A few days went by, but there were no signs of improvement in the kid. He continued to have nightmares, it didn't matter if he was asleep or awake. Every new day was harder than the previous one. He slept a lot less, ate a lot less, and concentrated in the class a lot less. Life was a mess at this point for him. They decided to visit the doctor again. They fixed an appointment and visited him in the evening just like the previous time.
"So, you say that there is no improvement in him?" Dr. Akio asked.
"Yes, sir. He is just like what he was earlier, in fact, it has gotten worse than before. The nightmares are getting scarier every day. He has lost his sleep and appetite; he's not doing well at school as well. I am very concerned about him. Please do something." Mrs. Arata said. Her face was filled with emotions and she looked very worried.
"Sometimes, the medicines do not work for everybody. We would try a new set of meds for him. Also, I'd like to talk to him a little."
"Oh yes, sure."
The doctor turned his face towards Rokuro and smiled.
"Tell me, young man, what do you see in your nightmares? Is there a pattern for them? Do you find something common in them?" Dr. Akio said.
"Umm, well, there is this place that I see quite often in the dreams. It feels like I know it, but I don't. I don't know where it is. I don't think I have ever been there." Rokuro answered.
"Hmm. What does it look like?"
"It looks like an island. There are a lot of trees, forming a dense jungle. But, nobody is there on the island. I feel some people want to kill me, but I can't seem to move, let alone run. There are logs of wood scattered around me covered with damp brown leaves."
"Why didn't you ever tell me about it?" Mrs. Arata said, sounding and looking shocked.
"I don't know. I didn't think it would make a difference." Rokuro replied.
"Is there something you want to tell me, Mrs. Arata?" The doctor asked.
The worried mother looked at the doctor and nodded slowly.
"What is it?" The doctor asked.
"The description that he gave you, matches very much to a place that I know. He's been there, but he was very young at the time. So, he probably doesn't remember it." Mrs. Arata said.
"Interesting. Why do you think he's seeing that place in his dreams? Is there a connection?"
"His father used to work on that island. There used to be a small laboratory on that island a few years ago which blew up and everybody present at the time died because of that. You might even remember it. It was on the news."
"The one that was on the Eastern Island?"
"Yes."
"Oh! That was tragic. I am sorry to hear about that. Did anyone find out the cause of the blast?"
"Nothing came out of the research. They just said it was due to a short-circuit and closed the case after four months. But I know for sure it wasn't just a short-circuit that caused the blast. There must have been something else behind it."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know."
"Okay." The doctor said and turned towards Rokuro now.
"Did you know about all of this?" Dr. Akio asked.
"No. Not at all. She never told me." Rokuro said.
"Hmm. What do you think is the reason then, that you see that place in your dreams?"
"I have no idea. You tell me, you are the doctor."
"Hmm, well, let's see. These new meds should do the trick for you. You should be feeling neutral, if not positive in two to three weeks. If these don't work out as well, we may need to look for other treatments."
They came back home with not-so-satisfactory answers, but all they could do was to trust what the doctor said and do as he asked.
"You never told me you were dreaming about that place?" Shiko said.
"And you never told me Papa died at that place?" Rokuro answered. "You lied to me. You said he died in an accident."
"It was an accident, son. At least in the eyes of the world"
"But I thought it was a car accident. That is not the same."
"I couldn't tell you what it was, because none of the families of the dead got any answer. We were just told that a blast occurred and the whole lab was blown away. But I don't think the explosion was random."
"Why do you think so?"
"Because your father, along with his coworkers dug up some information about the evil practices at the lab and complained to the Shuji brothers about it, but they didn't do anything about it."
"What? Shuji brothers?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Their niece studies at our school, in fact, she is in my class. Besides, I have also met them."
"You've met them?"
"Yes, they sometimes visit the school because of their niece who is a good friend of mine. That is how I met them."
"You didn't tell them about your family, did you?"
"No, I didn't need to. Why?"
"I'm afraid of what they would do if they found out about your father."
"Why do you put it like that? They seem like nice people."
"All the evil people seem nice until you look deeply. You stay away from them from now, alright?"
"I'm already away. They seldom visit the school, not every day. But why did you mention their name? Why did you complain to them?"
"Because they were the owner of the lab. It was a part of their company's R&D department."
"What? They were the owner? That's crazy. I have never heard of it from anyone before."
"Because it was not known to too many people. It was kind of a secret lab. They had connections with the government, which made it even more difficult for people to know about their evil practices."
"What kind of evil practices?"
Rokuro looked intense and engrossed in the conversation with his mother. She had his undivided attention at the time. He looked straight into her eyes and didn't blink.
"Since they run a pharmaceutical company, they research on the effects of certain drugs on the human body even though human testing isn't allowed. On the Eastern Island, it was a normal thing. They used to take terminally ill patients from hospitals and sometimes they abducted people and ran experiments on them. It was unknown to the whole world, except for some people. One of those people was your father." Mrs. Arata said.
Rokuro immersed his head in his palms that combed through his hair. He stayed like that for a few moments before he was able to speak again.
"And then Papa went to the Shuji brothers with his friends to ask them to stop these activities. That's what happened, right?" Rokuro said.
"Yes." Shiko replied.
"They wouldn't have listened, of course."
She nodded in response and didn't say anything.
"And then they would have revolted I am guessing?" Rokuro said.
"Yes. They were warned to keep the secrets with them, they were even offered higher wages to keep their mouths shut, but your father and his friends didn't listen, and two days later the explosion happened, and the Shuji brothers got all the sympathy." Mrs. Arata said.
"What? Sympathy? For what? They are the bad guys, right?"
"Yes, they are. But they are also smart and present in the business for a long time. They are very powerful. They know how to deal with these things. They walked away scot-free."
"That is terrible. But…"
"But what?"
"Why am I seeing that place in my dreams? I don't even remember being there. How do I get to see that place with so much detail?"
"I am sorry for not telling you about this earlier, but I think it is your father. I can still feel his presence around us."
"Papa? What are you saying? Didn't you say he died in that explosion?"
"Yes, he died. But his soul is still here. I can feel it, every day."
"Oh mom, I understand you miss him. But, ghosts don't exist. Besides, if he was still here, why would he scare me? His son?"
"Maybe he's trying to tell you something."
"There are better ways to tell me something, and giving me nightmares isn't one of them. It's something else mom, not him. Please don't talk like this."
"You don't understand."
"I do understand. I understand that you miss him, and I miss him too, but I'm not making up stories to comfort myself. Please, mummy, abandon this fantasy."
"It's not a fantasy, my child. You need to acknowledge the fact that he is still here."
"I'll talk to you later. I'm going to Miyuki's now. I'll be back in a few." Rokuro said and walked out of the house and Shiko stood there watching her son leave. She wanted to stop him but let him go eventually.
He may have denied the things his mother said but while he walked to Miyuki's, all the thoughts wandered through his mind. He gave it a good thought if such things could exist. He decided he would discuss it with Miyuki.
Instead of staying inside, Miyuki suggested that they should go take a walk in the park.
"So, how was the day after school? What did your mom say?" Miyuki asked, both strolling on the walkway in the park.
"We went to the doctor again. He gave me a new set of medicine." Rokuro said.
"Nothing more?"
"Umm, he asked me to describe my dreams to him. Do you know what happened? When I described the most frequent dream, my mother asked me why I didn't tell her about it earlier."
"Why is that?"
"It turns out that there is a connection between my dreams and my father."
"What… in the world... are you saying?"
"I know right. It shocked me too."
Rokuro went on to give all the details of the visit to the doctor and his conversation with his mother at their place. When he finished talking and looked at Miyuki's face, shock and surprise were written all over it.
"So, what do you think? Do you believe it is possible?" Rokuro said.
"This is strange. I never thought I'd ever heard something like this in my life. I mean it all sounds interesting when we watch movies and hear stories but in real life? No, I don't think there is much evidence to support it." Miyuki said.
"So, what do we do?"
"I think you should talk to your mother about it. You shouldn't have talked her down like that. She wants your betterment, nothing else."
"I know. I've been feeling guilty of talking to her like that ever since I left the house. I should have been mature."
"Well, you can now."
They walked back to Rokuro's house to talk to his mother.
"Good evening, Mrs. Arata. How are you?" Miyuki said as Rokuro's mother opened the door.
"Oh how lovely to have you here. I'm doing fine. How about you? Come on in." Mrs. Arata said.
Both of them walked inside with Shiko and occupied the couch while the lady took the chair in front of them.
"Oh, let me get you two some juice." Shiko said and walked towards the kitchen. She came back a few moments later with two glasses full of what looked like orange juice.
"Oh thank you so much, Mrs. Arata. I love orange juice." Miyuki said as he grabbed his glass.
"Pleasure is all mine. You can have more if you want." Mrs. Arata said.
"Thank you, but this is sufficient. Thank you very much, ma'am." Miyuki said and looked at Rokuro, gesturing him to start the conversation.
"Mummy, I am sorry for the way I behaved when I left. I shouldn't have talked to you like that. I apologize." Rokuro said, looking down.
"Oh God! You do not need to apologize for that. You didn't do anything wrong, neither did you say anything wrong. It just did not match what I said, that is all. You weren't disrespectful either, and I'm glad about that, looking at the kids of this generation. So, don't be sorry about that. It's fine." Shiko shrugged off the topic with a smile.
"I knew you'd say something like that."
She smiled again. "Don't worry about it, sweetie. It's alright." She said.
"Can you tell me a little about that island, ma'am? When did it happen?" Miyuki asked.
Shiko turned towards Miyuki with curiosity as he asked the question.
"Why? Why do you want to know?" Shiko said.
"Because!" Miyuki answered.
Shiko just raised her eyebrows in response to that.
"I mean, he and I are good friends, and I want him to not suffer anymore. Maybe we can get to something if we know more about that place."
"Hmm. Well, it feels odd now to talk about it after so many years. But let's get on with it."
Everyone went quiet for a few moments as Mrs. Arata said those words. The boys anticipated what was about to come.
"Many years ago, maybe about 12 years ago when Rokuro was 2, Kono joined Shurjical Pharma as an attendant. His job was to monitor the transportation of the medicines from the various warehouses to local stores. He was one of the many attendants in the company, but what set him apart from others was his dedication to the work. He always made sure that the trucks left the warehouses on time, that all the packages were kept in their defined places. He had this immense sense of attention to detail, he would spend hours to manage the crates and boxes, which was one of the reasons he used to work longer than others. He always wanted his work to be perfect. So, he got raises and promotions in his line in the next couple of years and he used to travel to different locations for work." Shiko explained.
"Wow! Really? That sounds like a movie script. Perfect. What happened then?" Miyuki said, and Rokuro said something along the lines as well.
"Yes. He was a hard worker, and a passionate one at that. It was visible in the way he lived his life. The way he dressed, the way he ate, walked, talked, everything. It was just unfortunate that he couldn't acquire higher education which forced him to go for low paying jobs, but whatever he did, he did it with dedication, and Shurjical Pharma was where it kicked off for him. He progressed very fast, life was good back then. But it was short-lived. A few months before the explosion when he was visiting the facility on the Eastern Island, he came across some evil practices, abducting innocent people and terminally ill patients from hospitals and experimenting on them for their drugs. Sometimes the drugs weren't even legal. That facility, I think, was built just for one purpose, to conduct those illegal experiments without anyone knowing about them. The location of the Island helped them go about it. Hardly anyone knows about it. It's secluded." Shiko said and sighed.
"If he came to know about such stuff, he could have reported them to the police, no?" Miyuki asked.
"He did. Yes, he did. The Shuji brothers were very powerful, they still are. The police denied registering a case against them maintaining that concrete evidence was not available even though he had presented enough evidence to them. The only act of kindness the Shuji brothers did, was to not kill him right away. Since he was a great asset to their company, they tried to talk him into their evil business. But Kono could never have gone that route, he was rigid on his decision, the price for which he paid in the end."
Shiko's eyes were moist by this time, in fact, she let a couple of teardrops fall, leaving traces on her cheeks. It broke Rokuro's heart to watch his mother cry, yet, he found himself unable to do anything about it. For some reason, he thought it was best to let her cry, to pour it out. He had never seen his mother cry, she was a strong woman in his eyes. It weakened him to see her like that, but he understood the depth of the situation and went up to her. He couldn't say anything, so he just hugged her and stayed quiet. He couldn't understand why she started to cry even more once he hugged her. He had expected her to calm down by this. He nonetheless kept hugging her, she too had embraced him firmly in her arms. Miyuki looked at the mother-son duo and wiped his teary eyes but stayed silent and gave them time to sober up.
A few moments later when they broke the hug and separated, they saw Miyuki looking at them patiently. Shiko smiled at Miyuki with her teary eyes, silently thanking him for all of this. Even if she was grieving, it somehow felt better to feel these feelings after such a long time. She didn't think it would have been possible without him, so she gestured him to come to her and once he did, all three of them hugged in a group.
"Thank you, my child. You have been a great support to Rokuro. Seeing you with him has always filled me with a sense of assurance that he is safe. Thank you for that." Shiko said.
"Oh, please don't mention that. I mean, you're like my mother too. You don't need to thank me for this. No, don't." Miyuki said, awkwardly smiling, not knowing how to react to such a compliment.
Once they were all sober after some minutes, they got back to talking.
"So, what happened after that? How did he die?" Miyuki asked.
"The Shuji brothers had warned him once and left him as they thought it was sufficient to keep him quiet. But once Kono started paying regular visits to the Island, he got more and more involved in the hidden business going on. He and his colleagues had decided to take the wraps off the mystery and bring it to the notice of the public, which is what they tried the next time they were on the Island." Shiko said.
"And? Were they able to?"
"Do you think the company would have survived if they would have been successful? No, they were not able to."
"Then? What happened to their plan?"
"As it always happens, some of the guards were alerted of their plans who then reported it to the brothers. Even before they left the boat and stepped onto the jetty, the trap was already laid for them. Only if they had any idea of it. Alas, they didn't. They needed to get to the cabin where all the records and tapes were stored. They had also taken a camera with them, which they probably never used I am assuming. This too is an assumption since no one except the Shuji brothers know the truth, but I think once they were in that cabin, either bombs were sent off, or the entire place was burned down. Whatever happened, they never returned, but their news did. It was on the news channels for many days, but none of them addressed the cause of the blast or fire. Whatever they said just glorified the Shuji brothers which helped them become a trustworthy name in the city after that because of all the sympathy they got."
"It's amazing how the bad guys always have the upper hand in such situations and the good guys end up on the backfoot. Why?"
"I guess this is how the world works. If you're rich, or powerful, or both, you can do whatever you want."
"Hmm. We can't change what happened in the past, but the question is, what can we do now?"
"That's a good question. Do you have anything in mind?"
"Forgive me if I sound naive, but how about we visit that island once?"
Shiko looked at Miyuki with her widened eyes, clearly expressing her shock.
"What do you mean we visit that island? Do you even know where it is?" Shiko said.
"No. But I'd like to. We both would like to. I guess you would find it useful as well to pay a visit to that place." Miyuki replied.
Shiko thought about it for some time and decided that it wouldn't hurt to visit it once.
Who knows we might find something, she thought.
"When do you think would be a good time for the visit?" Shiko asked.
"I think picking a weekday would be better, that would mean there would be fewer chances of someone else being there too." Rokuro said.
"I don't think anybody would be planning to spend their vacation on an abandoned island, but okay. I'm with you on this one." Miyuki said.
"What about your parents? Will they agree to send you with us?" Shiko asked.
"Well, if I don't explicitly tell them that I'm going to the Island, they won't know."
Shiko made a sad face on hearing that from him.
"Sweetie I don't want you to lie to them for this. I can't take you with me if they don't know. I can talk to them, sure, but hiding things from parents isn't a good idea." Shiko said.
"Alright." Miyuki said, frowning.
"Let's go then."
All three of them reached Miyuki's house and sat down with them. They talked about things, but couldn't talk about their plan until several minutes later when Shiko finally gathered the courage to start the topic.
"Here, Mrs. Arata, your coffee." Mrs. Danuja said to Shiko, handing her a cup of coffee.
"Oh, thank you very much, Mrs. Danuja." Mrs. Arata said.
"Sure! Tell me, what's up?"
"Umm, I'm here to ask you for a favor."
"Really? It would be my pleasure, please tell me what I can do for you."
From that point on, Mrs. Arata went on to tell Mrs. Danuja everything that had been happening with his son, about their visits to the doctor, about the discussion they just had back at their place, everything. Mrs. Danuja patiently listened to Mrs. Arata as she explained everything to her.
"So, you plan to visit that island, just on your own?" Mrs. Danuja asked.
"Umm, yeah. That is what the plan is as of now." Mrs. Arata said.
"That's not a good plan I suppose. It's tricky. That place as you told me, is scary, it's not safe to be there on your own. But I want to help you as well. How about we go there in a few days when Miyuki's father returns from his trip? He's very good at such things, you know, being a critical thinker, knowing how to fight, and things like that. It would be unwise to go to that place without someone like him, or the police, but I don't think the police will support you."
"Definitely. They will never. I appreciate you agreeing to it. I can't thank you enough for this. It means a lot to me. Can't wait to have him back here."
"Oh, don't mention. We've known each other for years now. I would love to be of your help."