Pools of Blood

Chapter 3

Alfred Wang. Alfred Wang, the chief Investigating officer of Interpol. Alfred Wang, Head of Encounter Specialist Department. Alfred Wang, Martial Arts Gold medalist. Alfred Wang, my friend, my brother.

My head was reeling. I was completely confused. I couldn’t believe my ears. My friend was dead. Although for the past two years we haven’t been in touch due to some faults of mine, I always had prayed for his health, for his long life. He was a gem of a man. The last time I had heard from him was that he was about to marry a beautiful girl.

I didn’t realize then, that one day I would meet her in this bruised half-dead state, tolerating the excruciating pain between the juncture of her legs.

How could he die? He had the strength of a hundred men, his brain was sharper than anyone I had seen, he was the best shooter of our batch.  He was a prodigal child. How could he die? Nothing made sense. Nothing. Everything was so jumbled and so mixed up. For a fraction of a second, I thought this was all a nightmare and I would wake up sweating any moment in my bed. But a drop of tear fell from my eyes,  proved me wrong. This was real. Everything was real.

Men do not shed tears. Men don’t cry. That’s what we are told from early childhood. But I was also a human. A human who has lost his wife,  and now his brother who was his best friend.

" Michael", she called out softly. Her voice was hoarse with tears. I wiped my eyes and tried to look away.

" Michael. You must help me. I want revenge. Not for me. But for my dead husband and the child. I want vengeance. This is the only reason I am alive. I don’t have someone else to live for. I have lost my parents at an early age. I vowed to become a doctor to save others from becoming orphans. Now, I have lost the only man who was there for me. They took him away from me. I was a mother only for a few weeks. They killed my baby. They took my baby away from me. Why Michael? Why? Don't I deserve anything good in life? No parents, no husband, no baby, I don't know what am I living for. I don’t want another girl to be a widow or childless like me. So, you are the only one who can help me. You owe him your life, Michael".

I felt as if the ground was slipping away under my feet. I was stupefied. I felt as if heaven has cracked open and all the thunders have fallen upon me. The jolt is too much to bear.

It took some time to sink the gravity of the situation. Both my work and personal life were battling together to take hold.

-‘"Yes, Jasmine. It’s not because I owe him my life, it’s not because I am a police officer. It’s because they took away the only part of my heart that was left with me. I am going to find them. And then they will suffer the same fate. I won’t kill them easily. I will avenge my friend’s death. I swear to you. But in return, you have to survive. You have to see justice yourself. You have to help me with finding them".

-" I will stay alive. I will not die until I see them dead.  All of them. Not even god can carry my soul away from my body until justice is meted to my husband and baby. Do you understand that? " Anger flashed in her eyes. 

I nodded. I wanted to reassure her. I wanted to tell her that she was not the only one broken and lost. I wanted to tell her how much pain I was in. But I couldn't. I had remained numb for years, nourishing my broken heart alone, crying in the nights wetting my pillows alone, desiring one last time to meet her, hold her and kiss her. I know, no one expects me to behave like that. It was as if I am born to take the burden of all. No one tries to sympathize with me, give me a shoulder to cry my heart out. Simply no one. And now, I had to fight another battle alongside her. This time, things won't be the same anymore.  But then-

There was a knock on the door and a nurse came in.

" It’s time for your sedative ma’am".

I looked at her. She didn’t deserve this, neither did I. God often gets jealous and takes away the only ones we love and we would die for, leaving us alone forever. This wasn't fair. For both of us. I got up and said," you need to sleep for a few hours. In the meantime, I will go through all the CCTV footage and telephone connections to see if I can find out any clues related to this. You need to tell me everything when you wake up? Okay? "

She nodded her head, closed her eyes.

" Michael. This is a war. And you can’t give up this time ".

Yes. It was war indeed!