The amnesia virus
Nora opened her eyelids for the umpteenth time in the day. Everywhere was dark and vague the last time she opened her eyes that was due to the blindfold that covered her eyes. She blinked her eyes and closed it afterwards, her pupil was just adapting to its surroundings. She opened it the final time, now conscious of her environment.
The room was empty as usual but it looked dirty as though a broom never touched the plastered floor for once. She heard footsteps from a distance coming to the room she was kept hostage. She still couldn't visualize how she got there but she knew better.
She has been kidnapped! But to be killed?
She can't really tell.
The footsteps stopped at the doorstep and the door knob turned open. Nora quickly closed her eyes pretending to be unconscious. She could hear the sound of the footstep stopping just before her. She felt tempted to open her eyes but she resisted the urge.
"Stop pretending and open your eyes"Nora was surprised. She never knew her pretense was evident to be known that soon. She opened her eyes to see a man dressed in an all black with a mask covering the face. He wasn't tall and wasn't short just average like every other normal person.
"Who the hell are you?"Nora shouted but it was more of a whisper barely audible to the ears as she was famished and hasn't eaten for days.
"Wrong question"The man in mask replied.
"Please! Why are you doing this to me?"Nora asked after finding her voice back. The man grinned through the open holes of the mask.
"That's a good question"The man circled Nora who was strapped to a wooden chair and stopped at her front.
"Cole caused this"The man looked away like he was hurt trying to hide the pain that engulfed him.
"He killed my wife"he said tentatively in a low tone. "He killed her and I will have my revenge"
"But Cole never killed anyone"Nora retorted.
The man laughed and didn't stop until he thought he had enough of it. "Cole never killed anyone?"He mimicked Nora then laughed for a while.
"Well, I don't blame you because you never knew who he was before you met him." "And who was he?"
"He was a monster, a deadly one at that. He was the one that compelled me to kill too" Nora found his words meaningless as it doesn't make any sense to her.
How could cole be a killer and the monster that compelled him to kill.
"He was an hired assassin, he kills without leaving a trace"the man started circling her again. "No one knew him to be a killer not even me."
The man again stopped at her front, "He was popular in the game and they respected him a lot. Cole was a carefree type. He made life convenient for people but once you're on his death list …You die and no one would find his trace."The man squatted in front of Nora and placed his two hands on her thighs. Nora twitched her legs trying to snap the hands off but she couldn't as her hands were tied behind.
"I had been wondering who this smart dude is and why he was never caught. My curiosity got the better of me when he killed my wife."The man smiled in his masked face. "She was beautiful like a goddess and I really do love her.. I loved her and I still love her. That's why I can't stop until I have my revenge.
"After the death of my wife, I became determined to know who the killer really was but then, Cole suddenly stopped being an assassin. He became a better person and joined the CIB bureau with a new identity. Cole wiped off his memory himself to keep the past away from haunting him and then he became something else. He became a detective, trying to keep the state peaceful but I won't allow it. My main objective is to make life a living hell for him after which I will kill you just as he killed my wife"
Nora froze at the point of being killed.
What?
Cole was once an assassin?
"I will kill everyone he loves starting with you. I will …."a sound interrupted him. He brought out a small device from his pocket and saw it blinking red.
He has been found!
***
Cole locked his office door and pressed the combination codes to permanently lock it. He stepped into the elevator and pressed the exit button and then walked out of the elevator as it opened.
Cole jumped on his power bike and sped off towards the location blinking on the tracker. He loved speed and it helped clear off his head. Backups were just getting ready and he couldn't wait. He really needed to teach the son of a b***h an indelible lesson. Cole noticed a truck on his trail through the rear view mirror. The black truck took another route in the intersection lane and started speeding towards him in the opposite direction.
He always had very sharp Instincts, he trusts his guts so much.
He quickly slowed and jumped off the bike into nearby shrubs before the truck made impact . The noise was deafening as Cole rolled far away from the collision and deeper into the shrubs. He quickly pulled out his phone and speed dialed a code; It sent a signal to the CIB, indicating that he was in trouble and they could track his location.
A team was deployed to his location immediately. Cole's eyes were closing and he was fast losing consciousness as he barely heard what was going on around him. The last thing he heard from the crowd confirmed his fears.
The driver of the truck was no whereto be found.
***
Time was tickling very fast, emotions were becoming more heated. Seconds turned into minutes, and the moment was approaching gradually. The silence in the house was deafening except for a young boy named David who was playing with the toy Jeep Emily bought for him. The boy was less perturbed about the happenings around him as he played, running about with the toy in his hands.
Emily's mouth was still wide agape, Ben was also dumbfounded and lost in thoughts still standing like a statue as his head was tilted towards Emily and they were locked up in a gaze.
David's mother was also surprised, she was seated in a couch adjacent to Emily. She was wondering why silence engraved the house and why they acted as if they were held up in a trance.
With the look of things, they might remain static forever without being conscious of their environment. David'smother shook her head in utmost dismay. She had to do something to stop the supposed trance.
"What's happening?"David'smother shouted at no one in particular.
Emily was the first to regain herself from the trance that seemingly held her. She closed her mouth when she realized it was open.
"Ben?"Emily muttered under her breath with short gasps but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Ben shook uneasily as he stood, he had never anticipated that the world would come crumbling down on his head such as that.
Had it been he knew….
He wouldn't have dared the dreaded.
Worst still, he married two cousins with different characters. To him, one is cool but desperate while the other hazardous.
He f**ked up big time!
"He's not Ben, Emily. He's Richard",David's mother angrily retorted.
Emily tried hard not to blink her eyes because the tears could spill any moment. She had always suspected Ben to have a wife somewhere but she wasn't sure as she had never caught him with one, but right there was her worst nightmare playing right before her.
"Ben how could you?",the tears came running down her cheeks like the water falling off a hill. She couldn't withstand the excruciating pain that engulfed her as she ran out with her handbag. A sob burst out, the tears welled up in her eyes, streamed and poured out like an heavy rain. She quickly brought out her handkerchief and soaked it with the tears.
***
Detective Cole opened his eyes to find himself in a strange place. The walls were tiled and painted white. Strange smell wafted across his nostrils as the bed was very small and uncomfortable. He tried to sit upright but the sharp pain sent him back on the bed. There was a drip on his left wrist and a small amount of blood had formed on the tip needed.
How did he find himself there?
Which hospital was he admitted?
He remembered just a little part of the previous events. He was riding a power bike and then, he had a collision. That was all he could remember.
Cole pressed the emergency button.
"Nurse",he called out but got no response.
"Nurse!!!",he called out again, screaming as loud as his voice could carry him, pressing the emergency button a million times.
Minutes later, a young man came in wearing a white apparel. He was all smiles as he approached Cole on the bed. Cole's eyes widened when he realized who was standing before him. He was dumbfounded as his face suddenly went pale.
It can'tnbe him. No, it can't.It can't be the forensic man, it can't be. He is dead! Maybe he is seeing a ghost.
Cole argued within himself. He became scared with the thoughts let alone the presence of him.
"Seems like you are surprised detective",the doctor said with smiles.
"Who are you?",Cole asked in a quivery voice.
"Bamidele William, the forensic man you detained, who happened to be dead but very much alive"
Cole was gobsmacked. "But you were confirmed dead by the medics"
"I wasn't the one, I made the man do a face surgery which was the replica of mine. I had my ways like I always do"
The forensic man brought out a syringe and drew some liquid from an ampoule. He tapped Cole's free hand and found a vein.
Cole drew back in fear. "What are you doing to me!",he shouted but it was more of a whisper as fear engulfed him and he looked on with horror as the forensic man injected him from the syringe. The forensic man removed it from his body after the contents had gone down into his body.
He smiled.
"I'm sorry, I set you up. You weren't an assassin and never a killer but I had to do what I have to do to cover my tracks which prone the killer to be on your trail. I changed for good but one way or the other, the past came haunting and I had to go back to my old self. I have to stop the son of a b***h before he learns the truth which is why I am doing this to you. I injected you with a form of amnesia virus which would make you lose your memories of the past three weeks. I was never here detective, have a nice day."
Cole could only hear the words ringing in his head as his eyes were fast closing and becoming blur. He heard the bang of the door which indicated that he had exited the room. Even though, he would lose his memory but he would try hard not to forget the voice.
***
Cole opened the small gate and entered his house, water pickling down his body saturating the blue Chelsea jersey he was clad in. He had just finished an hour jog and was sweating profusely like a Christmas goat. Jogging for an hour everyday has become a daily routine, it was the psychologist prescription as a way to get some of his memories back plus it helped clear his head and it made him think. It had been four days since he had been discharged from the hospital. He was tremendously infuriated at his inability to recall the past three weeks event. He had a bad feeling that it was not just the accident that made him lose some of his memories like the doctors had claimed. He knew it was more than the accident . He could have forgotten all his memories but he didn't, it was only three weeks amnesia and why not total amnesia?
Something was definitely fishy but he just couldn't figure it out.
He had tried times without number to recall what actually happened in the last three weeks but all to no avail. It was blank like it never existed. This to him was more annoying than being alive. He sat in a couch in the large sitting room, the house looked empty with no one in it as his mind drifted to Nancy and a sad expression replaced his once puzzled look. He remembered he hadn't seen his wife. Nancy, someone who he loves dearly. He had tried numerous ways to reach her but none went through and without much ado he was being told that she had been missing since two weeks ago.
What was happening?
He couldn't think straight anymore, his life was messed up and whoever that is doing this is making life a living hell for him. His phone beeped on the table and he picked it; It was an emergency from the agency.
He suddenly stopped and he frowned.
Another murder?
Cole stood up and rushed to the bathroom. He had a quick shower and a change of clothes. He got his keys and got into his Peugeot 504. He ignited the car engine and it revved. He stepped on the accelerator and sped off. He was going to the location of the murder which just happened. He wasn't going to allow the killer get away not this time with puffed vexation. He had enough and couldn't withstand to get more of it. The car came to a screeching halt as he slammed on the brakes.
A small crowd of people had gathered distance away. Some policemen had arrived the crime scene, some were keeping off the crazy crowd away from the crime scene while some huddled around looking for evidence.
Cole stepped out of his car and ran to the crime scene. A body lay disfigured in a pool of fresh blood. Cole bent down scrutinizing, it was a man with an oval structure of a face, he had scars on the disfigured face with a goatee beards which was soaked in his blood. Cole saw the gunshot wound and then the bullet that did the job. He picked it up rolling it in his hands. He knew it was from a 9mm pistol and with the way it was shot, he could tell it was from a close range but the question is how?
"Send me video footages of about thirty minutes ago"Cole said into the mouthpiece of his phone. "Make sure it is as fast as possible".He hung up the call and walked back to his car. His phone beeped after some minutes, he opened the videos and he started watching. He found nothing after some minutes of watching, it was just the normal daily activities of cars passing by. He was about to exit the video when he saw a car sped away and a body falling from the car. Cole immediately paused it and zoomed in on the car, he couldn't see the face of the driver as he was well disguised with a black cap he had on. He jotted the plate number of the car and rewound the streaming. There was a Camry car following the black corolla in a hot pursuit.
Now, he could tell what actually happened. It seemed like the killer was in the cab with the driver and while trying to get away, he shot the driver in the process.
Cole sent a message to all checkpoints with the plate number of the car asking for the car to be stopped on sight. Cole changed gears as he continued driving at an alarming rate of speed not minding the insults he received from pedestrians and drivers. His device beeped and the screen lights came on. He used one hand to pick the phone and the other hand on the steering wheel. A tracker had been activated showing the location of the person he had tracked down.
But who did he track?
He couldn't remember tracking anybody but out of curiosity, he set to go and find out . He made a U- turn and changed the lane. He was going to find out who he had tracked. After minutes of driving recklessly, he came to a halt at the front of a house which looked like a warehouse.
Cole suddenly stopped in his tracks, the corolla car he had seen and had written the plate number was parked outside the ware house. The plate number had been ripped off but he recognized the car. He became very alarmed as he brought out his gun tucked in his hostler. He pushed the door open as he stepped into the spacious compound with tentative steps. The warehouse was void of movement and activities. It seemed like the warehouse had been abandoned for years as grasses grew out of the tiled floor. Cole moved stealthily and slid down creeping in through the closed gate of the warehouse which the down part was slightly opened. He crawled in and rose to his feet but a sudden kick sent him back sprawling on the floor. He saw it too late and couldn't dodge or weave it away.
A man with a black face cap stepped out and followed suit as Cole landed on the floor and he quickly gagged Cole with a handkerchief. Cole writhed on the floor shaking vehemently as he consumed a mouthful of the substance. His eyes went dim and he fell into unconsciousness.