Boneca [Doll]

Chapter 24: Who Are You?

Luuk, the self-proclaimed know-it-all, was locked in a battle of wits with the ancient, oversized gray contraption known as the computer. Its desktop screen engaged in a relentless disco of flashing and glitching, as if it had a personal vendetta against him. The glacial pace of the internet was akin to a cruel, never-ending joke, causing his frustration to brew into a headache. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, as if trying to physically scrub the irritation away. Two painstaking hours had passed, and all he had accomplished was uploading a measly fifty files, each no larger than a grain of sand in the digital desert.

His neck felt like it had hosted a not-so-friendly wrestling match, with his own skull, and he took a moment to survey the surroundings. The suburban store seemed to be stuck in a time warp that had frozen in the 1990s. On one wall, taxidermy mounts struck peculiar poses, casting eerie, lifelike shadows beside them. Exotic birds, pheasants, deer heads, raccoons - they seemed to regard him with unblinking judgment.

If Luuk had been searching for the perfect setting to conduct a sociology experiment on a long-forgotten town, he'd struck gold. For the past two hours, the only signs of life were the relentless glitches on his screen. The other nine computers in the room mirrored his frustration by remaining as motionless as the stuffed animals on the wall.

Outside, rain pelted the windows with a vengeance, and the wind whistled through the creaking door. Luuk had initially entertained the idea of returning to the motel for the night, despite the potential of sharing a room with his companions. But in a place where internet access was anything but a luxury, he was determined to make the most of this less-than-ideal situation. He couldn't help but think he was wading through the digital equivalent of sewage.

Just as he reluctantly placed his fingers back on the keyboard, the report of two gunshots resonated through the rain-soaked air. His spine snapped to attention, and the nearness of the sound sent an electrifying jolt through him. "Rotzak," he muttered in Dutch under his breath as he promptly yanked out his pen drive from the CPU and snatched his phone charger from the nearby plug. He was on the verge of standing when the shop owner's voice pierced the tumult.

A lanky teenager, who happened to be her son, swung down the yellow shutter gate and locked Luuk inside with them. Panicking, Luuk tried to communicate with the Portuguese-speaking pair, attempting to make himself understood. His own self-talk chimed in his worrying, regressing mind: She's just a shop owner. She won't harm you.

In broken Portuguese, she shared alarming news: invaders were once again wreaking havoc at the gold mine and were expected to reach their quiet town for trade. Luuk considered his options and decided it was more prudent to stay with the research delegates, a choice that accelerated his heartbeat. But for a fleeting moment, his thoughts veered towards Jona.

"Deixa-me sair. Vou ficar com meus amigos no motel." [Let me out. I'm going to stay with my friends at the motel.]

The shop owner remained resolute, unwilling to risk opening the door. She urged him to pray that his companions stayed in their room.

Five minutes of failed negotiations and a narrowly avoided temper tantrum later, she relented. Luuk slipped through the small opening created by her son, enduring a barrage of curses before they sealed the door behind him. Cold, harsh raindrops assaulted his face as he stood outside. The earlier miasma of dirt mixed with refuse from the shop's vicinity had been replaced by the absence of life. The town lay eerily deserted, shrouded in darkness, bereft of streetlights. It resembled a ghost town, leaving him momentarily blinded by the profound darkness.