How the hell did he know about the trip to the camp, I wondered. Was he following us? The uneasy feeling of being watched. Could it be him? I didn’t show what I was thinking.

  “Yes, the camp was okay, and we’ve been invited to the night party.”

  “Please don’t go. I know the place. It’s not a good place, especially for young girls.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ve met the man in charge, what’s his name, Ahh.... some German name, Koch, Bernard Koch. He has his security personal with AK-47s and he seems to be a very nice gentleman.”

  “Trust me sir, I know the place. It’s no good.” Aiden was annoyingly desperate to stop us from going to the camp.

  I was curious why this boy was persistent. I knew he was interested in my daughter. Was that a good reason to warn us about the camp, which we don’t know anything about yet?

  My wife Nilani was worried “Why don’t we cancel the camp party and do something else?”

  Nisha was furious. She was looking forward to a good night of fun. Teenagers to night life are like night flies to bonfires. “Daddy, don’t listen to him.”

  “Thank you for your concern, Aiden, but we’ll be careful,” I said to him.

  ***

  The party started at 10ish. Loud music, camp fire in the middle. A circular thatched hut served as a bar. Food of all sorts served at different huts. When we visited in the evening it was very quiet, only a few people around, mainly cleaning ladies and some dogs sleeping under the tables. But now, what a transformation. In a few hours at least two to three thousand people, mainly foreigners.

  “Dad, I told you it’s going to be fun.” My daughter Nisha was excited. A few hundred yards away there was a big stage and live music was on. Nisha wanted to go there.

  “Daddy I’ll be careful, I won’t go anywhere I’ll be back in 10 minutes. Ple…eeese.”

  I looked at Nilani as usual, for decision-making.

  “Don’t look at me. I don’t like this place, people can get lost. We don’t know the area, don’t know the people. I have a bad feeling. Remember what Aidan said about this place.”

  “Forget Aiden, Daddy. He is a nut case. What is going to happen?” Nisha interrupted.

  “Okay. Just ten minutes. No more. Come to this exact place in ten minutes. Even if you are one minute late...... “.

  Before I had finished the sentence, she’d gone. “Baiii.... Daddy, I love you.”

  In the meantime someone tapped on my shoulder.

  “Hello, you made it.” Thick German accent, standing behind me was Bernard.

  “Today it’s not bad, some days are really heavy, because this is the only fun place for fifty miles. Expats, foreigners and rich locals come here for fun. We provide our own security; look at our guys- all ex-KSK Special Forces.”

  I was impressed. Arnold Schwarzenegger characters walking along with AK-47s.

  “A couple of years ago, we had some major problem with ‘white van’ people. They come and kidnap expats for ransom, as a result we lost our reputation. Now we’re OK. They tried once again last year- all six in the white van were dead. Government officials were very pleased, after that no more white van incidents. But we are always alert and prepared.”

  “What would you like to have both of you, by the way where is your daughter?”

  “Oh, she is somewhere there, thank you for your offer, but we’ll buy something from the bar.”

  “Don’t be silly. It’s my pleasure; drinks are on my account. What would you both like to have?”

  “I’ll have JD on the rocks. Nilani, what about you?”

  “I’ll have just coke please, and thank you Bernard.” Nilani was a little relaxed now.

  Bernard called a uniform guy and told him in German to bring the drinks. When the drinks arrived he handed them out and asked us to enjoy the night and went away.

  Both of us wanted to go and have a look at the food stalls, but we wanted to wait till Nisha come back, so that everybody could go. It was a relaxed atmosphere after the swim in the sea. We were tired, so this was nice. There were some chairs around the bar, so we sat and started sipping our drinks. After a couple of sips I felt dizzy – maybe I shouldn’t have asked for a JD – but when I looked at Nilani her coke was on the side table and she was out. Sleeping. I felt like drowning.

  ***

  “Are you okay,” somebody asked.

  “Yes, they are alright. They were out swimming and taking the trip to the light house in this hot weather, it’s a bad combination”. It was Bernard.

  “How the hell did he know about our swimming and the day time trip to the light house?” I wondered.

  They thought I was completely blacked out, but I wasn’t. I could hear them talking.

  “Take them to the rest room, they’ll be alright in a few hours.” I heard Bernard’s voice.

  I was out again, but when I came back I felt like I was falling from a cliff. I must be dreaming or hallucinating; I tried to open my eyes but couldn’t, finally I opened my eyes for a brief second.

  It was a large lift, at least 6 or 7 security personal and a few more trolleys with people. The lift stopped. I could hear German voices. I managed to grab one guy who was pushing my trolley and asked, “Where am I? Where are my wife and daughter?” He just ignored me.

  I was confused and angry, why was he not responding? Was he purposely ignoring me!

  I pinched his hand. The security guard looked startled and shouted, ”This guy is awake, this guy is awake”. He pinched my hand, it hurt but I couldn’t open my eyes. People started shouting in German and in English. There was a lot of commotion.

  Bernard appeared from nowhere. “Not possible.” He bent down and opened my eyes and pinched me. “No, he’s out. Anyway give him another shot on the safe side”. I could see the tube lights in the corridor ceiling, running above me. Finally we arrived at a well-lit spacious room, still I could hear voices in German and in English, but couldn’t understand what they were talking about. Managed to open my eyes again, a few more trolleys with people, the young couple from France, my wife Nilani and Nisha.

  I couldn’t understand. What were they doing to us? Were they going to use us as drug mules?

  Knock us out, open up, fill us with drugs and stitch us back. Simple!! My imagination was on overdrive. There must be something in the drinks. They must have spiked the drinks.

  “Room No-2 is ready.”An announcement came on the speaker.

  The French couple were near the door; they were wheeled inside the room. As the door swung open I could see a modern operating theatre and at least 8 to 10 people with green coats and surgical face masks.

  Someone with a surgical mask came closer to my trolley; I recognise Mont Blanc it’s one of my favourite toilette sprays and suddenly I remembered Aiden had been wearing it that morning.

  He didn’t say anything, he just checked my pulse then checked my wife’s and finally Nisha’s. He didn’t waste his time, just started pushing the trolley with Nisha on it back the way we had come, to the lift. I couldn’t open my mouth and shout but I wanted to make sure it was Aiden. I managed to roll over to the edge of the trolley as he was passing. Yes, it was definitely him; I recognised the dog bite mark in his trainers.

  Two security guards rushed up and put me back properly on the trolley and at the same time shouted, “Where are you taking her?” to Aiden.

  “Oh, I’m taking her to level-3, she is not supposed to be here,” Aiden shouted back.

  Suddenly a voice came through the speaker “What the hell is going on? How come he’s still moving, give him another shot.” Somebody must be watching everything on CCTV. I heard some footsteps then felt a needle prick in my arm.

  That’s it, everything went blank, black, blank, black......blank................black..............................blank........

  Aiden was riding his German shepherd. His Bruno was the size of a big lion.

  My wife Nilani wants to know, “Why only 50 shades of grey, why can’t you have a 100 shades or 200 shades?”

  My Nisha was dancing and singing wearing coconuts around her neck, “We are a bunch of coconuts; we are a bunch of coconuts.”

  I felt like falling through a black hole like the one in the Star Gate TV series SG-1.

  ***

  It was early morning. Nisha was lying in a bed next to a window; she could see some young coconut trees with orange coconuts in them. The early morning sunlight through the leaves was making some moving designs on the opposite wall. She could hear a dog barking at irregular intervals, birds tweeting and people talking in Tamil. A small brown bird flew through the open window and sat on the edge of the table for a while, and then flew out again.

  “Where am I? What’s happening? Have I been kidnapped?” All these questions had been going around and around in her mind; she couldn’t think straight; she tried to get up but couldn’t. Drifted back to sleep again.

  Suddenly she felt someone kissing her cheeks, wet, ‘yucky’, managed to open her eyes and found a dog licking her cheeks. Not a big dog, must be a puppy, young and cuddly.

  “Bruno, get down” A well dressed tall gentleman walked in, followed by an old lady.

  The gentleman was in his late 70s, full of thick white hair, wearing frameless glasses, looked like a retired professor. The lady was in her early 70s, pepper hair medium height.

  “Bruno, get down.” This time the old lady, in a calm but firm voice, like a command.

  The dog obeyed, ran and sat next to the gentleman.

  “See, this is what’s happening every time, he never listens to me, but when you say something he listens.”

  “You know why? You play with him and treat him like a child, you don’t discipline. Bruno is a puppy. Like a child you can play with him but be firm, he’ll respect you.”

  Nisha was in and out of sleep, a little groggy. They were talking in very good English but with an Asian accent.

  “Sorry, dear.” The gentleman spoke. “We don’t know whether you can understand Tamil and it’s rude to talk in a language where they can’t understand.”

  Her throat was still dry. Nisha tried to get up from the bed but couldn’t. The old lady came closer. “Let me help you.” She helped Nisha to sit on the bed.

  “What would you like to have, tea or coffee?” the lady asked.

  “Can I have some water, please? Please tell me where am I? Where are my parents? And who are you all?”

  “Calm down, dear. You are in safe place. Your parents, we don’t know yet, Aiden is working on it.”

  “Aiden! ....Oh! The nut case. So he’s involved and he’s the one who kidnapped me!” Nisha tried to stand up but couldn’t. Now Nisha remembered where she heard the name Bruno.

  “No Aiden is the one who saved you. There are weird things going on at that place, luckily Aiden was there to help you.”

  “Who are you people? Where is that nut case? Is he your son – no, he can’t be, he is too young to be your son – must be your grandson isn’t he?” Nisha was firing away.

  “It’s a very long story. First I’ll introduce my wife, this is Kamala, retired English teacher and my name is Appa pillai. I used to be a principal now I’m retired. Both our sons are married and settled abroad, one in Australia, the other one in the UK.”

  “So what about the nut-case? How he’s related to you?” Nisha demanded.

  “Aiden is one of the most decent young men you’ll ever meet. I think both of you have started off wrong. Anyway, first eat this breakfast and we’ll talk.” The old lady, Kamala, brought some fried egg and toasted bread.

  Nisha was hungry. Without a word she thanked the old couple and started eating. But her mind was full of questions but no answers.

  The last thing she remembered was, standing with the crowd near the stage and feeling a pinch on her upper left hand arm and someone asking, “Are you alright?” No memory after that.

  “You’re lucky to have escaped from that horrible place. Without Aiden you wouldn’t have made it,” said Kamala.

  Nisha was calm now; she wanted to know more about Aiden.

  “Come, I’ll tell you all about Aiden.” Appa pillai took Nisha outside. On the veranda she saw a swing made out of cane and a few cane chairs. It was nearly 11 o’clock but the veranda was very cool. There were a few young coconut trees and some mango trees and one big tree with an enormous fruit, which she couldn’t identify. “That’s the jack fruit you’re looking at.” Appa pillai had read her mind.

  “Come and sit here I’ll explain everything”. Nisha sat on a chair facing the road.

  “Aiden was in his final year studying medicine at Queen Mary University”

  “You mean, Queen Mary University, London!” Nisha interrupted with surprise.

  “Yes dear,” said Appa pillai, “ Aiden was sent to the UK when he was young but his sister wanted to stay back so that she could look after their aging parents, but about six months ago he lost contact with his family.”

  Kamala brought some lemon tea for everyone and sat on another chair.

  Appa pillai continued, “After the final war with the Tamil tigers, the government placed all the refugees in various camps and they were released batch by batch after checking their background. Some of those released were picked up by white van people and taken to some place. Nobody knows what happened to those poor souls. But there were rumours that those people ended up in Dr.Ludwig’s death camp. It’s like Dr.Mengele’s place.”

  “Who is Dr.Mengele?” Nisha asked.

  “Dr.Josef Mengele is known as the angel of death who performed horrible experiments on camp victims during world war two. Some say similar types of experiments are performed in Dr.Ludwig’s place.”

  Nisha saw someone coming through the gate; it was Aiden. He walked in pushing his bicycle. Nisha’s heart fluttered for a second. She never expected that; it was something new for her. She had never felt anything like this before in her life. Originally she hadn’t liked him because he tried to stop her from going to the camp party. But, now when she looked at him she felt something. Her heart was racing. Strange feeling.

  What was happening to her? Was it because he saved her from the ‘unknown’ or because he was a well-spoken, handsome, London-educated medical final year student who left everything and came looking for his family?

  Nisha’s nano-second dream was interrupted. “Good morning, I hope you’re not mad at me.” Said Aiden. “No, not at all. Thank you for saving me from that place. Do you have any news about my parents?”

  “No need to thank me. Anyone would have done the same thing. Your parents are okay, but you can’t go and see them now. Mr. Koch knows that you escaped and they’ll follow your parents, at least for a few days.”

  “Since you saved me, you’re in trouble now, they’ll come after you.” Nisha was really worried.

  “No, don’t worry, I didn’t use my card to enter. I’ve a few cloned entry cards for emergencies like this. I have learnt a few tricks since I joined.” Aiden smiled.

  “Are you working for them?

  “Yes, with my medical background I managed to find a job as an ambulance driver. Since I heard the rumours about the camp I thought that was the only way to find out my family.”

  “I’m really sorry about your family, any news about them?”

  “No. Nothing yet but we know most of the people ended up at the camp. After that nobody knows what happened to them. There were rumours that at the camp they were harvesting body parts for organ transplants.”

  “You mean killing live people for organs!” Nisha was surprised. “In the 20th century, I can’t believe somebody would kill another human being for organs.”

  “You’re innocent and naive. There is a big demand for organs for transplant. In India people sell their organs, we need only one kidney to survive. A kidney is sold for $40,000 in India.

  “That compares to prices as high as $85,000 charged by professional organ hunters who place Western patients with donors from India.

  “In some places gangs kidnap and kill ordinary people for body parts. They sometimes create accidents just to get body parts.”

  “Individuals are killed for body parts all over the world. Body parts of prisoners executed in China are sold in the open market.”Aiden went on and on. He had searched the Internet thoroughly because of his vested interest.

  ***

  When I woke up, it was almost 10am; my head was pounding and I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Nilani was still sleeping next to me.

  “Good morning.” The German accent, familiar voice, yes, it was Bernard.

  “Both of you were knocked out yesterday, It must be the hot weather, swimming in the sea and the drinks after that.”

  I was confused “Where am I? Was that a dream yesterday?” Suddenly I realised Nisha wasn’t there. “Have you seen my daughter? Where is she?”

  Bernard was startled “I thought she didn’t come with you yesterday night. Anyway, she must have gone with someone, err...you know youngsters... they’ll party till sunrise and sleep in the daytime. Don’t worry she’ll be back.”

  I was digesting yesterday’s events. “What exactly happened? It looked real, but it could have been a dream.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll wait for another four or five hours and if she doesn’t turn up then we’ll send a search party. We know each and every corner in this camp. In the meantime relax and enjoy the day. These villas are normally for rich tourists, today you’re my guests, the cook will be here soon – order anything, she’ll cook that for you.”

  Nilani was still sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her up, so I thanked Bernard for his generosity and walked out and sat on the armchair on the veranda. What’s wrong with me? I must be hallucinating, the whole thing looked real. What happened to Nisha? Where’s she gone? All these questions were going round and round in my mind. I couldn’t find any answers.

  Almost all the villas were occupied, mostly foreigners and a few Sri-Lankans. They were sitting on the veranda talking or making barbeques outside on the terrace.

  At a distance I saw a young boy in a bicycle, circling for a few minutes, then he approached cautiously and asked “Sir, what’s your name?”

 

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