Chapter 10: The surmise

A weekday had been just the normal paperwork and long, unhurried drives to crime spots, where we seldom arrested any criminals, until all of a sudden my life turned messy, my girlfriend dumped me, and my calls went ignored, some scary tall guy appeared in my apartment and spilt hamster's blood throughout the place, I got stabbed by the person we were trying to find and save, I closed my eyes in a hospital and opened them in an abandoned butcher house, where I met an extremely violent person who happened to pay my school fee and after letting out a mind-boggling truth, he sprayed a heavy dose of Carisoprodol on my face and dropped me safely in the government-aided quarters for civil servants that require protection. I didn’t know where my life was going, I barely got any sleep and lost my ability to differentiate between dream and reality.

The government quarters were fine, they were better than my apartment, cops working on the Predator’s case were offered the quarters temporarily. I had put on the shirt hanging to the closet and hurried to the hospital to meet Vayu.

The wounds caused by the shattered glass were still burning, but it was manageable, a team of cops was already there investigating my disappearance.

Vayu was in the cafeteria at the corner table, she took her glasses off and picked up her phone as she saw me walking towards her.

“Call off the investigation, he is here,” she whispered.

“I need to talk to you,” I said and I instantly hated the way it sounded.

She gave a furious look as she placed her phone on the table.

“Where did you go and why did you destroy the hospital room, look Leo I know you are going through a breakup, but your instability shouldn't delay things, cause the number of people missing is too high to be ignorant.”

I couldn’t take it, the way people see me like a guy who failed to keep his life tight, I couldn’t take the tag “unstable”, I banged the table with both of my arms to shut her up.

“ Will you listen to me for god’s sake, I’m not here to take notes on what you have to say about stability in life, It was the Predator… and it isn’t one man or a small gang, it’s a cult made of brainwashed people, and the way we are proceeding is only gonna push us away from the man who is brainwashing these people.”

I could see anxiousness in her face and her arms were slightly trembling, I sat on the chair in front of her and held her arms.

“Vayu...Look, this is a lot bigger than what we assumed and Mario is just a part of this.”

“ So is he a puppet too?” asked Vayu.

“No, apparently he is not being controlled, he said it is some brain doctor doing all this stuff, and Mario is just providing them a base to operate.”

“How do you know this?” asked a confused Vayu.

“Mario...”

“ You’re kidding, you met Mario?” Vayu freaked out, no one in the department knew that Mario De Mean is my godfather.

“ It’s a long story, which I will tell you later. We have more important things to do now, Vayu...I need you to get the complete list of doctors and surgeons that mastered hypnotism and neurology.”

“Wait...Leo, you’re not in good condition right now and the department wants to suspend you for a couple of weeks, I can’t give you any information, but thank you for the lead,” replied Vayu.

“You think I’m unstable, but you know what, I literally opened up all the doors that will lead us to the Predator, all you did was to sit and judge people.”

“Leo, It’s not what you think, I know you’re going through a terrible phase, I just want you to rebound,” said Vayu, and I couldn’t be anymore furious, I rose in anger and pushed the chair away, all the heads in the cafeteria shifted towards me.

“Shut the fuck up, you just couldn’t see me making progress,” tears filled my eyes and my head heated up, Vayu's pity for me just complimented my frustration.

“ Calm down...there’s something else you should know, sit down,” said Vayu, trying to cool me down.

I wasn’t ready to hear anything from her, I turned away from the table and when I was about to walk out, “Marzia disappeared,” whispered Vayu.

I was so dumb, I should have expected it, I clenched my fist and grit my teeth, tears that were floating around in my eyes until then dripped down my cheek for a completely different reason.

“Leo, I understand...We can make things better, but I don’t want you to be making decisions in aggression,”

“Vayu...I beg you, give me the list, Marzia needs me,” I held her hand as she looked at me helplessly, she bit her lower lip and said, “I’ll try,”

“ Vayu please…”

“Okay, I’ll do it...you get some rest,” she said as she walked away from the table.

My mind was filled with thoughts, the only way I could reach Marzia was to go down there and meet Mario again, I couldn’t imagine Marzia brainlessly abducting people.

The evening sun was going to sleep, my wounds were properly dressed and I was walking out of the hospital, when I saw him at the exit, the grey hair and black shades, it was Marcus. I nearly forgot that he existed.

After we both got average jobs, Marzia moved in with me, and she never mentioned her father, the meet at the parking lot in college was the only time I saw him and I remember him saying he was a surgeon, but he wasn’t dressed like one when I saw him at the hospital’s exit. He was speaking to someone through his mobile and I could barely understand the language, and the noises around made it impossible to hear what he was speaking.

“Hello sir, recognise me?” I greeted, as I saw him putting the mobile in his pocket.

“Leo, who doesn't know you,” He placed his arm on my shoulder and let out a smile that I wasn’t expecting, Marzia was missing, and her dad looked totally fine.

“Doctor Marcus, aren’t you worried about Marzia?”

"Marzia?...who is Marzia?... How do you know my name?" He brought his eyebrows together as if he never heard the name.

I was startled and clueless at the same time, my eyes were opened wide and my jaw dropped spontaneously.

"What do you mean?... It's your daughter...we met at the parking lot, remember?"

"Wait, I don't have a daughter, you must be mistaken, I never remember seeing you in person before, you were all over the television last week, you are the cop who met the Predator, aren’t you?" He asserted confidently.

My mind was blown apart, I was sure that Marzia got out of his car that day and she introduced him to me as her father. I felt a faint sting in my gut.

“I’m the cop who met the Predator...but we met before at the college parking lot, don’t tell me you don’t have a daughter.”

He gradually put up a frown as I finished the sentence and took his hand off my shoulder.

“I’m not who you’re looking for Mr Carellson.” He said and walked away, with an evil smirk on his face, I knew he was lying, but I didn’t know what else was coming my way.

"The infamous Leonardo Carellson had a chat with the Predator again. Why is he a favourite and the reason behind the Predator’s hunt remain unknown, some sources say Leo himself might be the Predator. Stay tuned to WBC for more updates on the Predator and his hunt."