What Konny wanted

Jamal turned to 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 shouted, and at the way she glanced at Jamal, she was obviously embarrassed by such a rude reaction from her dad. When she turned while intending to apologize, Jamal raised a hand to stop, " it's alright " he said to reassure her, " I want 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, then, 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 spout on the face of her father, " 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, and it seemed that apologizing to her in front of everybody was too much than his ego could take, he preferred ignoring her by turning his head aside to ask Jamal with a shaking voice " so you mean that Konny actually knows our hideouts? "

" Yes, unfortunately. We have been running around for quite a while so we had the time to reduce the search zone and though, my two friends here and I can't tell her anything, our other comrades, who betrayed us, must be on their way to go reveal whatever they have discovered to her. By the way, she will not only know your position but also an approximate number of men you are commanding 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 and fell heavily on his sofa, he held his head dramatically and said " until here I have been paying much attention to hide 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 thus would spare us for a moment. But now she has all that she needs to crush us. It's over ".

[ When you're giving up like this it will surely be ] Pam commented in her mind, but at that moment she knew that they didn't have the time to 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 " Jamal replied while calming Pam's enthusiasm. " You see, I have been deceived once, by Konny. She made me believe that they were the ones I came to help but in 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 who you are pretending to be ".

The woman bowed her head to look down, even though she could understand why was he so cautious, she couldn't but feel a little disappointed. At that moment, Volga sighed, passed her hand behind and as she was scratching her head she told him, " 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 shrugged while smiling " well, but you already know that, don't you? "

" You didn't see through Konny's lies when we were with her. I'm wondering why does your 'lie detector' stop working only at such critical moments? " Jamal said to tease her.

Volga shrugged and replied " in fact, she didn't lie about who she was, she just deceived regarding what was her real intentions, so though I found her somehow suspicious I couldn't just assume things. In other words, it was your fault for not having checked her identity. And in the end, we managed to smell that something was wrong so, it's all okay ".

Pam stared at the two people, moving her sight from one to another while looking a bit lost as if they were talking another language, " does that mean that you will help us? " she made another tentative.

" Hmm? Yes of course, " Volga answered while waving her hand. The young woman felt immediately relieved, she couldn't hold herself to sigh, satisfied.

" So? Is that all? Don't you have anything else you would want me to tell you? " Jamal asked her. She shook her 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, just how did you know that we will come to pick you up and bring you to our base? "

" I played a gamble. When we were still wandering in the streets and we were sharing our reports on how the mission was going well, 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 a piece of advice of my gi- " he coughed twice, a little embarrassed, " my girlfriend once told me that in such a 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 confirmed my doubts ".

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

" Oh, in that case, I would have just come to find you here by myself but it would have been a little too inconvenient as 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 stopped while trying to find her words, " you had already figured out this place to be our HQ? " and Phil finished.

The man nodded with a shrug as if it was just a detail not worthy to be impressed by. " I often play chess with my girlfriend and she taught me how to identify when your opponent tries to hide his winning move, " he turned to Phil, " I admit that you played it very nicely as you were very careful when you were chasing me but after the long chase, it becomes obvious that you wanted to hide and protect this place ".

" You have there such an incredible girlfriend, " Pam couldn't help but say. Jamal started to stroke the back of his as he felt embarrassed, and Volga had to hold herself to not make fun of him.

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

Jamal revealed an enigmatic smirk, " I didn't really fall ".

" Huh? "

" Well, I think you have no more questions so it's my turn to ask mine " he clapped before changing the expression on his face, as he thought that the matter became more serious. " I want to know what happened here, but first tell me who Konny is ".

At that sentence, the faces of the people from Phil's army including him became gloomy, as if they all had an awful past with her.

" It is not a happy short story, " Pam warned, her eyes fixed on the floor.

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

" So we better have a seat, let me go take you- " 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, silently pressing her to speak. Pam sighed before she sat on the floor too while the other people around were imitating them.

" Konny was a childhood friend of mine. We have met in high school when I was a teenager, and we have stayed together even after we graduated. In other words, we were very close. Her parents had divorced since her father had cheated on her mother and she was living with her, while my mother died when I was born and thus I living alone with my dad. We were both from a wrecked family so we got along well. When we went to college, we started living together in the same apartment and until there I can admit that it was a cool, normal life, you know, but at some point in our normal life, she started to change. She was about to get her master's in psychology while I had been already graduated from the police academy and became a police officer. My dad was still chief of the police of our town, at that time "

" One day when I came back home, I saw her sitting alone on the sofa watching videos on her phone. I noticed that she was particularly upset so I went to ask her what was wrong. She began to tell me that it was nothing but after insisting many times she finally confessed that she had discovered that I was dating someone. She told me that it was unfair that I hid it from her while she was my best friend. We argued for one hour before I finally admitted that I was wrong for having done such a 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 series on my laptop, at that moment, I thought we were done and that all things were settled... but I was wrong "

" Another day she invited me to have a drink together and since I wasn't on duty I accepted. There wasn't any problem until she started telling me that she had met with my boyfriend and that she didn't trust him. She started telling me like he was not the one for me, that he would not make me happy before concluding that I should leave him. We fight a little bit and I told her to mind her own business before living the bar, and since then we didn't stop arguing about that whenever it was at home or anywhere else. She wouldn't stop telling me that he was not a good person, that he was flirting with many other women and that he was just playing with me while I would just respond her to mind her own business "

" You know, Konny is more gorgeous and beautiful than me, she had been in much more relationships than me as well and thus she had more experience than I had but I just didn't want to let go of that unique romance I ever had. She had always obtained whatever she wanted very easily while I would have to work my butt 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 much in my life. We have never allowed ourselves to tell each other what to do or not, we usually exchange some bits of advice but that's all, so I wasn't understanding why was she feeling so concerned "

" One day, I went to my boyfriend's home after he called me to come over and when I arrived he wasn't in the living room so I went straight toward his room. There, I was shocked to discover Konny half-naked sitting on his bed, calm as ever while she was waving her hand at me as if she was waiting for me before I saw my boyfriend coming out from his bathroom. That was when she looked at me in the eyes and told me that she had warned me. I ran toward the door and left the apartment with tears rolling on my cheeks like waterfalls "

" I went to our apartment, gathered all my stuff ready to leave when Konny caught me on the door, she pushed me inside with a strength I didn't know she had and closed the door behind her. She stood there and forced me to listen to her explanation where she confessed to me that he wanted her from long ago and so to open my eyes, she decided to set that plan to expose him before my feelings for him grow any further. She begged me to believe her as she would never tell a lie to me. I remember that that day I cried as I have never cried before and Konny was there to hold me and wipe my tears out "

" I fell asleep without realizing, and when I woke up the morning, she had prepared the breakfast for me. We were on holiday so I didn't have to worry about work. We spent all the day together at home where she would tell me that in the future I should not date anyone before introducing him to her, she told me that men are not trustworthy so I should be careful and not fall for another bastard. At that moment, I knew that she was referring to the experience with her father. Some wounds never heal as it's commonly said "

" Anyway, my life, after that, 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 and closer and I realized, too late, that it was exactly the problem. We were way 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, she surprised me a magnificent dinner. She decorated the table in a lovely way, with candles and all those stuff to make the ambiance romantic. I was very glad as we usually do that to celebrate something, and that day it was to celebrate the fact that she finally got her master, or so I thought. After the dinner, we went to the roof of the building and there she confessed that she had feelings for me, that she was in love with me and that she wanted us to stay together as a couple "

" I tried to turn her down as nice as I could, telling her that I didn't have such feelings for her as I wasn't interested 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 trying it with her, saying that I would definitely not regret it. But I didn't let myself convinced, so she went mad and started shouting at that I was doing a big mistake, that no man on this earth deserved me and that she was the only one for me, the only one who could make me happy "

" The situation was becoming too much for me to handle so we went back to our apartment, packed all my stuff, and left the house. She tried to stop me but this time I just ignored her. I returned to 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. A month later... when the great catastrophe of that terrible night happened, I found the strength to return to our home as I was worried and I wanted to check that she wasn't among those who disappeared but I didn't find her there. After I stopped panicking I discovered that the apartment was unoccupied for a while now and immediately I felt a little relieved, that meant that there was still a hope that she didn't disappear "

" 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 stronger and more organized, while, on the other hand, we started losing control of the city. The table changed and we later turned into the rebels while the outlaws became the rulers. One day, we threw a raid in their ancient base, after we finally discovered where their chief was hiding and thinking that by killing him we would crush the organization of criminals "

" Since I was the one who found all the clues of the location, I was the one who was monitoring that mission. Their defense was weak so we were progressing quite smoothly at the beginning until we reached their chief's room. But the moment I entered, I was frozen in shock. In front of me, Konny, as elegant as ever, was sitting on a chair which was looking more like a throne while, at her feet, were two men totally naked, who were licking her feet frenetically, like dogs licking a fresh piece of bone. After looking at them carefully, I recognized the leaders of the two big gangs of the city, whom, I had spent almost all my career trying to catch them "

" Later, my attention came back to Konny when many questions started to bump into each other in my head, like 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 entire city. Before we could realize it, my team and I were surrounded by enemies and we got captured, and for five days I was being tortured nonstop. During those days Konny would personally come to my cell to rape me again and again with the intention of breaking my spirit and force me to join them, just like all the members of my team who didn't hesitate to betray me the first day ".

Jamal understood that it was not something easy to say, especially in front of many people, which proved how strong Pam's spirit was.

He didn't want to disrespect her by ignoring a little bit her painful souvenirs but there was there something he couldn't just overlook, he raised a hand to stop her, gazed at her for a moment while trying to find the right words to say, " I'm sorry to interrupt you, especially at such a point of your story but, as I said earlier, I want us to be completely honest with one another, so that's why I'm asking you, 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 had met Konny a few days after the great catastrophe. She came to my dad's house to propose 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 in love with me and that she would take care of me and protect me if I followed her. That was when she revealed to me that... she had supernatural powers allowing her to... control people, " she confessed with some hesitations, before she immediately went on justifying herself, " I know it may seem unrealistic, even I didn't believe her at first. After I turned her down again, by telling her that I had to stay and protect the city, she promised to make me regret that decision and that for me, she was ready to turn this city into hell. And I didn't see her again until that day she captured me "

" She reminded me about her powers, and believe me, they are real. She told me it was thanks to that ability that she had successfully conquered and taken 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 every single of her orders. She proposed to me, one last time, to abandon the city and flee with her, telling me she was willing to stop all that just to see me with her but... but I didn't accept. I know it was a selfish decision but I just couldn't sell myself. I know I could have prevented many horrible things to happen and one day doesn't pass until I regret but what is done is done... I can't change the past, " she pronounced those words while glancing discreetly at her father, with an apologetic expression.

Jamal finally understood what was the unique big mistake she mentioned earlier and which had caused her father to lose trust in her. But after looking at his face, it seemed, for Jamal, that Phil, too, was regretting certain of his actions. He even saw him quickly wiping off tears in his eyes, though Jamal was the only one to notice that.

" After those days of captivity, I finally managed to free myself and run away. When I came back I learned that the teammates who had betrayed me had tried to kill my dad, hopefully, they didn't succeed but on the other hand, Konny had succeeded in another way, since she clearly how powerful she was with her powers ".

Jamal gazed, one by one, at the members of Phil's army present in the room while 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 just seems impossible for normal humans like us to win, " Pam said.

Jamal sighed while putting his hands behind to support him as she leaned backward. " well, many things always seem impossible before you try them out and finally do them. Obviously, Konny wanted to give you this impression that she is almighty so that whatever you do you will always be scared of her. You told me that she did psychology in college right? So she surely knows how to play with one's 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 the group with a large confident 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 excitedly, her eyes refilled with hope.

" With a good plan " Jamal exclaimed. " but first, let's eat something ".

" We are quite short-handed in terms of provisions, " the woman said while stroking the back of her head, embarrassed.

" I know but no need to hold back, tomorrow we will win and since there you will have plenty of food to satisfy your bellies so for today we will eat as much as we want. We will need to use a lot of energy tomorrow and I don't want any of you to collapse on the battlefield, get it? "

They started to glance at each other while nodding with big smiles on their faces, even Phil couldn't hold himself feeling optimistic. " Alright, let's go. And by the way please call back all the soldiers you have scattered all over your territory before the sun goes off. I need everyone to be present when I will expose my plan ".