The Confession - Trade Wars, Secrets, and Monsters
CHAPTER TWO: I must warn the President without dooming my family. How do I outrun the shadows?
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Chapter Two - The Confession
The walls have ears
Waiting outside the President’s office, I tortured myself with images of things I saw in that derelict bunker. Things that shouldn’t be possible, creeping the hell out of me. These people call them selves a rebellious coalition, but they’re a cabal of fucking monsters hellbent on controling the world. I must warn the President, but how? They have eyes everywhere, and the stakes couldn’t be higher!
“Welcome back, Michael,” the President greeted with a warm handshake as I entered his office. “How was the trip?”
“Terrifying, sir,” I answered.
“Is that so?” he smiled as if I was joking. “Well, I’m glad you made it back safe.”
“Thank you, Mr President.”
“So, what did you learn?” he leaned forward.
I stepped closer and whispered in his ear. “How secure is this room?”
“It’s the presidential office, Michael,” he replied.
“What I’m about to tell you is a matter of life or death. I can’t stress this enough,” I insisted. “The walls have ears.”
Without saying a word, he led me to the nuclear bunker beneath the building. Once inside this hi-tech control room, full of blinking lights and blinding monitors, a striking contrast to the old mold-infested rust bucket I visited the day before, the General explained, “This is the most secure room in existence. Report!”
Spill your guts
I performed the monster’s bidding, unable to shake the eerie sense of being watched, a menacing breath constantly imprinting on my neck. The General scribbled notes as I spoke.
The President asked, “What do you make of this, Michael?”
“They say it’s about forming a coalition to resist the US pressure?” I mumbled, convincing no one.
“Did you recognize anyone there?” a minister of foreign affairs asked.
“No, sir,” I was honest. “Everyone there was like me.”
“Can you elaborate?” he asked.
“A nobody. An expandable pawn.” I kept seeing the images from that wretched envelope in my mind, like a warning to keep my mouth shut. “May I ask: why me?”
“Because I trust you, Michael,” the President comforted. I shrugged it off, and he noticed.
“What is it? Speak plainly,” he said.
“These people are not who they pretend to be. Trump’s war is just a pretense to lure us into a trap. You cannot trust these people!”
“Go on,” the General pushed. I noticed he was getting itchy.
How do I tell them what I saw? They’ll think me mad! I wanted to spill my guts, but it was a death sentence if any of it got out! The salt on my lips betrayed the terror within.
“No one will judge you for your words, son,” the General said. He knows!
“The US is pushing us into a corner, Michael. We have to find a way to fight this, and we can’t do it alone,” the President explained.
“I understand. Please trust me. We cannot get involved with these mons … people. It is wrong!”
“That’s politics, Michael. Sometimes we must compromise with people we despise, for the greater good.”
The General added, “Grow up, kid!”
“With all due respect, you weren’t there. You didn’t see what I saw. They threatened …” I bit my lip, sensing an icy stare from beyond, and the invisible noose around my neck squeezed tighter. Thread carefully, Michael!
“They threatened what?” the General asked.
“We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, Michael. We’re choosing the lesser evil,” the President said.
“Yeah - you’re not!”
“I’m sorry?” the President inquired.
“We’ll find another way, sir. We have to!”
“What’s gotten you so spooked, Michael?” the President asked. “This isn’t like you.”
I must warn them
“At the meeting… the first thing…” I paused. Please forgive me! “There was this envelope. We all got one.” I held the ghostly envelope in my trembling hands.
“Inside, there were pictures of our loved ones. They said that if we broke the silence, …” I explained, realizing I might have just killed everyone I love.
The President got up and touched my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Michael. I didn’t know.”
“Thank you, sir,” a lot of good that does.
“Put a security detail on the kid’s family - ASAP!” the General yelled into his radio. “It’s done! Now - what aren’t you telling us?”
“You don’t understand!” I mumbled.
“What don’t I understand?! Tell me!” the General burst out and slammed his fists on the table!
“General! He’s not the enemy,” the President stopped him.
“Then why is he keeping secrets from us?!” the General insisted.
“I saw something! Okay?”
“You saw what?”
“You won’t believe me,” I whined.
“Spill it out!”
I leaned in and whispered, “They weren’t human!” To my surprise, no one laughed.
“What exactly did you see?” the President asked me as the General cleared the room.
“They were wearing human masks—some sort of camouflage. At first, it was the small things that caught my attention. I noticed a glitch, something crawling under their skin. Then it was the way they moved - like shadows out of sync, and they were so freaking cold. Worse, I could feel them in my head, clawing at my thoughts. Whatever they are, they aren’t like us. I was in the presence of evil, sir.”
Bloody relief
The two men looked at each other in silence. “That will be all, Michael. Thank you. I’m afraid I can’t let you leave this compound until this ordeal is over. I’m sure you understand, given the nature of the threat. We’ll call when we need you,” the President said, and his security detail escorted me to my new room.
As I lay my head to rest, under lock and key, I couldn’t stop thinking about their reaction. Why weren’t they freaked out? Did they send me there knowing they were pushing me into a den of monsters?
A note slipped under my door. My first thought was, the monsters know! I’ve sentenced my family to death. I opened the note. It said: “Get some sleep. You’re going back!”
To be continued… (expect the next chapter in 7 days)
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The Mystery Man - Trade Wars, Secrets, and Monsters
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