My Story - Chapter 2

---------------------Somewhere, sometime in Iraq---------------------

Brandon opened his eyes slowly. He had a massive headache. What had happened? He thought back. He arrived in Iraq. His team was ambushed. He had followed General Smith around to a back alley, and into a house, where they were ambushed. No. He was ambushed. Smith sold him out. A traitor to the United States military. Brandon looked around. His hands and legs were tied up. He had a gag in his mouth. Brandon noticed about ten men sitting around him, with masks on, holding rifles. He looked behind him, where he could see a dirt road behind him, but nothing else. They were in the middle of some desert.

The car jolted to a stop. Brandon watched as all the men filed out of the vehicle. One of the men stopped and turned towards the last man to get out of the vehicle.

Man: "Зграби човека. Доведите га унутра са нама."

They were speaking Serbian to each other. Brandon was picked up on the shoulders of one of the men. He was too sore to fight back, so he just let the man carry him.

Man: "Проверите да ли је све у реду. Он је директно ће Ал-Насер Лидеен Аллаха ЕбуСулејман"

Brandon recognized one name in there. Al-Nasser Lideen Allah Abu Suleiman. The newest leader of the Al-Qaeda in Iraq group. That meant he would be going straight to the top.

The man carried Brandon into a small building in the middle of the desert. He threw Brandon into a dirty room, and closed the door behind him. There was a light bulb hanging from the ceiling, a toilet in the corner, and a table with a blanket on it. Brandon crawled into a corner and leaned up against the wall. He waited for anything to happen. Soon, the door opened, and two men walked in carrying high powered rifles. They came over and untied Brandon, keeping their guns pointed at him. They motioned for someone to walk in. A few men walked in, one of whom looked like the leader. He walked up to Brandon, who was on his knees.

Suleiman: "Ти глупи амерички свиња! Ви мислите да можете да убије нашег лидера, нашег брата, и извући се?"

Suleiman reached up and smacked Brandon in the face with the back of his hand. Brandon fell to the ground, as the men laughed. Brandon slowly sat up and smiled at Suleiman.

Brandon: "Ја сам Канадски"

Suleiman looked at him, a look of surprise on his face.

Suleiman: "So. You can speak Serbian too. Impressive. But I can speak English too. Looks like we're even"

Brandon: "What have you done with Anna?"

Suleiman: "Who is this Anna that you speak of sir?"

Brandon: "If you do anything to her, I swear to god.."

Suleiman: "You'll what? Kill us? I don't think so my friend. You're under our control now. Your safe now"

Brandon: "What do you want from me?"

Suleiman: "Oh, don't worry about that. We have something quite important for you."

Brandon: "I'm sure you do."

Suleiman: "Sit tight. I'm sure you don't have any plans for the next few months. Or the rest of your life"

Suleiman walked out of the door. His men followed behind him, and slammed the door shut. Brandon crawled into a corner and sat down. He thought about everything. About Anna. She was obviously here somewhere. They had kidnapped her, but where were they keeping her. He had to find a way out. He moved around the the edge's of the walls. He tried to find any weak spot, but found nothing. He moved back to a corner and sat. He tried to listen to anything that was happening outside of his room, but he couldn't hear anything. He figured that the room must be soundproof. He realized that the light was extremely bright, and he could not find a light switch anywhere. He grabbed the dirty blanket and sat in the corner, wrapped in the blanket. Hours passed. Brandon had no idea what time it was. He was already jet lagged from the flight over, but he got used to it pretty fast usually. He felt like sleeping, but the light was far too bright to sleep. He sat in the corner, trying to think of ways to escape. Eventually, the lights turned off, and he fell asleep.

Brandon was awoken by a loud horn sound in his room, and the light turning on. He opened his eyes and sat up. There was no one in his room, but there was a plate of gross looking chicken in front of the door. Brandon crawled over to it and began to eat it quickly. He was really hungry. Once he finished eating, he sat back in his corner, and began to think some more.

Some time later, his door opened, and Brandon was picked up and dragged through the underground complex and into another room. He was thrown onto a chair in the middle of the room. He was slapped in the face. Two men pointed guns at him, while another man walked in to the room, holding a clipboard.

Doctor: "So, Mr. Macdonald. Is that what you're calling yourself these days?"

Brandon: "Yeah, that's my name"

Doctor: "Is it though?"

Brandon: "Yes. It is"

Doctor: "Now you know that I don't believe you"

Brandon: "What do you mean, you don't believe me. Of course it's my name"

Doctor: "Is this some person that you've tried to take the identity of? Who is this Brandon Macdonald?"

Brandon: "No, I'm Brandon Macdonald"

Doctor: "You are not"

Brandon: "I am Brandon Macdonald."

Doctor: "Khaled. Your name is Khaled Salib."

Brandon: "Are you crazy?! My name is Brandon Macdonald"

Doctor: "Somehow, you've developed the notion that you're name is Brandon Macdonald. Who is this man? A friend? A famous man? Someone you've made up?"

Brandon: "Brandon Macdonald is me! I am Brandon Macdonald!"

A man walked into the room.

Man: "We've researched this Brandon Macdonald. It appears that he is a famous fighter and wrestler."

Doctor: "Interesting. So you took the name of a famous fighter?"

Brandon: "No, I am a famous fighter!"

Doctor: "What's wrong with you Khaled? Did you bump your head too hard when you fell out of the truck?"

Brandon: "What truck? What are you talking about?"

Doctor: "You don't remember falling?"

Brandon: "I have no idea what you're talking about"

Doctor: "You were on your way back with our squad, and the truck hit a bump, and you fell out of the back, and hit your head."

Brandon: "What do you mean, 'our squad'?"

Doctor: "Well, you're part of our squad. You were going to check out one of the cities"

Brandon: "I'm in the American military"

Doctor: "What? That's preposterous. You've been with us for as long as I can remember Khaled"

Brandon: "I am in the military. The American one"

Doctor: "Then why are you here? Think about it Khaled"

Brandon: "I was betrayed by my general. He led me to an ambush by you guys"

Doctor: "Khaled, listen to yourself. You think an American general would betray his country to join us? That's insane"

Brandon thought about this. It really was crazy that a general would betray his own country like that, especially a country who hated the other. But he knew what he remembered.

Brandon: "I know what I remember. And stop calling me Khaled. My name is Brandon Macdonald"

Doctor: "I think we're done for the day. I have something for you that will be delivered to your room"

The man punched Brandon in the stomach, picked him up, and carried him back to his cell, and threw him inside. Brandon sat down and watched as the man grabbed something and threw it inside. THe doctor walked inside.

Doctor: "These are all of your documentations. ID's, passports, reports, birth certificates, everything. It's all there"

The doctor turned and left, as Brandon grabbed all of the stuff and began to look over it. There was a birth certificate, and Iraqi passport, a drivers license, papers, reports, everything. All with his picture on it. But the name wasn't Brandon Macdonald. It was Khaled Salib. This was ridiculous. They had to be fake. But no matter how much Brandon checked, he could not find anything that looked remotely fake. Everything looked legit. But Brandon had his memory still. He knew he had that life before. He knew that he was Brandon Macdonald. A UFC fighter, and a professional wrestler. With a wife. Who was kidnapped by the very same people. None of this could be true.

Brandon sat in his room for hours, until the lights turned off. He found his blanket, and slowly fell asleep on the ground, thinking about all that had happened the last few days. Or all that hadn't happened.

-------------------One month later-------------------

The lights turned on. Brandon could hardly move. A man walked in and picked him up off the ground, and brought him into the same room that he had been going into every day of the last month. Each day was the same. He'd get two small meals, once in what he assumed was the morning, and then again later at night. The lights were turned off and on at the exact same time every day. The toilet only opened at certain times, meaning Brandon could only go to the bathroom when they let him. He slept on a hard floor, with an itchy blanket. The only thing he had were those papers about Khaled Salib. He had still not figured anything out. He was starting to believe that maybe they were right. Maybe his whole life before this was fake. Just a memory. Nothing real. The only proof that he had of his old life was Anna. While the other things were all memories to him, Anna felt real. She was the one thing that Brandon knew existed. And they had her.

Brandon was thrown into his chair, and the same doctor came inside. He pulled out his clipboard, and looked at Brandon.

Doctor: "So have you finally come to accept that you are not Brandon Macdonald?"

Brandon: "You guys have Anna. I know it. She's here somewhere"

Doctor: "I can assure you, we do not have this woman"

Brandon: "Yes you do. I know you kidnapped her"

Doctor: "Why would we do such a thing?"

Brandon: "Because you wanted me to get here. So you could capture me and torture me"

Doctor: "Think about this Khaled. We have done nothing to you this whole time. We have not tortured you in any way. Why would we capture you and do nothing to you for a month?"

Brandon: "I...I don't know."

Doctor: "Exactly. Because we haven't done anything. You seem to have some sort of brain issue"

Brandon: "I know you have Anna, I just know it!"

Doctor: "Khaled. You need to get over this. We don't have this woman. She's Brandon Macdonald's wife. Or, she was"

Brandon: "What do you mean, she was?"

Doctor: "I didn't want to show you this. But since nothing else has worked to fix your memory, I think now is the time."

The doctor walked over to a television in the corner, and turned it on. He pushed a video cassette inside. He looked at Brandon.

Doctor: "This is a copy of the ending of NLWF Battle Behind Bars. The show that you claimed to have missed because Anna was kidnapped."

The doctor pressed play as Brandon watched many men in the ring, issuing a beatdown on a man with a mustache.


Brandon looked at the television, with shock. Anna, dead? No. It couldn't be. There was no way. That wasn't possible. Unless....

Doctor: "See Khaled? We didn't kidnap her. She was still with that company all along. If you were really going to fight a war, why would they kidnap her and burn her? That doesn't make any sense. Because you are not Brandon Macdonald. He quit the company in a fit of rage. And so they killed his wife. Not yours. Don't you see now Khaled?"

Brandon was still in shock. The doctor was right. He couldn't be Brandon Macdonald. Why did he think he was? This woman, Anna, she was killed by others. The real Brandon was probably taking his revenge on everyone right this moment. There was no way that he could be Brandon. Nothing added up properly in his memories. The lack of torture, the general turning on him, the death of Anna Macdonald. He couldn't be Brandon Macdonald. He must be Khaled Salib.

Khaled: "I see now"

The doctor smiled.

Doctor: "Finally Khaled. I'm going to ask you a few questions, to make sure you're actually back."

The doctor pulled out his clipboard.

Doctor: "What is your full name?"

Khaled: "Khaled Abdul Salib"

Doctor: "Excellent. And can you tell me your birthdate and place?"

Khaled: "I was born on the fourteenth of Dhu al-Qa'da, in 1401. In the city of Fallujah"

Doctor: "Excellent. I'm glad you used your Islamic calendar. Now tell me. How did you arrive at this base?"

Khaled: "I was on my way back from a quick check of Fallujah. Everything was okay, so we came back here by truck"

Doctor: "Excellent. Well, Khaled, you're team has been very worried about you. Are you ready to see them?"

Khaled: "Yes, thank you"

The doctor led Khaled to a doorway, that he had always seen, but never entered. The doctor used his key to open the door, and Khaled followed him inside. He looked around, and saw many faces, which looked somewhat familiar. One of them stood up.

Al-Aboud: "Khaled! It is I, Al-Aboud. Welcome back my friend. How are you feeling?"

Khaled: "Terrible."

Al-Aboud: "That's quite alright. Here, have some food and water."

Khaled sat down and began to wolf down the meal that was in front of him. He hadn't had a real meal in over a month. It felt so good to finally eat a a full meal.

Al-Aboud: "Дакле, Халида, како је ваш српски?"

Khaled: "My Serbian is fine Aboud. Можете ли рећи не?"

Al-Aboud: "То је одлично. Зашто не говорите енглески, иако за сада"

Khaled: "If you wish Aboud. My memory is bad anyways"

Al-Aboud: "That is quite alright. You took a nasty fall"

Khaled: "So I hear. I am having many problems remembering my life before this"

Al-Aboud: "Such as what?"

Khaled: "Well, did I have a family before this?"

Al-Aboud: "Ah. You have forgotten I see. Well, ummm."

Khaled: "What Aboud? What?"

Al-Aboud: "Well, you had a family. But they were all killed by American insurgents. The very same one's that are here right now"

Khaled: "Really?"

Al-Aboud: "Yes Khaled. I am so sorry my friend"

Khaled: "Thank you. I do not feel as upset as I probably should. Maybe it is because I cannot remember them"

Al-Aboud: "I'm sure in time, your memory will come back some day"

Khaled: "I hope so. Until then, I must do my best to help my country and it's freedom"

Al-Aboud: "Precisely. Iraq is very vulnerable. We must protect it"

Khaled: "And that we will. Al-Qaeda will prevail"

Khaled finished his dinner, and brought his plate up to the front of the dining hall. Aboud looked at him.

Al-Aboud: "You look very weak. We need to get you working out"

Khaled: "Thank you. I would like that"

Khaled followed Al-Aboud out of the dinner hall, and into a small room with weights and machines. Khaled picked up a dumbbell, and was amazed at how natural it felt to him. He began to work out, somehow remembering how to do everything properly. He smiled. Now that he had his head on straight, he could get on with his life.

-------------------Two Weeks Later-------------------

Khaled woke up, and climbed out his bed. He looked over at his bunkmates, who were all getting up as well. He grabbed his military jacket, and pulled it on.

Al-Aboud: "Are you ready Khaled? Your first call to action since the accident"

Khaled: "I am very ready. I'm in fighting shape yet again. I can't wait to show these Americans what Al-Qaeda means"

Al-Aboud: "Easy there my friend. One step at a time. Let General Suleiman give you the orders."

Khaled: "I am just eager to get to action. I have missed this for so long"

Al-Aboud: "I know Khaled. Patience. Today is the day"

Khaled stood at attention as General Suleiman approached the men. Suleiman stopped when he reached Khaled.

Suleiman: "Hello Khaled. You're finally ready for action?"

Khaled: "Yes sir! I am battle ready again!"

Suleiman: "Excellent. We have a few busy days ahead of us. I'm going to explain to you what I want you to do. Follow me"

Khaled followed behind the General as he led them to a small room. Khaled sat down across from the General.

Suleiman: "So Khaled. I have a special mission for you"

Khaled: "What might that be, sir?"

Suleiman: "You see, we have an inside man among the American insurgents. He has done everything in his power to gain the trust of everyone. So here's what I want you to do"

Khaled listened closely.

Suleiman: "You're going to go alone to their base. Our man has done quite amazing things with the insurgents. They will recognize you, and think that you are one of them. You must pretend to be tired, pretend to have just escaped a month's worth of torture. They will bring you in, take care of you. THey will ask you a lot of questions. I trust your improvisation skills, you can make something up. The inside man will find you and talk to you then. Together, the two of you will take out the entire team. Once they are eliminated, you may come back here together, and we shall give you your next mission"

Khaled: "I understand general sir! I will not disappoint you."

Suleiman: "Excellent. You have really come a long way Khaled. I remember you when you first joined us here. You were so unfit for combat. Now look at you. I'm trusting you in one of our biggest missions to date"

Khaled: "I wish I could remember everything like that"

Suleiman: "One day Khaled. You hit your head very hard when you fell from that truck. You may have sustained permanent memory damage. But I'm sure that one day you will get everything back"

Khaled: "I hope so. These last two weeks, talking to everyone, they have really helped me get everything together"

Suleiman: "I'm glad you have been productive in your recovery time. You understand why we put you in one of our cells? With your memory issues, we didn't want you to be a danger to the rest of our men"

Khaled: "I understand. I had some really weird things going on with me"

Suleiman: "You did. But you finally got rid of those memory issues, and remembered who you are and where you came from"

Khaled: "Yes. And I'm certainly glad that I did. I think I scared a lot of people"

Suleiman: "You certainly had me scared young man. I was worried you might never be the same again"

Khaled: "Well that's all in the past now."

Suleiman: "So it is. So you are sure that you can complete this mission as planned?"

Khaled: "I am 100% confident that I will be successful. I will not let you down General sir!"

Suleiman: "Good. Now, I have something important to show you"

Khaled got up, and followed General Suleiman to another cell. The general walked towards the back of the cell.

Suleiman: "You recall that woman that you thought we had? The one that put you through so much pain and suffering?"

Khaled: "Yes, that bitch. If it weren't for her, I could have been ready to go long ago"

Suleiman: "You are certainly right Khaled. She wasted weeks of your life"

Khaled: "I hate her. I'm glad she's dead"

Suleiman: "Well, as was I. Until I found something interesting out"

Khaled: "What's that sir?"

Suleiman: "It appears that she wasn't really dead. Apparently, that wrestling company was given a lookalike to burn. They kept her far away from the camera, as to make sure that everyone was fooled by it. The real Anna Macdonald went into hiding with the real Brandon Macdonald. That is, until we tracked her down, and brought her here. We decided that perhaps you'd like some closure with this woman."

Khaled looked on as General Suleiman pushed a brick in, opening a small passage in the wall. He crawled through, and Khaled followed. Inside, there was a woman on the ground. She looked very tired and weak. When she saw Khaled, her face turned to one of pure shock.

Anna: "Brandon? Brandon!"

She jumped up and went to hug him, but Khaled slapped her across the face, sending her falling to the ground. She looked up at him, holding her cheek, with confusion and pain in her eyes.

Anna: "Brandon, what the hell was that for?"

Khaled: "My name is Khaled. You ruined one month of my life with your stupid memory!"

Khaled wound back and slapped her again. She fell backwards.

Anna: "Brandon, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Khaled slapped her yet again

Khaled: "You dirty whore. Call me Khaled. That's my name!"

Anna looked at him and began to cry. She looked into his eyes.

Anna: "Brandon. Don't you remember me? It's Anna. Your wife"

Khaled: "I have no wife!"

Khaled looked at her, with rage in his eyes. He grabbed her head and threw her into the wall. Anna collapsed to her hands and knees. She looked up at him, and then at General Suleiman.

Anna: "What have you done to him?"

Suleiman: "This is Khaled Salib, Mrs. Macdonald. A man who you cost a month of his life with your memory. He is not happy about that, as you can see"

Ana looked back and forth between Khaled and General Suleiman. She had tears in her eyes, and was clearly in pain.

Anna: "Brandon. Don't you remember me? Please remember me Brandon?"

Khaled wound up again to slap her, but his arm was caught by General Suleiman. Khaled looked at him.

Suleiman: "There will be time for this later. We must get you ready for your mission. Let us leave this whore"

Khaled looked at Anna, and spit in her face. She slowly wiped it out with her tears. She looked up at them from her knees.

Anna: "Please. Brandon. Remember. You have to save me. Save yourself. Please Brandon. Remember yourself."

Khaled stared at her for a while. He looked into her eyes, through the pain, and tears, and confusion. He smirked, and laughed.

Khaled: "I do not need saving! I am perfect. We are perfect. You are scum! I'll deal with you later"

With that, Khaled left the the room, as General Suleiman smiled at Anna and slowly closed the door, with Anna still on her hands and knees, crying, looking at Khaled.

Khaled: "The things I'm going to do to that whore"

Suleiman: "Give it time Khaled. Once you finish your mission, you can celebrate with this woman. I imagine it has been a while for you"

Khaled: "Longer than I can remember"

Suleiman: "Well, I'm sure she won't mind. As you can see, she has clearly lost her mind. She has no idea what is real or not. Perhaps she would think that you having your way with her was a dream."

Khaled: "I hope she realizes that it's real. Because I'm going to make her scream, cry, beg. She deserves nothing better, after all she has done to me"

Suleiman: "I couldn't agree more Khaled. Come. Let us go get you ready for your mission"

Khaled looked back at the wall where the cell was. He smiled and laughed. This woman would have no idea what was coming. It had been so long, and she looked very fresh. Just what Khaled wanted.