The Interrogation

This session carried a lot of weight according to Jean.

Firstly, he was going to have a chance to know much about Casper by asking him his most disturbing questions. Secondly, he was going to use this opportunity to win the guy's trust.

He believed that these were one of the most crucial steps for his survival and reuniting with his mom.

After a short moment of silence, Jean cleared his throat.

"Should I start again or you will start?"

Jean asked in a gentle tone.

At this point, the sun was barely up in the sky and the chilling cold that had been tormenting him seemed to have subsided by a noticeable margin.

A while ago, he had the opportunity to ask Casper to lend him a warm cloth, but the situation couldn't allow him. He was urgently in the need of the cellphone to the point that he saw such an act as a distraction.

With a nod, Casper responded,

"I think it will be better if I start. You are an intruder, remember. But a nice one. So, I need to know you well first."

Casper's words made alot of sense. It was difficult for Jean to refute him. This was because, if it happened that he was in a similar position as Casper, he would undoubtedly do the same.

"I approve of that. So, what would you like to know about me that you don't know at the moment?"

Jean inquired with a grin.

Looking Jean straight in the eyes, Casper snorted.

"Let's start with the way you found yourself in my country."

With that, Casper gulped.

"Where were you before you were kidnapped?"

Casper asked gently as he leaned towards Jean.

Immediately Jean noticed this, he shifted a little. He was somewhat uncomfortable with Casper's stare. To him, it seemed like the guy was trying to get closer to him to read his mood. And since Jean wasn't sure if he was going to lie at some point during the conversation, he tried so hard not to give the guy the chance of reading his mood. Although it could be argued that Jean was a proficient lier, perhaps Casper is a liar too and could easily pry on him.

Even if Jean could be able to lie with a straight face, Casper could still detect if he was lying by monitoring his breathing pattern. This was one of the reason Jean felt that it was important to keep a distance between them.

For this first question, Jean didn't want to lie but he wanted to commit some information that could lead to a lengthy discussion.

"I was strolling in one of the streets in my home city."

In this statement, Jean intentionally omitted mentioning Axel for the sake of not giving Casper a chance to ask prying questions about his family.

As soon as Casper heard this, he straightened up, thus releasing the pressure that he was subjecting Jean to.

For a moment, Jean felt relieved and comfortable.

'At least I can finally lie in peace.'

"How did the kidnap happen?"

Casper asked while gazing at the sky.

Shifting his gaze to face the sky as prompted by Casper's actions, Jean lingered.

As if noticing his move, Casper immediately lowered his gaze and stared at the boy. When Jean noticed Casper's stare, he was flabbergasted as he shamelessly stared back at him.

"I can't explain it to you, because the last thing I remember before the brutal incident, was me walking through the street."

Jean stated earnestly.

"Do such things always happen in your city?"

"I have heard of such scenarios in the past but never for once had I ever heard of one from our city."

In the past years since Jean moved to Kili City, he had heard stories about youths being kidnapped, but most of these stories originated from the neighbouring towns. Bur since none of the incidents had ever been proved before, the stories remained to be rumours especially to Kili residents.

Even Jean himself found it hard to believe this rumours since none of them had ever been proved.

There were also some rumours that whenever someone could talk about such incidents in public, they will be labelled as the next target. And within a matter of a few days, they will dissappear too.

Although these incidents were treated by Kili residents as rumours since they felt immune to such calamities, Jean still treated the matter with caution. As a result, he decided not to talk about the matter no matter the circumstances he was in.

So, when his kidnap happened, there was no way he could link the incident to him discussing on the matter in public or with somebody. The only thing that came in his mind was about the kidnappers who kidnapped people for some ramsons.

Just as he was still pondering on the matter, Casper's next question snapped him out of his reverie.

"What do you think those kidnappers could have wanted from their victims?"

For a moment, Jean was puzzled as his expression turned distant.

"That could be beyond my understanding, because I never had a chance to interact with either of the victims. In simple terms, other than hearing the rumours of youths getting kidnapped, I never heard any further explanation. People were afraid to talk of such matters for the fear of their own safety."

With that, tense silence hanged between the two.

After exchanging curious glances for a couple of minutes, Casper finally took the initiative to break the silence.

"Your matter seems complicated, but I still have one question for you."

Lingering for a moment, Casper took in a deep breath.

With a dubious look, Jean locked his eyes on the guy. He was curious to know what Casper was about to ask.

"From your own deductions, we're you able to notice any of your kidnappers wielding some dark powers?"

Suddenly, Jean was dazed.

'What is this guy alluding to? Is he trying to confirm if I am one of those powerful guys or what? If I tell him that there was a person who was wielding such powers, which is false. That would automatically confirm that I also wield such powers. Else, how could I explain my escape?

"I don't know what you are trying to imply by dark powers. But if my hypotheses is right, I think you are trying to refer to these powerful individuals that are considered super human, isn't it?"

Casper responded with a nod.

Jean gave this naive answer for him to look as if he never had that much information about such individuals. He intentionally did this in order to prevent Casper interrogating him on the matter as that was one of the things that Natalie warned him against. So, in such scenario, it would be Jean that would be asking Casper on the matter in case a need arises and not other way round.

'Indeed, he is a mundane. Then this must have been one of those common kidnaps. But what makes me to doubt this possibility, is the fact that the kidnappers pulled together a lot of resources to transport the boy from Lent to this country. Even their final destination was not known, perhaps they were headed in some other country of which I don't know where. I need to clarify on something here.'

With that thought in mind, Casper looked Jean straight in the eyes before sighing.

"We're you the only person that was kidnapped or were there some other people with you?"

Casper asked in a serious tone.

Jean almost answered immediately, but suddenly, he felt the urgency of having a rethink on his appropriate answer.

'There must be a reason to why he asked me that. I see, he must be aiming to confirm why the kidnappers were that committed to transport me all the way from my country. A mundane guy like me don't have such value. So, the answer that I am going to give should at least compromise my value for him to avoid suspecting me. But why would they pull so much resources together just to have me?'

Jean mused.

A minute later, he scoffed.

"I wasn't the only one. We were many of us put in multiple groups. Unfortunately or fortunately, I couldn't recognise any of the remaining guys.

"How did they transport you?"

Casper asked after a moment of contemplation.

'I thought this was a session of getting to know each other. I don't know how it turned out to be a one sided interrogative session.'

Jean thought to himself before answering.

"I must say, by plane and then by truck."

Jean answered in a galant tone while gazing at Casper.

The boy didn't want to lose eye contact when answering Casper's questions, to prevent the guy from suspecting him lying.

"Why do you sound like you aren't sure with your statement?"

Casper asked with a hint of dissatisfaction.

Since Jean had intentionally come up with the manipulative answer, he had anticipated the guy asking him this.

"As I told you, I didn't know how I was kidnapped and that is a proof that I lost my consciousness before the incident. So, by the time I woke up, I found myself in a truck surrounded by unfamiliar faces. So, when I woke up and you told me that I was in Ferro, the first thing that rang in my mind was that the guy's must have transported me and the others of which I am not sure of in our unconscious states by a plane before loading us in the track. Unless a track can traverse between these two countries within a day.'

Jean knew that this lie was necessary, because, how could he explain him falling from a plane and surviving. That was in case he was to tell the truth. Even this possibility was still a theory to him till now.

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