DESIRES.

“Harry, Harry its time to wake up now. Do not feel afraid, you are stronger than you know. Always remember that.” The voice was so sweet and soothing that I didn’t want it to end. Just then a bright light appeared from afar and it was drawing nearer. As it came closer the voice seemed to fade away and eventually I was lost. Get up!” came a thundering voice that jolted me out of my sleep. At first I was confused not knowing where I was. It took some time for my eyes to adjust to the environment and I began to recollect my thoughts. A resounding slap landed on my tender cheeks which made me fully awake. “Had a nice sleep?” I was not even listening to my assaulter as the pain from the slap sipped through my skin. Slowly I raised my head to have a good look at him but I could hardly make out his face. This also gave me time to take a keen interest in my surroundings. I was in a dimly lit room and both my hands and feet were strapped onto a wooden chair. I quickly realized that there were only two of us in that room. I looked at him once more but I could not make out his face for it was partly hidden. “What is it…cut out your tongue?”. I did not even have time to respond before he gave me a heavy blow on the stomach and I let out a horrid yell. He then left the room and bolted it from outside. I was now all alone and I realized that I had to do something before he came back. I felt a terrible pain on my forehead and that is when it occurred to me that my clothes were bloodstained. I scanned the room with my eyes once more and noticed a table with all manner of crude weapons. It was hard not to think that this could be my last day but I knew I had to fight till the end. I struggled to set myself free but the ropes only bound me tighter. What a mess I was in! I knew I had countless enemies who wanted me dead due to my line of work which had sent most of them behind bars. I was an inspector at the central police station in Bagadi city. For the last ten years since I was recruited all I spent my time and energy on was fighting crime. Due to this I had made a reputable name for myself. I scared the s**t out of all the hoodlums in my city but who knew I would soon find myself lying in hot soup. My thoughts were interrupted by an ongoing conversation outside. I could clearly state out the voices of two men and opted to listen. “Is he up already? ” “Yeah,but he is a bit shaken after last night.” I recognized the voice of the second man as the one that had woken me up. “Don’t forget the boss said we have to get rid of him tonight.” “I am not that forgetful Abdul.” This he said with a tone of sarcasm. “I will make sure I’ve dispatched the fool to his grave.” “Just make sure you do a clean job Yusuf.” Having said that he walked away and moments later I could hear the roaring sound of a car’s engine. With time it faded away as the car progressed. My mind raced as I tried to put together all that I had heard. Suddenly I could hear someone unbolting the door from outside and soon a tall slim figure stood at the doorway. So this is Yusuf, I said to myself now having a good look at him. He was dressed shabbily in a faded blue khaki trouser and a loose black T shirt. Hanging from his neck was a heavy silver chain that bounced off his chest whenever he moved. You could tell he was a hairy man by looking at his hands and unkempt beard. He had bloodshot eyes and an ugly looking scar on his forehead. With one swift move he reached for the table and looked at his tools of destruction. He slowly picked up a machete and admired it gleefully. I could feel the blood freeze in my veins. “Sorry it has to come to this. I have orders to eliminate you Mr. Poitier.” My first instinct was to question his knowledge on me but I refrained myself. “Who are you working for? Why do you want me dead?” I asked but my questions fell on deaf ears. He simply stared at me and I could tell there was no remorse in his eyes. He then placed his weapon back on the table and walked towards the door. “I hope the Lord awaits you inspector.” Those were his last words before he closed the door and disappeared. I managed to see outside the room as he was leaving and knew dusk was soon approaching. My eyes moved towards the table and I spotted the machete leaning too close to the edge of the table. I immediately worked out a plan and began to drag the chair towards the table. Once I was within reach of the table I hurled myself towards it and the machete landed successfully between my fingers. With precision I cut the ropes slowly and in a minute or so they snapped setting my hands free. I then cut off the rest of the ropes on my feet and my body now felt at ease. Without wasting a single minute I positioned myself behind the door with the machete firmly held between my fingers. It was soon growing dark and the only light that illuminated the room was from the small c****s in the walls and roof. My heart was now beating with ease for I now had a fighting chance. Not long after I could hear footsteps moving towards the door. I took a deep breath and was ready to strike at anything that came past the door. The door then flew open and Yusuf emerged with a brightly lit torch in his hand. He let out a shout of bewilderment on seeing the empty chair and that was my chance to strike. He had no time to react when I flung the machete towards his nape. I did not strike it hard enough to make a deep cut but nonetheless he let out an ear splitting yell. I then pounced on him and began to rain blows on his face. In a moment of anger he pushed me aside and I fell down still holding the machete. He came to me with a renewed source of energy and I could see his left foot aiming for my stomach. With the machete firmly held in my hand I rose up quickly and to his surprise gave him a tackle that sent us both onto the hard floor. He then placed his hands around my neck in an attempt to strangle me. I knew it was now or never and I had no choice but to finish him there and then. With a firm grip on the handle I swerved the machete once more and it cut straight through his throat. Blood began to gush out of his neck as he waved his arms and legs frantically. I simply looked at him as he struggled to say his last words. My body felt weak as I stood up but I was glad I had another chance to live. “What the hell is going on there?” shot a voice through the dark night. I identified it as Abdul’s and picked up the torch before running out at a mad man’s speed. Once I was outside I could tell I was deep in the bush and lucky for me it was a full moon that night. Suddenly I heard someone say, “Stop!...stop I say!” This was followed by several shots and I could feel the bullets flying close to my skin. With that I increased my pace as the branches from the trees swung hitting my face. Another shot rang out and it greased my leg forcing me to drop the torch. Although my leg was slightly hurt I knew I had to go on. By a stroke of luck I noticed the white markings of a road and knew I could make it.By the time I reached the road an old pickup was making its way past a corner and I flagged it down. The driver was an old man, probably in his 50’s and I could tell he was completely shocked to see me. “Please help me.”I pleaded with him although he was somehow hesitant. Suddenly there was a ruffling sound amongst the leaves and without a second thought I got into the car. A male figure appeared in front of us and the car's headlights fully shone on him. He had a gun on his hand and he quickly took aim. I looked at the already terrified driver and yelled, “DRIVE!” He quickly pressed his foot on the accelerator and the car zoomed of at an astonishing speed. This was enough to send our assailant jumping for the bush but not before a bullet penetrated the windscreen. Fortunately the bullet only hit the car seat and we were unharmed. Without a glance backward we moved on forward and were now clear from our attacker’s view. “What the hell happened back there? Who was that man and why was he after you? ”The old man asked looking scared as hell. To be honest I did not know where to begin from or what to say actually but I just implored him to drive on. He looked at me and saw I was in no position to talk and we drove in silence. In an hour's time I could see the beautiful skyscrapers that decorated the city and felt relieved. Once we were at the heart of town I insisted on being dropped at the bus stop but the old man was adamant. He wanted to take me to a hospital. Nonetheless he finally let me be. As I got off his car I checked my pockets and hopefully those bastards had not taken my money. I dished out some notes to him and said, “for the windscreen. ”He took the money in good faith and I disappeared before he could say another word. “Damn it! ”Abdul could not hide his annoyance. He cursed out aloud as he stood to wipe the dust of his clothes. We had just escaped his tyranny in the blink of an eye and that did not settle in well for him. Slowly he made his way back to the room and arrived to find Yusuf's body lying lifeless at a corner. In anger he knocked over the table with weapons on it and left fuming. It was around eight o’clock by the time I made it back to my place. I lived in a quiet neighborhood just close to the city. By a string of luck I met no one along the way for it would have been hard to explain considering the state I was in.Once I got to my house, I immediately took off my blood stained clothes and walked straight to the bathroom in my naked form. My heart felt at ease as the cold water trickled down my body. After that I attended to my bruises and ensured they were all stitched up. By God’s grace the bullet that had greased my leg had only removed a little skin so it was not that serious. My stomach began to grumble and I realized I had not eaten for the last two days. There was some bread on the kitchen counter and I gobbled it up to satisfy my hunger. Not long after sleep creeped its way in and I was soon snoring away. I ended up waking in the wee hours of the morning. It was on a Sunday and my body felt weak and emaciated. I spent the whole day lying in bed and only woke up once to make a descent meal for myself. No one knew what had happened to me but I knew I had to get to the bottom of it. Kidnappings had been on the rise in the past few weeks but something was definitely amiss about my scenario. No relative of mine was in possession of huge sums of money thus unlikely to be held hostage for a ransom. Whoever was behind it had an ulterior motive. I sat on my bed as I began to recollect what had happened that fateful Friday afternoon. It was a calm and sunny day. I left work early and then headed home to change before going out again. There was a traffic snarl up in town so I opted to go on foot and leave my car behind. With my headphones on I walked on the streets and blended in well in my casual clothes. The shop I was heading to was not very far away and I knew of a quick shortcut to get there. I had used the route several times so I never expected to encounter a problem. So it took me by surprise when an unsuspecting man approached me from behind the minute I joined the route. With the music coming from my headphones, I could hardly hear his soft footsteps. Before I knew it a huge arm curled itself round my neck and a tissue was placed on my nose. I held the arm with both hands and struggled to free myself. I was slowly inhaling the contents of tissue and before long I grew dizzy. After that I don’t remember what happened next. All I know is that I woke up all tied up and confused. There was little I could go on to piece it all together and the truth lay in the forest. If I wanted to I could have launched a full investigation into what happened that night but I thought against it. If those guys were really going to kill me then I was sure they would try again. It was against my better judgement but I chose to tread carefully from then on. I managed to get a good look at the attacker who shot at us and decided I was going to run a background check on him the minute I got back to the office. Time quickly passed by and Monday morning showed the beginning of the week. Not in the habit of wasting time I got up and prepared myself for another day at the office. The weekend had been rather long especially for me. Before I left my house I took one last look at the mirror and knew I looked a sorry sight. I got out and walked over to my car, an old Volkswagen Beetle. To be truthful it was one of my priced possessions. I started the ignition key and the car roared to life. With ease I drove out of my driveway and joined the main road headed to the city. On the way my mind reflected on what had happened that fateful Friday evening. I was just out for an evening stroll when a car pulled up out of nowhere and I was whisked in a flash. After that everything became blurry. As I got to the city throngs of people were moving up and down. I made my way through the traffic jam and was soon outside the Central Police Station. The guard on duty quickly opened the gate and saluted me as I passed. I then drove to my reserved parking spot which was well indicated with a sign board. I got out of my car and made my way to the main building. The well tendered to posh lawns added beauty to the place which by the way looked a century old. I headed straight towards my department. Typing away unmindfully at her desk was my secretary Gladys. She seemed oblivious of my presence but was quick to notice a shadow on the tiled floor. She looked up at me and the ever radiant smile she used to have disappeared in a flash. “Good morning Gladys, ”I said on noticing she was tongue tied. No reply came from her mouth. “Kindly bring the latest reports to my desk. ”On adding this I moved towards my office which had a bold sign with the writings ‘INSPECTOR'S OFFICE ’.My office was always clean and organized and I sat on my swiveling chair awaiting for Gladys to appear. She came in immediately after and I saw the look of concern in her eyes. “What happened to you Sir?” Her voice was somehow timid when she asked that. “I just had a little accident at home but am alright.”She did not seem much convinced but I could tell she was a bit relaxed now. She then handed me the papers I had requested and left my office. My eyes could not help staring at her as she walked out. She was clad in a grey women’s suit that clearly brought out her figure. She had been working for me for the last three years and I would have been blind not to fall for her charm. However I had my commitments elsewhere. On looking across the files I came across a letter whose envelope had a scented smell. I tore it up carefully using a pen knife and removed the well folded letter. I straightened it up and read out its contents. The handwriting was instantly familiar and a smile passed on my lips. It was an invite to an exclusive private party organized by the Governor himself. What pleased me more was the writer of the letter. It was my beloved Clarissa,the Governor’s daughter. The party was scheduled for that evening at the Governor’s private villa just on the outskirts of the city. I longed for the evening to arrive as I could not wait to have Clarissa between my arms. To be honest I completely forgot I had been on the verge of losing my life the other day. The thought then reoccurred to me and I decided to keep an eye out for myself. The day went on uneventful and I could not help but feel anxious about the evening.