Dr. NoSleep

They were afraid.

This thought comforted him as, with a deep breath, he pulled the trigger.

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Even now, after everything that's happened, I still believe my uncle Thomas was a good man.

Thomas, of course, is just a pseudonym.

My uncle's real name is one that you might recognize if you watch the news regularly.

Although he never had a PR team or a security detail, he was famous enough that my parents warned me to never tell strangers who he was.

A few times, unscrupulous reporters even cornered me after school, hunting for juicy gossip about his private life.

To me, their questions didn't make any sense.

Uncle Thomas wasn't some formidable figure standing behind a podium.

He was just the fit, middle-aged guy with glasses who ran the barbecue on the 4th of July.

If someone had asked me what was special about him, I would have talked about how his clothes always matched and how he always remembered to call you on your birthday.

Maybe it was that thoughtfulness that always made us kids feel so comfortable around him.

No matter what went wrong, Uncle Thomas would find a way to take care of it.

Or so we thought back then.

Every year, I looked forward to spending my vacations at his estate in the country.

It wasn't just the swimming pool, the huge backyard, or the two-story house with so many echoing rooms to explore.

It was getting to hang out with my cousins, Sam and Brady.