Unnatural

2. Karma: Albert Ruth


Steady and silent, a tall near middle-aged man with large glasses covering his light green eyes focused his gaze onto the pages of a large brown book he held up with his right hand. “Love.”

“Hmm?” A young woman with light caramel colored hair glanced up from a small television refocusing her attention on the man.

“Can humans truly understand love anymore?” The man spoke again, never removing his gaze from the pages of his book.

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I don’t think we can. Humans I mean. I don’t think we’ll ever truly understand…what love is. My interpretation…is survival. The ensured existence of the people I claim to love. Even if I must end my own life to ensure the preservation of theirs. Now I know what you’re thinking, that’s how everyone defines love. But we all know that isn’t true and if anyone claims otherwise then they’re of course lying.
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Albert Ruth crept cautiously down a dark heavily littered alley keeping the bottom of his book firmly clutched in his right hand. The dark brown trench coat resting on his shoulders fluttered back in the stale air filled with several pages of forgotten newspapers. Albert kept walking deeper down the alley until he came to an unnatural wall of black mist. The wall quickly hovered to the right and spread out across the brown dirt stained wall of an abandoned apartment project. A few moments went by and Albert turned, facing the dark void. The black liquid coursing through the mist stretched out towards the man in front of it and slowly reformed into the head of a bear.

“Where…” The deep unnerving voice echoed inside Albert’s mind.

Albert swallowed hard and caressed the brown cover of his book with his left hand.

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Hmm, I don’t think we should start here. Let’s rewind things back a bit and start over.
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“…Sarah, could you please pass the salt?” Albert glanced up at the fairly attractive woman sitting at the other end of a table he was sitting at.

“Get your own salt.” Sarah smiled, holding back a giggle.

“But it’s sitting right in front of you!” Albert protested.

“So what?” Sarah challenged.

Albert glanced around the large table he and a few other humans sat around. His stare fell onto a woman well into her sixties sitting next to Sarah. “Mom!”

“Albert, Sarah…” The old woman said with an obedience demanding tone in her voice and a humorous smile on her face. “Don’t make me send you to your rooms.”

“But…” Albert continued to protest, not realizing his family was joking. “But she…!”

“Oh, don’t worry honey.” A gorgeous woman sitting on the right side of the table chuckled. “I’ll keep you company.”

“Come on son, even your wife caught on to that one.” Albert’s father, who sat on the left side of the table laughed.

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My Family…my parents, Benson and Angelica Ruth, my sister Sarah…and my wife Linda. I love them of course although I have very little understanding of the term. I think of my wife…and I feel calm while most other people I see are stressed and emotionally unstable. Even those who managed to rise up in the social ranks and claim an easier way of life than those living in the slums or the outlands. However…I’ve always lived in the East District…except for my experiences inside the Telnari labor camp my life has mostly been slow paced. I’ve never felt as if I had something to lose. Mainly because there is no logical reason or event I can think of that would result in anything I have being taken away from me.
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“Thank you, please come again.” Albert nodded to a casually dressed woman as he deposited forty U.S. dollars into his cash register sitting on the counter he stood behind.

“Sure! Where else will I quench my thirst for a good murder mystery?” The woman smiled politely.

“Well…” Albert scratched the back of his head. “You’ve almost read every mystery book I’ve got.”

“Then you better get some new ones.” The woman giggled.

“That wouldn’t be too difficult a task, if people still wrote books in this city.” Albert pointed out.

“Oh…you’ll figure something out.” The woman stuffed the book into her purse then turned and walked out of Albert’s small bookstore.

“You’re quite the lady’s man.” A sarcastic male voice shot out from behind a large bookshelf.

“Huh?” Albert turned his head in the direction of the voice.

Daniel Troi stepped out from behind the bookshelf, giving Albert a sarcastic glare. “Is it ready?”

Albert sighed while staring down at the small button operated register. “A simple solution in the most complicated of situations. That’s why they never found it." The register sat atop a large black covered book. Albert set the register aside then held the book up as Daniel stepped up to the counter.

“This is it?” Daniel asked as Albert handed him the book.

“Page forty-two.” Albert answered.

Daniel opened the book and flipped to page forty-two and a descriptive drawing caught his eye. With each new page turned another piece of the drawing etched itself into Daniel’s memory bringing a confident smirk to his face.

“I’ll get Maggie to draw this up…Crystal’s gonna flip when she sees this.” Daniel smiled while glancing up at Albert. “You might have just helped save the human race!”

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Me? Save the human race? Ridiculous. Even if I could…I’d rather not be burdened with such a responsibility. But…there was too much at stake not to go along with what those few members of the resistance were planning. What I thought to be impossible became possible overnight.
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Albert’s wife, Linda trembled and groaned under the immense weight of a Telnari warrior in its mist filled liquid form. The humble bookstore owner gazed out in horror as the alien dictators slowly engulfed his entire family. Albert remained still, sitting on his knees to overwhelmed with shock and fear to act. He knew that one wrong move would result in nothing less the death of his family and himself. So instead he waited while his unstable emotions became more unstable.

“What do you want from me!?” Albert could no longer contain himself.

“You…spoke….with them.” A cold unnatural voice echoed inside Albert’s mind.

“Them…?” Confusion swirled inside Albert’s mind. “What are you talking about!?”

“Those…who would resist us.” The Telnari responded.

Answers finally began to stab at Albert’s mind. “She…I haven’t even spoken with her! Just in Passing!”

“You will give them a reason…to hope. Then you will tell us…where.”

Albert took one last look into the eyes of his terrified wife then lowered his head in defeat. “I’ll…I’ll do it. I’ll give you the location…”

“We do not need their location! We need them gathered as one! All of them! All of those who would lead against us!” The Telnari’s telepathic voice boomed inside Albert’s mind causing him to cover his ears.

“They’ll never gather all of their leaders into one spot! You must know that!” Albert pleaded.

“Human life is connected by the most subtle of circumstances.” The black mist that was the Telnari soldiers pulled back and vanished from Albert’s house.

Many months passed since Albert’s first real encounter with Telnari soldiers. Two weeks after he gave Daniel Troi the blueprint layout to the East District Albert found himself in the middle of a blackened alley starring down the head of another Telnari.

“…Where…” The Bear head remained still as the alien voice echoed inside Albert’s mind.

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Oh…we’ve made it back here already? Well then…I guess we should continue on into the present. Of course…I don’t think we need to go into what happened inside that library. I was fortunate enough not to lay my eyes upon the destruction but…I heard it…every scream…every death…I heard what I caused and the only thing I could think of was myself. I was glad of what I had accomplished. I saved my family. I saved…my wife…
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Albert constantly turned around as he made his way through the dark alleys of West District. Somehow, he knew that someone other than himself felt the guilt he refused to accept. He knew that someone else knew what he had done. No longer did his eyes scan the walls for black mist filled shadows. Now his conscience searched every part of the city he traveled for his own kind, humans.

“What’s your hurry…?” A familiar voice flowed into Albert’s ears.

The humble owner of a small bookstore froze while small droplets of water began to sprinkle onto the two humans standing in the middle of the dark alley. “He…Helena?”

“Money is a toy…something we’ve reduced to an aphrodisiac…a distraction…no…no one would join them for money. You don’t seem the type that would hand over human lives to them to save your own either.

Albert spun around trying to find the source of the infuriated voice. “Helena? Where are you?”

Helena’s destroyed expression centered in Albert’s line of sight. “So who did they threaten…? A friend? No…your family…” A large shard of glass sparkled in her left hand. “You still have them…all of them…”

Albert couldn’t speak; no words could form inside his mind. He only stared at the broken woman with pure terror flashing behind his eyes.

“But…who do I have?” Tears streamed down Helena’s cheeks. “Who!?” The glass shard rose into the air and Albert’s horror reflected on its edge. Just before the glass ripped open a deep gash in Albert’s chest, a dark figure glided through the alley and snatched Helena from in front of Albert. “No…!”

Albert stumbled back onto the ground and the back of his head hit the rusted front end of a dumpster. “A…A vampire…!? Here!?”

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Why? How does this keep happening to me? Am I blessed? Or just unnaturally fortunate? I destroyed so many lives just to save my own…and succeeded. What happened to her? I don’t know…I don’t want to know. I just wanted…to live out the life I’m allowed to live. I want to be with my wife. I just want my place in the world. Anyone can judge me, call me a coward, or heartless…but until they experience what I have experienced. Until their families are threatened then they won’t have anything to back their claims except their hollow sense of morale judgement.
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Albert slowly stepped through the doorway to his two story home then shut the front door. “Linda…?”

Linda ran from across the hall into Albert’s arms with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Albert…!”

“It’s all right honey…it’s all over.” Albert squeezed his wife firmly in his arms.

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At least I thought it was…
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Albert yawned as he rearranged one of the bookshelves inside his store. His mind was trying as hard as it could to black out the recent events that took place. “Back to usual I suppose.”

“Help me…” An eerie heartbroken voice echoed around Albert’s ears.

The nervous bookstore owner turned and scanned the small area behind him. “Who…who’s there!?” He could tell the voice belonged to a woman. However its frail and helpless pitch only frightened Albert instead of inciting any desire to help whoever had wandered into his store. Everything was where it should be, his two bookcases containing his rare collection of romance and mystery novels from the Earth’s past collected dust against the wall. The broken jukebox that he refused to throw away despite many protests from his wife sat dead next to the cases. His eyes slowly scanned to the right as his body turned taking in several of the long bookcases containing hundreds of literatures that provided a small distraction from everyday life to the citizens of the of east district. “Come out…I can hear you…!” Images of Helena Troi’s broken expression flashed in his mind just before the bottom of a wet, pink, white laced sneaker squished onto the wooden floorboards in front of the entrance to the store. Albert’s body swung around, his mind expecting Helena’s devastated form to be trembling in front of the door. “Please don’t…I had no choice!” Instead of a vengeful librarian, Albert’s eyes centered onto a small teenage girl trembling in his doorway with tears streaming down her cheeks. Her long brunette hair streaked with blonde highlights shivered with the rest of her body as she struggled to stay on her feet.

“Please…” Dried red blood stains covered several spots on her white long red sleeved sweater and her short light red cheerleading skirt. “He…hel…” Her breath left her and her body hit the hard wooden floor with a slight thud.

It took over thirty seconds for Albert’s mind to process the situation. When he finally regained control of his body and senses he rushed over to the girl and knelt down beside her. “What happened to you?” He asked while lifting the upper portion of her body into his arms. “Who did this to you?”

The girl’s eyes quivered as she gazed up into Albert’s bewildered gaze. “Da…daddy…” Darkness consumed her vision before her eyes could manage to shut and a single tear rolled down her cheek as she lost consciousness.

“Where is he?” Albert shook her gently. “Where is your father? Where did you come from? What happened to you!?”

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I knew she wasn’t going to answer but we humans do the most meaningless things when confused or in distress. We assume the immense force of emotion we’re feeling can allow us to control any current situation through sheer will. I had no idea who this young girl was or what had happened to her. The only thing I realized at that moment was that I would never be allowed to leave the dark place in my mind where I condemned nearly twenty people to their deaths. Where I betrayed their trust to save my own life. Where…I betrayed her…
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“Who is she?” Linda asked Albert while starring down at the girl, a curious gaze covering her face.

“You know as much about her as I do, Linda.” Albert said while wringing out a damp wash cloth then placing it over the young girl’s forehead.

The mysterious girl now lay on a soft mattresses pulled out from an old fold out couch Albert and Linda kept near the back right wall of their living room. Her attractive features shined even through the fear and devastation painted on her face. She seemed to be having very stressful nightmares and every few minutes she would gasp. No matter how many times Linda would gently wipe away the girl’s tears and sweat with a small handkerchief the salty liquid would return in a matter of seconds.

Albert glanced at his wife who was asking him what had happened to the girl with her expression. “I don’t know, Linda. I just…don’t know.

Night fell and Albert and Linda had long since retired to their bedroom when suddenly, the girl awoke screaming loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood. Albert shot up from beneath his sheets and immediately turned his shocked gaze to his wife, who was still sleeping peacefully beside him. Albert smiled. Linda had always been a heavy sleeper. He held in a chuckle as he remembered that not even wetting the bed could wake her when she was much younger. This never bothered him as he loved watching her sleep while he held her tightly in his arms every night. His mind had almost forgotten what had awoken him when a distant echo of a small girl sobbing pulled his memories back into focus.

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She was crying because she had been robbed.
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She’s awake! Maybe now I can get some answers and put an end to this before it starts. I just hope to god the Telnari aren’t involved in this…

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No I do not believe in god. I’d be surprised if anyone did, what with the way things are. But old habits die hard suppose.
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“It’s all right. You’re safe.” Albert tried his best to ease the girl’s fears. He caressed her back tenderly as she buried her face in his chest and held onto him as if he were the only human alive.

“No it’s not…” She finally said after what seemed like an eternity of crying. “They took him from me…they took David from me…All I had left was my father…and then…” She broke down into tears again.

“Who took them from you?” Albert held his breath without realizing. “The Telnari?”

The girl gazed up at Albert with fear and loss in her eyes. “Yes…well no…I suppose you could say that.” She pulled away from Albert and wiped her blurry vision free of tears with her right hand. “We were on the outskirts...I was diagnosed with a rare disease that was eating away at my…well basically I wouldn’t have been able to have children within three years. That was four years ago when I was fourteen. The Telnari were going to force me to have a kid in one of their reproduction labs but David and my father saved me. We thought we were safe since David and I were in love since kindergarten…”

“But since you weren’t ready to have children the only option your father and friend took was getting you out of the city.” Albert stated.

“We all thought that mostly rebels lived in the outlands and only set up a few miles away from the city on the outskirts hoping we could mooch some food and water off of them.” The girl explained.

“What happened out there?” Albert wondered.

“We were attacked by virus infected freaks that’s what!” The girl screamed as she lost the little composure she had gained. “There was no resistance! They’re all dead! The Telnari didn’t even have to send out any extermination squads because everyone out there had already killed everyone else!”

“I…” Albert didn’t know what to say, he figured it would be best to let the girl get her story out.

“The werewolves and vampires formed their own syndicates and war with each other everyday and the zombies just eat whoever is stupid enough to wander outside of the cities! They ate…they killed David! And my father! He tried to kill me right in the middle of the street! They destroyed what little family I had left! I hate them! I hate them all!” The girl buried her face in Albert’s chest again and cried for several minutes before letting out one last infuriated scream.

Albert stroked the back of the girl’s head gently, not knowing what to say. After much hesitation he finally decided to speak. “What’s your name?”

The girl whimpered while clinging to Albert. “Emily…”

“Emily.” Albert repeated her words. “I won’t begin to assume I know what it’s like to lose one’s entire life but I have nearly found myself in your situation albeit under totally different circumstances.”

“Yeah…so?” Emily sniffled.

Albert gave the girl a warm smile. “So I’m going to do what I know you’re expecting and probably don’t want me to do.”

“Which is?”

“Tell you to look on the bright side.”

“Bright side!?” Emily’s anger burned through her glistening tears.

“You may have lost everything, but the Telnari probably still consider you lost or dead somewhere in the outlands. You’re free to live your life freely. And as I can see from no brandishing mark on your arms or legs you have not been to a labor camp yet either. Now you will never have to go.” Albert explained.

“What good is freedom if you have no use for it?” Emily sunk back beneath the sheets of the couch mattress and began to sob weakly.

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Where does it come from? Words like that would have never escaped her lips if she had not been through an overwhelming emotional experience. Somehow the weighs of the heart and mind transform us humans into more than we ever thought we could be, even when we are destroyed. A line like that would help the novelists of the past create great works of literature. I wonder how long they would sit under their dim lamp lights wondering what to put down on their scattered pieces of paper. So much effort for a few words and yet…this girl cried them out silently as if they had been there all along just waiting for the right moment to be released.
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Albert carelessly through on his black overcoat and dropped his house keys into his left coat pocket. He didn’t even notice his wife as she stepped up beside him.

Linda sighed at the thought of her husband’s thoughtlessness. She swore to everyone she knew that he wasn’t the type of guy who got picked on everyday during his early school years but deep down she knew that somehow she managed to fall in love with a quirky, clumsy, nerd. Perhaps not a nerd she thought as she gave him a warm unnoticed smile. A gentle, caring, gentleman. My night in shining armor.

“Do you really think this is a good idea, Alby?” Linda voiced her presence just before her husband walked out of their house.

Albert stopped in the middle of the doorway then turned to face his wife. “Think what is a good idea?”

“You know.” Linda accused.

“Normally I would try and find some place else to place her. Make her someone else’s problem but…” Albert lowered his gaze to the floor.

Linda could see the hurt in her husband’s eyes through the thin frames of his glasses. “But?”

“Some strange force of will brought her to my doorstep. Just like before when…when she came.” Albert managed to whisper.

“You mean…the woman from the library?” Linda stated the obvious.

“She came to me pleading for me to help her brother and that’s how I got involved with the resistance. And then I…betrayed them all.”

“You had no choice, Alby. You’re not the type of man to just let his family be murdered just to help a bunch of strangers.” Linda placed her hand on Albert’s pale right cheek and she felt him tremble under her soft touch.

“I couldn’t let them hurt you, Linda. I wouldn’t!” Albert snapped at no one in particular. “I had no choice back then but now I do. Emily isn’t a member of any resistance. She’s just a lost child looking for someone to help her. I don’t intend to turn my back on her…I can’t.”

Linda began to understand why Albert was so attached to the girl who walked into their lives a little over three months ago. Poor Alby…he feels so guilty for betraying those rebels that he feels he must rescue this girl from the world. She smiled at her own thoughts. My hero…

“Okay, Alby…I understand.” Linda said soothingly.

“Do you really?” Albert’s eyes glinted with a spark of relief as he raised his head.

Linda smiled and nodded. “Mmhmm. And don’t worry I won’t get jealous just because you go out with an eighteen year old everyday.”

Albert felt the blood circulating through his face gather in his cheeks and laughed. “It’s ok, Linda you’ll always be my number one girl.”

“I know.” Linda giggled.


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Emily strode happily across the wooden floorboards of the Something Written bookstore carrying a stack of five books tucked into her arms. Her spirits were always lifted when stepped through the store’s inviting doorway. She woke up early every morning just to have the shop ready for its owner and her new closest friend Albert Ruth. A careless daze had overtaken her mind as she reorganized the hundreds of stories the shop had to offer. However, the daze was shattered and her eyes lit up at the sound and sight of the shop’s owner entering the establishment.

“Albert! Hey I didn’t expect to see you for at least another hour.” Emily beamed.

“Yeah I know.” Albert couldn’t help smiling as he rubbed the back of his head when he saw happiness sparkling in Emily’s eyes and spread across her adorable face. “But I figured since you come in early everyday just to get things ready in here I figured I should show a little more work ethic and…”

Emily jumped down from the small step ladder she stood on while putting away the books she once carried, ran over to Albert, then wrapped her arms tightly around him. “Oh you didn’t have to do that. You know I love working here!”

Albert felt his cheeks reddening again as he lightly hugged Emily. “I’ve never seen an eighteen year old girl so interested in books.”

Emily gazed up at Albert with an adorable smile on her face then winked. “Maybe it’s not the books I’m interested in.”

Albert laughed with Emily and they both walked over to the counter which held a cash register and a small sign displaying the latest arrivals to the shop. “You really miss him don’t you?”

The strength in Emily’s smile weakened causing it to shrink but she refused to let an expression of despair overtake her face. “Yeah…I loved David more than life…the only reason I haven’t tried to go to wherever he is now is because he wouldn’t want me to. He always wanted me to be safe and happy. I can’t force myself to feel joy…but I can at least try and keep myself safe for him.”

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Me? I’d kill myself on the spot. I couldn’t bear to live in this poor excuse for a world without Linda.
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“They’re coming…” A smooth and confident male voice flowed into Emily’s ears.

Emily froze and the book she was placing into the fifth shelf of the book case tipped back out of her hand and hit the shop floor with a loud echoing boom. Voice… “That voice…”

A subtle mist flowed in through the open doorway of the Something Written bookstore. The steaming white vapor shrouded around the black boots and long black overcoat of a tall handsome man with a cool smirk and confident demeanor. Emily could barely see him through her peripheral vision out of the corner of her eye but knew exactly what he looked like. The man was of medium build, covered in black satin pants, a black cotton t-shirt, and black gloves which were half hidden as he kept his hands in his pockets. Short messy dirt stained black hair hung out over his forehead just above his deep black eyes.

“Did shivers just run down your spine?” The man chuckled. “I have that effect on the ladies.”

Emily’s calm composure left her. The once sweet and innocent teenage girl that stumbled helplessly into Albert Ruth’s bookstore vanished and in an instant was replaced by an enraged animal that had just had everything taken away from it in a matter of seconds. “You…bastard! ” She leapt off the step ladder and charged at the mysterious man with tears flying from her eyes. “It’s your fault! It’s all your fault!”

The man remained still, gazing out at Emily with a sadistic glint of humor in his eyes. “Kind of sexy when she’s angry.”

Another man stepped into the bookstore doorway and the sight of this man halted Emily’s adrenaline induced charge to a slow walk and eventual stop. Her arms lowered and her mouth hung open. Confusion spread across her face while her eyes sparkled with hope. “D…David?”

This new mysterious guest to Something Written halted his stride by the man dressed in black. He too was tall and of medium build with short blonde hair and dim green eyes. A large brown overcoat hung over the green t-shirt, blue cargo pants, and blue sneakers the man wore. His blank stare centered on the bewildered girl standing a few feet away from him and his lips formed a sly smirk.

“Definitely when she’s angry.” David said coolly.

Happiness, fear, confusion, and rage overtook Emily’s emotions all at once. “But…but you died.” She didn’t know whether to continue her murderous intent towards the man next to her supposedly deceased lover or jump into David’s arms and cry all of her sorrows away with tears of joy.

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Now I don’t know the specifics of what happened between Emily and those two men she was with inside my store. The only thing I know is it wasn’t something neither me nor Emily wanted to happen.
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Albert Ruth walked up to the Something Written bookstore. His bookstore. He glanced up at the steel sign that sat above a small overhang that stretched out three feet above his shop. They laughed when I used steel but now I’m the only shop owner left on the street who’s customers can identify the store. The doors to the store opened with a slight creak. Hmm…better get that fixed tomorrow. Or maybe this weekend. Albert strode into the store while slowly removing his overcoat then carelessly threw it over the counter when it was in reach. He paused for a moment and took a glance around the shop. I wonder where Emily is.

“So you just want me to go with you and give up what little life I have left!?” Emily’s voice shot into Albert’s ears.

Albert flinched at the unexpected sound of anger in Emily’s voice then crept closer to the source. “Emily..?” He whispered so low that he could barely hear his own words.

“Life? What life? Don’t tell me you actually like it here working for some pencil neck nobody in this smelly old bookstore.” The voice came from the first man dressed in black to enter the shop. “We’ve been watching you for months now and we know you aren’t really enjoying yourself here.”

“Well of course not!” Emily’s voice grew fiercer and louder. “I was trying to keep my promise to you! And don’t you talk about Albert that way. I owe him my life!”

“I’ve had enough of this.” The other man in the brown overcoat spoke this time.

Albert heard one of his chairs set near the back of the shop turn over and then something he hoped he would never hear again. He heard another horrified scream from Emily.

“David! No!” A loud wooden crash echoed inside the bookshop.

The only thing Albert managed to see was Emily being forcibly carried out from behind the large bookcases that made up the center of his shop. The two men moved so fast that a blurred glimpse of the three people was all Albert could manage before they were gone. David? Albert stood helpless at the counter of his bookstore, gazing out at the open doorway. I thought…

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I thought he was dead. This man she mentioned, David. Yet there he was hauling her off to god knows where with some other dark figure that I could barely make out. I don’t know why this keeps happening to me. Why so many people just happen to find me when in their most desperate moments. Why it is up to me whether they live a breath longer or die cold and alone. The one thing I have come to realize however is that I have turned my head one too many times at the cry for help from those who truly need and deserve it. Wherever those two have taken that poor sweet girl…I’ll find her. I won’t turn by back on Emily like I did Helena. I’ll save her and bring her back to her home here with my…with her family. I won’t let her become another senseless victim caught in between the wrath of the monsters those damned Telnari have created. I won’t fail again…I won’t let her die…I won’t turn my back on her.
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