Chernobyl’s Revenge

X*

“Detective Lockwood! Detective, wake up! Caroline, I need the epinephrine; he’s going into shock. Detective Lockwood, wake up!”

Kreves heard a man shouting his name. He didn’t recognize the clinic, much less the doctor. It was difficult to open his eyelids, and he couldn’t utter a single word. The fear of being dragged into the darkness by that demon still lingered.

“Caroline, hurry up! His pulse is dropping!”

“Doctor, here it is,” Caroline said, rushing over. None of the patients had ever collapsed like this before.

Kreves’ pulse was dropping rapidly, his breathing, on the other hand, grew more erratic, and his body writhed as if convulsing. Dr. Beckley had anticipated this might happen, knowing his body wouldn’t be prepared for the flood of information it would receive, but he had never imagined such a severe reaction as the one he was witnessing. He administered the epinephrine and attempted to revive him, but Kreves was unresponsive. If he couldn’t pull him out of the shock soon, he could end up in a vegetative state—or worse, dead.

“Damn it! Detective Kreves, I need you to wake up!”

In his desperation, the doctor administered another injection of epinephrine. Meanwhile, Caroline was calling emergency services, hoping they would arrive quickly and save the detective. Slowly, the doctor saw life slipping away from his patient, leaving his hands powerless. There was nothing more he could do; everything now depended on the emergency medical team.

Just as the doctor was about to give up, Kreves woke up. He sat up abruptly, his eyes wide with fear, not recognizing where he was. He saw two figures he didn’t know, which only heightened his terror.

“Where am I?” Kreves asked as he tried to move.

“Mr. Lockwood, calm down. You came to the clinic seeking information.”

Kreves didn’t remember anything. The person in front of him was a stranger, and his surroundings were another mystery. His eyes scanned the area, searching for something familiar, but there was nothing. Suddenly, his head began to ache as if his brain were being attacked by powerful electric waves, making him double over in pain.

“What have you done to me? Why does my head hurt?”

“Detective, I need you to sit down. Caroline, I need a sedative!”

The pain only intensified, and with it, the detective’s fury. He felt threatened by the two figures in front of him. He couldn’t understand why he was there, remembering nothing except being dragged into darkness by a creature. Seeing that Kreves couldn’t calm down, Dr. Beckley administered a sedative, and Kreves let the darkness envelop him once again.

After a few hours, he woke up. This time, the intense headache was gone. He looked around and recognized Dr. Beckley’s office, but the doctor was nowhere to be seen. In his left arm, an IV drip delivered serum mixed with a tranquilizer. Carefully, Kreves removed the needle from his skin, looking for his coat, phone, watch, and gun. The coat was on a chair in front of him, but the other three items were nowhere to be found—until he remembered that he had handed them over to Dr. Beckley at the start of the appointment.

He walked to the door to step into the hallway. He needed to find his things quickly and leave to report his findings to his partner. Upon exiting, he heard the voice of the woman who had attended to him earlier, Caroline. She was whispering, which only piqued Kreves’ curiosity. He approached quietly, close enough to hear her without being seen. Caroline was talking to someone, but not in person—she was on the clinic phone. A male voice was clearly audible on the other end, but Kreves couldn’t determine if it was Dr. Beckley.

“What I can report is what I’ve already told you. When he woke up, he had a panic attack, and the doctor couldn’t question him to find out if he had regained his memory or not.”

Even though Kreves could hear the voice on the other line, he couldn’t clearly distinguish what the other person was saying.

“Yes, I know you’re interested in finding out if he regained his memory, but I’m telling you, when he woke up, he was like a madman. The only thing he kept saying and repeating was to leave him alone, that he had to escape.”

“He’s sedated now. Surely, when he wakes up, he’ll be calmer, and I’ll be able to find out what you’re asking, Mr. Lockwood.”

Kreves clenched his jaw tightly, trying to contain his rage to avoid storming toward Caroline and smashing the phone over her head. Once again, his “parents” were meddling in his affairs. It was as if they wanted to prevent him from remembering something—almost as if they were covering up one of their many secrets. He clenched his fists but couldn’t stop the fury from consuming him. Without a second thought, he rushed toward Caroline, snatched the phone from her, and addressed the person on the other line.

“Hello, Benjamin. It seems you didn’t understand that you should stay out of my business.”

“...”

“Please, I heard this kind lady call you Mr. Lockwood,” Kreves said, shooting a glare at Caroline, who immediately lowered her head, feeling cornered.

“Kreves... it’s not what you think.”

“Oh, really? Then it’s just a coincidence that you first tried to pull me off the case and now want to know what memories I’ve regained? Are you hiding something?”

For a moment, the line remained silent, and Kreves began to lose patience.

“Listen, Benjamin. I don’t want—no, I forbid either of you to meddle in my affairs again. You’ve already done enough by erasing all my childhood memories.”

“You don’t understand, Kreves. We’re only trying to protect you, nothing more,” Benjamin said, sounding genuinely worried. For a brief moment, Kreves’ heart softened—only a brief moment, as he remembered that their concern didn’t justify forcibly extracting all his memories.

“Because of you, I can’t face him. Knowledge is a powerful weapon, one I completely lack right now.”

The line went silent again. His words had hurt Benjamin, but Kreves didn’t stop. He needed to say everything he felt; he was tired of them meddling in his life and treating him like a puppet.

“If I knew the truth, I wouldn’t lack vital information that would allow me to face him. That way, I could prevent more people from dying. But no. Here I am, playing cat and mouse with this damn murderer, and you—my so-called ‘parents’—make it worse every time. Benjamin, this only makes me more suspicious that you know something and don’t want it revealed.”

Again, silence. It felt like he was talking to a wall, that his words were useless. He decided to hang up the phone, unwilling to waste more time. Kreves glared at Caroline with evident anger, but before he could say a word, Dr. Beckley entered the clinic.

“Detective Lockwood, I see you’ve woken up. I need you to come to my office so I can examine you. After that, you may leave.”

“Doctor, the only thing I need is to leave as soon as possible. I feel fine, so give me my things, tell me the cost of the appointment, and I’ll be on my way.”

“Detective, you need—”

“I don’t care. Just give me my things, and I’ll leave. I refuse to stay in a clinic that violates doctor-patient confidentiality, and only because of the urgency of the case am I not suing you.”

The doctor paled, his demeanor shifting drastically as if he might faint at any moment. The clinic has always respected its patients’ privacy.

“I’m sorry, Detective, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. Here, we are professionals, and—”

“Yes, you’re so professional that this lady here was informing a third party about everything that happened during today’s appointment.”

Dr. Beckley looked at Caroline; his expression filled with fury. At that moment, he wanted to strangle her. The clinic he had worked so hard to build was now hanging by a thread because of her. If word got out about what she had done, they would lose all their clients and end up ruined.

“Caroline, go to my office and don’t come out until I speak to you. Detective, here are your things. Don’t worry about the payment; the clinic will cover it due to this inconvenience. By the way, if you experience another headache like the one you mentioned earlier, nausea, vomiting, or loss of consciousness, you must go to the emergency room.”

Kreves nodded, walked toward the door, and left the building. Outside, he realized it was already night. He checked his watch—it was nearly midnight. Despite the late hour, Kreves was sure John would still be at the police station. After all, they had a murderer to catch.