"He wasn’t just my boss; to me, he was like a father whom I loved and respected deeply. I felt that his life was in danger, but another thought struck me. This man is heavily guarded, so even if he is attacked, where are his guards? Even if they were killed, there are no signs of blood here or any indications of a recent fight, and..." My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a powerful kick to my neck, which sent me flying into the fence surrounding a small garden. My head felt like it had split open because blood was pouring out, but later, I realized it was just a small cut on my forehead.
"I didn’t stay on the fence for long after one of the men stomped on it with such force that I was thrown off. I was grabbed by one of the men with strong legs and thrown further away, landing harshly. I was then kicked hard in the stomach, making me cough up blood continuously. At that moment, I felt like I was going to die if I didn’t act quickly. These men didn’t speak or make any noise; their only language was violence."
"I managed to stand up, though with great difficulty. I had only a small knife and a pistol at my waist. Unfortunately, I had no idea where the pistol had fallen during the beating I received moments earlier. That day, I wanted to use my combat skills to kill people. It took me only forty minutes to kill all those men with my knife, except for one, whom I spared to get the information I needed."
"'Who are you, and who sent you here?' I asked a simple question, but he gave me a terrifying answer in a very bad condition.
'Brother, you’ve made a big mistake. This is not the right time to tell you who I am or who sent me. You don’t need to know any of that or where the director is. What you need to do now is go home, and go quickly before you get into serious trouble. Your family will be killed. Go...' I didn’t let him finish his sentence. The knife slipped from my hand, and I left him there without knowing if he died or is still alive today."
"The word 'family' is something you hear when someone else tells you about it, but never wish for your own family to be mentioned in terrifying situations, especially if they are the victims. You will wish for death rather than seeing that. My family was very secretive, extremely so. No one knew that I had a beautiful wife and a son who made me proud wherever I went. He made me strive to be the best father in this world, and he was like a new part of my heart and soul. You know, many people don’t understand. When they see someone tough or feared, they think that person has no pain or major weaknesses in their life. If you ever thought that way, get rid of that thought. Every human being has their weaknesses; everyone is very vulnerable when it comes to their family or something they love dearly, and that’s what struck me that day."
"I panicked when I heard I needed to get to my family before they faced any trouble. That drove me out of there in a frenzy. I jumped over the gate like a madman and ran as fast as I could, but I realized I couldn’t make it on foot. So, I hired a motorcycle to take me where my home and family were. Only two people knew about this—me and the Director of National Security. Up until then, I was wondering who had decided to interfere with our work and had access to our private lives.
There was no one to answer my questions but to get home and see where the problem lay. After getting off the motorcycle, I ran swiftly, and in no time, I could see my gate from a distance. Behind that luxurious house were several palm trees within the compound. I jumped over the wall and climbed those palm trees to get inside. Outside my house, at the back, there were several iron rods left over from construction. I grabbed one since I didn’t have a weapon on hand.
I cautiously moved to the front where I saw over six men outside. I charged at them with incredible speed and killed four of them by stabbing them brutally with the rod. However, I couldn't continue because those who remained were beyond my ability to fight. They existed in a whole different realm of combat. That day, I realized that this country has people more terrifying than anyone could imagine, but not everyone can encounter them. I was beaten, beaten again, and beaten some more. I remember losing four teeth without any anaesthesia—some people are truly heartless and lack any humanity.
At that time, even if someone had offered me the sweetest fruit, I wouldn’t have been able to eat it. Even if it reached my mouth, it would have tasted no different than a lemon or a fiery pepper. I couldn’t stand up or move at all; I just lay there, helpless like a chick that doesn’t want to be mounted by a rooster but lacks the strength to resist.
I couldn’t even drag myself, so one burly man with a square build started dragging me forcefully towards my house. That was exactly what I needed because I was desperate to know the safety of my family."
"But what I witnessed inside was a thousand times worse than if they had killed me outside. I should never have seen what I saw, or if they thought the previous punishment was not enough, they shouldn't have let me witness that brutality. Finding their bodies would have been a thousand times better than what I witnessed."
"What I saw with my own eyes is the reason I will never forgive this country for anything. That day, I vowed that if I got the chance to live again, I would become a very cruel person towards those people and the country as a whole. That day, I was buried alive while still breathing perfectly, unable to lift even a finger. This world is a very terrifying place," the man said, wiping tears from his face.
Some tears fell on Jabir, entering his mouth as he remained oblivious to the pain the man was going through, focused solely on sucking his thumb.