Chapter 15 Chapter 15 The Unbearable Past

... Two men pulled Raphael out of the cell.One grabbed him by the hair, and another lashed his ankle with a tendon rope, making him unable to stand.Raphael had a splitting headache and felt that his scalp was about to be ripped off.Every step he took he wished he could stand up, but his knees couldn't help but fall under the whipping.The torturers didn't stop until they came to an iron gate. Behind the door was a large square room without a single window. The walls were covered with streaks of dark red blood, and the muddy floor smelled of dried blood and feces—an unbearably choking smell.Two bare bulbs hung from the ceiling.

The light in the room was blindingly bright, or it was because of the sharp contrast with the darkness of the cell.For two whole days no one gave him any food or water. His shirt, trousers and underpants were removed, and he was then forced to sit on an iron chair that had been poured into the ground.There are two straps on the armrests of the chair and two on the legs.When they whipped Raphael, the belt cut his skin with gashes. At this moment, a man wearing the rank of general walked in.He sat down at a table in his crisp uniform, wiped the dust off it with his hand, and put down his hat.He stood up, approached Raphael silently, and gave him a hard blow on the jaw.Raphael felt his blood flow from the corner of his mouth.But he didn't groan a bit, his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth with thirst.

"Antonio... (another blow to his nose), Alphonso... (another blow to the jaw), Roberto... (a third blow that almost cracked his brow bone)... Sanze, do you know my name, or do you want me to tell you again?" Rafael lost consciousness, and someone poured a bucket of foul-smelling water on his face. "Say my name, bastard!" ordered the general. "Antonio Alphonso Roberto, son of a bitch," said Raphael inarticulately. The general raised his arms, but stopped his hands. He smiled and motioned for his two subordinates to torture the uninterested dissident. Copper plates were strapped around his upper body and thighs, and stripped wires were wrapped around his ankles, wrists and testicles.

The first time he was electrified, his body rushed forward, and Raphael immediately understood why the chair was fixed to the ground.It was as if thousands of small needles were pricking the blood vessels under his skin. "Antonio Alphonso Roberto Sanze!" repeated the general in an impassive voice. Every time Raphael loses consciousness, a bucket of foul-smelling water pulls him back to the reality of his own torture. "Ante...Alphonso...Rob...Unze." He murmured after being shocked for the sixth time. "These people claim to be intellectuals, but they can't even pronounce their names correctly," the general sneered.

He lifted Raphael's chin and slapped him hard. At this time, Rafael only had Isabel and Maria Luz in his mind, and only never begged for mercy and never harmed his honor. "Where's your damn printing house?" asked the general again. As soon as he heard this term, Raphael's thoughts immediately flew to the place with the blue wall, which was covered with scars and his face was swollen.He smelled paper, ink, and the denatured alcohol his friends had used to wipe down the ink presses.The memory of this smell restored some of his ability to think. Another new shock, and Raphael began to twitch, his sphincter relaxing.Bloody urine trickled down his thighs.His eyes, his tongue, his genitals ached like burning coals now.He lost consciousness again.

The doctor next to the general came over and listened to Rafael's heartbeat, then opened his eyelids to look at him, and then announced that if they still wanted to save Rafael's life, then today should stop here.General Antonio Alphonso Roberto Sanze insisted on keeping his prisoner alive, and that if he wanted to kill Raphael, it would take only one bullet.But compared with death, the general obviously wanted him to suffer more, as a way to punish Raphael for his betrayal. As the men dragged Raphael back to his cell, he slowly regained consciousness.He heard General Sanze from the other side of the hallway shouting "Bring me his wife," and it was the cruelest torture Rafael had endured today.

Isabel and Raphael spent two months in the concentration camp.Their eyelids are taped to keep them from falling asleep, and when they slip into a coma, they are woken by being punched and kicked. For two months, Isabel and Raphael had never met in the corridor leading to the interrogation room, and they felt that they were gradually moving away from the human world.In these endless days and nights they plunged into an abyss of darkness, an abyss beyond the imagination of even the most fanatical believer. However, whenever General Sanze ordered them to be taken to the interrogation room for interrogation, he kept emphasizing their betrayal. He said they had betrayed their country and God.Whenever the name of God is mentioned, he is always very heavy handed.

The general had Isabel's eyes gouged out, but there was always a ray of light shining in her heart.That was Maria Luz's gaze.Sometimes she thought it would be better to just forget her daughter's face, so that she could go to death with peace of mind.Only death can set her free, and only death can restore her dignity as a human being. One night General Sanze, tired of the day-to-day interrogation, ordered Raphael's genitals to be mutilated.His men cut it with a pair of scissors, and doctors treated the wound.You can't just let Raphael bleed to death like this, it would be too cheap for him.

In the second month after they were arrested, someone tore off their eyelids with adhesive tape.Every time the General thought of his prisoners, they were tortured into less human form.Isabelle was completely unrecognizable now.Many places on her face and chest were burned by cigarette butts, which the general pinched out on her skin. (He smoked two packs of cigarettes a day.) Her stomach was already struggling to digest the soup they forced her to swallow every day because of the electric shocks.Her nose could no longer smell the feces in the cell.Although Isabel was now reduced to an animal state, she was supported in the dark by the face of Maria Luz, who called her pet name tirelessly.

One morning the General could no longer find any joy in his work.Neither Raphael nor Isabel was willing to reveal the address of the printing house.He's tired, in fact he's been tired since the first day he took the job.A general of his rank clearly had more important tasks to accomplish than simply track down a printing press.He watched his prisoners in disgust, pleased to see that things were finally coming to an end.He had accomplished his task in defeating those two traitorous outlaws who dared to refuse to submit to the only regime capable of helping Argentina achieve greatness.General Sanze is a devout patriot, God will approve his work.

As the sun went down, the doctor entered Isabel's cell.The most ironic thing is that before giving her an anesthetic injection, he still wiped her arm with a cotton pad soaked in medical alcohol to disinfect it.The numbing injection put Isabel to sleep, but didn't kill her.This is just the beginning.It was Rafael's turn to receive the same treatment in another cell at the end of the corridor. night comes.They were loaded onto a truck bound for a secret airport on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.A twin-engine military plane is waiting for them.Isabel and Raphael, who were unconscious, were carried into the cabin together with more than 20 other prisoners under the guard of four soldiers.The pilot followed the order to fly towards the river, aiming at the foot of the cliff in the southeast direction, and the plane flew very low.The flight path of the plane must not be close to the mountains in the direction of Uruguay.Over the estuary, the plane turned around and flew back to its starting point.This is a daily routine. Commander Ortiz executed the plan exactly as directed.The plane rose slowly under the Argentinian skies, crossed the Rio de la Plata, and reached the terminal an hour later. At this point, the soldiers opened the cabin door and within minutes the ten men and ten women, who were unconscious but still alive, were thrown into the sea.The roar of the engine drowned out the sound of the men being thrown into the water.A large number of sharks have become accustomed to wandering in this turbid sea, and they are waiting for the delicious food that falls from the sky on time at this time of day. Isabelle and Raphael spent the last hours of their lives lying side by side like this, but they never had a chance to look at each other again.When the plane returned to the airport, they joined forever the ranks of the 30,000 missing during the Argentine dictatorship... Valerie put down her notes and walked to the window. She suddenly felt that she had to breathe some fresh air, and she was almost speechless. Andrew hugged her tightly from behind. "It's what you want to read. I told you it's better not to read it anymore." "What happened to Maria Lutz?" Valerie asked. "They don't kill the children, but they give them to relatives or friends from wealthy families to raise them. The system invents a whole new identity for them, giving them the names of their adoptive parents. When Raphael and Isabel were kidnapped , Maria Luz was only two years old, but at that time there were many women who were pregnant when they were arrested." "These bastards also torture pregnant women?" "Yes, they will keep pregnant women alive until the baby is born, and then take the newborn. The purpose of the army is to save these innocent people by handing them over to parents who will instill in them the values ​​of an authoritarian system. Souls. They acted in the name of Catholic charity, in which the Church, though knowingly, was an accomplice. Waiting until the last months before childbirth, these future mothers were sent to delivery wards set up in concentration camps. Waiting for their children As soon as they were born, someone took them away from their mothers...you can imagine the fate that awaits these mothers. Most of these children are now adults, but they don't know that their biological parents are being killed. Tortured and imprisoned and then thrown into the sea alive. This is also likely to be the case of Maria Luz now." Valerie turned to face Andrew.Andrew had never seen her so flustered and angry, and the look in Valerie's eyes almost frightened him. "Tell me that the executioners who did not die were brought to justice today and that they will spend the rest of their lives in prison." "I really want to tell you that too. But because Argentina promulgated the amnesty law, these criminals were finally acquitted. And when the law was banned, most of these people had already tried to clean themselves or They have completely changed their roles. In this regard, they do not lack experience and government policy support." "You'll go back there again, finish your investigation, and you'll come back with this Ortiz and the other bastards. Swear to me!" "That's exactly the purpose of my acceptance of this investigation. Now you understand why I have such enthusiasm when I work? You don't blame me for neglecting you now?" Andrew asked. "I want to tear them all to shreds." "I understand, I feel the same way, but please calm down now." "In the face of such scum, you can't imagine what I can do." "And then you can spend the rest of your life in prison ... really wise." "Trust me, I know what to do without leaving any traces." Valerie said without changing her face. Andrew looked at her, then hugged her tightly. "It was unexpected that this story would excite you so much, and perhaps it was better to keep it from you." "I have never read such an outrageous story, and I want to join you in catching these monsters with my own hands." "I don't know if that's a good idea." "Why?" Valerie was annoyed. "Because as you said, most of these monsters are still alive, and although these years have passed, their strength has not weakened." "And you, you're still afraid of ponies..." The next morning, when Andrew came out of the house, he was surprised to find that Simon was waiting for him downstairs. "Do you have time for a cup of coffee with me?" he asked. "Good morning, but..." "Come with me," said his friend, looking more serious than ever. They walked north on Charles Street, and Simon said nothing. "What's wrong?" Andrew also became anxious when he walked into a Starbucks. "Go and buy two cups of coffee, I'll look at this position." Simon sat down at a table by the window. "Obey!" Andrew never took his eyes off Simon while queuing, and Simon's attitude surprised him. "A mocha is mine, and a cappuccino is for His Royal Highness." He returned to Simon a few minutes later. "I have some bad news," Simon announced. "Please say." "It's about that Freddie Olsen." "You followed him, and then you found out that this guy wasn't going anywhere...I knew it all along." "It's a strange thing. Last night I spent the night in front of my computer browsing your website, studying your story." "If you really have nothing to do, you can call me, my Simon." "When I finish, you won't laugh at me. I'm not interested in your article, but in the comments of readers. I just want to see if someone will say foul language under your article." "I guess there may indeed be a few of them..." "I'm not talking about people who think you're a terrible reporter." "Has a reader written such a message on the newspaper's website?" "Some, yes, but..." "Tell me." Andrew interrupted him. "You let me finish my sentence!" "Isn't this what you call bad news?" "I noticed a series of messages that were hostile, but not directed at your professionalism. The language was shocking and intense." "Like?" "Like no one wants them to be directed at themselves. Among the most heated messages, one from a netizen named Spookie-Kid caught my attention because of the volume of his messages. I don't know what you did to this guy, but he clearly doesn't like you. I expanded my search to see if someone with this screen name had spoken on other forums, or had a blog." "Then?" "Then he really only targeted you. Every time you published a report, he would attack you mercilessly, even if sometimes you didn't publish anything. If you read all the online messages of this ID I found, You must be the first to be surprised, no, it should be the second, after me." "If I understand correctly, a guy who failed his exams, is madly in love with Marilyn Manson, and hates my job, is that what you call bad news?" "What Marilyn Manson?" "I don't know, I just blurted it out, keep talking!" "Okay, to be honest, did you just blurt it out without thinking?" "Spookie Kids was Manson's first team name." "How do you know this?" "Because I'm a terrible reporter, keep talking!" "I used my friendship and entrusted a friend who is good at computer technology, if you understand what I'm talking about..." "I don't understand at all." "Just a cyber hacker trying to break into Pentagon or CIA servers on the weekends just for fun. And myself at 20 who knows nothing but picking up girls, well, well, what do you think, Times have changed..." "It's so beautiful! How do you know a hacker?" “A few years ago, when I started this dealership, I subsidized my expenses by renting some cars to kids from rich families on the weekends. One of them bought a Kerr Witte left something in it when he returned it to me." "A revolver?" "It's marijuana, but in large doses, enough to feed a herd of cows. It's not for me to smoke marijuana. But if I report it to the police, he will have a lot of time before he sits in front of the computer again Cure his acne. So I gave him back what belonged to him and he thought I was a 'super honest' guy and swore to me that I could go to him if I ever needed to. So At 11 o'clock last night, I said to myself that now is the time to need his special help. Don't ask how he did it, I don't know anything about computers, but this morning after finding Spookie's IP address he called Call me." "Your keyboard thief friend knows the identity of the Spookie who attacked me viciously?" "Not his identity, but his location when he left a message. If only he knew that this Spookie left a message through the New York Times LAN, You're probably going to be taken aback." Andrew looked at Simon, stunned. "Can you repeat that?" "You heard me clearly. I typed some of his messages for you. It's not life-threatening, but it's full of extremely dangerous malice. Who in your newspaper would write these damn things Something? Look at the latest message." Simon said and handed a piece of paper to Andrew: If a bus runs over this negligent Andrew Steelman to death, its tires will be covered with feces. And our newspaper industry will be saved forever from disaster. "I think I know the answer," Andrew replied, shocked by the passage, "If you agree, I'm going to find Olson." "You don't do anything, my old friend. First of all, I don't have any official proof that he did this, and he's not the only one who works at The New York Times. Second, if you meddle in this , he may be suspicious. You just let me do it, and you can't even move a finger until I agree. You agree to do this?" "Okay, I agree." Andrew conceded. "Go back to the newspaper and act like nothing happened. You have to know what a guy who hates you so much will do. The key is to be able to catch him. As for me, whether I have a relationship with Olsen or not No matter, this Spookie-Kid looks like the leader of the gang that wants you dead." Andrew bid farewell to his friend, then stood up.When he was about to walk away from the table, Simon asked with a smile: "I will continue to follow, do you still think my behavior is ridiculous?" Andrew spent the rest of the day preparing materials for the trip to Argentina, and he called one after another to arrange various matters for the trip.As the sun was about to set, he continued to work, when the silhouette of a little girl emerged in his mind.She stood motionless on a tarmac road leading up to a hill.Andrew put his feet on the desk and fell back in the armchair. The little girl led him to a small village in the mountains.Every time he thought he would catch up with her soon, she quickened her pace and moved away again.Her laugh guides Andrew on this crazy run.The evening wind blows and night falls.Andrew shivered, it was very cold, and he began to shiver with cold.An abandoned warehouse appeared in front of him, he walked in and saw the little girl sitting in front of a window under the eaves, her legs dangling in the air.Andrew slowly approached the corner, but still couldn't see the child's face clearly.All he could see was her smiling, a weird kind of smile, almost grown-up.The little girl whispered a few words, and Night Breeze delivered them to his ear. "Come to me, find me, Andrew, please don't give up, I believe in you, we have no right to make mistakes, I need you." After speaking, she let her body fall from the air.Andrew rushed to catch her, but her body disappeared before hitting the ground. Andrew was alone in this warehouse, kneeling and shaking.The pain in his back was getting worse, and a sharp pain nearly made him pass out.When he woke up again, he found himself being tied to a metal chair.He was having difficulty breathing, his lungs were burning and he felt suffocated.An electric current passed through his body, all the muscles in his body began to twitch, and he felt himself being thrown forward by a huge force.He heard a voice from a distance—"Come again", a huge irresistible shock wave penetrated his whole body again, his pulse was beating wildly, and his heart was on fire.The smell of burnt flesh was in his nostrils, the ropes binding his limbs ached, his head cocked to one side, and he began to beg for an end to the torture.His heart started beating again, air flowed into his oxygen-deprived lungs, and he gasped as if just emerging from apnea. A hand rested on his shoulder, shaking him violently without hesitation. "Stilman! Steelman!" Andrew opened his eyes again, and found that Olsen's face was almost close to his own. "You have the right to choose to sleep in the office, but at least please keep quiet and remember there are people working here!" Andrew woke up all of a sudden. "What the hell are you doing here, Freddie?" "I heard you moaning for more than ten minutes, you made me unable to concentrate on work at all. I thought you were sick, so I came to check, but it seemed that I was just asking for fun, and I might as well have not had a problem today. Don't save trouble in the office." Sweat beads appeared on Andrew's forehead, but he felt as if he was in an ice cellar. "You should go home and rest. You probably have something that you don't know about. It's hard to see you like this," Freddie sighed. "I'll be home in a while, and you want me to call a Is there a taxi?" Nightmares, Andrew has had many in his life, but none has ever been as real as it is today.He looked at Freddie, then got up from his chair. "Thank you, I'll be fine. It should be because I ate something indigestible at noon." "It's already 8 o'clock in the evening..." Andrew secretly calculated how long he had been in reality.He tried to recall the time when he looked at the clock at the bottom of the computer screen, and he began to wonder if he was still in a dream. Then he went back to his house, exhausted, and called Valerie, who was still on the road, to tell her that he couldn't wait for her to go to bed today.But Sam told him that Valerie had just entered the operating room, and it was estimated that she would leave work late today.