Faceless pursuit

Samuel had been homeless a month now. He was a weary soul who roamed the streets, seeking shelter, food and water wherever he could find it.

Tonight, he decided to go rest on a bench under a street light in the rain. Just as he was about to sit down, he heard the thud of a large foot in a puddle of water. He looked up and noticed a group of three faceless creatures in the distance, standing and watching him.

“What do you want? You’ve never seen a homeless guy before. Screw off,” Samuel shouted while waving his fist in the air.

The faceless men stepped forward, all at the same time, and Samuels heart started to race. He turned and ran from the eldritch, faceless figures. Samuel had been working hard on his American accent, but maybe they figured out he was a foreigner anyway and were after him.

“Go away,” Samuel shouted. This only caused them to run faster and shout louder.

Samuel ran as fast as he could, and eventually turned around and saw he was still being pursued by these horrific faceless figures, and he ran faster as the adrenaline pumped through his veins in his desperate attempt to escape their relentless and horrifying pursuit. He sprinted through the streets, praying he wouldn’t slip and fall in the water. He was worried that it was so wet on the ground, that if he fell his corpse would just deliquesce in a puddle, and he’d never be able to go home again and see his family. He missed his wife and kids, who he hadn’t seen since he immigrated to this country and moved into the shelter. Once he got paid though, he would at least send money home to his family.

“What do you want?” Samuel shouted.

They shouted back, but despite their voices bing loud, all Samuel heard was “gurgle gurgle gurgle watch,” and thought they were threatening not just follow him but watch him too. Samuel was terrified.

His heart was pounding in his chest. He kept running until he reached the end of the city. The only place left to run was an eldritch foggy forest.

Samuel looked behind him and the faceless creatures were still in pursuit.

“You’ll never catch me, you creeps,” Samuel shouted.

“Gurgle gurgle gurgle watch you creep,” Samuel heard the faceless figures say.

Samuel now thought they wanted to watch him creep.

“I’m not ok with that,” Samuel mumbled, swallowed hard, turned back around and ran into the woods.

Gasping for breath, Samuel continued to run into the woods, hoping to lose the faceless monsters perusing him in the thicket of trees and bushes. He checked behind him again after several minutes, and to his horror, the faceless figures were able to keep up.

Samuel ran and eventually jumped behind an old Dawn Redwood tree and leaned against it, hoping they didn’t see him and he had a second to catch his breath. Samuel caught his breath, then looked around the corner of the tree and saw one of the faceless figures staring at him, just inches from his face.

“Oh, crap” Samuel shouted, pushed the figure away, turned around and started to run again. He heard the faceless figure yell something that sounded like the word “Stop,” but he continued to run.

“I don’t stop for faceless monsters,” he shouted.

Determined not to get murdered and eaten by these faceless diabolical maniacs, Samuel kept pushing himself to run, despite the fact his lungs were burning and his legs felt like they wanted to fall off. The adrenaline racing through his veins made it feel like like bugs were crawling through his skin, and his heart felt like a grenade about to explode. On top of all this, his breathing felt shallow.

Samuel kept running until he collapsed on the forest floor and started gasping for air. He hurt everywhere and felt like he couldn’t move.

As Samuel laid on the ground, he felt someone tap his shoulder. Startled, he screamed before he turned around to see the three figures who had been chasing him.

The faceless creeps were now closer, and he could see they had faces. He felt some relief in the fact they were human and not some demonic monstrosities, but why were they chasing him? Did they know who he was or why he was sent to this country? He looked closer at them, stared at them as he tried to profile them and figure them out. They looked like ordinary, friendly people. Samuel hoped his analysis was right.

“Why have you been following me?” Samuel asked, sounding scared and lugubrious.

One of them said, "You dropped your watch!"

Samuel looked at his wrist and realized his watch was, indeed, missing.

Tears welled up in Samuels eyes as he said, "Thank you so much. You’re very kind. My father gave me this watch as a child. It means a lot."

One of the guys introduced himself as Freddy and said, "Hey, it seems like you could use some help. Would you like some money?"

Samuel nodded, not expecting much.

“It’s been a rough month,” Samuel said.

Freddy took out his checkbook and wrote Samuel a check for one million dollars.

Samuels jaw dropped and it took him a few minutes to speak.

“Thank you sir, your generosity is astounding,” Samuel said.

Tears streamed down Samuel's face as he held the check in his hands.

“I introduced myself. What’s your name, sir?” Freddy said.

“Samuel,” Samuel said.

"I’ll tell you what, Samuel. Get yourself a place, clean yourself up, then come work for us," Freddy said. Samuel smiled, hardly believing his ears.

"We'll pay you well, and one day, you'll be as rich as us. And when that day comes, find some homeless people that you'll give millions to. Pay it forward, as they say," Freddy said and smiled, his perfectly white teeth glistening in the sunlight.

Samuel, excited to take advantage of Freddy’s compassion, accepted his offer and promised to take the job and one day, pass on the kindness he had received. They exchanged contact information, and Freddy bid Samuel farewell, as did the two others, completely unaware and oblivious of the dangerous secret Samuel harbored.

Unknown to them, Samuel was no ordinary homeless man, nor was he a regular man. In truth, he was a spy sent from Russia, disguised as a poor soul, a homeless pauper on a covert mission to infiltrate a major American company. His real name was Ivan Varennikov, employed by KGB and given a top secret mission.

The act of charity he had experienced was not a stroke of random unexpected luck, but very carefully planned and orchestrated. It was a chance to rise through the ranks at his new company and bring down the very foundation of capitalism, one company at at a time. Samuel knew acting homeless would gain sympathy from some, and now it was time to do his real job, and forever change the American way of life. Once he brought down capitalism, Russia could take over America and Americans would see how amazing Mother Russia is once and for all.

Freddys generosity had unfortunately set in motion a chain of events that would shape the fate of not just one company, but all the companies across America in time.

As Samuel walked away, clutching the check tightly, his tears of gratitude transformed into an evil, eldritch smile and Samuel, or Ivan, laughed sinisterly, his plan was now in full effect and he knew he could make American companies fall like dominos and make his homeland proud.

“Are you ready America? Here I come,” Ivan asked, then continued to laugh, louder and louder, his evil laughter echoing off the trees.