Stranger Within

Prologue My life is in shambles, tomorrow my fate will be decided, how did it all come to this point? My stupid decisions were bound to catch up with me and everyone I trusted deserted me, my fate is in the hands of blind idiots! At that instant, I thought about Dickens, A Christmas Carol, why I don’t know. It was the moment Scrooge was confronted by his business partner, Jacob Marley who foretold the coming visits of three ghosts. I immediately thought that Scrooge represented my former boss Victor because I knew most details of his flawed past. He had been self-possessed, was selfish, money hungry, having many failed relationships and totally unaware of his effect on those around him just like Scrooge. During the time we worked together, he also became painfully aware of wreckage strewn throughout much of his past. “But wait,” I thought, “Here I sit in the s**t of my own making, where I am really Scrooge and others involved are my visiting ghosts.” What a rude awakening these moments of clarity had become. Things were taking shape, friends were enjoyable, Boston was a fun place to live and then it all crashed around me. How could the death of one person send me, at such an early stage of my life, into a tailspin? I am not a violent person, seldom even had a violent thought and then in a horrific moment, committed the ultimate act of violence! The events leading up to this moment are branded into my brain and cannot be blocked. My arrival in Boston and start of a new job went smoothly. Even though Victor my boss, was an enigma, we hit it off. I soon learned that his drive took him to the extreme and usually, disastrous results. It became clear that, what many viewed as his courage, vision, and resolve were really recklessness, denial and inability to change course. Also, I was working in the midst of the murky interplay between corporate, military and intelligence communities. Victor was obsessed with the vision that he could override the shady origination of his company by, what he thought, was improvement of the lives of those around him. As CEO, he was both highly engaging and ruthless. When he came in contact with others, they were enthralled. On the other hand, with his co-workers and friends, he remained a mystery. This web of deceit and shadowy communications slowly led to failure and needless violence. Our world unravelled before we knew what was really going on and crashed just as I was becoming familiar with the people around me. Becoming so absorbed in their fate, I was drawn into the inner fabric of the tragic events as they unfolded. All were innocent victims which created a profound sense of loss and the feeling of futility as the senseless violence and betrayal hit them. Was it really my role to put the genie back in the bottle? My efforts should have focused on getting my life back on track. Getting sucked in by Victor's crazy friend Dominick was a huge blunder. Well, I guess it all was just meant to happen!