“You idiot” Lily yelled at Ryan as she tried to drag him away from the door.
“He’ll call Ghost Face. You have to get out of here, he’ll kill you and Rob if he finds you here.”
Ryan looked at Lily, and seeing the concern on her face, took his chance. He held her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him.
“Lily, you can do the right thing. Let Rob go. He’s done his job and you’ve done yours. You owe him this much.” He said.
Lily shook her head. Her mind was racing. She should have trusted her gut instincts. She should never have brought Ryan here. It was a mistake.
“I was a fool to agree to let you see him. You should have just taken my word for it that he was OK.” Lily said. “Now you are both in danger, you have to leave now.”
Lily shook herself out of Ryan’s hold and dragged him with her down the corridor away from Rob’s cell.
“Lily, Ghost Face is a dangerous man. Do you honestly think that he will ever let Rob live? He doesn’t need Rob anymore. The job is done now. Why keep him? Why complicate things further?” Ryan spoke urgently, willing for Lily to see that he was right.
Suddenly Lily fell silent. She turned to Ryan and shushed him.
Ryan could hear the young Chinese man speaking Cantonese. Lily listened intently to what he was saying her hand was across Ryan’s mouth, both of them still now.
Ryan watched Lily’s face drain of all colour.
She looked at him with horror in her eyes.
“What is it” Ryan whispered. “What did he say?”
Lily looked at Ryan and then looked back along the corridor.
“Ghost Face is coming, he’s almost here. We have to act quickly.” She whispered.
“OK, how do we get Rob out of that room?” He questioned.
Lily thought quickly. She knew that it was only minutes until Ghost Face arrived.
“There’s only one way. We need the door code.” Lily said. She nodded her head in the direction of the young Chinese man that was now walking towards them.
“He and Ghost Face will be the only ones with access to the room.” She said under her breath.
Ryan stood just behind Lily and watched as she carefully slid her hand behind her back and pulled out a handgun. She rested her hand on the back pocket of her jeans, keeping it out of sight.
“I’m sorry Miss, I cannot let you leave. Ghost Face will be here any moment and he wants to talk with you.”
Lily looked at the young man for a moment before responding.
“Look, I know you are just doing your job, but I have another appointment to get to, we really do need to leave.” Her voice friendly, almost soothing in her tone.
She took a step forward.
“Stop.” The young Chinese man said. Lily ignored him and walked another step closer.
“I want to talk to Ghost Face myself.” She said, taking another step towards him.
Ryan stood back, not sure what he should do.
In the background he could hear Rob still calling out his name.
“Ryan, are you still here?” Rob’s voice was faint, as Ryan concentrated on the situation in front of him.
“OK, but I’ll make the call.” The young Chinese man took out his phone, keeping his eyes on Lily. Lily waited for the right moment. She watched his eyes carefully, and knew that he would need to look down at his phone to dial the number.
Then she saw his eyes flicker down to the keypad. She took the last stride towards him and before he could react pressed the cold muzzle against his cheek.
She heard him take an intake of breath as she pressed the gun against him. She quickly patted him down for his weapon. She knew he would have one. She quickly found it pushed into the side of his waist belt and passed it to Ryan.
“Nice job”. Ryan said, astounded that she had been able to do it so easily.
Lily leaned into the young Chinese man and instructed him to walk down the corridor.
Ryan followed behind them looking at the gun in his hand. He’d never handled a gun before and had no idea whether it was ready to fire or whether the safety catch was on or off. Where is the safety catch? he thought as he turned the small weapon over in his hand.
Once at the door, Lily jabbed her gun harder into the young man’s cheek and told him to open the door. He looked at Lily with stubborn determination, and she jabbed him again, this time pulling back the trigger on her handgun.
The sound of the click was enough to move him into action and he quickly punched in the code.
There was a buzz as the door was released and Ryan quickly grabbed the young Chinese man by the arms and roughly bundled him into the room. Lily aimed the gun at the young man.
“Stay.” She said simply.
The young Chinese man sat heavily down on the bed and watched them in silence.
Seeing the door open, Rob took his opportunity and stepped out of his prison cell into the corridor, to where Lily and Ryan now stood. Ryan quickly closed the door behind them, relieved when he heard the click as it locked back into place.
“About time” Rob said to them both, giving them a wide grin.
“Would either one of you like to tell me what’s going on?” He asked looking from one to the other.
“There’s no time to explain.” Lily said to Rob, her voice now serious. “You and Ryan have to leave right now.”
Lily started down the corridor, her walk picking up to a run with Ryan and Rob keeping up behind her.
Before they reached the end of the corridor, Lily suddenly screeched to a halt. She listened again and heard a click as the heavy main door opened.
“No”, she said under her breath. She pushed her handgun back into her jeans. “He’s here.” She said flatly. Her stomach flipped as the adrenaline began to pump through her body.
Without needing to be told twice, Ryan pushed a bemused Rob behind the plastic sheeting closest to them. He looked at Rob and motioned for him to be quiet. Rob looked frightened but understood, and nodded to his friend.
Lily continued to walk along the corridor until she reached Ghost Face. His face was hard and pale. He looked less like a ghost today, she thought, more like a killer.
“What took you so long?” She said breathlessly trying to appear flustered. “They’ve escaped and they’ve locked the guard in the cell.” Lily turned and started back down the corridor trying to encourage him to follow her.
Ghost Face eyed Lily suspiciously and scanned the corridor. There was certainly no sign of his man. He walked slowly behind Lily toward the cell. As he drew closer he could hear him calling out. He picked up his pace. When he reached the door he whipped back the metal cover and peered through the slit.
“Chang.” Ghost Face barked.
“I’m sorry Sir.” The young Chinese man replied, his eyes to the floor.
“You fool.” Ghost Face shouted into the room before slamming the metal cover closed.
He turned and glared at Lily.
“You let this happen”. He spat.
Hearing the commotion Ryan looked at Rob.
“Let’s go.” He said.
They slipped from behind the plastic and ran as hard as they could towards the exit.
Hearing the footsteps echoing behind him, Ghost Face spun on his heel and started to run at full speed. Still running he pulled out his handgun and prepared his aim. Then he saw them.
Ryan turned mid-run to check his rear. Ghost Face was almost upon them.
Ryan looked ahead, they only had another twenty meters to go and they’d be at the door. He looked across at Rob.
“Don’t look back.” He said breathlessly to his friend as they ran on.
Ghost Face had Ryan’s back perfectly in his sight. He slowed down to a walk to steady his arm. He was less than ten meters away from them. He carefully pressed his finger on the trigger releasing the bullet.
The sound of the footsteps chasing them disappeared completely. The urge to look back was now too over powering for
Rob and he snatched a glimpse behind him. Ghost Face was taking aim. Rob moved on instinct. If he’d had time to think, perhaps he would have done something else. But now, he did what came natural to him.
“Ryaaaan.” Rob yelled as he pushed his friend out of the way. As if in slow motion, Ryan felt his body lose balance as his shoulder ricocheted off the wall and sent him tumbling to the ground. He pulled himself up and turned to Rob who was frozen to the spot. Ryan watched in silent horror as the bullet that was destined for him tore through Rob’s cheekbone, shattering it instantly. He saw a tiny glint of metal as the bullet exploded out of the other side of Robs face and embedded itself into the opposite wall along with a splatter of bright red blood.
Rob collapsed at Ryan’s feet, his body twitching as blood oozed out of the open wounds in his face. He looked up to see Ghost Face striding toward him closing the gap between them with every step.
Ghost Face was shaking his handgun in frustration. It was jammed. He kept trying to cock the trigger, but he couldn’t pull it back.
Ryan was rooted to the spot, he couldn’t move. His friend lay at his feet bleeding. He had his blood and flesh all over him.
Lily’s scream ripped Ryan out of his daze.
“Run,” She screamed at him. “Run”.
It was enough to get Ryan to his feet and he bolted to the door. He slammed his hand onto the exit button and the door buzzed open. He pulled the door closed behind him, hoping that it would give him valuable seconds to escape. He ran down the staircase four steps at a time to the lift. He was in luck. Since Ghost Face’s arrival no one else had used the lift. It remained on the top floor as if waiting for him. Ryan pressed the open button stepped inside and stood impatiently jabbing at the G button and the Door Close button simultaneously willing the big metal doors to close. He heard shouting as Ghost Face followed him down the stairs and to the lift door. The doors closing just in time. Ryan heard a fist slam against the outside of the metal doors. As the lift descended the noise became just a muffled low din.
All that Ryan could hear was his own breathing. He tried to slow everything down and catch his breath. He leaned forwards hanging on to the metal rail and forced himself to take slow breaths. Eventually he could feel his heart slow down and his breathing returned to normal. His stood and watched the digital number change as he descended lower and lower to the ground floor of the building. He just hoped that when the doors opened that no one would be waiting for him. He didn’t have the energy for another chase, least of all a fight.
Ryan held his breath as the lift arrived and the doors slowly opened.
He carefully peered out and quickly scanned his surroundings. It was quiet. He took a tentative step out of the safety of the lift and walked quickly towards the exit. When he turned the corner he ran as fast as he could out of sight.
Upstairs, Ghost Face was pacing. He’d tried to catch Ryan before he entered the lift, but he was too late. For now Ryan had managed to escape him, but he would track him down.
Lily was now his biggest problem. He needed to find her, and quickly before things started to fall apart. He walked back in to the building and made a quick search. Of course Lily was nowhere to be found, she was sassy enough to know when to make herself scarce. He could hear the young Chinese man yelling in the room and pounding on the door to be let out.
Ghost Face calmly stepped over Rob’s dead body and walked to the door. He punched in the code and released the door. The young Chinese man sprang out of the room almost bumping into Ghost Face. His eyes looked past him along the corridor and rested on the dead body of his capture.
Ghost Face looked at the man before him and narrowed his eyes.
“Because of your stupidity, Black is dead and Harper has escaped. And Lily…” He trailed off exhaling slowly.
“I will deal with Lily.” He said quietly to himself.
Ghost Face checked his watch. “Assuming that Harper has notified the police, we do not have long.” He said and nodded to the direction of the body. “Make it disappear. We were never here”.
The guard nodded in silence hardly able to take his eyes off the dead body lying in a pool of blood.
Lily had sped off in her car, her mind in turmoil. What had started out as a simple plan was turning into total chaos. Rob was never supposed to be killed. Ryan was supposed to be arrested, placed under suspicion until such time that they had moved the money, laundered it and moved on.
Her Grandmother was expecting her. She wanted an update from her and from Ghost Face. Luckily he didn’t yet know where she had placed the money from the bank. She needed to convince her Grandmother that he was dangerous. She needed to get to her Grandmother before he did. From now on, she knew that she was going to have to watch her back. The members may be loyal to her Grandmother, but some were as loyal to Ghost Face and now that Rob was dead and their only other witness was on the run, she knew that the blame would be turned to her. He would stop at nothing until she disappeared. Or worse yet, branded a traitor to the Society. That frightened her above all else. If all members of the Society agreed, even her Grandmother would not be able to save her.
Chapter 25
After her parents funeral Lily had done exactly as her Grandmother requested and went back to Boston.
She felt different now. Something inside her had changed since her parents death and she knew that she would never be the same person again.
She managed to get back into her work and studied furiously. She stopped going out and became almost reclusive. Most people that knew her put it down to the loss of her parents, a natural grieving process. Friends that would normally have pestered her to go out allowed her to grieve in private and eventually stopped asking altogether. Everyone that is, except for Rob.
Rob by now had heard about Lily’s personal loss and had traveled down to Boston to see whether he could coax his old friend to get out of her Hall of Residence and to start living her life again.
Refusing to return Rob’s calls, Lily was a little taken aback when he appeared on her doorstep out of the blue.
Her first reaction was to dismiss him and send him back to New York, but knowing how far he’d traveled, and the sentiments behind the visit; she softened and allowed him to take her to supper.
She didn’t talk much that night, but with Rob she didn’t need to. He did enough talking for the two of them, and it suited her. She could just sit and listen to his funny stories and antics with his friends, and Lily found herself becoming absorbed and really enjoying his company. It was the first time since her parents died and her Grandmothers revelation that she found herself not being swamped by it.
That night Lily decided that she could have one friend, and it would be Rob. He wouldn’t bother her during the week, but if he wanted to come and visit, or if she needed company, she knew that she had someone to turn to.
Lily did a good job of keeping her secret. She managed to almost separate her life in Boston and her life in Hong Kong. Then, a few months before she matriculated, Rob told her that he was leaving.
It had been on the cards for some time. He was keen to move up the corporate ladder, and most of his peers had worked off shore for two to four years, returning with big promotions, and equally big salaries. Rob wanted the same, but he would have to move country to achieve it.
Lily was almost at the end of her studies and knew that she would be going back to Hong Kong soon afterwards. Rob knew this too, and something in the back of her mind told her that he had engineered his transfer to coincide with her eventual move.
Rob left first and they stayed in touch. She was actually looking forward to having a friend in Hong Kong. Most of her other friends that she’d had as a child had slowly fallen by the way side. Rob could be her one normal friend amidst the chaos that would help balance her life as a triad.
Lily’s last few months in Boston went by in a blur. Her studies blended into one another seamlessly as her life became a series of exams, sleeping and occasionally when she
remembered, eating.
Lily’s Grandmother had prepared everything for her arrival.
Her old room had been newly decorated and her parents’ room had been transformed to accommodate guests. It saddened Lily to see this, but she knew that it was the right thing to do. Otherwise she would be seeing too many ghosts.
Before Lily could start learning the ways of the Society, there were many formalities that she needed to go through.
To join a Society at any rank meant that she had to be acknowledged by the other Masters and be sworn in.
During her first week back home, her Grandmother took Lily to an old temple in Kowloon. The ceremony would take place at midnight and Lily had been told to wear all white. She’d selected her wardrobe carefully, not wanting to make any mistakes, and wanting to appear professional. She wore a long sleeved white cotton shirt with a high Mandarin collar and white linen pants. She had simple white ballet pumps on her feet. At the suggestion of her Grandmother, she wore her hair in a traditional knot at the nape of her neck held into place by a single gold pin.
The old temple was closed to the public after 8pm every night. The ceremony would be a private affair. To be sure, two security guards stood at the entrance to keep watch.
Upon entering the temple, Lily felt overwhelmed. She’d been into so many temples throughout her life, but this one was quite spectacular. She stepped over the stone threshold and was immediately hit by a wall of burning incense. Lily found it intoxicating. Hundreds of ochre yellow incense spirals hung from the ceiling. Long lengths of red string holding them in to place. The smoke, thick and grey, danced and spiraled up to the high ceiling. Piles of incense ash covered the floor, turning it black underfoot.
Lily walked past the incense spirals and continued as directed into the next room. She stepped across another threshold and onto some giant grey flagstones. The ceiling was high and vaulted, and huge red pillars stood in all four corners holding up the heavy tiled roof.
She took in her surroundings. The temple had obviously been chosen for the elaborate centre piece, an impressive grey stone altar, consisting of a flat large stone, which stood in the centre of the room. It was flanked on four sides by life-size wooden carved gods, each wearing a bright red piece of silk that had been carefully wrapped and tied around their heads. Behind the alter, toward the back of the room, was a large recess. Inside was a red painted bowl filled to the brim with grey ash. In every available space brown incense sticks burned, making the air thick with smoke. The smoke rose in one continuous spiral and escaped through tiny outlets before dispersing into the night sky.
Lights Out Page 16
