The Phoenix Chronicles: The Curse of Lustria

Chapter Thirty-Two: Journey Through the Void

(NARRATED BY CAMERON SETLER)

I woke with a start lying on colorless grass. Lieutenant Samson, who was sitting on a rock keeping watch, noticed this, and immediately questioned, "What's up, cupcake? I was about to wake you guys in a few minutes. Did you have a bad dream?"

I slowly got into a sitting position. "I, uh... no."

He chuckled silently, "You can't lie to me, cupcake. I'm good at detecting that kind of stuff, you feel me?"

"I'm sure you are...."

My uncle tilted his head with concern. "What, did you that dream one of us died or something?"

I shook my head slowly. "Not at all...."

Blowing a bubble, Samson stared at me expectantly.

With a heavy sigh, I summoned something from the Upper World.

Samson's bubble immediately popped when he saw it. "Cameron... what is that."

Hesitating a little, I held out his old police badge. "I believe this is yours."

The Lieutenant proceeded to stare at it for a long time, until he finally uttered, "So, you know about that now, huh?"

I answered with silence.

"You must think I'm a monster," he said between shaky breaths. "I suppose you'd be right."

"Uncle Samson...."

"Go ahead and keep it," he said. "I don't deserve to call myself a detective anymore."

Reluctantly, I sent the badge back to my room in Moreila Valley. "You did what you had to," I told him. "I'd like to thank you for that."

"You don't get it," he responded with great shame. "I ruined Marshall Weaver's life. True, I was definitely happy for you, but I don't think I'll ever be able to say the same about myself."

"How many people know about what you did?"

"Just the two of us, cupcake."

"What about the cause of my parents' deaths?" I asked. "Who actually knows the truth?"

"Still not that many," he said. "Calvin had probably known the truth all along, but I'm the only other person who bought your sister's testimony. Even Danny is still under the impression that your mother and father were killed by a mystery man with cyanide darts."

"Where'd you get those darts anyway?"

"Cyanide darts are a weapon of stealth. The Brotherhood was a lot more secretive back then."

"What happened after the trial?"

Samson made a sullen sigh, "Detective Weaver was tried and found guilty of evidence forgery and for the desecration of two bodies. He was stripped of his badge and sent to jail, where he died of a heart attack a few months later. The people responsible for the two autopsies were also put on trial, but were found innocent, based on their claim that they simply overlooked the cyanide. However, they all lost their jobs. As for me, I immediately quit the Force and turned in my Department ID. I also briefly thought about turning myself in along with it, but decided against it for three reasons."

"What were they?" I asked.

"First of all," he answered, "I have a wife and kids to take care of. Second, if I had turned myself in, that would've led people to believe that you were guilty of murder. And lastly, revealing the truth would've violated the Brotherhood's policy of secrecy, given the manner that I had carried out the forgery. If I wanted to convince the court of my guilt, I would've had to reveal my powers, which could've led people to find out about the organization's existence."