THE BILLIONAIRE DOPPELGÄNGER

Chapter3

Chapter 3

He survived

As the boat moved farther,the sea became quieter,free from the restless port of the city,it was more like the ocean breathed slowly against the rocks,like a giant creature asleep beneath the moon. A boat swayed slowly on the surface and

Inside it lay a man who should have been dead.

Rolland Brooks.Blood soaked the scratchy fishing net that wrapped around him.the slow rising and falling of his chest indicated how he is struggling to live. Even with that,the old fisherman maintained a calm composure as he rowed the boat,moving with a steady rhythm of someone who had spent most of his life on water.

The lantern hanging at the bow dangled gently, casting dim rays of light across Rolland’s pale face.The fisherman quietly observed him.The three stab wounds looked horrible,one dangerously close to the heart,and another along the ribs,with the third close to the abdomen.

Even if the sea hadn’t finished him, infection easily could have.“ This is Strange,” the fisherman murmured with a soft but firm voice

“You should already be dead,”he added.

Finally, they reached a narrow rocky shore. Small wooden houses laid by the hillside, quiet and serene like in a painting. Grey shore Village,a settlement hidden from the crises and uncertainties of the city. With surprising strength and ease,the fisherman lifted Rolland onto his shoulder.For a man nearly seventy-five years old, his movements defied nature.

With Rolland hanging unconscious on his shoulder, he navigated the stony paths between houses while the village still slept.

A few fishermen were seen preparing their nets,they paused when they saw him carrying something big on his shoulder. One of them frowned and asked,“what did the sea give you today…Old Joe?”.“A wounded man.” He replied as he stopped walking.The fishermen approached cautiously observing Rolland's blood-soaked body.“That’s no accident."One of them spoke.

“Knife wounds,this might be city trouble”

Another fisherman said with a low voice.

Yet Old Joe’s expression remained calm as he replied.“The sea brought him.”

“That doesn’t mean we should keep him,” the villager warned. “Trouble from the city rarely ended well”.he added

Old Joe turned his sharp eyes toward the man.

“The sea does not return the dead," he said,as he walked away toward his small wooden house near the end of the village.The fishermen behind him exchanged uneasy glances.“Men who survive the sea rarely bring peace with them."One of them whispered.

Inside the hut, the air smelled of smoke, herbs and salt.Old Joe laid Rolland on a straw bed at the far end of the room. He then adjusted the lantern making the light to focus on the wounds. For the first time since pulling Rolland out of the sea,the old man's expression became tense.the wounds seemed infected and deadly. “Hmm" he sighed and after a moment of thought he began preparing some herbs,his movement showed how adept he is in medicine.After a while, he finished cooking a pot of herbs and he fed the unconscious young man with it,then applied some to the wounds, but shockingly the herbs seems to have negative effects.gradually Rolland began to shake,his breathing became thin,then everything stopped.He is dead. The old fisherman sighed sadly. “Hmm,so this is it,at least you put up a fight.” As he prepared to cover the deceased with a cloth,the unexpected happened.

Rolland’s body jerked,and his chest suddenly convulsed.A violent gasp burst from his lungs,and sea water flowed from his mouth.Old Joe’s eyes widened. “Interesting.”He immediately but precisely pressed his palm against Rolland’s chest and began thumping.After repeating the process thrice,Rolland coughed violently again as

Air rushed back into his lungs.The old fisherman leaned back and smiled, “You are a fighter.”He carefully examined Rolland's body.“Why do you want to live so badly ?”.

Somewhere in Rolland's unconscious mind,he floated through darkness,not the darkness of the sea,but Something deeper,Memories swiped past;

Rufus laughing, the Factory machines roaring,

The cabin,filled with friends laughing on Cheap tea.then,the knife,stained with Blood,The lane spinning,The moment he realized the ones around him were no longer friends.“Why…?” his voice echoed in the darkness,a question he might probably never get a satisfactory answer to,

Only silence and darkness. Then a strange voice spoke.calm,old,but distant. “Your life was meant to end tonight.”The voice broke through the silence."But fate refuses to close your story."

The sun was up and the village was quiet.

As Old Joe stepped out to wash his hands in a small basin,He glanced toward the nearby lake that lay beyond the small settlement.The lake was unusual.Unlike the ocean’s restless waves, it has a perfectly calm surface.But today something was different.An elderly man dressed in simple grey attire stood beside it,watching the water.He has a tall but still figure.Old Joe frowned slightly and walked towards the lake. “Visitors rarely come to Grey shore Village”.he muttered.Just then,The stranger slowly turned his head, making Their eyes meet across the distance,The man was smiling.

Old Joe walked toward him,The smell of wet earth and distant rain filled the air.

“You are not from here,” he said.The stranger nodded calmly and replied. “ Yes,I rarely stay anywhere long.” He gave an aura of nature and unfathomable wisdom,his voice was smooth but carried a bizarre weight.“Then what brings you to this forgotten village?”. The fisherman inquired as he carefully observed the stranger.“Something the sea returned.”he replied,as his sharp eyes strayed toward the fisherman’s house.

Old Joe maintained a steady expression

“You speak as though you already know.”With his hands clasped behind his back, he answered. “Fate has weird habits,and I am someone who watches where destiny flows “.

Then he looked back toward the lake.

The fisherman’s voice tightened a little and he spoke..“That boy almost lost his life.”

“Yes,but he didn't “.The stranger smiled vaguely.

The wind blew through the tall grass near the lake and silence enveloped the area.Neither of them spoke for some moments.

Then the stranger asked quietly, breaking the impending silence,“Does he remember anything?"

“He is yet to wake.” The fisherman answered truthfully,which made the stranger nod.

“That may be a blessing.” Crossing his arms, the fisherman inquired carefully,

“Why do I have a feeling that you know all about him and his future?”

With a gaze as sharp as an arrow,The stranger turned toward him.

“ No one knows another's future entirely, but one thing I'm certain is,his life will disturb many powerful figures.” That made old Joe's eyes glint.“You speak like a shaman.” he said.The stranger smiled then said something that made the fisherman fall silent.

“ The young man will one day wear another man's life.”

Rolland laid on the straw bed like a bunch of vegetables not moving at all,it had been hours,then suddenly his fingers moved,and his eyes slowly opened. He was greeted with an unfamiliar view,and stared at the thatched roof confused.He winced at the pains coming from his entire body as though shattered bottles had pierced him. His chest hurt when he tried to breathe deeply.

Old Joe was sitting beside the bed fixing a fishing net.Hearing Rolland's painful voice he spoke without looking up. “Ahh,You finally return.” But when Rolland tried to speak,Only a hoarse whisper came out.“am I dead…..is this heaven?”

Old Joe chuckled as he replied.“If this is how heaven is,then it has been overrated.You are in a village,forgotten by the world.” Then the memories returned, recalling all that transpired,

Rolland’s eyes widened.“They… tried to kill me.”Old Joe nodded calmly. As Rolland attempted to sit up,Pain shot through his ribs,forcing him to collapse back onto the bed.

“How long have I been….” Rolland began to ask but couldn't finish.“You battled the sea for hours.”

Rolland's eyes were fixed on the small window in the hut.“Why am I alive?”

The fisherman continued while his hands focused on the nets.“The sea returned you,it must be fate.

Rolland closed his eyes,Rufus and the others believed he was dead.This realization sent a strange feeling down his spine.He whispered slowly:“They think I died.”

“Yes,And sometimes… being dead is the safest way to live.”Old Joe finally looked at him.

Rolland lay quiet,but somewhere deep inside him, a new thought surfaced.If the world believed he was dead…Then he had been given something unusual,A second life.

Late that night, Rolland struggled out of bed and stared through the small window toward the lake. As Moonlight reflected across the calm water,a figure stood there,the same grey-attired stranger. It looks like he was watching the hut all the while.Even from that distance,Rolland felt the man’s eyes on him. The stranger spoke softly to the wind.“Good.”

Rolland couldn’t hear the words clearly but something familiar struck him…the voice,the echo, he had felt it somewhere ... .yes,his dreams.the stranger smiled and said… “soon”. This final sentence drifted across the silent lake. Old Joe who was standing beside the stranger became more curious..

“Can you tell me,who exactly is this young man?”

“Soon you shall know,not long from now” the stranger said