Convergence

CHAPTER THREE

John : Gentlemen, let’s try this again. You have something that I want, tell me where it is and I’ll let you live.

Miles and Billy were sitting on chairs with their hands tied to their backs, and their mouths covered with duct tape. And John, wearing his usual formal wear. He rips off the duct tape from their mouths.

John: Tell me where it is and I’ll let you live.

Billy: Go to hell

Miles: Yeah, you not getting s**t.

John walks off and grabs a chair. He placed it in front of them. He walks off again and comes back with a box of cigars. He sits down on the chair.

Billy: Look man, we don’t even know WTF you talking about, and if we did, we probably wouldn’t tell you.

John smiles and tilts his head , he rolled his eyes as he looked heavenward to the ceiling. He didn’t respond, instead he places the cigar in his mouth and lights it. He then takes a drag in his words.

John: I don’t really want to hurt you, but if you don’t give me what I want, then I guess we’re going to have some problems.

Billy spits saliva directly onto John’s face and starts laughing.

John: Well, it seems you have pissed off the wrong people. Which is why you’re in this current situation.

He leaves the room again and comes back with a black bag. He drops the bag in front of his chair and leaves the room once more to grab a kitchen table. He placed the kitchen table next to his chair. He took the bag and placed it on the table, then he set down.

John: I must admit, you guys are great fighters. I’d never fought guys with such great skills. For a moment, in that elevator I was certainly convinced i wouldn’t make it out alive.

Miles: Listen, I don’t even know what you want from us. Man you got the wrong guys.

John: Do you guys watch movies? I do! In every kidnapping scene, the guy always says I’m not the guy you looking for. Understand this, I used to do this for a living. I’m good at what I do. So don’t tell me I got the wrong guys.

Billy: You got the wrong guys.

Miles: Yeah, we’re just two guys who got caught up in the wrong neighbourhood that’s all.

John began to open the bag.

John: You see this bag? It’s my little bag of tricks. It’s not really mine, it’s girlfriend’s. She lets me borrow it here and there.

John pulls out a clock and sets it for twenty minutes.

John: I’m setting this clock for twenty minutes gentlemen.

Twenty minutes is seen on the corner of the screen as it began to count down.

John: If I don’t get the information that I need when that clock hits zero. Someone will die.

Miles’ eyes dilated as he looked at the timer.

John: I wonder what’s going on in your head right now. Knowing that you have 20 minutes to live. What are you thinking about? Your family? Your friends? Or how much you want to kill me?

Billy: Jesus Christ..!

John looks at Billy with disgust, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a screw driver and drives it on Billy’s bullet wound. Billy screamed in pain.

John: Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain. If I hear you say it again, I’ll make it worse. I don’t want to be the bad guy here.

Billy’s screaming began to calm down and blood dripping into his shoe.

Miles: WTF do u want from us?

John: Gentlemen, I’m an ex CIO. I torture people, in fact, I used to. It used to be my job. There was this guy, tough as hell. It took me seven days to finally get to him. He was the toughest guy I’ve ever met.

Miles looks at the clock. 15 minutes left.

John: I’d done everything to him. But still, he wouldn’t utter a word and I admired that. I knew whatever I would do to him, he wouldn’t talk, so I had to use his weakness on him.

He begins to empty his bag, pulling out a drill, salt, a scalpel, two knives and a fire lighter.

John: So I went to the closet, that was in the other room, he glanced at the time, it read 12 minutes left.

Do you know what was there?

Billy: Do we even care?

John: Looks at Billy for a while. It was his son. I set him right in front of his father, who was already waiting to die. The kid started crying. I saw the horror-struck look in the father’s face. Then I slit the kid’s throat from left to right.

They both look at John with disgust and horror. Their eyes began to tear up.

Miles: You sick as hell..!

John: The kid was thirteen. At that moment , he even became more stubborn, he vowed not to say anything, and that was a mistake, cause that alone told me he knew something. Do you know what I did next?

Billy: What did you do?

John: I went back to that room, and this time I brought his daughter. She was seven. I told him, I would do far much worse than I had done to the son. It made him even more furious. Imagine the wild thoughts you would have running through your thoughts at that very moment.

Miles: Did you kill her?

John glances at the clock. 8 minutes left..

Billy: Hey! He asked you a question!

John: Long story short, I got the information that I needed. I’ve never made a mistake. I’ve never killed an innocent man. I’m telling you this cause I will get what I need from you.

Miles: Did you kill the girl?

John: Hold on to that question for a bit.

5.30 minutes left...

John: About five and half minutes left for you guys. I will torture you every minute that goes by.

Miles looks at the clock with terror 5.25 minutes left..

John: Who sent you to kill me? Where is my girl?

Billy: f**k you miniac..!

John: I’ve been called all sorts of names, miniac, psycho, bastard, b***h and so many more. So when you insult me, keep in mind that every name and every spit in my face is just taking your life away.

4.59 minutes left..

John: It will get worse, trust me.

Miles: We’ve already told you. We’ve no idea WTF you want from us. You got the wrong f*****g guys. Let us go!

John: Well, I’m not a psycho. All those serial killers use the same old sick excuses. For me? I never grew up with an abusive father and neither did I hear voices in my head telling me to kill people. And I definitely never had any split personality. And I’m pretty sure I’m not even doing God’s will. I grew up in a perfect family, I got everything I always wanted. I was actually a head boy back in high school.

4 minutes left…

John takes one of the knives and throws it at miles’ foot. The knife sticks out of Miles’ foot, and Miles screamed in pain.

Miles: Shit.. Oh God..!

John takes another knife and throws it into Mile’s other foot and Miles screamed yet again.

John: I told you not to use the Lord’s name in vain

He tried to stop screaming and hide the pain.

3.45 minutes left…

John: Are you going to cooperate with me gentlemen?

Miles doesn’t respond, instead he stared at his feet.

The pain in his feet was unbearable he struggled to get out of his chair, but couldn’t , not with his hands tied to his back. And John glanced at the time again.

3.10 minutes left…

John: So which is which? The easy way or the hard way?

Miles: Go f**k yourself..!

John: Mmm..! Harsh words.

He picks up the scalpel and walks behind them. They both couldn’t see him anymore. They had no idea what he was doing behind them.

John: In movies, when they try to scare you and make you feel uncomfortable, they always opt for the bigger things. Amputation, decapitation, castration, and so forth. But I came to realise. It’s the small things that do more damage. They say, “ dynamites come in small packages right?” have you ever seen a dynamite that is big? No..!

3.00 minutes left…

He takes the scalpel and cuts the webbing in between Billy’s fingers. Blood covered his hands. Billy screamed in agony and Miles stared in disgust. He walked back to his chair and set down. He placed the scalpel on the table. Miles tried again to struggle with the rope that had his hands tied together. He could feel the pain but instead tried to hide it.

John: I need the names of the guys who took my girl, and the guy who sent you to kill me.

Miles: Sorry to disappoint, but we know nothing about any name of any people in any kidnap.

John looks at the timer. 2.59 minutes left. He leaves the room, and goes to the kitchen to boil some water for tea in a kettle. He comes back holding a chisel, hummer and hacksaw, he placed the tools on the table, then set down.

John: Where is she?

Billy: We not telling you shit..!

John: Big mistake, you just confirmed you know something. So for the next few minutes, I will torture you every 30 seconds that goes by.

2.30 minutes left…

He takes the scalpel and peels of the skin from Miles’ forearm. He goes back to the table and grabs salt.

John: This is going to hurt.

He pours the salt on the wound. Miles struggled on his chair and screamed.

Billy: Do you believe in God?

John: I believe in the big bang theory. Everything must have started from somewhere.

Billy: How can you do this when you believe in God?

John ignores.

John: I realised you don’t need torture devices to torture someone.

A sound goes off, sounds like a siren. Miles looks at the clock. 2.00 minutes left.

Billy: what’s that?

John: Tea is ready.

He leaves the room and grabs the tea kettle then comes back. The steam was filling the air. Miles and Billy looks at it with horror.

Miles: what are you going to do?

John: I’m going to pour this boiling water down someone’s throat.

Miles began to struggle again with his chair.

They all sit there staring at the kettle and timer. As it counts down the seconds. John had a grin on his face while Billy and Miles extremely nervous. Miles kept on changing from clock to kettle.

John: Where is she?

Billy: I don’t know

John: where is she?

Miles: We don’t know..!

John grabs the kettle and walks over to Billy.

John: Open your mouth.

Billy: No..!

John: Open your mouth..!

Billy: Hell no!

John sticks the spout of the kettle into Billy’s mouth forcefully and pours the water down his throat. Billy struggled in his chair. The water poured out of his mouth, and went all over his body. John stops, the kettle had some water left in it. He placed the kettle on the table. Billy’s head hung over, looking at his feet. His voice was damaged by the hot water. It seemed to hurt more for every word he tried to produce. Miles looking at Billy, felt pity running through his veins. He could imagine the pain he was in at that moment.

1.50 minutes left..

John: Where is she?

Miles: I don’t know..!

John grabs the kettle again and sticks the spout into Miles’ mouth forcefully. He struggled on his chair as he was about to pour the hot water down his throat, then eventually shouts.

Miles: Michael North…!! The guy you want is Michael North

John stares at Miles.

John: You are lying

Miles: No I’m not, I swear to you.

John: I can sense a lie from a mile away. You bluffing.

1.30 minutes left..

John glances at the time.

John: You asked me if I killed the girl

Miles: Yes

John: Yes. And it haunts me everyday. Where is she?

John grabs a petrol container that lay idle in the corner of the room, then comes back to pour it on Miles’ thighs, he picks up the fire lighter and lights it up. Seeing this, Miles’ eyes dilated, his blood pressure increased. His body quivered in shock. He was pyrophobic . His breathing was fast and unregulated and it felt like his heart wanted to hummer its way out of his chest.

John: where is she?

Miles: I don’t know!

John: where is she?

Miles: I already told you, I don’t know..!

John throws the lighter on Miles’ thighs that it kindled a fire, and Miles began to scream with a voice of a man in panic. John stood there watching, and Billy was in horror seeing his friend burn alive. John walked over to the corner of the room and grabs a fire extinguisher then comes back and blew it on Miles, and the fire went out.

Miles: f**k you! Crazy b***h!

John: you can stop this, just tell me where she is!

Miles: If I tell you I’ll die, if I don’t tell you I’ll die, so I’ll take my chances. Punk ass b***h!

John glances at the time, 1.10 minutes left.

John opens his bag again, and this time takes out a 9mm pistol. He loads the magazine and coked it. Terror filled Miles’ face.

Miles: Man what else do you want from us, we’ve given you the name, let us go!

John: You lied to me, you are running out of time. Give me the names and location.

1.05 seconds left..

John screws the silencer to the front of the gun and came back to sit down on his chair. And pointed the gun on Billy’s other knee.

John: If you don’t tell me where she is, I’ll shoot your friend right here as you watch. Where is she?

Miles: I don’t know..!

John turned his head in Billy’s direction and aimed for his right knee.

Billy: f**k you..!

With no hesitation, he pulled the trigger and shot his right knee. Miles’ face crinkled as he saw Billy scream in agony. Blood flowing into his boots. He couldn’t bear the pain so he passed out, and John seeing this, poured water on his face and he woke up.

John lights up another cigar and starts smoking. He lives the room and comes back with two body bags. He drops them in front of them, then set down. Seeing this, Miles was frightened, he glanced at the time again.

1.00 minutes left…

Miles: Man, please don’t do this, please..!

John: Give me what I want and I’ll let you live.

59 seconds left…

John walks over to the table. Miles screams but couldn’t do anything about it. Billy’s vocals had been damaged by the hot water. And he could not feel anything but the numbness in his feet.

Miles: Michael North..!

John: I need another name

Miles: Michael North! That’s the guy you’re looking for.

55 minutes left..

John: Make peace with whatever demons you got, cause as of right now, I will torture you at any moment until I get what I want. Where is she?

Miles: I don’t know

John stood up and turned to the table again, and grabbed the petrol can, he lit the fire on his thighs again and he started screaming. John stood there smoking his cigar as he burn. Billy glanced at the clock. 50 seconds left, John knew, for these guys to crack, he had to traumatise one of them, so he turned in the direction of the exit door, he walked towards it, Billy couldn’t bear the trauma, he looked at the time, at Miles as he burn, and at John as he walked out. He struggled to make a sound with his voice then eventually shouted.

Billy: Alright! I’ll tell you all you need! Just don’t let my friend die!

At that instant John rushed back and blew the fire extinguisher on Miles’ thighs once more. He sat on his chair and listened attentively.

John: Start talking

Billy: I don’t know the location but the guy who took your girl is Franklin , he’s the leader of the crew sent to kidnap your girl.

John: Who sent them?

Billy: I’ve never met him, he goes by the name Lincoln

John: where can I find him?

Billy: You can’t, he sees you but you can’t see him. He’s everywhere.

John: Why is he after me and my girl?

Billy: Apparently you stole some classified information from one of his colleagues. They will not stop at anything until you are dead.

John: where can I get this Franklin?

Billy: He was expecting my call, a confirmation that we’ve killed you. His number is +263715980870 call him on that number. That’s all we know man, please don’t kill us.

John: You’re already dead to them, I’ll do you the courtesy of not killing you, instead, you now work for me, you’re now my eyes and ears out there.

He goes out to the kitchen and comes back with a jug full of fruit juice. He put two straws in the jug and stuck the straws in their mouths to drink. 2minutes passed, and the contents in the juice sank in. they felt dizzy and then they passed out. He placed a note and a burner phone in Billy’s jacket then took them to an abandoned location for treatment.

Having got what he wanted, he went back to his drawing board. This time he had two things in mind, Franklyn and Lincoln. He grabbed Billy’s phone and made the call.