The Red Nights

Jamal and Pam followed Volga and Carla to a police station which was at twenty minutes from where they were. At the outside, there were groups of people who were sitting here and there chatting and joking, happy that their painful fight against Konny was finally over. When they passed next to them, they all stood up to welcome them by applauding them and they accompanied with cheers until they entered in.

Jamal thought that once inside it would be over but again they got welcomed by another round of applause. Everywhere they passed they would find another group and it continued like that until they finally reached the room they were holding the people newly released from Konny's control.

In the room, there were two cells for provisional detention in the both sides of the room and the large amount of people who were filling them were whether handcuffed or just tied with ropes. They were looking dizzy and their sights were rounding all over the room without specific direction, as if they were trying to figure out where they were and why they were there.

The ambiance was quite awkward as despite that there were so many people inside, the room was very calm and silent.

At the opposite side, just straight forward him Jamal saw Phil behind a wooden desk, he was sitting on a armchair resting his head on his two hands while leaning his weight on the backrest what made the chair tilting a little backwards and he was laying his feet on the desk one over another.

" You have taken your time " he shouted as he saw them walking toward him.

" What is happening to them? " Jamal ignored his comment and he directly asked while pointing to the cells.

" I don't know " Phil shrugged without any concern, " they have been like that since they woke up minutes ago ".

Volga turned around to examine the prisoners again, " is this the total number of Konny's soldiers? " she asked.

" Of course not, those cells would have never been able to hold them in totality " he responded while shaking his head negatively, " I had to apply a little composition " he took off his feet from the desk, put them down and crossed his hands on his belly, " taking note of Mr. Jamal's remark I have separated them into two groups " he paused and designated the cells " these people are those we have considered as criminals or potentially criminals. And those we have identified as our comrades we still have tied them but I have decided to hold somewhere else, in the dormitory sector to be more precise ".

" Have you tried to interact with them in some ways? " Jamal asked curiously.

Phil shook his head negatively, " I told my men to just watch and not to try entering in contact with them, I preferred to not take any risk and wait for you to come ".

Jamal nodded, thought for a short moment then said to him " alright, can I have the keys of the cells? ", everyone stared at him trying to figure out what he had in his mind.

Phil considered him for a short moment, then pulled a drawer, put his hand in pulled it out with a keychain and handed it to him hesitantly.

Jamal took the keys and walked toward one of the cells, " I don't think it's a good idea to do what you are about to do? " Carla commented while running to stay behind him ready to intervene whenever something went wrong. " Don't stress, it's cool " Jamal said to reassure them while inserting the key in the lock. He was expecting them to react a minimum once he would open the cell but they didn't. The only thing they did was that instead of looking around randomly they were then staring at Jamal as he was entering in.

They were so many in there that he had to be careful to not step on someone's limb. He noticed a young black man, who seemed to be no more than 20 years old and whose sight was particularly intense more than the others. He walked toward him and once he was enough close he tried to make some place and he squatted before him.

" Hey, you're good? How do you feel? " he started with a soft voice.

He didn't reply immediately but stared at him silently for a long time so Jamal tried something else " what's your name? ", he thought that he would remain quiet as he bowed his head and was taking time to respond but as he was about to leave him alone he mumbled " Andre... Andre Parks ".

" Andre Parks, huh? " Jamal repeated while nodding, he wanted to interrogate him again but the young man had been faster, " why are you holding me here? What did I do? " he asked in a low voice.

Jamal took a glance back at his friends to be sure that they could to their discussion, after Volga confirmed that it was okay by a nod he reported his attention to the young man, " Do you remember anything about what you were doing before you woke up here, Andre? "

" I... " Andre closed his forcefully trying to find deep in his mind a piece of souvenir of what happened before, " I... don't remember " he sighed after he finally opened his eyes.

" Alright, no need to force " Jamal told as he didn't want to stress him too much, [ his mind may have not completely recovered ] he supposed. " Let's do this, just tell me, what do you remember? " Jamal inquired.

Though, he had tried to make the question simpler the answer he got was unexpected and quite worrying. " Nothing " he said, he raised his head to look straight at Jamal's eyes and repeated " except my name, I remember nothing "

Jamal had his eyes open in shock, " nothing? " he repeated as if he didn't hear well but Andre nodded to confirm.

He was speechless, the only thing he could do was to take look at his friends and check out if they did hear the same thing as him. Their bewildered opened eyes and their dumbfounded faces confirmed him that he didn't misheard.

" Don't tell me... " he didn't have the time to finish that thought which just crossed his mind, he suddenly stood up, took a look around at all those people who were staring at him then he shouted " who else is in the same as him? Who, among you, remember nothing more but your own name? "

Slowly, hands started to raise in air, it could be seen that some of them were handcuffed while others were just tied with ropes. The people were responding one by one until they all had their hands up. " shit... " Jamal couldn't help but saying. He suddenly turned his attention to the second cell at the opposite side and so did his friends, and they were even more shocked to see the picture. Everyone raising their hands.

Jamal started to slowly walking out of the cell to join his friends. " What does it mean? " Carla immediately inquired. All eyes were on him but the only thing he could do was to shake his head, " I don't know " he sighed, " anyway let's just release them for the moment we will to figure this out later ".

" Wait, what? No " Phil severely opposed, " we can't just release them like that, what if it's a trap? "

" When I was talking to that young man, Andre Parks, he didn't seem to be lying to me " Jamal said, he gazed at Volga " what about you? "

The woman turned around to stare at the prisoners, she considered them for a moment and then said " for me too, they don't look like they are hiding anything evil ".

Phil looked at them as if they were talking another language, " are you kidding me? You want me to believe that? As if you were some lies detectors. No, the risk is too high, I won't put the life of my daugh... I mean the lives of men in danger just because of your suppositions ".

" Well, it's not like I can't do it myself " Jamal said calmly, " but just answer to this question, how do you explain that at the moment they woke up they all came with that same strategy that they would all fake the losses of all their memories? "

" ... " Phil couldn't respond and Jamal clapped once in his hands " you see? You don't know because it's not possible that they could came out with that same plan ".

" Well, you can do as you please " Phil finally gave up " but I will still ask my men to keep an eye on them " he started walking toward his desk at the back of the room. " You're not coming with us to go check out the situation of our comrades finally released from Konny's control? " Pam asked him.

" I'm too tired, it has been a day full emotions, you may be okay but I'm too old for that " he said while he was sitting on his armchair, he waved his hand " you can go you, you're smarter than I and those guys seem to like you more than they like me, don't you? "

" True " Volga, Jamal and Carla all said at the same time.

" You see? " the old man said with a weak smile, " go now and don't forget to send me some guys to help me releasing all these people " he said while waving his hand toward the cells.

The four of them started to leave the room and as Pam was the last one to walk out Phil stopped her. " Wait " he shouted and Pam turned around, she saw him playing with his fingers nervously like a child who wanted to confess something to his parents, " you know that I don't hate you and I've never considered that all what happened was your fault, huh? " he said with a soft voice, " I would have never handed you to her. You know that I would rather die than letting someone lay a hand on you or hurt you, don't you? "

" Yeah I know " Pam replied while doing her best to hold her tears.

Phil raised his head to face her and eyes on eyes he told her " I love you baby and I want you to know that I'm really proud of you ".

" It's been a long time since you didn't call me baby " she chuckled, trying to tease him a little.

" Well it would have been inconvenient as I was the leader of the army moreover I thought you didn't like it when I call you like that " he explained while playing with his beard, embarrassed.

Pam laughed slightly " see you later... dad " then she left the room.

Outside, when she closed the door behind her she leaned her back on it and started sliding down the door and sat down on the floor, she plunged her head in her arms and finally released the tears she was holding.

•••

" You're good? " Jamal asked Pam when she caught up with them.

" Hmm? Oh yeah, don't worry I'm okay " she said while stroking lightly her eyes.

" Are you sure? You seem like you have been cr..." Volga smothered Jamal's sentence by punching him on his belly with her elbow. " We have made a detour to go inform the guys that your father needed them so that we could wait for you at the same time " Volga told her with a smile.

" Alright thank you " she replied, " let's go then ".

They headed to the dormitories and every room they had visited the case was the same, all the people didn't remember anything except their names. Volga suggested to call for their close friends among the army, who had not been control, to come discuss with them but it was useless as they still couldn't remember anything.

They mood post victory which was joyful until then started to slowly change and turn into a sad mood as the people who thought being finally reunited with their friends, or even sometimes family, who had been once taken by Konny saw the hopes ruined.

The four people saw a young girl living a room while crying because her older brother couldn't remember her. It was the last room they were visiting.

" What do we do now? " Carla asked, " we can't even explain that phenomenon ".

" I think I have an idea about the cause of that sudden amnesia " Jamal confessed, " the reason is most probably Konny's power, being controlled by her for such a long time may have caused them to lose all what they knew about themselves ".

" Yes that's logical " Pam nodded, " but why only their names remain? "

" Because it's the most fundamental thing of one's identity. As I have pointed, the real power of Konny was not exactly mind control but she was rather able to manipulate one's d.e.s.i.r.e. You may all have noticed that all the victims were men, and knowing that men are weak against women charm she had used her own beauty to seduce them all and had used her power to increase drastically their d.e.s.i.r.e for her what caused them to become her slaves. Lina once told me that once someone really wants something that person is capable to do whatever it takes to obtain it and that rule is particularly efficient when it comes to s.e.x.u.a.l d.e.s.i.r.es. That what makes me think that my hypothesis is true "

As he was talking they all nodded silently, " by the way I forgot, who is Lina? " Pam asked. " She is the so amazing woman who has won Jamal's heart " Volga immediately responded while patting his back to tease him.

" Anyway " he coughed while trying to hide his embarrassment, " what is also important to know here is that a too strong s.e.x.u.a.l d.e.s.i.r.e may make one lose sight of what one once was, it can make one forgetting what one once was and also cause some change of behavior. Those people didn't forget their names because it's the core of one's identity so it's quite difficult to forget for that it needs a great shock or trauma ".

" Hmm I understand, that's why those guys who used to be dangerous criminals when they were still belonging to their gangs seem so inoffensive now " Volga pointed.

" I think I can explain that " Carla raised her hand and said, she cleared her voice and continued " Amir, the man who was taking care of me when I was young, once told me that no one is born evil but it's actually the experiences of life and how they reacted to them which would change them into a bad person or a good person. So knowing that they have forgotten all their lives and all the experiences they went through, they are in a stage of purity, if I dare say. So what the experiences they would live from now on would let us know if they are good or bad people ".

Everyone stared at her for a moment and then nodded affirmatively.

" So until here, what are sure now is that we don't know if they would ever recover their memories, right? " Pam added.

" Yeah, that's right. But Dom is actually a psychologist so we once go to Stainfall he may be able to tell if they would recover or if we would have to observe in what their lives experiences would transform them " Volga concluded.

They all nodded affirmatively. " By the way, who is Dom? " Pam once again pointed.

" He is the so exceptional man who has won Volga's heart " Jamal immediately answered with a smile while patting Volga's back as to take his revenge.

" Ah OK I see " Pam laughed. " So what to do next? " she asked after she calmed down.

" There is one last room we have to visit " Jamal said with a serious face, " so we can be sure if I'm wrong or right ". Once he said that Volga and Carla already understood what he meant. " Let's go " they both said.

•••

When Sania opened her eyes the first thing she saw was the face of Nelson. He looked very tired as if he didn't sleep for days but despite that pitiful face he was still smiling at her. He helped her to sat up on the bed " how do you feel? ", she didn't have the time to answer as someone pushed the door.

Jamal, Volga and Carla accompanied with another woman entered in the room.

Nelson turned his head and at the moment he saw them his face changed. It was a mix of shock, despair, fear and relief. He jumped from his the chair and looked at Jamal, for a moment not a sound could come out from his mouth.

" How... " he only could mumble, then Jamal continued " how am I still alive? That's what you want to ask? " he spread his arms, " well didn't I tell you that you tend to underestimate me too much? Do you really think I could die so easily? "

Nelson couldn't reply, his sight moved to Volga and Carla, his face was enough to ill.u.s.trate how much regret and pain he was feeling, he looked at them all and finally found the strength to pronounce those words he wanted to express for quite a while " I'm so sorry, I'm really sorry. I don't know what happened, I couldn't even realize what I was doing... "

" Enough, no need to apologize so much, we already know what happened " Carla stopped him softly, " we already know that Konny was manipulating you. It's not your fault if you fell into her trap ".

" You... You know? " Nelson asked astonished.

" Yeah, but now we have killed her you're free from her control " Volga added, " she thought being smart to use you in order to attain us but we have been smarter than her ".

" She's dead? " Nelson repeated.

" Yes definitely and by the way, even she was not completely controlling you we still understand that you were conscious and that it was not your intention to hurt is so you really don't have to feel responsible for that ".

He bowed his head and stayed quiet. " Well, it seems like they didn't lose their memory " the woman who was with them said.

" In his case you're right as we already know that he was not completely controlled " Jamal said, he turned his attention to Sania who was quiet since they come.