Neither Good Nor Evil: Journey to the Truth

By S. M. Robinson

Have you ever been told that everyone has a destiny laid out in time? Well, for Charles, this was something he never wanted. He ran from it until he couldn't any further. Seven years had passed since that daunting memory and it haunted him every day. Was that the end of a tragic c

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Seaquel Publishing
• Release date: Jun 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088145661

Book preview

Neither Good Nor Evil

Journey to the Truth

S. M. Robinson

Copyright © 2023 S. M. Robinson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

The Seaquel Publishing—Lynchburg, VA

ISBN: 979-8-9854001-3-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023910172

Title: Neither Good Nor Evil: Journey to the Truth

Author: S. M. Robinson

Digital distribution | 2023

Paperback | 2023

This is a work of fiction. The characters, names, incidents, places, and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination, and are not to be construed as real.

Trusting in others is always difficult to do, but loving yourself is the first step. Once you learn how to do that you won’t worry about the disappointment of strife that comes with trusting someone. It will come naturally. Put yourself first, trust in yourself, and it will come easy every time.

Contents

Neither Good Nor Evil

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 1

Denial

A

s he walked into his very own apartment for the first time in seven years on the run, Charles realized he didn’t need to keep his bag on his back anymore. He thanked the landlord and closed the door. He took the keys to his apartment, put them on the counter, and placed his bag on the bed. He saw there were freshly folded sheets on it. He stood in his apartment and looked around. It was small, but he knew it was his. It had everything he needed, a bed, stove, sink, and a bathroom.

For the first time in a long time, it had a door with locks on it to separate him from the outside world. Charles walked to the chair by the nightstand. He placed it at the window. He sat and watched the rain as it slithered down the window pane. From a distance, he could see the people walking on the street and he thought back to when he first arrived there in Chicago. It was a rainy day much like that day. The only difference is that day wasn’t as pleasant as this one had turned out to be.

Sindy drove up to a church and handed Charles some money. She told him to keep it somewhere safe. Charles tucked his money away in his pants.

She said, Never take the money out for anyone to see and never willingly give it to anyone. People will always steal from you or hurt you to take what you have. You have to be strong and take care of yourself. If you need me, call me. I will do my best to help you when I can. I know people in Chicago and I will find some way to get you help.

Charles agreed and he thanked her. He got out of the car and he noticed that two old men were standing at the entrance of the church as he approached the doors. One of them walked away and the other approached him asking him for money as Charles tried to enter the church. Charles didn’t respond to him and the man pulled at his bag which jerked him backward. Charles struggled to get the bag back from the man and a lady came to his aid then the man let go. She told the old man to leave him alone. The man sat down on the bench outside of the church mumbling to himself. The woman looked at Charles and asked him if he was ok? Charles was upset, but he nodded. He then asked the woman if they had any room for him there and she took him to the pastor for him to talk to him about staying.

Charles knocked on the pastor’s door. The pastor told him to wait for a second, but the door cracked open. Charles peeped in. He could not see the pastor, but he heard him talking to someone. He opened the door wider and he saw something that looked like a huge statue standing over top of the pastor. Charles leaned in a little further to get a better view, but the door creaked loudly. The statue moved abruptly and it frightened Charles. At that moment, he heard a loud clap of thunder and fell into the wall. The pastor came to the door and told Charles he could come in. Charles gathered himself and got up off the floor. He didn’t know what to think of what he saw.

The pastor said, What can I help you with?

Charles hesitantly responded, I was told this is a place that I can stay until I can find somewhere else to go.

Charles looked around his office. He didn't see anyone else in the room anymore. He began to think he was imagining things. He didn’t want to ask the pastor what he saw, because there was no way that it got out of the room without him seeing as it was too big to get out of the windows. He was embarrassed to have this pastor believe that he was hallucinating, so he didn’t ask. He remembered seeing the symbol on the statue’s necklace that Sindy had on her wrist so he decided to draw it and research it at a later time.

The pastor noticed how curious he was and asked him if he was a Christian or a believer in Christ.

Charles looked at him and asked him, What is a Christ?

The pastor laughed and said, Yes we have plenty of room for you my son. I will have Sister Bethany show you where you will be sleeping and she can help you find your way around. We will meet again later today to go over some things.

Charles didn’t realize it, but that day started his journey down a winding road. Everything from his past, the demon, his friends, and leaving everything behind had led him to this very moment.

As Charles got settled in for the afternoon, the man that was outside asking for money earlier was watching him while he went through the church with Sister Bethany. Charles wasn’t paying attention to what she was telling him because he kept seeing the man following them through the church. He stopped Sister Bethany and asked her to show him to the restroom.

As he went in, the old man came in a few minutes later. Charles went to the last stall and crouched on the toilet.  He heard the man hitting every stall door and when he got to his, he was ready for him. He had the knife that he took with him from killing Sasha still dried from her blood in his hand. Charles looked down and saw the man’s feet approaching the door. The old man could see that the door wasn’t fully closed. The door crept open and as the man took a step to walk into the stall, the restroom door opened and the old man stepped back. Someone had entered the restroom. It was the pastor looking for Charles.

Charles! Are you in here my son, said Pastor Henderson.

Charles closed the knife up and put it back in his pants pocket. The old man walked away from the stall and Charles came out.

The old man smiled and whispered, Don’t go to sleep tonight little one, and then he laughed.

Charles chuckled and walked over to the pastor. He left the restroom with the pastor and they went to the sanctuary. The pastor wanted to show him more of the Bible, teach him who Christ was and what the pastor believed Charles’s role was to play in life.

Pastor Henderson told Charles that he knew he was sent there to be Christ’s soldier. He was to do what no other man could do. He had a long journey ahead of him and he needed to learn what he could from him. He needed to clear his mind and clean his heart from anger and fear so that he could take this task on. If he didn’t, he would go down the wrong path.

Charles looked at him and laughed. He wasn’t raised in a religious home and he didn’t believe what the pastor told him.

Charles got up and said, I just came here to have a place to lay my head and have somewhere to eat so that I wouldn’t be left out in the cold. There’s nothing you need to teach me, pastor.

He started to walk away when the pastor said, Do you believe in demons and angels Charles?

Charles turned around to the pastor and asked, What do you know about that?

The pastor told him, You were sent to me my son to learn how to control the powers that were given to you. You will be receiving more as you get older. You are his soldier. Please let me teach you.

Charles turned back around and walked to his room. He sat on his cot and thought about what the pastor had said. He thought about what happened that night with Sasha, his father, and his stepmother. He didn’t understand how any of that would have to do with religion. This was all caused by a crazy woman and a demon. He got rid of that demon, not some religious fanatic. There was no way this pastor could do anything to make him believe otherwise.

As the night went on, he lay on his cot remembering that Sindy told him not to let anyone get ahold of his money, so he looked around in the room for a spot to hide it. He then saw that there was a loose board under his cot. He used his knife to lift it and he placed his money in there.

Later that night, he heard a creak in the floor outside his door. He then got his knife quietly out of his pocket and as he tried to put it under his pillow, he felt two hands holding his head down and two more hands holding his legs down. He began to panic.

He heard, Find his money now.

There are rustling sounds like someone is going through his bags. He tries to move but they are holding onto him tight.

He heard one person say, I can’t find anything, all I see are clothes and pictures.

Finally, they flip him over and he jabs the knife into one of them and he starts swinging the knife all over the place. He saw two people flee out of the room and one person dropped. The room was so dark he couldn’t see who was who, but he knew he had gotten at least two people in the shuffle. He got up and turned the light on. He yelled down the hall for Sister Bethany and several people came running to see what had happened.              Sister Bethany came to his room. The person on the floor that was stabbed was the old man. A trail of blood led down the hallway to the outer doors. The old man had let someone in to help him steal from Charles. She was shocked to find that he was stabbed. She looked over at Charles and asked him what had happened. He told her what they did and she called 911. Sister Bethany had someone else there call for the pastor.

Charles didn’t have any remorse about what had happened. He knew he was coming and didn’t care that he was in pain. When the pastor got there, he let Charles tell him what happened. He asked him if he felt sorry about it.

Charles asked him, Why? The man told me to not go to sleep. He gave me a heads-up on what he was going to do. So, no I don’t. They were going to steal my stuff.

The pastor replied solemnly, Son I can save your soul before it is gone. You already know what is out there. God helps you daily and you can’t even see it. Give me a chance to prove it to you.

Charles became curious. He wanted to see what he was talking about. He agreed and the pastor told him that he will set something up with him the next day.  As Charles slept that night, he dreamt about a red glowing light that formed over the old man’s head before he stabbed him. He kept seeing it over and over again. He tried to stop stabbing him, but he couldn’t. Then Charles saw someone coming toward him.

The man reached out his arms to him and said, Come to me, my child.

Charles felt like he had seen this man before, but he wasn’t sure where he had seen him. He wasn’t scared and he wanted to go to him, but he