The Locket

Sam stood alone in this childhood room at his late mother's home. In his hands, he clasped his m other's locket tightly as a couple tears ran down his face. He shivered slightly, trying to brush away the pain, but it was almost too much for him to handle.

One day he was chatting with her over the video, and then she was gone. She disappeared with no contact or clues as to why she left. The police were baffled, which plunged his father into depression and the bottle. It was such a dive from his dad's usual self that he never came out of it. In the end, Sam's father died of grief and a broken heart.

Now, Sam was alone in the world. It had been over a year since his mother's disappearance, and still nothing. No letters, calls, or even a clue as to her whereabouts. He sat on the edge of his old bed and rested his head in his hands, crying. The locket fell from his grip.

It startled him, and he opened his tear-stained eyes, and it was open and showed an image of his mother. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her green eyes held a gaze that carried secrets upon secrets. Around her neck was the same locket that rested on his bedroom floor.

"Where are ya, ma? Something isn't right about any of this."

He reached down to pick it up. As he lifted it up, the photo fell out, revealing a small set of numbers underneath. Sam wiped the tears away and stared at the two numbers. There weren't enough for a combination lock, so he thought there must be something else.

Maybe these were the clue he needed to find his mother. He moved to his desk and powered on the computer. After a few minutes of racking his brain for his old password, he managed to get inside. He thought it would've been easier to walk downstairs and grab my cell phone.

Sam opened a browser and typed in the numbers. The results showed a location, and the numbers were longitude and latitude. The place was just outside the city in a rural area north of Denver. His heart raced, and adrenalin pumped through his veins.

Could he be close to finding his mother or getting the answers he wanted over her disappearance? He hoped so, but after a year of her absence, he wondered if this was another brick wall he'd run into. I have to try. There's no other choice for me, he thought.

Grabbing his keys, he powered off the computer and took off downstairs. As he got halfway down, the front door exploded inward. Sam crouched down and tried to cover his face from the flying shrapnel. Armed men dressed in black entered the room. Strange insignia decorated their left shoulders, a red circle enclosing a raised claw.

Whoever these people were, they weren't the military or the cops. He stood as another man entered the house dressed in a suit with the same emblem on a cloth armband wrapped around his left jacket sleeve. The man glanced up at Sam and smiled.

The smile sent shivers down Sam's spine. These men weren't here for storytime or coffee. If anything, they were here for Sam or something he had. Sam guessed it was the locket, and why else would they be here.

"Hello, Sam. It's been a long time since I've seen you, and you've grown a lot in the past twenty years. You wouldn't happen to know where your mother is, do you? We have some unfinished business," he said.

"No, I don't. I haven't seen her in over s year," Sam replied.

"Have you seen her locket, Sam? I know she sent it to you before she vanished. Where is it, Sam?" The suited man asked.

"No idea," Sam lied.

"There's no need to lie, Sam. We'll get it from you willingly or not," he said, motioning for the others. "Grab him!"

The soldiers ran up the stairs, their guns aimed at Sam, and he held his hand and yelled for them to stop, to only see them get blown back down the steps to the landing. The carpet to the stairs was torn, and the railing twisted and broken from whatever force Sam used.

"What the hell?" Sam asked no one in particular.

"Interesting. It seems you inherited your mother's power. Perhaps we don't need her anymore," the man said.

Sam ran upstairs and slammed the bedroom door. He pushed the bed against it in a rush and sometimes slammed their body against it. He grabbed the computer and tossed it out the window. He didn't want them to find any trace of his search with the numbers.

The door was given away, and Sam made a choice. He put the locket's chain around his neck and jumped out the window into the bush. He rolled but still managed to sprain his ankle. He winced as he ran to his car and drove off, a few of the soldiers, including the suited man giving chase.

After some time, he lost them and took the back roads to the location inside the locket. It led him to a small park in an even smaller town. Under the pavilion was a picnic table, and there sat a woman. Getting out of the car, he ran toward her, to only see it was his mother.

"Mom?"

The woman stood and took off her sunglasses. She was paler than usual but still looked the same, if more worried. Sam saw that she had a Glock holstered to her side. His mother also carried herself differently, more dangerous.

"Yes, Sam, it's me. We need to talk, but it isn't safe here," she said.

"These men were at the house wearing this weird symbol. They tried to take me and get the locket, but something happened," he said.

"You pushed them away, didn't you? You did it with your mind without thinking about an instinct."

"How did you know?" Same asked.

"A mother knows more than she wants to admit at times. The people at the house were the Order of the Wolf, a new-fascist order bent on taking over the supernatural world. I work for those who want to stop it," she said.

"What do you mean? How did you know I'd be here today?"

"I can answer your questions later. We need to get away. Give me your hand, Sam."

She reached out, and Sam took her hand. The ground beneath them shook slightly as a circle of light appeared at their feet. A strange popping sound reached Sam's ears, and the park disappeared and found himself in a strange mansion that smelled of old leaves and the forest.

"Where are we?" Sam asked.

"Headquarters. Sam, today, you begin your training."

***

Matthew works as a UX Designer and Author who lives in Northern Colorado with his pack of dogs; A Belgian Malinois, German Shepard, and an Alaskan Malamute. He practices Krav Maga and spends a lot of time walking his dogs and thinking of new story ideas for others read. Please give his story a thumbs up and comment! For more information, join his newsletter to stay up-to-date on upcoming stories and giveaways.