CHAPTER 112

If you recall, I told you that there were three of us on a mission to track down the illegal drug trade in the country. There was the tech guy, myself, and the one who gathered information in the streets, posing as a vendor of fried squid and pastries. Now, that man who roamed the streets undercover as a vendor was standing right in front of me. It was like a scene from a fictional story, but it was all too real.

'Dismas?' I called out in shock, recognizing his name. He simply smiled, pulled a leather chair closer, and sat down beside the bed.

'Hmmm, some people are really lucky, you know? Getting a second chance at life? God must be your relative or something. I didn’t believe it was possible for you to recover, but it seems you’re tougher than I thought,' the man said as he looked me over from head to toe."

"I remember that I was buried for the last time, so how is it that I'm alive again today?" I asked him, utterly bewildered, which made him smile.

"If I were you, I wouldn't understand it either. This world can be terrifying at times, but some people are lucky even in this frightening world. But hold on, my friend…I'm really hungry. Let me check if the old woman has cooked anything first, and then we can head outside and talk in front of the fire. There’s so much to discuss, and I always get nostalgic when I come here and sit by the fire with her." His words annoyed me greatly.

I was asking about something so important, and he started talking about food. If he knew how eager I was to know, he wouldn’t have said all that. But what could I do? I had to be patient, so I nodded reluctantly. They say it’s better to be late than never, so I thought it best not to miss out on learning the story, even if I had to wait.

A short while later, he came back and carried me outside, where there was a chair. He sat me down and wrapped a blanket around me to keep me warm. It was my first time stepping outside that small grass hut. It was very quiet outside, and it seemed like we were deep in the forest, if not the jungle. There was a fire nearby that provided enough warmth in the area. The man started eating meat ravenously while I watched him closely, having refused to eat. Once he finished, he washed the dishes, took them back, and returned. He seemed to be a well-mannered person, though I still didn’t know where the old woman was.

"My brother, where do you want to start in your life story? I know you're wondering why I'm not telling you how you ended up here, and you might even be starting to dislike me. But I was really hungry; if I hadn’t eaten, I would’ve gone to bed early. Besides, your story is quite frightening," he said after returning and sitting down, stoking the fire.

"The first thing I want to know is, how long have I been here?"

"Two years now," he replied with a teasing tone, but when I saw he wasn’t joking, I began to realize he might actually mean what he was saying.

"Are you serious, or are my ears not hearing correctly? Dismas, what’s going on? I don't understand anything," I said, confused.

"Did you ask the old woman, and did she tell you how long you had been here?"

"The old woman told me that you were the one who would give me all the information."

"It's been two years since you arrived here."

"Now I need to know how this happened. How did I end up here when I was buried?" I asked, my eyes wide with shock.

"That was one of the most miraculous days for you, a day when I think even the angels were ready to receive you, but somehow, you lived again. That night, just before dawn, I received news that you were accused of treason. It was only a matter of time before your name was publicly announced on the radio. This might have seemed normal to some, but for me, it was far from it. I was utterly shocked because I knew you very well and how patriotic you were. How could you possibly be involved in such an event? I couldn’t find an answer, so I desperately wanted to meet you to understand whether the reason they gave, claiming you were involved in the murder of the chief chemist, was true or if they fabricated the whole event just like they did when they sidelined us from investigating the case. That’s when I decided to come to you, and only one thing made me rush to you."

"I was sure that no matter what mistake you made, the first thing you’d want to do was to gather your family and take them to a safe place. And if you thought your place was completely secret, you failed on that. That's a game the Director plays with people's minds; he makes you believe that only he knows where you live and no one else, but that has never been true. He ensures that some of his people know your location so that if you ever try to do anything reckless, it becomes very easy to control you. My colleagues and I, whose exact number I don’t even know, have known your place for a long time because, just like you, I believe the Director once showed you my place secretly and made you believe that he was showing you. After all, he trusted you the most. And that’s where you got caught in his trap. he tells everyone the same thing and ensures them it’s true." His explanation made me smile bitterly.

That old man was truly cunning. I used to be proud that he trusted me so much that he allowed me to know his house and shared secrets about my colleagues, but it turned out he was playing with all our minds.

"I was the first person to arrive there, but I waited and hid to assess the situation because I knew that after the disturbance that had occurred, security forces would arrive at your place at any moment. They knew that your family was your greatest weakness, and you wouldn't be able to escape them. Personally, I really hoped that you would be the first to arrive so that I could have a chance to speak with you briefly, but unfortunately, the Director arrived there before you, accompanied by people I had heard were extremely dangerous."

"There were some young men who stayed outside, but the Director and his team went inside, where I heard a woman’s voice crying for help because those men intended to rape her. I must confess honestly, my friend, please forgive me because I couldn’t help your wife in that situation. You understand that I would have ended up dead and framed for a case with no clear resolution. I say I couldn’t rescue your wife because, first, there was something you didn’t know about the Director. That old man is more dangerous than usual; even if we were twenty, we couldn’t stand against him, which is why I couldn’t approach the area."

"While the chaos was happening, you arrived at the scene very angry. I saw you doing everything you could, but I ended up feeling sorry because I knew what was going to happen to you. I stayed there to see what the outcome of the situation would be."

"I only heard gunshots from inside because I didn’t understand what was going on beyond seeing you being dragged inside roughly. While I waited to see if those people would leave, I saw the Director leaving with some people. That’s when I thought it was the right time for me to go in and see if I could help you, but I hesitated when I saw a man dragging you to the other side of the house. It turned out there were other people digging your grave, but what shocked me was seeing you open your eyes because I thought they might have already killed you."

"Seeing this, I approached the area to find out where you were being taken. That’s when I discovered that you were being buried alive. Those people quickly covered you with dirt and left. I waited to ensure they had completely exited through the gate, as the bodies of your wife and child had already been removed. At that time, I had only a two per cent chance of saving you. I thought you must have already died."

"So, I went to the grave and started digging it up as quickly as possible. It took me five minutes to find your body, and including the time I waited for those people to leave, it was a bit longer, so I just wanted to confirm if I could get you out safely, even though I had already lost hope."