How about this:
Our story begins in the far away 1860, when what was going to be the United States of America was still but a mishmash of nations without a true identity. At the time, in one of the largest cities in the nation known as Maryland, a group of people was found guilty by the Law of act so horrible that were almost considered inhuman.
Yet, despite a severe punishment, these people didn’t want to change, and so even as they served their punishment in a prison, they still believed firmly in their own ideas. Alas, their imprisonment wasn’t going to be long term, for, a few years later, the war between the Confederacy and the Union was starting.
The confederacy, in need of able bodies to be sent to war, was quick to forget why those people had been confined there, promising them safety after the war, if they were to fight for them.
The group of people, having grown stronger in their faith with the hardships they had faced, accepted the offer and, when it was possible deserted the war, hiding themselves in the low hills of Kentucky, amidst the forests and the brooks, they deemed themselves saved and so, they started building for the future.
For two hundred years, the original settler had built and prepared, welcoming any immigrant to join in their town, until it was obvious to all that the small town of Riverbrook was only a small rural town, which had nothing much to offer besides the tight kinship of the community inhabitants themselves.
Yet, that was only what some of the people living there wanted to show to the world surrounding them.
The truth was far worse.
Underground, beneath the town, there were series upon series of tunnels that had been dug and refurbished constantly in those two hundred years.
The massive system of tunnels was friendly called by those who had built it as ‘The Hive’.
Within the Hive, the original settlers had made sure that their descendants, and those that had joined them, would keep their ideas and their beliefs throughout the centuries. To do so, the settlers had given themselves a name and a history, made of rituals and blessings.
They called themselves ‘The Tribe’. And while the original settlers could afford to prey on those unsuspecting travelers that approached the city for their own interest, in the present days the Tribe was thriving upon unsuspecting victims that would be transferring there for a new future, or that had made to grow into slavery since their early childhood.
For the Tribe, despite the centuries, had kept alive the same beliefs that caused their ancestors to be banned from the civilized society.
Cannibalism.
Most of the inhabitants of the small town was, one way or the other, connected to the tribe and yet, some of them weren’t even aware of it. And the Tribe made all it could to keep this secret within themselves.
The tunnels underground the city spread far and wide and yet, it was only in some selected buildings that hatches were placed in secured places. It had worked almost flawlessly for two centuries and, as the Tribe grew numerous, so grew the rules within its members to ensure that it would remain a secret within the town.
Of the many members of the Tribe, though, five were a constant within Riverbrook.
The five that covered the roles of the Elder’s council, which were also the five most influential persons within the town. The Mayor, the Chief of the local Police station, the Chief of the local Fire Brigade, the Director of the local High school and the town’s only Doctor.
These five, within their weekly meetings, were always discussing ways on how to improve the Tribe wellbeing or how to deal with potential threats.
As it was the current case.
Sitting in a round room, deep underground, the five elders start their meeting with reports from each of their own areas of competence, giving out figures and plans, speaking of their fellow citizens, as they were nothing more than cattle. The one currently taking the word was the Mayor, Samantha Caldwell, a forty-ish years old woman that had to have been a real stunner twenty years before. She was providing her shares of information’s to the other elders, speaking with her charismatic voice as she pictured the town’s growth in the coming years.
“… based on these figures, we can expect that the economic boom our country is in, might also impact us here. So, we should start preparing for a wave of newcomers within the end of next year.”
As she stopped, so the Chief of Police took word. Frank Curgen was an almost fifty years old, though looking guy, he wasn’t a native of Riverbrook but, he had soon become one of the pillars of the Tribe since he had been transferred into that backwater town.
“I have some news to report. These last two years have been a crescendo of people being fired from our station. Some of them, as we all know, have been ‘fired’ due to the Tribe needs… Others as per request from the National Database. Unfortunately, this crescendo has brought upon us some unwanted attentions.”
“What do you mean with that, Frank?”
The speaker was John Sullivan, Chief of the Fire Brigade, who although being a native of Riverbrook, had found out about the tribe only after he had married his wife.
“I’ve been informed today…” said Frank with an annoyed grunt “That some movie director has got into his head the idea of filming a new movie around these parts. And his main characters would be two police officers that, for this reason, will be needing access to our Police Station. Now, I’m not saying that they will be coming here ready to film right away but, our… ‘needs’ within the police force may have attracted some attentions and we need to be prepared to deal with it.
As far as I’ve been told, the person hired as actor might be coming for no less than a year to live within the city.
I can’t provide you all with information about this person, as I have been informed only of its coming and that it will try to live as its characters would.”
As the other elders began discussing about the troubling matter, one of them couldn’t keep silent anymore as he burst out laughing. The other four turned toward him as if he was mad.
“I’m sorry, friends, I just realized that I’m holding within my mind the answer to all of our issues.”
The owner of this voice was none other than Riverbrook’s only Doctor, Nick Reid. Nick was a sixty-year-old geezer, full of wrinkles and with few hairs remaining atop of his head. Yet, he was also the one that had seen most of the people in Riverbrook come to life, or even helped them die.
Charming to dangerously level, he was well known within the Tribe to be able to calm even the most rebellious slave, turning them into peaceful little lambs.
“Just this morning I’ve received a call from an old colleague of mine.
He too is in… Let’s say, our line of business. So, from time to time we exchange advice and recipes. This time though, he just gave me a warning about a couple of visitors that might be soon coming.
He couldn’t tell me why but, he told me, that these soon to be citizens were going to attract lots of attention…
And then he gave me their names.
They are…”
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author