r\nthat he might be in his second decade. A strange rifle was slung over\r\nhis shoulder and a pistol hung on his right hip. The rest of his\r\ntorso was covered in accessories that she assumed were for the pistol\r\nand rifle. His legs seemed to be the most normal part of him, with a\r\nlight tan pair of pants covering them, though having various pockets\r\non their sides. His feet had a pair of shoes that seemed to be an odd\r\nlace-up type.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tAfter a seemingly eternity, the man\r\nonce again spoke. “I’m sorry, I must have missed your reply. Are\r\nyou OK, miss?” His polite tone caused Esther to speak up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“I… I… Yes… I’m OK. Can you\r\ncut these bonds?” Esther asked.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Not a problem.” The man pulled a\r\nknife from his pocket and flipped it open, then in one solid move,\r\ncut the rope. Esther felt blood flowing back into her hands, then\r\nremembered that the others were still with the slavers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Helena!” Esther shouted, running\r\nback the way she had come. The man followed Esther, the strange\r\nwhirring <\/em>coming from his arms as he moved.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Pardon me, miss, but what’s going\r\non?” The man asked. Esther did not bother to reply; she was focused\r\non scaling the dune. She crested it and looked back at the slaver\r\nconvoy, seeing Helena being interrogated by the boss. The man came up\r\nbehind her and looked at the convoy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“I count 12 armed troops. Low grade\r\narmor. Primitive weapons. No biological or mechanical enhancements.\r\nOne of them seems to be the leader,” the man remarked.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tEsther looked at him, amazed he could\r\nmake that out from the distance. As if hearing her thoughts, the man\r\nlooked at her, then pointed a finger at his eyes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Bio-mechanical enhancements. At\r\nleast, I think that’s what they are.” The man took off his strange\r\nglasses, causing Esther to jump back at what she saw: his right eye\r\nwas a glowing yellow, while his left eye was as close to the lens of\r\na camera, she thought. She would have thought it lifeless if not for\r\nthe fact that it seemed to look and focus as if it were a normal eye.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Oh, apologies. I try not to do\r\nthat,” the man said, slipping his glasses back on.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Save them!” Esther shouted, her\r\nsense of urgency overriding her curiosity. The man looked out and\r\nnodded.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Wait here. This won’t take long.”\r\nThe man stepped forward and then a sharp screech <\/em>echoed in\r\nEsther’s ears. In a flash of light, he seemed to disappear and Esther\r\nwondered what had just happened. Then, merely an instance later, she\r\nsaw a flash of light in the distance, near the convoy. Throwing\r\ncaution into the wind, Esther made a full bore run back toward the\r\nconvoy when she heard gunfire. She got close enough to see the\r\nremaining part of the battle clear enough and it was a sight of awe\r\nfor her.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tThe slavers fired aimlessly into the\r\ndesert, trying to hit this new threat that seemed to be able to\r\nengage and disengage at will. One slaver tried to take cover behind a\r\nvehicle, only for the man to emerge out of thin air and tear the\r\nslaver’s throat out, seemingly with no effort. Another slaver fired\r\nat where he had been, then found himself face to face with the man,\r\nsuddenly lifted up into the air by something concealed in the\r\nfigure’s palms. His lifeless body was dropped to the sand as the man\r\nonce again seemed to vanish into thin air.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“To hell with this! I’m outta here!”\r\nOne of the slavers shouted and took off running. Helena’s mysterious\r\nbenefactor then displayed a new ability: he grabbed a fuel drum from\r\none of the vehicles and sent it flying toward the fleeing slaver —\r\nwithout touching it. The drum flew forward with incredible force and\r\ncrushed the slaver with a massive blow.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tAll over, the slavers were falling,\r\none by one, until there were only two left — the boss and one\r\nsubordinate.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“What do we do? What do we do?”\r\nThe panicked subordinate frantically mumbled, fear paralyzing all of\r\nhis thoughts. The slaver boss did not acknowledge him, simply looking\r\naround, trying to find their hidden tormentor. Then a rifle shot\r\nbroke out and the subordinate fell dead. Esther decided it was safe\r\nenough and started running back, toward Helena, when she heard a\r\nvoice in the distance. She recognized it as the strange man again.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“I can kill just by thought, you\r\nworthless sub-human scum. I lack the vocabulary to truly express my\r\nhatred for you. But right now, I would prefer to put a bullet in your\r\nhead. A cheap lobotomy operation.” Esther tried to look around and\r\nsee where the man was at, but she couldn’t find him. She kept running\r\nback, not caring about anything but Helena. She found her, sitting up\r\nnext to the wheel of one of the transports.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tUnfortunately, the slaver boss saw\r\nEsther and pointed his rifle at her. “Hey! You! Stop!”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tEsther ignored him and skidded across\r\nthe sand to stop next to Helena. Esther checked Helena’s breathing,\r\nand let out a sigh of relief when she found she was still alive.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“If you don’t show yourself, I’ll\r\nkill them!” The slaver boss shouted, his rifle pointed directly at\r\nEsther. Esther gave the boss a cold stare, brimming with all the\r\nhatred from before. Then her view was blocked by a brief flash of\r\nlight and then the man standing between her and the boss.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Who are you?!” The boss shouted.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“The end of your pathetic existence,\r\ninsect,” the man responded.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tIn a panic, the boss fired off a\r\nround, but some field around the man deflected the round into the\r\nsand.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“My turn.” The man drew his pistol\r\nand shot the boss in the knee. He screamed and dropped his rifle,\r\ngrasping his knee. The man walked up and grabbed the boss by his\r\nthroat, lifting him up in the air. The sound emanating from the man’s\r\narms seemed to grow louder as he lifted the boss higher in the air.\r\nThen the man walked over to Helena and pointed a finger at her.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Do you see this? Do you see what\r\nyou have done? An unspeakable act, by an unspeakable animal. No, I\r\ntake that back; that is an insult to animals.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Screw… You!” The boss spat out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“I have the perfect fate for you,\r\ninsect.” The man slammed the boss against the transport, dazing him\r\nwith the blow. Then the man let go and the boss slumped to the\r\nground, next to Helena.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Let us see how you react to the\r\npain,” the man mumbled, grabbing the boss by his throat again.\r\nEsther thought she knew was about to happen and reached out to stop\r\nthe man.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“No. Don’t. There’s been enough\r\ntorment for one day,” Esther said, fighting back her desire for\r\nrevenge.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Not for him, there hasn’t,” the\r\nman tersely replied, but instead of drawing out his knife, he reached\r\ndown and gently caressed Helena’s hand. Helena seemed to relax,\r\nalmost as if she was experiencing a drug high; the boss was not so\r\nlucky.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tThe boss started groaning, then\r\nscreaming. Esther stared at his face and watched his eyes turn\r\nbloodshot, then start to bleed. He flailed his arms and grabbed at\r\nhis eyes, his screams piercing the desert air. Esther knew she\r\nshouldn’t be staring, but she didn’t care. She felt vengeance in her\r\nheart, seeing her tormentor tortured in the same fashion as he had\r\ntormented her.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Do you feel it now?! Do you see?!”\r\nThe man shouted at the boss. The boss only returned incoherent\r\nscreaming.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“What’s that?! You can dish it out,\r\nbut you can’t take it?!” The man seemed to be applying righteous\r\nfury directly to the boss.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“No! There’s no escape for you! You\r\nchose this path! Now you shall reap what you have sown!” Blood was\r\nnow pouring from the boss’ eyes, more than Esther ever thought\r\npossible could come from the human body. Then finally, the screaming\r\nstopped, and his body lay lifeless. The man let go of both the boss\r\nand Helena, then he looked at the boss.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Pathetic. This girl endured far\r\nmore than you gave her, yet you lost it at a fraction of her pain.”\r\nThe man stood up and looked off in the distance. Stars were just\r\nbecoming visible in the sky and he seemed to pick one at random. He\r\nlooked back at the boss’ body, then to Esther.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Excuse me for a moment, ma’am. I\r\nmust do something.” The man grabbed the boss’ body, then\r\ndisappeared again in a flash of light — taking the body with him.\r\nNo more than a few second later, he reappeared, this time with a pop\r\n<\/em>sound. Esther looked at him in awe.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Are you one of the Seven?” Helena\r\nasked. Esther looked at her and smiled, then sobbed with tears of\r\njoy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tThe man seemed to frown, then\r\naddressed Helena. “That’s odd. I know your name, Helena. Yet for\r\nthe life of me, I cannot remember my own. No, I am not one of these\r\n‘Seven.’ Seven what?”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tEsther frowned and looked at the man,\r\ntrying to figure out what exactly he was.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Who is Kate?” Helena asked,\r\ncausing the man to gasp.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“How do you know Kate? Did she talk\r\nto you? What did she say?” The man squatted down, trying to see\r\ninto Helena’s eyes, seemingly unaware that she had none.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“I heard her. She said she was\r\nlooking for you. She said it was time to come home.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tThe man shook his head. “Impossible.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tEsther gave the man a look of\r\nconfusion. “‘Impossible’? You are the definition of impossible. I\r\nwatched you appear, then disappear, travel without moving, moved\r\nthings without touching them, deflected a bullet, and killed twelve\r\nmen with your bare hands! “<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“No, that’s all easily explained.\r\nGene mods allow me to displace myself in space-time, altering my…”\r\nThe man realized that his explanation was going over Esther’s head.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\t“Esther? Did he really do that?\r\nMaybe he is one of the Seven,” Helena said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\tEsther looked at the man and shook her\r\nhead. “No. He’s not one of the Seven. He’s our savior. And he\r\ndoesn’t know who he is.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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