The Red Nights

Jamal looked at Pam " I have many questions I need to ask you so you better go first, tell me what you want to clarify ".

The woman thought a little bit but at the moment she was about to talk her dad took the lead, " what are you doing here? Did you come to take my head and offer it to Konny? "

" Dad! " Pam exclaimed as she thought it was a rude thing to say, she turned and wanted to apologize to Jamal but the latter raised a hand to stop, " it's alright " he said to reassure her, " I want to you to trust me and I will be completely honest with you so don't hold back, feel free to ask whatever question you want ", he looked at Phil " she sent us, my team and I, to investigate about your precise location, that's why we came with such a small number so that you will drop your guard and subsequently reveal your position to us ".

Phil opened his eyes, shocked. " I knew it " Pam couldn't help but say, " it was too much suspicious. I even warned you ".

The old man gazed at her but didn't know what to say to defend himself, he preferred ignoring her and asked Jamal with a shaking voice " so you mean that Konny actually knows our hideouts? "

" Actually that's true, I didn't tell her anything of course but I think our friends who betrayed us must be in their way to go reveal anything to her. By the she will not only know your position but also how many people are you in charge of and how strong you are. So with that she will be able to make a raid on this area to kill you all ".

Phil stepped back to fall heavily on his sofa, he held his head dramatically and said " until here I have been paying many attention to hide ourselves from her while giving her the illusion that our both armies were similar in strength so that she would be too prudent to attack and would spare us for a moment. But now she has all what she needs to crush us. It's over ".

[ When you're giving up like this it will surely be ] Pam commented, but at that moment she knew that they didn't have the time mind her father's complaints. " Can you help us to fight her? " she turned and asked Jamal.

" That, will all depend on what I will learn from you " he replied. " You see, I have been deceived once, by Konny. She made me believe that they were the ones I came to help but at the end she tried to kill me, so I will have to check that you're not lying to me too, that you really are whom you are pretending to be ".

She bowed her head to look down, a little depressed then Volga landed a hand on her head, " for that you don't have to worry. She wasn't lying when she said that she was the one who evacuated the citizens and called you for help " she said, she smiled " you already know that, don't you? "

" You didn't see through Konny's lies when we were with her, I'm wondering why, did your radar stopped working?" Jamal said to tease her. Volga shrugged and replied " in fact she didn't lie much and it was our fault for not having checked her identity. And in the we managed to smell that something was wrong so it's okay ".

Pam stared at them, one after another, a bit lost as if they were talking another language, " does that mean that you will help us? " she made another tentative. " Yes of course " Volga answered. The young woman felt relieved, she couldn't hold herself to sighed, satisfied.

" So? Is that okay? Don't you have anything else you would want me to tell you? " Jamal asked her . She shook her negatively and replied with a slight smile " as long as you're willing to help us I don't need to question you any further... or maybe... ahem, how did you know that we will come to pick you up and bring you to our base? "

" I played a gambling. When we were still erring in the streets and we were sharing our reports on the mission was going I noticed that on the zone where were my friends who betrayed us, the soldiers who were attacking them were pretty weak and they even took time before they decided to chase them. So I remember an advice of my gi- " he caughed twice, a little embarrassed, " ahem my girlfriend once told me that in such situation that means that the attackers are hesitating. That was why I ran until that area and the fact that you didn't shoot on me when I was standing on that parking just enhanced my suspicions ".

" I see " Pam nodded slightly, then she asked again " and what if we didn't hesitate? what would you have done? "

" Oh in that, I would have just come to find you here by myself but it would have been a little inconvenient and I would have been less credible with my intentions to help you ".

Pam was surprised so was Phil, who raised his head to stare at him. " So you mean that... " she started, "... you already figured out this place to be our HQ? " and Phil finished.

He nodded innocently, " in fact, I often play chess with my girlfriend and she taught me how to know when your opponent try hide his trump piece ", he turned to Phil " I admit that you played very nicely as you were very careful when you were chasing me but with the time it's became obvious that you wanted to hide and protect this place ".

" You have there such an incredible girlfriend " Pam couldn't help but to say. Jamal started to stroke the back of his, as he was embarrassed and Volga had to hold herself with all her strength to not burst out laughing.

" And for the shock? How can you be so well after falling from a height of 3 meters? ", that point was bothering her a little bit.

Jamal revealed a mysterious smile " I didn't really fall ".

" Huh? "

" Well, I think you have no more questions so it's my turn to ask mine " he clapped, he face became serious " I want to know what happened here, but firstly tell me who Konny is ".

At that sentence the faces of everyone of Phil's army including him became gloomy, as if they all had an awful past with her. " It is not a short story " Pam said.

" I don't mind, we still have the time anyway " Jamal shrugged.

" So better have a seat, let go... " she made a move to go take him a chair but Jamal just let himself fall on the floor, he crossed his legs and his arms and gazed at her. Pam sighed and sat on the floor too while the other people around were imitating them.

" Konny was a childhood friend of mine. We have met when I was a teenager, in high school and since we graduated we have always been together. We were very close. Her parents were divorced because her father cheated on her mother so she was living with her while my mother died when I was born, we were both from a wrecked family so we got along well. When we went in college we started living together in the same appartment and it was cool, a normal life you know, until she started to change. She was about to get her master in psychology while I have been already graduated from police academy and became a police officer. My dad was still chef of the police at that time.

" One day when I came back home I saw her sitting alone on the sofa watching videos with her phone, I noticed that she particularly upset saw I went to ask her what was wrong. She started to that it was nothing but after insisting many times she finally confessed that she had discovered that I was dating someone, she told that it was unfair that I hid it from her while she was my bestfriend. We argued for one hour and I finally and I finally acknowledged that it was not cool for having done such thing, I apologized and to make myself forgiven I prepared, that night, her favorite plate, after having dinner we stay all night watching our favorite serie on my laptop, at that moment I thought we were done with that . "

" Another day she invited me to have a drink together, I wasn't on duty so I accepted, there wasn't any problem until she started telling me that she had met with my boyfriend and she didn't trust him, she started telling me that he would not make me happy and I should just bump him. We fight a little bit I told her to mind her own business before living the bar, and since then we didn't stop arguing about that, whatever it was at home or anywhere else, she wouldn't stop telling me that he was not good person, that he was flirting with many other women and that he was just playing with me and in such cases I had the same answer 'mind your own business' ".

" You know Konny is more gorgeous and beautiful than me, she had been in much more relationsh.i.p.s than I and so she had more experience than I did but I just didn't want to let go of the unique romance I ever had. She had always obtained whatever she wanted easily while I would have to work my b.u.t.t to get something for me that's why I was so frustrated and on the other hand it wasn't like her to interfere so deeply in my life, we have never allowed ourselves to tell to each other what to do, we usually exchange some advices and that's all so I wasn't understanding what was she feeling so concerned "

" One day I went to my boyfriend's home after receiving a message from him to come over. He wasn't in the living room when I arrived so I went straight toward his room. There, I was shocked to discover Konny half n.a.k.e.d sitting on his bed, calm as ever she waved her hand at me as if she was waiting for me and the moment after I saw my boyfriend coming out from his bathroom, then I heard her telling me ' you see, I have warned you '. I ran toward the door and left the apartment with tears rolling on cheeks like waterfalls "

" I went to our apartment, gathered all my stuffs ready to leave when Konny caught me on the door she pushed inside with a strength I didn't know from her and closed the door behind. She stood in front of it and forced me to listen to her explanation, she said that she warned me many but I didn't want to listen, she confessed to me that he wanted her from long ago and she decided to set that plan to expose him before my feelings for him grow any further. She begged me to believe in her because she would never tell a lie to me. I remember that that day I cried like I have never cried before and Konny was there to hold me and wipe my tears out. "

" I felt asleep without realizing and when I woke up the morning she had prepared the breakfast for me. We were in holidays so I didn't have to worry about the work. We spent all the day together at home and that day she told in the future I should not date anyone before presenting him to her, she told me that men are not trustworthy so I should be careful and not fall for another bastard. I knew that at that moment she was saying because of the experience she had with her father. Some wounds never heal as it's commonly said. Anyway, my life after was going smoothly, I didn't worry much about what happened, I was young so I had all the rest of my life to meet new people and find the man who would end his days with me "

" Konny and I became closer as never and I was realizing at that time that it was exactly the problem. We were too close. I wasn't dating anyone and was she. When I was not on duty and she was not studying we were always together. One day I came back from a long and tiring day of work I found that she had prepared a magnificent dinner, she had decorated the table in a lovely way and she told me that all that was for me. I was very glad, usually we did that to celebrate something like I did before, to celebrate the fact that she finally got her master, I didn't know the reason why we were celebrating and I was waiting for her to tell me. After dinner we went to the roof of the building and there she confessed that she had feelings for me, that she was in love for me and that she wanted us to stay together as a couple "

" I told her I was sorry because I didn't have such feelings for her and that I didn't have any interests in women. She replied that she knew but it was not a problem because we can go and discover those things together. That at least it was worth to try it with her because she was sure I would definitely not regret it. But I didn't let myself convinced and I turned her down. She then, went mad and started shouting at that I was doing a big mistake, that there was no man on this earth who deserved me that she was the only one for me and she knew how to make me happy "

" The situation was becoming too much for me so we went back down, packed all my stuffs and left the house. She tried to stop me but this time I just ignored her. I returned back to live at my dad's place and I didn't receive any news from Konny since that day, I was too scared and shy to go verify directly in our house. A month later, the... the catastrophe of that terrible night happened. I went at our home to check if she wasn't among those who disappeared but I didn't find her there when i started panicking I heard that the apartment was unoccupied since a while now. I was a little relieved, because there was still a hope that she didn't disappear "

" I went back home and directly went to have some sleep, because the criminality was worryingly increasing the police officers had to work more. At the start it was easy, just some classic bad things but the more the time passed and the more they were becoming organized. They became so strong that we started losing the control of the city, we were becoming the rebels while the outlaws were becoming the rulers. One day we threw a raid in their ancient base, I was happy because we finally got to discover where their chief was hiding himself and by killing him we would crush the organization of criminals "

" I was the one who was monitoring that mission as I was the one who found almost all the clues about the location of their chief. The mission was going quite smoothly, their defense was weak so we managed to reach their chief's room without encountering so much resistance. We entered inside and we were given to see a shocking picture. In front of me Konny, as elegant as ever, was sitting on chair which was looking more like a throne than a chair and down were two men totally n.a.k.e.d, who l.i.c.k.i.n.g her feet frenetically like dogs would lick a fresh bone. After looking at them carefully I recognized them as being the head of the two big gangs of the city. I have spent almost all my career trying to catch them "

" But they weren't the ones catching my attention. I started to ask Konny why was she there, what was she doing there and where has she been all those times. She responded by just telling me that she was actually the head of the organization of criminals and that she was aiming to rule over the all city. Before we could realize my team and I were surrounded by the enemies and we got captured, for five days during which we were being tortured or I should I was being captured. I heard that my team betrayed me and join Konny. During those days she would personally come to my cell and she would **** me again and again to break my spirit and force me to join them "

Jamal understood that it was not something easy to say, especially in front many people, that proved how strong her spirit was. He didn't want to disrespect her by passing by such painful souvenirs but there was there something he couldn't just overlook, he raised a hand to stop her, he gazed at her and said " I'm sorry to interrupt you, especially at such moment but I want us to be completely honest with one another, as I said earlier. But here you're not completely honest. What are you hiding from me? "

Pam looked surprised, she glanced at her father and the latter nodded severely as to tell to go on. " What I didn't say is that I met Konny lately after the catastrophe of that night happened. She came to see me and told me to run away with her. She said that the city was doomed and that I had no future here, she told me that she was still loving me and that she would take care of me and protect me. That was when she revealed to me that... she had the power to... control people " she said with a little hesitation, " I know it may seem surrealistic even I didn't believe her at that, after I turned her down again, telling her that I had a city to protect and for that I couldn't, she promised that I would regret that decision. And that was when we met again, that day. She reminded me about her power, believe me, that's the truth. She told that was with that she had conquered and took the lead of the organization of criminals. As to show me an example she reverted my teammates against me, just by touching their necks while telling them to obey to her. She proposed me again to abandon the city and flee with, that she was willing to stop all that and I just had to say yes to her but I didn't, now I'm regretting that because I could have prevented many horrible things to happen " as she said glanced secretly at Phil with an expression as to say sorry and Jamal understood what was the unique big mistake she had done for her father to lost trust in her, but it seemed like he was regretting too as Jamal, besides anyone, noticed him quickly wiping off the tears on his eyes before anyone else noticed that.

" After those days of captivity I finally managed to free myself and run away. When I came back I learned that my teammates who had betrayed me and joined with Konny had tried to kill my dad, hopefully they didn't succeed but on another hand she had succeeded in another way because now we are all aware about Konny's power ".

Jamal gazed at the members of Phil's army present in the room one by one, they all had their eyes looking down. " Why are you making those faces? It's not like she is almighty or something ".

" Maybe but with an ability like that it's just impossible for us to win " Pam said. Jamal sighed while leaning back on his arms " well, many things always seem impossible before you try them out and finally do them. Konny wanted to give you this impression that she was all powerful so that whatever you do you will always be scared of her. You told me that she did psychology so she surely knows all of that, how to play with ones fear. But in the end she is still human and only God is almighty. She is not so incredible, take the example of you. For how long has she been looking for you but you still survived her. For how long, Pam, has she been torturing you but you still resisted her, am I wrong? ", he jumped on his feet and stared at them with a large smile " she is not invincible and tomorrow I will prove it to you because tomorrow, you will finally take your revenge on her ".

" How? " Pam asked full of hope. " With a good plan " he exclaimed, " but firstly let's eat something ".

" We are quite short handed in terms of provisions " she said while stroking the back of her head, embarrassed. " I know but no need to hold back, tomorrow we will win and you have plenty of food to satisfy your bellies so for today we will eat as much as we want. We will use a lot of energy tomorrow and I don't want any of you to die of hunger in the battlefield, get it ? "

They all nodded with smiles on their faces, even Phil couldn't hold his smile. " Alright so let's go and by the way please call back all your men you have scattered over your territory before the sun goes off, we shall need everyone ".