Read the previous part Here.
Now that I have the knowledge that there might be clues in the next room, I can't rest. It is midnight. I was brought in some food at seven; I was given an injection at ten. Fortunately I had the chance of replacing the injections with water, so I am not drugged. In the last few hours, I have devised a plan to get to the next room. It is time to execute the design. I open the window and climb out of it. The cold wind blows against my face. I feel the life, the adventure that I always sought in my teenage years. I had wanted to be a cop and was the topper in the academy, but my father's sudden demise and my greedy relatives had caused me to work as a journalist. Striving to push the past aside, I fling myself from the supporting bars and land on the sill of the window in the next room. A sharp fist jab on the wood forces it to open. I step in the room. As I am about to reach for the light switch, I realize I have company. I am startled by someone's muffled cries coming from the same room. Did they find out? As I wait for them to make the move, the cries become more distinct. It is a female voice crying out in French. I can make out the words aider, laissez-moi which in my language mean help, leave me. I hit the switch and light shatters the darkness in the room. I see an impeccably beautiful woman clad in a white dress tied to the bed. Her limbs and her mouth are tied with cloth. On seeing me she stops. I untie her and she embraces me. “Jean. Jean. s'en aller. ils vont te tuer.” It hits me: Jean was the guy in the passport. He and I looked alike, he's the guy who had died in the hotel in Brussels. I was brought here because I bear a striking resemblance to him and now I'll be playing his part in their scheme. I run my hand through her hair and she calms down. “Listen”, I tell her. “I am not Jean. I am Michael Baker.” She draws herself apart from me as she grasps the meaning of my words. She starts sobbing. “Is he dead?”, she asks. “Yes.” I let her cry; tears are the right of a sad soul.
“Who are you?”, she asks.
“I am Michael Baker, an American. I was brought here from Brussels as a hostage. I want to know what these people want from me”, I tell her.
She starts talking,
“Jean was the old Duke's only heir. The old Duke is on his death bed. After the Duke's death, Jean would be the last male survivor of the Walramian line. Our captors work for Jean's distant cousin Robert. Robert draws his blood from the Ottonian Line. Robert can take over the Dukedom only after the Walramian line becomes extinct. However, the old Duke suspected a threat to Jean's life, so he amended the Family-Pact to include a clause wherein if foul play is suspected, the line suspected of foul play can be denied its right to the throne. Thus, Robert could not kill Jean, until he found you. Now his plan is to prove that Jean, i.e. you, are mentally retarded and the right to the throne is his.”
After she finishes, I assure her that Robert would never be able to succeed in his evil plan. Finally I set my eyes on the huge piece of furniture that I had suspected would be in this room. It is a wooden shelf holding books. It has many books, photo albums, even manuscripts. One week of my life certainly deserves more explanation than she has given me. I scan through the books, flipping several pages wildly. I must find out the entire truth. Finally I succeed to retrieve the book that holds the answers to all the questions in my head. I read it.
Read the LAST part here.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
In a Stranger's Shoes, part 6
Read the previous part Here.
When I regain consciousness, I am in the car. The two guys who had picked me from the hotel are with me. The one who was driving then is sitting on my right and the other one is at the wheel. I can still feel the numbness in my limbs but I’m not paralysed any more. I can move my arms and as I raise my palms to press them against my temples, my companion is alarmed; he turns to face me but makes no physical contact. He smiles at me but makes no attempt to talk. Presently he turns away to look at the fields by the side of the road. In a muffled tone, I ask him where we’re headed to. He says without looking at me, “You’ll find out soon.” I reply, “I’m sure I will” and I turn to my left to look outside. Among the green surroundings, I spot a milestone which tells me that Luxembourg is a hundred kilometres away. I now have reason to think Luxembourg is our destination, or at least the next stop. The vehicle is cruising at a hundred kilometres per hour. If I try to jump off, I’ll positively break a few bones. Even if I escape any bodily injuries miraculously, I certainly cannot hope to escape. Besides, I’m out of most of my physical strength which will guarantee that if I mess with any one of these guys, I’ll be on the receiving end of any of the blows any man delivers. Time to show off has not come yet. I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep. For a long time the bastards don’t talk, even to each other. Then I sense the vehicle speed decreasing, gradually. Apparently the driver is pulling off. The sedan comes to a halt. I hear the doors opening. I keep my eyes closed. My companion shakes me but I pretend not to notice. Soon I hear the doors shutting and the blip-blip of the automatic lock. Few seconds later I open my eyes. I’m alone. I can see my captors smoking outside some small cigarette shop on the other side of the road. I try to unlock the door but it doesn’t open. I’m trapped inside. There’s a plastic case in the rear pocket of the driver’s seat. I grab it and open it. There are half a dozen syringes with some transparent solution in them. That’s what they’ve been giving me. There’s a bottle of mineral water between the two front seats. Hastily I discharge the contents of the syringes under the floor mat and refill each of them with the water. I replace the box in the pocket. From the corner of my eye I see them crossing the road. I drift off to the pretentious sleep again. Moments later the wheels of the auto-mobile are set into motion again. Minutes later, I open my eyes and engage myself in staring at the view that the window offers. We are nearing Luxembourg because the buildings have started to appear. I can see a river flowing below us; we must be on a bridge. Thirty minutes later, the car takes a right turn; away from the free way and another ten minutes later the car enters a huge gate which leads to some palatial building. The architecture is ancient, as if the building were some fort or some palace - I can’t tell which - a few centuries ago. So, I’m going to stay at this palace for a while. My captors are certainly hospitable.
I am shown my room by my companions. We had to climb quite a few stairs to get to the room. I'm not shackled but there's only one window to the room and a solitary door,locked from outside, and perhaps guarded. I look around the room, there's a bath attached. The room's arrangement has been changed recently, as can be seen from the drag marks on the carpet. Looking at these marks on the carpet, I can guess furniture has even been removed from the room. There's some plaster missing from the wall opposite to my bed. I examine it closely. There was something heavy kept against the wall, perhaps a wooden shelf and it was moved out of the room. As I was being ushered into this room, I had seen peculiar scratch marks in the floor leading from this room to the adjacent one. This brings me to believe that something heavy that was in this room was recently moved to the other room. What could it be? Could it be something that would help dissolve the clouds of mystery in my head? Perhaps.
Read the next part Here.
When I regain consciousness, I am in the car. The two guys who had picked me from the hotel are with me. The one who was driving then is sitting on my right and the other one is at the wheel. I can still feel the numbness in my limbs but I’m not paralysed any more. I can move my arms and as I raise my palms to press them against my temples, my companion is alarmed; he turns to face me but makes no physical contact. He smiles at me but makes no attempt to talk. Presently he turns away to look at the fields by the side of the road. In a muffled tone, I ask him where we’re headed to. He says without looking at me, “You’ll find out soon.” I reply, “I’m sure I will” and I turn to my left to look outside. Among the green surroundings, I spot a milestone which tells me that Luxembourg is a hundred kilometres away. I now have reason to think Luxembourg is our destination, or at least the next stop. The vehicle is cruising at a hundred kilometres per hour. If I try to jump off, I’ll positively break a few bones. Even if I escape any bodily injuries miraculously, I certainly cannot hope to escape. Besides, I’m out of most of my physical strength which will guarantee that if I mess with any one of these guys, I’ll be on the receiving end of any of the blows any man delivers. Time to show off has not come yet. I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep. For a long time the bastards don’t talk, even to each other. Then I sense the vehicle speed decreasing, gradually. Apparently the driver is pulling off. The sedan comes to a halt. I hear the doors opening. I keep my eyes closed. My companion shakes me but I pretend not to notice. Soon I hear the doors shutting and the blip-blip of the automatic lock. Few seconds later I open my eyes. I’m alone. I can see my captors smoking outside some small cigarette shop on the other side of the road. I try to unlock the door but it doesn’t open. I’m trapped inside. There’s a plastic case in the rear pocket of the driver’s seat. I grab it and open it. There are half a dozen syringes with some transparent solution in them. That’s what they’ve been giving me. There’s a bottle of mineral water between the two front seats. Hastily I discharge the contents of the syringes under the floor mat and refill each of them with the water. I replace the box in the pocket. From the corner of my eye I see them crossing the road. I drift off to the pretentious sleep again. Moments later the wheels of the auto-mobile are set into motion again. Minutes later, I open my eyes and engage myself in staring at the view that the window offers. We are nearing Luxembourg because the buildings have started to appear. I can see a river flowing below us; we must be on a bridge. Thirty minutes later, the car takes a right turn; away from the free way and another ten minutes later the car enters a huge gate which leads to some palatial building. The architecture is ancient, as if the building were some fort or some palace - I can’t tell which - a few centuries ago. So, I’m going to stay at this palace for a while. My captors are certainly hospitable.
I am shown my room by my companions. We had to climb quite a few stairs to get to the room. I'm not shackled but there's only one window to the room and a solitary door,locked from outside, and perhaps guarded. I look around the room, there's a bath attached. The room's arrangement has been changed recently, as can be seen from the drag marks on the carpet. Looking at these marks on the carpet, I can guess furniture has even been removed from the room. There's some plaster missing from the wall opposite to my bed. I examine it closely. There was something heavy kept against the wall, perhaps a wooden shelf and it was moved out of the room. As I was being ushered into this room, I had seen peculiar scratch marks in the floor leading from this room to the adjacent one. This brings me to believe that something heavy that was in this room was recently moved to the other room. What could it be? Could it be something that would help dissolve the clouds of mystery in my head? Perhaps.
Read the next part Here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
