My quest. The only thing in the world that gives me a reason to open my eyes every morning. What am I saying? I do not close them at night anyway, instead, just like yesterday’s night, my quest led me on the most dangerous paths. Head down, one step after the other, I walked under the dim street lights, wandering and pondering, until a ‘gentleman’ bumped into me.
“Sorry.” I let out, very quietly.
“Hey! You better watch your step you sick junkie!” The man yelled.
I froze for a few seconds and turned to him. He seized the opportunity to continue yelling at me. Not really listening, I looked at him, as my mind took a trip, contemplating the various means that I could use to simply silence him for good, while he kept on pouring all kinds of insults on me.
Something made me continue my walk, but it was not my quest. In fact, I could see myself in that man, as I used to behave exactly like that years ago in 2004. Maybe I was even worse, some times back when I did not know the Law of Honor, one of the most important laws of life. Kirk is the name, Kirk Vildebone, and this is my story.
July 2004. One night, as detectives, my colleague Nick and I were examining some files to shine the light on two mysterious homicide cases. In an interval of just one week, two drug dealers were found dead on the same street with the head completely turned around backwards. All the clues gathered led us to sense a hidden war going on between two of the most powerful mobs of the city.
Without any shades of pride, Nick and I were very good detectives, hence the reason why all the most delicate or gruesome cases were always handled by us. Just when Nick thought he had something interesting right before his eyes, a rookie police officer stormed into the office.
“Hey! What the heck is up Hill?” Nick asked, as surprised as I was.
“Kids like you should be asleep by now. I don’t want to hear shit, just buzz off Hill!” I said.
“It’s— it’s Tyzer.” Hill quietly said, his soft tone contrasting with the hardness of the name he just mentioned.
Rookie Police Officer Hill had arrived to tell us that Tyzer, a notorious dealer and occasional hitman for a mob had been attacked, badly injured and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Was it the retaliation we expected? We wondered. Probably, the rival mob finally reacted after being hit twice. We hoped that Tyzer survives only so we could extract further information and clues from him, before Hill added what rather sounded like a joke:
“I’m not sure it’s true but, they say that Brainless Willy may be the one who did it.”
“Brainless— what? Brainless Willy? Sending— Tyzer to the ICU?” Nick questioned, trying to speak between laughs.
“You know what Hill? Just go like just— just get out.” I calmly said to the rookie, who left the room, after telling us that the potential culprit was on the way to our Police Station.
Nick was laughing while I could not hide my disappointment. There was no better hindrance for our investigation other than having a guy who had no business being in the picture, just pick a fight surely because of a dose, and send one of our best potential leads away. Of all people, it had to be Brainless Willy, a mentally and physically handicapped, homeless junkie we had arrested on several occasions for minor crimes.
“I— I— I’m nohot— it nohot meee, it nohoot me, was him, nohot— nohot me!” We heard in the corridors of the Police Station after around twenty minutes. Curious, we exited the office and went to see what was occurring.
Some of the light bulbs started to flicker in the Police Station, and one of them even exploded at some point, but they did not steal the show or our attention from the real main event. Escorted by Officer Desmond, a handcuffed, limping and distressed Brainless Willy, drooling on his already dirty jacket and other smelling clothes, struggled with Desmond as if the officer was leading him to a slaughterhouse.
Filled with compassion, some officers looked at Brainless Willy with pity, worried about what would soon happen to him. They were right. During that period, it was wise for anybody to avoid interrogation sessions with Nick and I. Brainless Willy shouted his innocence, despite his speech impairment that made him pronounce words in a strange way.
After he followed the normal procedure, Desmond led Brainless Willy to the interrogation room and forced him to sit down and be still. He then came to us for a quick briefing, revealing that Tyzer attempted to rob a sleeping and easy target Brainless Willy. Unfortunately for him, something happened as soon as Brainless Willy woke up and the delinquent just fell on the ground while his target escaped, hence the suspicions surrounding the latter.
By simple curiosity, I asked Officer Desmond what he thought about the whole situation, as an officer who has been on the scene. Desmond was one if not the oldest among the officers at the Police Station, therefore, even though I was full of myself as a Detective, part of me recognized his years and experience.
“Well, by the look of things, I would say—”
“Kirk, Kirk, Kirk.” Nick called, interrupting Desmond’s analysis. “Why you asking this retard about what you should ask me?” He added, looking at Desmond straight in the eyes while saying that.
“Ooh yeah, I forgot.” I replied. “Desmond R. for retarded that is. That’s why you still on patrol right?” I added, looking at him in the eyes too.
His maturity showed, and towered above the extent of our stupidity. As a saying goes from the French language: you answer foolish people with silence. Desmond turned and left, taking his dignity with him and leaving us with our foolishness. Yes, you now have a clear view of the person that I was back then.
Remember the man insulting me in the beginning of this post? This is why I told you that I could see myself in him. I am absolutely ashamed of myself when I reflect on it. You are in all your rights to hate me for meeting fool and arrogant Kirk, but you have to remember something known and acknowledged worldwide even by children: nobody is perfect.
Nick and I were kings in that Police Station, at least when the Lieutenants were not around just like during that night. I wish somebody could be there, somebody strong and higher enough in rank to just stop us. At least that way, we would not have done what we did, and everything would have happened in a different and maybe a much better way.
Still upset about what happened to Tyzer and of course our investigation, we disregarded the standard rules for interrogations and opted to proceed without any means of recording. We wanted to have a man to man ‘talk’ with Brainless Willy. As soon as the door was closed, Brainless Willy ended up in our complete mercy. Since he got involved, he had to tell us anything that can make our investigation progress.
“Brainless, brainless Willy.” Nick said, sauntering towards him. “Man! When was the last time you took a bath?” He asked.
“It nohot me, it nohot me, it nohot me, it nohot me,…” Brainless Willy kept on repeating, mumbling and swaying on his chair from back to front with his head down.
“How a pathetic lame like you could send a big guy like Tyzer to the ICU? Was it kung-fu, a knife or you got super powers?” I asked, not getting any reaction from Brainless Willy. “What happened?” I added, comfortably seated in front of him.
“It nohot me, it nohot me, it nohot me, it nohot me,…” ignoring us completely, Brainless Willy continued, drops of his saliva landing on the table.
“Hey! Answer the question!” Nick yelled, slamming the table, and very close to Brainless Willy who trembled, but continued to mumble. “Kirk, is that what I think?” Nick asked, turning to me.
“Yep! This retard is disrespecting us, in our own territory. I think it’s time we entertain our special guest.” I replied, keeping my eyes on Brainless Willy.
My colleague seized Brainless Willy by the neck with one hand, and pressed his lower jaw with the other hand. “Can you hear now? Huh? Tryna play smart here?” Nick asked while Brainless Willy let out painful screams, trying to push him away to no avail.
“Come on Brainless Willy, show some appreciation.” I said calmly as I pulled out my phone, then Nick suddenly screamed in pain.
I saw him back off from Brainless Willy and holding his hand, and I stood up, leaving my phone on the table, curious to know what just happened while I was not looking. Nick looked at his hand and saw a clear bite mark between his thumb and his index. Blood soon started to drip from the wound, and Brainless Willy looked at him with terror, either of what he had just done or in how events were about to unfold for him.
“Shit!” Nick said before looking at Brainless Willy and punching him with his wounded and bloody hand. Brainless Willy fell backwards almost dragging the table along in his fall.
“That freak just bit me with his rotten teeth. Shit! Let me go and fix that up, don’t wanna end up infected with some nasty stuff.”
“Cool, just make sure you don’t pass that nasty stuff to everyone out there.” I joked as he opened the door.
“Yeah right.” Nick replied and left the door open in retaliation to my little joke.
While I was looking at Nick leaving, Brainless Willy got up, repositioned his chair and sat back up. He looked very calm and composed, no longer drooling, and definitely seemed to be a different person. Little did I know that things were about to take a turn that nobody expected. With his right index, he wiped the blood that landed on his face following Nick’s punch and put the finger in his mouth to taste the viscous liquid.
“What freaking shit are you on?” I questioned, baffled by what he just did.
“Sit down.” He replied calmly, without any trace of his usual speech impairment.
“What you said?” I asked, not sure of what I just heard and witnessed.
“I said, sit down.” He repeated, this time looking at me straight in the eyes, oozing with a confidence even the arrogant me of that time could not display.
Frozen in place in front of that amazing occurrence, I was soon agitated by a few chuckles. Nick also had to witness that, I thought, before taking the direction of the door and calling for him. This was something I could not believe, and I was about to experience much more unbelievable and horrible events.
“Hey Nick! Brainless Willy is—” The door slammed shut all by itself.
“My name is not Brainless Willy.” I heard him say behind me. I ignored him and tried to open the door that was now suddenly locked.
“Hey! Hey! Somebody open that door!” I commanded, banging on it as hard as I could.
“Sit down.” Brainless Willy said again while I kept on ignoring him. “I TOLD YOU TO SIT DOWN!” He yelled; his voice modified by an intimidating growling effect.
The atmosphere or should I say the balance of power changed, but not in my favor. It was getting clearer by the second that Brainless Willy took charge in an interrogation room where I was no longer the figure of authority. I walked away from the door slowly as we maintained eye contact with each other, until I sat right in front of him.
“Nobody can hear us here. Nobody can open the door for you. They’re very very far right now.” He said.
“What you mean?” I questioned, already thinking of ways I could attack him, and also realized that, since I was in an interrogation room, I did not have my service weapon with me. Why did I respect this rule after breaking all the others? I thought.
“Please pardon me for yelling.” Brainless Willy apologized, looking at the side pocket of his jacket and searching for something. “I’m actually a being filled with respect, unlike you and your bulldog friend.”
“Silly retarded!” I said, lunging at him and confident that I could take him down with my bare hands and regain the upper hand.
He just looked at me and his eyes filled with anger turned completely red, red like an apple, and his irises disappeared. The moment I saw his eyes, a mysterious force pulled me back to my chair, then my right arm got twisted and broken at several parts. Despite my loud screams, I could still hear each noise the bones made. I looked at the arm, then looked at him and another invisible force strangled me vigorously.
“Please shut up and behave.” He said calmly and the invisible force released my neck, and his eyes returned to normal.
Brainless Willy pulled out a deck of cards, took five cards out of the pack and put the rest back in his pocket. Useless Desmond, I thought, Brainless Willy was supposed to be properly searched before entering this room. Who knows what else he could have in there? I did not wait long to get the answer to this question. From the same pocket, he pulled out a little hourglass and placed it next to the five cards.
“We’re about to play a little game Mr Vildebone.” He spoke.
All the cards had a drawn portrait of him on the back. He was dressed like a notable from the Victorian Era. I looked at the hourglass and noticed that the sand in the upper bulb was held by an invisible force and would not flow. Still in an agonizing pain, I gathered myself to think about how I could escape from that room. Now I could understand how Brainless Willy I thought to be weak, sent strong Tyzer to the ICU.
“The cards in front of you are not normal playing cards. Nothing about me is normal anyway, I’m sure the brilliant Detective you are already noticed.” He said with a smile.
“What is all this? How— Who are you?” I asked, breathing heavily as I tried to endure the pain.
“Who am I? You should know who I am. You arrested me eight times remember. You got my criminal record in your files with my name on it and you asking me who am I?” He asked back, amused and chuckling. “Come on Kirk I’m starting to doubt your skills and intelligence.”
“What’s all that? What do you want?” I asked again.
“I want us to play a game Mr Vildebone.” Brainless Willy replied, his smile disappearing from his face.
“What game?”
“A very simple one. You choose one card, the sand starts flowing, and you have to give me the correct answer to one question. Only one, for you beat the game.” He answered, smiling again. “But, but,…” He added as he pointed his index finger at me, before continuing. “…for each wrong answer, or if the sand is done flowing before you give me any answer, the card you picked gets destroyed.”
“And what if I don’t wanna play your silly game?” I asked, looking at him in the eyes.
He leaned forward, his smile vanishing from his face. “Then you gets destroyed.” He said, his eyes turning all dark red again, and I felt the broken bones in my right arm moving and the pain increasing for a few seconds. “Choose one card. Now!” He commanded as his eyes returned to normal.
I obeyed but was surprised by the other side of the card. Instead of seeing any normal signs of playing cards like hearts, diamonds accompanied by a number, there was only a name on it instead: Tyrell, which I remembered to be Tyzer’s real first name. The sand in the hourglass started flowing and I did not know what to do and Brainless Willy was just looking at me, his face clothed with a mischievous smile.
“Tyzer? What— what about him?” I asked.
“The question is not about him Kirk.”
“Then what’s the question?”
“The question is: what is my first name?”
“Sill— I mean, Willy. William.” I answered with confidence, and I remember thinking how that question seemed dumb and obvious.
Brainless Willy looked at the hourglass and the sand stopped flowing. He then looked at the card, still in my left hand, and it just caught fire suddenly. I threw it on the side and watched it burn until there was no trace of it, not even ashes. Trying to bear the burning pain, I shook my hand while Brainless Willy smiled.
“Kirk, Kirk. You invite a special guest to your— space, and you don’t even know his first name? Is Brainless Willy all I am to you?” He asked and I could not tell him anything, before he continued. “Well, my name is not Willy, William, Wilson or whatever Will you might know. You got my record Kirk. Come on.” He looked at the hourglass and the sand that already flowed to the lower bulb went back to the upper one and remained stuck.
“What was that?” I asked.
“About the card or the hourglass?”
“About the card.”
“Destroyed. You got the wrong answer man. But if you want more clarification about that, well, you messed up and now Tyzer is dead, all because of you.”
“What?”
“Choose one card.”
“What? No.” I said looking at him. He twisted my right arm again to hurt me and forced me to comply.
I pulled another card from the four remaining on the table, and the sand started flowing again. I looked at the card and my heart seized to beat for a second when I saw the name: Nicholas, or simply Nick. I started to tremble and sweat, at the realization that my colleague and friend’s life was now dependent on an answer I forgot so long ago, despite having read Brainless Willy’s criminal record several times in the past.
“Bulldog!” Brainless Willy rejoiced, clapping. “This time, make sure you think carefully before saying any stupid thing.” He added, with a more serious tone and demeanor.
Drops of sweat fell on the table, my hands were shaking uncontrollably as I concentrated. I had to remember, I read that record enough times, I had to remember before it was too late for my friend. I focused, hearing my heart beating in my chest violently as I started to hyperventilate. I looked at Brainless Willy, who silently replied to me by looking at the hourglass as the time had almost completely elapsed. I concentrated more until something vivid and clear arose in my mind, and before the sand was done flowing, I shouted it:
“D’Anatholyi!”
That monster just sighed, looked at the hourglass and looked back at me.
“That’s your name. I know this is your name.” I told him, standing up to emphasize my point.
“I’m disappointed Kirk. I thought you were the brilliant Detective I expected you to be.”
“What? What you mean? Don’t lie to me, D’Anatholyi is your name.” I said with confidence.
“D’Anatholyi is not my name, it’s a deformed version of my surname authored by you. I clearly asked you to tell me my first name.” He said then looked at the card and fire consumed it. Nick was gone.
“No. Noooo. No!” I shouted in fear and distress.
“Please be polite and sit back down Sir.” He said, then looked at the hourglass and made the sand go back up to the upper bulb.
Of all the things I regretted doing in my life, begging for his mercy is among the top ones. This man, thing, entity or whatever he is does not know anything about compassion or pity. With those telekinetic powers of his, Brainless Willy ignored my tears, and twisted my already messed up arm once again and commanded me to pick another card from the remaining three. After he hurt me twice, I sat down and obeyed.
My hand seemed to move on its own as my mind was shut down. I could no longer think about anything and find any way to escape. I pulled the card towards me, lifted it and saw the name written on it, while the sand started to flow. I lost my breath, put the card on the table and started hyperventilating again. Despite being on a chair, I lost my balance and fell on the floor. I crawled towards the door and just needed somebody to get me out of that hell.
“Help! Help!” I shouted, banging on the door desperately while still lying on the floor. “Somebody ope—” a force interrupted me, dragging me towards Brainless Willy, lifted me and slammed me on the chair. I was back sitting in front of him. I looked at him and he could not hold himself from displaying a vicious smile. He looked at the hourglass and then at my phone.
“You should pick it up, surely your wife.” He said right before the device rang. It was my wife.
“Kirk? Kirk?” She called; her voice almost buried under the noisy sirens I heard in the background.
“Honey! Honey?” I replied, already expecting the devastating news even though the time was not up yet.
“It’s Dawn. It’s— something happened and— she vomited— there were convulsions and all that, we rushing to the hospital I— I don’t know what to do Kirk! Where are you?” She tried to explain in between sobs. “Kirk, Kirk?” She called again, feeling ignored by me, because I begged Brainless Willy again.
I begged, begged with all the words I could find for him to spare the life of my eight years old daughter, my young and only child. He remained unmoved, and just pointed at the hourglass. I was still hearing my wife calling me and screaming through the phone. Time seemed to freeze as I watched with horror and despair how the last grains of sand reached the lower bulb of the hourglass. The call got disconnected and the card caught fire on the table.
“From Dawn to Sunset!” Brainless Willy horribly joked.
I just looked at him, at his cruelty and insensitivity, unable to move, unable to think. As if I knew what was about to happen next, I thought about my life, about my choices and everything that led me up to that moment. I thought about what I had done to myself and how simply I could have avoided it if I did not fail to value the ‘person’ that was now holding my fate. Despite the fact that I was too shocked to hear or think, I could clearly read his lips and the three words that he spoke once more: choose one card.
“Please.” I said quietly.
“Choose one card.”
“Kill me. Just, kill me.”
His eyes shone with a glowing red and my broken arm started moving on its own. I screamed and growled from the pain, and my hand pulled one card out of the remaining two, while the sand went back up to the upper bulb of the hourglass. I looked at the name on the card and did not feel anything, not surprised to see the final nail in the coffin: Kirk.
“Look at you Kirk. Where’s your pride? Your arrogance? Your rudeness? Your confidence?” Brainless Willy said, taking the last card and putting it in his pocket before standing up. “You’ll never remember that name. You never cared to know it in the first place. Right? Even that D’Anatholyi, that’s not my surname. Not exactly.” He added and fire consumed the card with my name on it. “You’ll live with it, for now. Live to remember everything you saw tonight, but when that sand is done flowing, you’ll burn just like that card.”
“Detective?” Officer Hill called behind me. I turned and looked at him standing by the door, the open door.
“Arrest this—” I attempted to command, pointing at Brainless Willy but, he was no longer in the room.
“Where’s Brainless Willy? And, what happened to you?” Hill questioned, and I had no answer for him, only noticing the commotion behind him in the corridor.
“What’s happening here?” I asked.
“I really think you should see it by yourself Sir.” Hill replied.
We found Nick dead in the restroom. From the wound on his hand escaped every drop of blood he still has in his body, after Brainless Willy bit him. Ignoring the questions about Brainless Willy or my broken arm, I rushed outside, to call for my wife, locate her and see my daughter. It was all true. They were all gone, including Tyzer, and even the witness that saw Brainless Willy that night. Every finger was pointed at me for not following protocols for Brainless Willy’s interrogation session, the absence of recordings and his escape. I found myself removed from the police force, and my wife later died after a long depression.
Every trace of Brainless Willy mysteriously disappeared from his criminal record to the video tape of his arrival at the police station that night. His hourglass appears in my house and always come back no matter how many times I throw it away. I do not know with what material it is made but I cannot destroy it. The sand inside flows very slowly but surely, getting me closer to the spontaneous combustion that monster promised me.
I have learned my lesson. Never look down on anyone. This is the Law of Honor. It is not only about avoiding getting into trouble like in my case. It is also about all the good things that one can miss in this life, as many chased away their future husbands and wives, their future bosses, friends and life opportunities, only to live a life full of regrets and remorse.
Like yesterday’s night, this night as I am typing this, and every other night, the only thing left for me now is my quest. No matter the time left, I will live to fulfill my quest. I do not care what he is, I do not care who he is, I do not care about his powers. The only thing that I know is that I will track that monster, I will find him and I will make him pay. Brainless Willy, if you read this, know that you can run but you cannot hide. Just like mine, your clock too is ticking. Mark my words.