Adam

CHAPTER ELEVEN (11): - TRUTHS I

THE NEXT DAY

 Remi stood in front of her dressing mirror and exhaled loudly, letting go of some steam.

 Her cheeks were red just from imagination.

 A kind of giddiness swept through her body.

 She exhaled again, gaining a bit of composure.

 “Putting everything aside” she thought to herself “all the mystery surrounding dad’s death and everyone suddenly forgetting Adam, I haven’t felt this way in a long time”

 She flashed back on the night when Adam had saved her from the two calvaries.

 “Seeing Adam again after such a long time, especially after everyone’s forgotten him; I can’t help but feel hot inside me. Sure, we were close before his death, but we were too busy with all this calvary wahala to tell each other our feelings. We couldn’t get lost in emotion”

 She picked up a comb and ran it through her hair once

 “But, when he died, I realized I had lost a part of myself that I neglected. It’s a miracle that he’s back, but we’ve lost so much in this period”

 She dropped the comb

 “His dad and mine are both dead. That leaves only us, their children, as the ones who know about the calvaries. Not to mention that now, Adam himself has become a calvary”

 She fell silent as the weight of everything slowly crept on her

 “When I begin to consider it all, there’s too much and no time for ourselves. But I’m not going to let that get in my way again! I’ll tell him how I feel, despite all this chaos. Even though he might not feel the same way about me. Afterall, he couldn’t even recall who I was”

 She picked up her phone from the dressing table and turned it on.

 On the screen background was an image of her dad, a reminder of what she was chasing.

 She sighed, then went to her contacts, then typed his name, ADAM.

 Exhaling again and finally gaining complete composure, she dialed.

 Adam was sprawled on his bed in his hotel room.

 The AC was turned on and the TV was playing, when his phone suddenly rang.

 He almost skipped out of his bed when it rang and the drowsiness in his eyes vanished instantly.

 “I’m up! I’m up!” he screamed and looked around, no one was there.

 Then he looked at his phone and realized that it was ringing.

 He didn’t recognize the number.

 But he picked anyway.

 “Hello”, he said groggily, his eyes already growing heavy again “Adam speaking”

 “Adam” a female voice crackled through the line “It’s me, Remi”

 Adam jolted back up in genuine surprise “Remilekun?”

 “Don’t call my full name” Remi replied “You sound old fashioned. It’s not like you’re my grandpa”

 Adam chuckled a bit uneasily and scratched the back of his head “Sorry. I wasn’t expecting your call so soon. At least not this early”

 “Early?” Remi inquired with a puzzling tone “Adam, it’s past ten a.m. Don’t tell me you only woke up because of my call?!”

 “Hey, it’s a good thing, right! Besides, I’m a bit of an over sleeper” Adam jokingly replied.

 Remi sighed

 “That aside, I was hoping we could meet…”

 “meet?”

 “Look, I know you’re very busy doing calvary stuff…” she quickly cut in “…but, I’m really grateful to you for saving me that night. And even though you don't remember me... I'm just glad you're alive, Adam. You have no idea what that means to me”.

 “Oh!” Adam paused

 He was unsure how to react.

 “I… didn’t know I meant that much to anyone”

 Remi smiled

 “I was hoping I could treat you to lunch sometime. Today, perhaps?”

 “If you’re free that is” she quickly added

 “Today!” Adam nearly screamed, but he suppressed his voice

 “That’s sudden. Wouldn’t it attract media attention that a public figure like you is spotted with someone literally no one knows?”

 Remi laughed lightly now, catching her hair in her fingers

 “I don’t care what people think or say, Adam. All that matters is that you’re back. So, is it a date?”

 Adam paused, then smiled softly

 “Yeah. Sure”

 “Great. I’ll text you the time and location. Don’t miss it, okay”

 “I won’t” Adam agreed and she dropped the call.

 When Remi dropped the call, she immediately sent Adam the location they were going to meet and the time. Then she dropped her phone and gazed into the mirror again.

 Her lips curled, then she blushed “No way he can resist this beautiful face”

 She turned around and left the room.

 The moment she stepped out, her phone chimed and a new message came in, but she wasn’t inside to view it.

 Dr Kabir was in his lab coat and sitting in front of a laptop screen, using his mouse to scroll through a list of files.

 “Where did I save that document?” he asked himself worriedly.

 At that moment, Adam flashed inside the lab with a burst of electricity.

 Kabir screamed in shock and fell off his chair.

 “Adam!” he exhaled in relief “Please, don’t ever do that again”.

 Adam stifled a laugh and Big D came in at that moment.

 “What’s the problem?” he asked “And why is there a century old calvary with his ass on the floor?”

 He also stifled a laugh.

 “Why are you both laughing?!” Kabir rose and “Is something funny?”

 They both shook their head.

 “Kabir turned to Adam “What brings you here anyway? You have a place to stay now, I thought you’d prefer to stay on your own”

 “I feel more at home here” Adam replied “It’s safe. Away from glassman and Douglas”

 “You’re classified as a lightning king, Adam” Kabir said and found his seat “Other calvaries should be afraid of you, not the other way around”

 Adam frowned “I’m not afraid of glassman”

 “But Douglas is also a lightning king, and I’m not on par with him. He almost killed me with a single blow”

 Kabir gazed long at Adam “You don’t realize it, do you. Power and ranking of strength. It’s not a reality; it’s something that exists only in the mind. Once fear is rooted in the mind, that ranking becomes a reality”.

 He turned back to the laptop and continued scrolling

 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. Remember a saying like that?”

 Adam stared blankly for a few seconds before answering

 “No. I don’t”

 Big D chuckled “It’s a verse from the Bible”

 “Forget it” Kabir cut in and waved it off.

 “I gather last night’s mission was a success. You encountered a new calvary. Tell me, was he friend or foe?”

 Adam paused, then took his own seat

 “Banks was…an inspiration. He had a genuine motivation to fight. I really admire his pride and selflessness. I made a promise, to show his vision to the world”

 “I met Banks once” Big D said

 “His firepower is insane. To have defeated him, it means you really put up a fight last night”

 Adam nodded

 “I even suffered a fatal blow. I lost an arm. Luckily, I also found out that I had a regenerative factor. Awesome right?”

 “Many calvaries have regenerative factors” Kabir explained

 “But lightning kings have something called a core. A center point of massive electric generation that acts as the central system for almost everything about them”

 “Whoa!” Adam was amazed “Is that so?”

 “Yes” Kabir confirmed and continued

 “They don’t need oxygen, or blood, and their regeneration is insanely higher than other calvaries. Not even destroying their heart is considered fatal for them”

 Adam gawked in astonishment “You know a lot about lightning kings

 “I do an extensive amount of studying for a man my age. Saying I know a lot about lightning kings is an understatement. I know a lot about calvaries”

 Kabir sighed

 “Now tell me, what is the real reason you came here so early”

 Big D sat too, listening in anticipation

 Adam heaved a sigh of exasperation

 “I don’t know if this is allowed, but…” he muttered “…remember the girl with blue eyes?”

 Kabir and Big D listened intently to Adam as he spoke about the phone conversation between him and Remi that morning.

 When he was done, Big D, the expert on girls, was the first to talk.

 “Let me get this straight, you think you like her. Remilekun”

 “What!” Adam protested “I didn’t say that. And don’t call her full name, you’re not her grandpa”

 “Well, summing up everything you just said about the conversation, and how you feel, I can definitely say that you like her! And the catch here is this…”

 Adam caught a wry smile on his lips

 “…she might like you too”

 “You think so?” Adam’s eyes lit up

 Big D nodded

 “Who knows, maybe the two of you had something going on before your untimely demise. She might be trying to revive that”

 “I’d advice you to be very careful” Kabir cut in, looking sternly at Adam.

 Adam paused “Why is that?”

 “Isn’t it obvious!” Kabir screamed “She’s the daughter of the man ‘you’ murdered”

 There was an emphasis on the ‘you’

 “A man you know to be innocent. Could it be anymore obvious why this is a bad idea!”

 Big D slumped back into his chair

 “Dr Kabir is right” he said “She has a bounty on her head as well. Which means if you kill her, you’re entitled to it. In essence, if she ever finds out you’re her father’s killer, she’ll have every reason to believe…”

 “…that I’m out to kill her as well” Adam completed in a devastated tone.

 He slumped as well, back into his own chair.

 Kabir heaved “I wouldn’t be shocked if she drives a kitchen knife straight through your skull. It’ll be even more devastating for her since she believes you’re back to life and can help her in the fight against calvaries”

 “To think…” Big D stuttered “…that the man she has feelings for, is the same man that murdered her father. It’s too cruel a fate”

 Adam stared blankly for almost thirty seconds, trying to make some sense out of this situation.

 “I’ve messed up” he said finally and sat up, covering his face with his palms

 “What am I going to do now?”

 “You could tell her the truth yourself. Today” Kabir replied softly

 “Explain everything to her. Every detail” he paused “Then you walk away. Because as long as you’re with her, the missionaries will keep targeting her. You have to let her decide if she still trusts you. If she doesn’t come around, you’ll have to move on”

 “But…” Adam was about protesting when Kabir cut in

 “Adam. There are a lot of things you don’t know about your past life. I understand that you see a window into your past through Remi, but you did something unforgivable to her. Don’t expect some miracle to happen now”

 He turned to Big D

 “Big D and I have been doing our own findings. There’s something important you have to know. It’s about your family while you were still alive. Big D has hacked the CCA classified files and gathered the information you’ve been trying to find all this time. It’s not the best news so far, but it’s a step forward. Remi was right”

 “Right about what?” Adam asked slowly

 “You and your dad” Kabir replied

 “The information we got is directly linked to why the missionaries chose you to work for them. Whatever the outcome of your date is, I want you back here before night fall. You have to know the truth”

 Adam remained silent, his gaze locked into the computer screen.

 Two men sat on a bench in an amusement park.

 One big enough to make the bench creak, while the other had a slender body structure and delicate looking hands.

 They were chatting randomly, when another man in a tailored suit came to them and handed the slender man a handwritten letter.

 “It’s from Glassman” the stranger began

 “Tonight. He wants a clean job”

 “Fifty million!” the huge man exclaimed in shock

 “Is he really worth that much? How much of a threat is he?”

 “He’s worth disposing off” the stranger replied “He might be a new calvary, but he’s a lightning king nonetheless. A threat to the Jagaban’s power”

 “Even so!” the lean man cut in

 “This is fifty million dollars! How is such a huge bounty put on an infant calvary?”

 “Do you have a problem with the currency?” the stranger asked

 “You should be grateful you were selected for the task. There are other solo missionaries at glassman’s disposal. He chose you. Finish it and claim the bounty”

 The two men fell silent for a while, then the lean man nodded.

 “You’re right. It’s not our place to ask questions. Expect news tonight”

 The stranger smiled and lit a cigar

 “You’ll need luck. Break a leg”

 Then he left.

 Inside an undisclosed building.

 Dr Salih sat with his hands tied behind the chair.

 He was half naked and wearing only his underwear.

 His face was stained with blood, so was the rest of his body.

 He had been whipped severely and could scarcely feel anything else but immense pain.

 There was a jagged cut across his nose.

  A lone lamp was lit overhead that poured only over him, leaving the rest of the room in the dark.

 A familiar figure moved in the darkness.

 A tall and frightening silhouette.

 Slowly, Frankenstein emerged from the shadows and glared at the once powerful business tycoon.

 He crouched in front of the man.

 “A pity seeing one of the most influential men in the country reduced to this” he began

 “It isn’t normally my methods to torture a man. But our current situation requires this”.

 Salih stirred slowly, trying to make sense of his words.

 “Tell me, Dr Salih” Glassman continued “Who leaked the information of our mission?”

 Salih’s eyes widened “I swear…” he groaned “I swear I don’t know”

 At that moment, another man came inside the room.

 “Glassman. I’ve sent the SMS about an hour ago”

 Frankenstein rose and stared “Did you make sure it was clear who did it?” he asked

 “Yes sir”

 Frankenstein sighed “Very well. How about the punishment for tonight?”

 “John Knife promised to deliver” the man replied.

 He nodded “Good. Bring me another whip. Dr Salih still hasn’t jogged his memory enough”.

 Salih broke into sobs at the thought of more torture.

 It was forty minutes past 1p.m.

 The lunch date was slated for 2pm, but the weather wasn’t looking too good.

 Remi wasn’t about to let that deter her.

 She had already put on her best date outfit and makeup, then she looked at herself one more time in the dressing mirror.

 This Amazonian beauty was too much to resist.

 She blushed.

 Then she picked up her phone from the table, where she had left it unattended to since she dropped the call with Adam.

When she turned it on, there were two unread W******p messages displayed on the screen.

 She tapped on them and the messages opened fully, much to her horror.

 Meanwhile, Adam had gathered the composure he hoped he’d be able to keep.

 His face carried an apologetic expression, the kind that suggested he meant every word he was about to say.

 He was sporting a calm blue suit with a Rolex watch and cover shoes to match.

 The outfit was Big D’s idea.

 Even though he was going to break bad news, he didn’t have to not look good while doing it.

 Never to be caught unfresh, that was the idea.

 He looked at his phone again and read the location one more time.

 According to Big D; the girl and almost-everything-about-relationships expert, it was a rather lavish bush garden in Ikeja, Lagos.

 A place reserved mainly for the city’s elite.

 About ten minutes later, Adam walked out of thin air a little distance from the location.

 This was his first time in Ikeja, but the city seemed modern and welcoming.

 He strode calmly to the garden’s entrance.

 At the entrance, it was written in stylized font *PEACHES GARDEN AND LOUNGE*

 The weather was terrible at this point, dark and gloomy, the clouds were pregnant with impending rain.

 Adam looked at the time on his wrist watch, 2:05 p.m.

 He wasn’t too late.

 The cool breeze blew past again and caught his dreadlocks.

 Then he stepped inside and began searching for Remi.

 The place was completely deserted.

 The chairs and tables gathered at a corner as though someone was preparing to pack them up.

 Typical, he thought.

 Afterall, it was about to rain, no one would be here.

 Then he caught sight of her, wearing a beautiful red gown and heels.

 The heels made her stand at almost an inch above her real height.

 Her hair was done in falling coils behind her.

 Adam paused, she looked stunning.

 He considered not telling her the news at all, she had prepared herself so beautifully just to meet him.

 Could he bear to tear her apart with such bad news.

 He sighed, then took two steps towards her.

 Lightning flashed and thunder boomed in the clouds.

 He stopped not far from her; she didn’t seem to have noticed him yet.

 “Why is everywhere so empty?” he said firstly, as casually as he could muster

 “Have you had anything to eat yet? Sorry I came a bit late, maybe we should take this date somewhere with shelter…”

 As he said the last words, Remi spun around.

 Adam barely had time to register the movement.

 A small black pistol was already aimed at him.

 The moment she turned around, she fired two shots straight into his skull.