KOLLUPIA S2 E03

GUNSHOT!

Micheal would remember that sound for the rest of his life.

Time became one horrific congealed moment.

Micheal watched the side of his wife's head explode into a thick spray of bloodied skull fragments and chunks of flesh. He watched her lifeless body fall (almost in slow-motion) to the ground. He would play that image over and over in his head for the rest of his life.



Years later, he would look back at that  and say, his heart stopped beating in that moment . He would say in that moment, he lost his humanity. Rapid images of their lives flashed through his head. He continued staring at her still form, seconds after it had hit the ground.

Long silence.

"Does Sokha have Old Man's attention now?"


He heard Sokha say in some distant region of his mind. He couldn't breath. The pounding in his head had faded away like background noise. A blackness inside him had been unleashed. Like bile, it was slowly spreading across his system.

" As Sokha was saying," he went on casually. " Sokha's employer wants the old Shadow for a mission"

Micheal slowly rose to his feet. A dark door in his mind had been opened.....no....the door had EXPLODED outwards, unleashing millions of shadows he'd kept locked up for years.

" The old wolf says nothing?" Sokha mused.
All Micheal wanted to do was tear his throat out.

" Or...maybe the old wolf wants to fight Sokha"
he grinned, stepping forward. "....so....why does Old shadow hesitate?"

Micheal charged at him, exploding into a mad sprint towards the man that had just killed his wife. Sokha waited calmly, the smile never leaving his face. Micheal launched four vicious strikes that were countered easily.

"The old wolf is slow" Sokha smiled, then smashed his fist into the side of Micheal's face.


 He ignored the pain and fought to remain conscious. All he could see in his mind was Nse's face exploding.....the vacant look in her eyes,...her still form... He attacked with a series of deadly blows and low kicks, but Sokha was faster, he ducked and blocked the attacks effortlessly. He grabbed Micheal's head and crashed it into his knee. Blood exploded from Micheal's face.

" Old wolf has experience" Sokha smiled, ducking under another blow. " But Sokha has youth" Sokha caught Micheal's fist in mid air and began to squeeze. Micheal felt and heard the bones in his hand splinter and pop. He screamed.

"Sokha's disappointed" he sneered. "The old wolf does not live up to  reputation"

How could anyone be that strong? Micheal wondered as his bones cracked and exploded in Sokha's grip. He fell to his knees, under waves of agonising pain.

Sokha's fist exploded across Micheal's face, sending him into the dirt head-first.

Micheal was dazed. For many seconds, he literally couldn't see or hear anything. His whole body went numb, as if paralysed. More images of Nse flooded his mind.

Slowly, sounds came to him.

"....old wolf has month to mourn wife,.....and heal" Sokha's voice was saying. Micheal's vision was blurry, but he still couldn't move.


Sokha was impossibly strong....and fast. He thought.

"After which....." He continued. " Sokha shall return to take the old wolf to Kollupia"
He could feel the fingers on his right hand moving again. But there was still blackness at the edges of his vision.

He felt Sokha's breath close to him.

"If the Old wolf decides to get creative, and inform authorities...or say tries anything stupid," Sokha's voice sighed. "Then one morning, Sokha will take young Lucious out into a yard....strip him...sodomise him, dowse him in petrol, and set him on fire"

Micheal felt tremors run through his body.

"But Sokha will put out flames in say... ten...twelve seconds?" He chuckled. "Then Sokha will leave Lucious laying naked on ground with third degree burns for two days"
Micheal felt a steel hand grip him by the neck and hoist him off the ground. He could feel the enormous pressure against his windpipe.
"One thing for certain, Old wolf" Sokha's breath said. " ...young Lucious will feel vultures and maggots tearing and sucking at his flesh before he dies"

Long pause.

Micheal was losing consciousness again.

"Ever hear little child  scream in agony?" Sokha drew Micheal's face close to his. " it is like,....how you say....Magic?" Sokha suddenly sounded delightful.

Long pause.

Sokha lets Micheal fall to the ground. He smiles at him for a few seconds, then turns around.

"We go now" he ordered as one of the men picked up the unconscious Lucious.








Gunshots.

Men screaming.

Nse's face as the bullet exits the side of her head.

Micheal woke up with a start.

For a few seconds, he was confused. The smell of medication filled his lungs. He tried to move, but felt the constraints of bandages and numbness all over.

He tried to look to the side, but his head hurt.

" He's awake!" Kadilo's voice said excitedly.


Somewhere in the distance, he could hear an electronic beeping sound.

In the blurriness of his vision, he saw Kadilo and Dhamiete's faces staring down at him.

"Hey, bro!" Dhamiete said softly.

"...Nse....?" Micheal heard his own voice say.

Kadilo and Dhamiete exchanged quick sorrowful glances. Then stared back at him.

Micheal already knew the answer before he asked. Somehow, he was hoping he had dreamt it all. Images of Nse lying on the ground came back again.

"....and....Lucious...?"

"..em...." Dhamiete began awkwardly. " The police are still....looking for him....I have some of my brother's security detail searching......"

"How long have I been ....out?" Micheal said suddenly.

Long pause.

"Three days" Dhamiete said.

"I have...to..." Micheal tried to get up, but a sudden Tsunami of pain swept across him.

"You're not going anywhere, Mr Black" came a pleasant female voice. Seconds later, a tall attractive woman in a white coat stood over him.

"I'm Doctor Ngi" she smiled,easing him back into the pillow. "You've suffered some pretty serious injuries, Mr Black....I would urge you to remain on the bed"

Micheal realised instantly, he was too weak, too dizzy to argue.

"....How do you feel?" She asked, unbuttoning his chest and pressing the coldness of a stethoscope against his skin.

"....tired....sleepy..." He managed as waves of fatigue hit him again. In seconds, he was unconscious again.






..........to be continued






LIFE IS A CHOICE MY FRIENDS
SO CHOOSE WISELY
ENOUGH SAID