Chapter 18: MANIPULATION
They both for at the top of a building which was abandoned by now . It looked like the owners of this house left a short time ago , probably 5 years ago . Johnson , who was Revenge driven said something with a chilling calm. "Now you are going to die," he said, his voice smooth as polished stone, betraying none of the exhilaration pulsing through his veins. Beneath the surface, his heart raced with a dark thrill, a twisted satisfaction rooted in a vendetta that had festered for years. Michelle's name burned in his mind—a wound, a purpose, a fuel for his revenge. His anger had reached its zenith, a molten force threatening to erupt. Yet, with a discipline honed by necessity, Johnson restrained it, bottling the fury for this fleeting, critical moment. He knew the stakes. A bounty hung over him like a guillotine, and one misstep could mean prison—or death. This was his moment to survive, to wield his sharpest weapon: manipulation.
Before him stood Tsugumi, a man of 35, drenched and trembling, his knuckles white around the handle of a knife. His eyes blazed with defiance, but Johnson saw the fractures in his resolve. Tsugumi, a devout Buddhist, clung to principles of peace, yet here he was, on the verge of violence. Johnson knew exactly how to exploit those cracks, to twist Tsugumi's beliefs into chains. He began with a venomous hook, his words laced with calculated cruelty. "You've made a grave mistake, Tsugumi, probably the last of your pathetic life, chasing me like some obsessed fool. I can't imagine how much of a loser you must be, neglecting your own life, your duties, to run around playing hero. You're worth nothing. That's why your parents never loved you. You don't deserve anything but humiliation."
Tsugumi's Past: A Life of Duty and Loss
Tsugumi's unraveling was rooted in a life marked by both devotion and tragedy. Born into an ordinary family, he was raised with unwavering love and support. His parents, gentle and nurturing, taught him to face challenges with grace, never resorting to harsh discipline. As their only child, Tsugumi cherished their bond, their guidance shaping him into a man who revered rules and order. He was soft-spoken, molded by compassion rather than confrontation, untouched by the harsh lessons of rebuke.
At 22, Tsugumi graduated from university, his ambitions clear. By 24, he became a doctor, driven by a desire to serve justice and save the innocent. His hands, steady and skilled, mended broken bodies and eased suffering souls. But at 34, tragedy struck. His parents died suddenly of heart attacks, leaving Tsugumi alone in his grief. The loss was a sledgehammer to his spirit. As a doctor, he felt the sting of failure, unable to save the two people he loved most. He took three weeks to mourn, wrestling with guilt that clung to him like damp rot. When he returned to work, he buried himself in his duties, but the shadow of loss lingered, gnawing at his confidence.
At 35, Tsugumi's life shifted again. A terrorist attack shook a local hotel, where five armed men held 27 hostages, demanding $200,000. Tsugumi, now a police officer—a career change fueled by his need to protect—volunteered for the rescue mission. With five other officers, he stormed the hotel, pinpointing Room 207. The scene was chaos: hostages wept, pleading for their lives, while terrorists barked threats. Negotiations collapsed, and a brutal firefight erupted. Four officers fell, their blood staining the carpet. Tsugumi, adrenaline surging, killed two of the terrorists. The hostages were saved, but the victory was pyrrhic.
Days later, a new battle emerged. The mother of one of the terrorists sued Tsugumi, accusing him of murdering her son. He won the legal fight but was ordered to pay $10,000 in compensation—a hollow triumph. Worse followed: allegations of corruption, though unproven, cost him his job. Fired from the police force, Tsugumi found himself adrift, unable to secure new employment. The shame of rejection and the weight of his failures eroded his sense of self, leaving him vulnerable to the predator now standing before him.
The Manipulation Unfolds
In the rain-soaked alley, Tsugumi's voice quivered with outrage. "How dare you insult me? My mother and father loved me!"
Johnson tilted his head, his expression almost pitying. "Did they ever scold you?"
Tsugumi faltered, rain dripping from his brow. "No, and why would they?"
"Then they didn't love you," Johnson said, his voice smooth and insidious. "Scolding comes from faith, from belief that you can be better. If they never corrected you, they saw no potential in you. No scope for greatness."
The words struck like a blade. Tsugumi's memories of his parents' gentle guidance twisted into something sinister. Doubt seeped in, poisoning his resolve. "That's not true!" he cried. "They loved me!"
Johnson pressed on, relentless. "That's how it was, is, and always will be. Accept it or not, it's the eternal truth."
Tsugumi's fists clenched, his frustration boiling over. "That's not how it works!"
Johnson's lips curled into a faint, mocking smile. "Oh, but it is. And answer me this: do you think chasing me, hiding in shadows, will save you?"
"Yes!" Tsugumi snapped. "It'll save me and stop you!"
"You're stalking a man who doesn't even know you," Johnson countered, his voice low and deliberate. "Stalking is illegal, Tsugumi. You're breaking the law just by being here."
Tsugumi stammered, his confidence crumbling. "B-but this isn't stalking!"
"It's the definition of stalking," Johnson said, his tone unyielding. "Chasing someone, tracking their movements, showing up at their doorstep—that's obsession. That's the harsh reality."
Tsugumi's breath hitched. "No… no!" The weight of Johnson's words mingled with the guilt of his past. He hadn't followed the news, hadn't seen the broadcasts that hailed him as a hero. All he knew was the pain of being fired, the shame of unemployment, the sense that he had failed at every turn.
Johnson leaned closer, his voice a venomous whisper. "Look into my eyes, Tsugumi, and tell me why you think you can justify killing an innocent man."
Tsugumi froze. Innocent? The word clashed with everything he believed about Johnson, a fugitive with a price on his head. But doubt had taken root, and his grip on the knife tightened, his hand shaking.
Johnson didn't relent. "You have no existence outside your parents' shadow. No one knows you. Walk down any street, ask anyone who you are—they'll stare at you like you're nothing."
The words shattered Tsugumi's fragile sense of self. He had always believed he was someone—a doctor, a hero, a man of purpose. But Johnson's assault stripped that away, leaving only despair. "One more word, and I'll kill you," Tsugumi choked out, raising the knife.
Johnson's eyes gleamed with dark amusement. "You threaten to kill over nothing. Were you always a killer?"
"I was a police officer!" Tsugumi shouted, his voice cracking.
"Then you've killed before," Johnson said, feigning shock. "How many? A dozen? A hundred?"
Tsugumi hesitated, his mind reeling. "Not many… maybe a hundred."
Johnson's laughter was cold, slicing through the rain. "A hundred? You've taken a hundred lives—sons, fathers, brothers. You've committed sins that Jesus himself wouldn't forgive."
"I'm a Buddhist!" Tsugumi cried, tears mingling with the rain.
"Buddhism?" Johnson's tone was laced with mockery. "A religion of peace and non-violence, and yet here you are, a killer. You've betrayed your own beliefs. Every life you've taken is a sin, piling up against you."
Tsugumi's hand trembled violently, the knife hovering inches from his temple. The rain masked his tears as his mind screamed: Am I worthless? Am I unloved? Will I burn in hell? He was moments from ending it all, the blade poised to pierce his skull. The weight of his guilt—his parents' deaths, the lives he'd taken, his ruined career—crushed him.
Johnson watched, his calm unshaken, his eyes gleaming with predatory satisfaction. Then, with chilling precision, he deliver another line . "You can't wash away these sins in this life, Tsugumi. Maybe in your next birth, you can try again. But for now, ending it might be your only escape. You look like you have done a lot more sins . But now , I guess , you should not be doing any more after them . And if you did , then tell me"
Tsugumi said 'y..yes , I.i had one . I was charged for corruption'
A silence kept on for 30 seconds . Johnson was directly looking into tsugumi , revenge driven .
Windows kept banging due to the wind , Johnson's hair was also moving . He said "Ahh , let's not forget the sweet perfume of corruption that follows you.
Embezzling, bribery, manipulation of the weak — how does it feel to rot from the inside out?
You pretend to be a servant of the system, but you were nothing more than a termite chewing away at its foundation.
Everyone knows. They just don't say it. Not to your face."
Tsugumi was crying heavily , it was like his life was gonna end at that moment .
Johnson now says a final thing to Tsugumi " you came here to expose me , but here , you are being exposed yourself . Admit the fact that you are a worthless fraud who was born as a mistake and a murderer"
The words were a death knell. Tsugumi's resolve shattered. With a cry of anguish, he turned the knife on himself, plunging it into his heart, then his head. Two brutal stabs, and he collapsed, lifeless, into the rain-soaked street. Blood pooled beneath him, diluted by the downpour, swirling into the gutters.
Johnson stood over the body, the rain washing away the evidence of his triumph. A slow, satisfied smile spread across his face. No ordinary man could wield such calm in the throes of rage, but Johnson was no ordinary man. He had orchestrated Tsugumi's destruction with surgical precision, using words to break a soul more effectively than any weapon. Without a backward glance, he descended the alley's stairs, his silhouette swallowed by the storm.
Tsugumi's lifeless form lay abandoned, a tragic testament to the power of manipulation. The rain fell relentlessly, indifferent to the life it had claimed, as the alley returned to its silent, desolate vigil.
Chapter 18 Ends. To Be Continued.