Dev Disappear

At the police office, Nick is shown a CCTV video recording in a psychiatric patient room. There was a man who several times screamed hysterically and raved to himself like a madman. His physical condition was terrible. One of his hands and feet were bandaged while his face was full of lacerations. What surprised Nick was that he recognized him.

"Jacob Alfonso!"

"You were tricked by him. He had a mental breakdown for a long time. What he said was all a lie!"

"No! That's impossible, Lieutenant!"

"We regret all this, Mr. Erhan. If you weren't friends with him, you and your friends wouldn't need to be behind bars. Even, you are already secret government agents." Lieutenant Fernando handed him some files on Jacob's mental health and some important letters about long-drawn presidential invitations and requests. Nick couldn't hold his shock behind the papers.

"This is not possible!" Nick said quietly.

"Kingdom is a smart and well-known community. It would be impossible if no one was envious. What else can we do? You've broken the law. Your punishment will be severe because it is considered to have taken the lives of your members."

"How does he know, could it be that Mehmet has been arrested?" mumbled Nick.

"But I didn't kill them."

"Who is it?" Fernando smiled mockingly.

"Lieutenant, that group of women killed them!"

"What do you mean?" Fernando frowned.

"The mysterious killer who caused the deaths of the tourists really exists and the legend of the tribal women there is also real. Do you know? They are the real killers!"

"How can you say that?" asked Fernando. Nick finally told all the events in the past that had happened to them. Fernando looked thoughtful, then he laughed.

"Are you laughing?" Nick was offended by the reaction of the handsome grown man.

"You're talking nonsense! You're talking about something that doesn't make sense." Fernando growled.

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Do you have any evidence?" Nick froze. He doesn't have it. All cell phones and camcorders were damaged before they took the footage.

"Lieutenant, I'm not lying!" In the end, only those words could escape his lips. Fernando exhaled roughly.

"I know the forest puts a lot of pressure on you. All right, I'll help lighten your punishment. You don't have to feel the coldness of the prison walls." Nick breathed a sigh of relief. Some time later, Nick came out of the police office under tight guard. That's guard made Nick feel very uncomfortable, as if he was a dangerous prisoner. They took Nick to a place that was enough to make his soul churned. Nick's eyeballs swept across the corridors, the place was filled with strange people and someone who….

"Gosh, that is…." Nick was fixated on a man who gave him a crooked smile and at the same time, two people in white uniforms led him into a dark room with the man.

"You have to keep acting like a normal person!" Fernando said before his body was blocked by the door.

 "Hey, what is this? Open the door, bastard!" Nick banged on the door, but there was no response.

"Poor him. Handsome, but crazy?" Dimly, Nick heard the words of a woman from behind the door.

"Damn it! Why did they send me here?" Nick kicked the door.

"What else but because you're crazy?"

"They are crazy, Mehmet!" Nick dropped his weight on the side of the bed occupied by the man with the bushy hair. What happened was absolutely abstruse. Now, he really feels sunk in ruin. A dignified Nick Erhan even, who has managed to unravel a murder mystery in the past, is now highlighted as a mentally ill prisoner with a member of the Kingdom for not bringing evidence of the killer they mean. No more praiseworthy Nick, no more love from his wife. Nick has lost everything. Career, reputation, family, money and self-respect. Now, he is forced to enjoy his new role as a madman in a stuffy room with Mehmet, watching the strange behavior of the insane people who are his neighbors.

At the home, Jess' phone keeps ringing. News of the Kingdom Community exploded throughout the city. Television and radio stations were broadcasting photos and videos of Nick and Mehmet entering the mental hospital building with battered faces. Netizens invaded Jess' privacy and bombarded her with questions she couldn't answer, including their estranged domestic conflict.

"Jess, did Nick really survive the jungle and go crazy?"

"Is it true the baby was the result of an illicit relationship with another woman?"

"Jess, could it be that he has married another woman in the forest?"

"Jessy!"

"Jess!"

Brak!

The slam of the door startled all the reporters who filled Jess' yard. The woman closed all the curtains and windows and disconnected the telephone line that had been silent for a long time. Jess took a deep breath before throwing her phone on the floor, shattering it into three pieces. The situation outside was chaotic. The woman walked into the family room, the sound of the door knocking continuously accompanied by the shrill baby made her brain capacity almost explode.

"Elfara!" Jess' loud voice startled the little girl.

"Don't touch him! Go!" Elfara lowered her head, frightened by her mother's loud voice that rattled her eardrums. Elfara's two tiny hands turned the wheel of her chair towards the room. From behind the gap in the door, Elfara saw Jess holding the baby who had come with her father. It was something she had not felt in her entire memory. Elfara's eyes warmed.

"Mommy, if I cry, will you carry me?"

***

For twenty years, the seasons have changed. Many changes are common to every body of the family as well as the infrastructure of the city. However, Erhan's family is still the same as before. However, the media is not as violent as in the past. Nick was past his age in the pitiful ward whereas Jess, her tenderness was never seen again. Her upbringing of Elfara grew tougher, but not classy. Jess was a woman full of tenderness, but the situation turned her into a monster.

Today, Jess cut the meat and chopped it into small pieces, Elfara passed behind her mother to get breakfast. Elfara's eyes glanced at the piece of meat, then she look at her food. One leaf of lettuce with two slices of tomato. Without meat and bread, Elfara smiled wryly. The difference in the affection given by her mother is very striking.

"Mommy, is that meat only for Dev?" Jess stopped what she was doing, then glared at Elfara.

"Yes!"

"I also want to eat meat. I'm tired of living like a goat!"

"Go, hurry up and don't argue with me! Only Dev eats meat!" Elfara left the kitchen devastated. This is not the first time she has been treated like that by her mother. Apparently those experiences didn't necessarily make her strong. She grew up to be a crybaby girl. The twenty-five year old girl took her briefcase and left her breakfast intact. Elfara stopped when she reached the doorway of Dev's room. In the corner of the room, the twenty year old youth was bending his knees. His chaotic state caught Elfara's attention.

"Meat doesn't make you a useful human being, does it? Poor mommy's golden child!" Elfara gave Dev a sinister grin. Several cuts on her younger brother's body did not make her feel sorry. Dev is unmoved, acting like a restless person. His watery eyes stared at the floor with dilated pupils.

"You are idiot!" Elfara smacked her younger brother in the head before she left the luxurious room like a prince's room in a fairy tale. Not long after Elfara left, Jess came with a bowl of meat.

"Eat your breakfast, Dev!" The boy threw the food Jess had just brought.

"Dev! I bought it at a great price." Jess picked up the scattered meat again, the red gravy littering the floor.

"That food is more suitable for a Bulldog!" Dev looked disgustedly at the red sauce slices of meat.

"Do you think this is raw human flesh, Dev? Take a good look, don't act like someone who's lost their sanity!" Jess stirred the gravy, then licked the red liquid stuck to her fingers.

"You're the one who lost your sanity, Mom!" Dev said while suppressing his breath which had been staggering for a long time.

"Don't argue with me, finish it quickly! In ten minutes I will be back to clean your room!" Jess' figure disappeared as the door creaked. Dev squirms in cold. With a slow motion, he threw his food into the trash can. The piece of meat that had been filling his stomach for so long did not make Dev accept it. The hard texture and the rancid smell and the gravy that would thicken if not eaten immediately, not only made Dev want to throw up, but also took away his appetite for life.

Dev snuggled under the blanket, his body twitching every now and then. A sudden pain hit the head. For some reason, Dev became out of control. His unusual scream pierced Jessy's eardrums. Jess' myriad of activities came to a halt, broken glass ringing in her ears. The woman walked quickly to Dev's room. When she got there, the room was dark. Jess pressed the light switch, she didn't find Dev's figure.

"Where's the boy?" Jess checked all over the place, but there was no sign of Dev. If he ran away because of a meal, it was impossible. Dev with his condition like that will not be able to even just walk. Was he kidnapped? In fact, the condition of the rooms and houses are still as before, neat and there are no signs of foreigners entering because the house is protected by a security system with sophisticated technology. Only she and Elfara have access in and out while Dev never leaves the house. Then what was that sound? Jess reached for the cell phone that was tucked away in the pocket of the jeans she was wearing. She made a call with her daughter's contact. Time and time again, only the operator's voice was heard. Jess always warned Elfara to always turn on her cell phone and the child always obeyed her warning. But today….

"Unlucky! What happened in this house?" Jess mumbled.

"Dev!"

"Dev! Where are you?"