The Wonders Of Vast Emptiness

Chapter Six: Dr. Twolson Is Missing

He woke up several hours later, in his hotel bed. The manager was standing over him. "Goodness gracious, young man. You gave all of us quite a scare. We thought you had come a cropper." "I'll be fine, I just ran a while." The manager looked at him. "You must have run 20 miles or so, had the same thing happen to me when I was just a boy." Dr. Twolson was the only thing that was currently on Sam's mind.

Why had he gone? There were two possible situations: Dr. Twolson had either gone mad, as the clerk had described Freddie to, or Freddie had captured him.

As all of the staff left, Sam felt sick to his stomach about the situation. He would leave, but he didn't know how to get back. And even if he did get back, how could he explain to the old woman that her husband was missing? To all of these wonders, Sam did not know the answers. He then ordered some things off the menu, as running such a long distance would give one quite an appetite.

He could barely eat, as he was worried. And, another thing, if the clerk had a bad outcome to the fight, Freddie knew where he was staying. He also had to be prepared for that, if he were to come back. Another thing he could try was to find Dr. Twolson. But how? The device didn't have a tracker on it, as far as he knew, which meant that he could really do nothing at this particular moment.

Suddenly, somebody opened the door, and came in. Sam jumped about a foot, and then realized it was just the clerk. "I tied Freddie up....." Sam stepped down from his bed. "Are you all right?" he asked. "Yeah, I'm fine, just broke a few ribs in the process of capturing him."

He looked tired and weary, almost more so than Sam did. "You can stay here if you would like, to rest," Sam offered, but the clerk shook his head.

"No, I'm alright. Somebody needs to run the store, you know." Sam suddenly felt suspicion.

"Wait, how did you know I am here?" he asked. The night clerk answered. "Oh, after I captured Freddie, I saw the general direction you were going. Aren't many houses there. I actually journeyed to 10 different hotels before I found you."

And with that, the clerk left his room. Sam decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. He still was worried out of his mind, but at the same time, was immensely tired. He decided to go out and play some tennis, as the courts were fairly clear, with a younger boy named Peter. Peter was around 15 years old, and Sam had played with him a few times since they had stayed.

After Peter had to go back to his room for some party or other, Sam received a call. It was from Edna. Immediately, he picked it up and answered it. "Hello?" he said. "I've just heard the news about my husband. He told me something or other in gibberish, and couldn't understand something. I put his name into the transportation device, and he is very far from the hotel. I'm so sorry that you've had to deal with this."

"Oh, I am trying to find out where he is." Edna had something to say instantly. "It won't do you much good, I'm afraid. He is constantly on the move. Be safe, Sam Nightun. Be safe." With those cryptic words, Edna screamed and then hung up without a word. Now both of them were in danger. He wished he could find out how to get back to where he was so he could help Edna. What was she screaming about? Sam's heart began to race.

This was not a good situation at all. Should he call the police? Yes, that was it. He asked the bellboy, who was busy enjoying a currant cake at the main desk. "Do you know the number of the police here?" he asked. The bellboy raised his eyebrow in suspicion, but decided to in fact leave it. He gave Sam the number, who walked back to his room in silence.

He dialed the number, and a voice answered. "Tlio Police. What can we do for you today?" "Uh, hello. There is a man I came here with. We are kind of on a research mission. He has been missing for around a day, and I haven't found him yet. He is constantly moving." A man with a strong accent was handed the phone. "Can you describe 'im?" he asked. "Oh, he's around 6 foot 4, thin, and wearing a white coat. He also has a hat on, last time I saw him." "Oh, bloody 'ell. Again? That's the third missing case this month. Eh, where's me jelly donut?" "Okay, sir, we will try to look for 'im as best as we can." The man then hung up.

Or did he? No, there was still a sound coming through the chatter of the police office, or was it the police office? Surely not. Instead, a gruff voice came through the intercom. "This is Freddie. Look, I'm sorry for what I have done, and if I have scared you in any way, I apologize for that too."

"It is the strangest thing, the wonders of vast emptiness, they can change who you are, what you are, in just a second. But who you were, will eventually come back.

That happened to me. I don't know why I wanted to target you, why I wanted to kill you. It was completely irresponsible and irrational of me. If we were talking in person, I would probably be shaking your hand by now, but alas, we aren't. Best of luck to you, son."

And then there was a buzz of a phone, and then nothing else. Sam laid it down, and it took a tremendous weight off of him now that he wasn't being chased down. There was the possibility that he could have been faking just to earn Sam's trust, but Sam could tell by the sincerity in the man's voice that this was not fake.