Lights Out (18 page)

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.

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.

Lily looked back toward the wooden carved Gods, all brightly painted
and intricately carved. She recognized one as the God of the Sea, and another
as the Goddess of Mercy. Lily smiled to herself. Just like her Grandmother, she
was named after the God of Mercy. Lily saw it as a good omen for the ceremony
and relaxed a little.

Lily’s Grandmother represented the head of the Society in Hong Kong,
and with her were eight other senior members, all with the designation of
Master. Lily recognized them all; she had grown up oblivious to everything and
everyone around her, now it all started to make sense.

One of her Uncles was to carry out the ceremony.

Lily noticed that by his feet, he had a bamboo cage with a rooster
inside, it was a tiny cage, hardly enough room for the bird to turn in a circle
and it had started to squawk and fidget, trying to fluff it’s wings, but unable
to do so.

Each of the eight members stood in a circle inside the four Gods with
Lily in the
centre
. They each held a bunch of incense
sticks, which her Uncle
proceeded
to light with a
single wooden burning stick. Once the incense was burning well and the smoke
started to ascend, the Masters began to chant whilst fanning the incense around
Lily, shaking their sticks up and down, chanting low under their breaths.

Lily watched as her Uncle took the rooster from its cage holding the
wriggling animal upside down with its feet. The bird flapped and squawked it’s
way to the stone
alter
. With one hand he pressed his
arm and hand across the bird keep it down, and with the other withdrew a long
sharp sword that glistened in the dark smoky room. The chanting increased in volume,
whilst Lily remained in the circle, she found the smell was over whelming,
slowly engulfing her in incense smoke.

The chanting grew louder still until it reached a high pitch, then
her uncle swiftly brought down the knife slicing the roosters throat in one
powerful sweep. The body of the rooster twitched and shuddered. He held it down
until it subsided. Lily stood rooted to the floor as she watched the dark red
blood form a pool in the basin of the stone. Her uncle filled a narrow glass
with some of the warm sticky blood. He held the blood up to the two gods and
bowed a deep bow. The circle had now broken, and a gap had been made for her
Uncle to bring the glass to her. He took a step down into the
centre
and when he reached Lily he looked straight at her.

“Are you ready?” he asked simply.

Lily’s heart was racing. The loud chanting and incense smoke had
bewitched her. She felt light headed and strange. She hadn’t expected any of
this. It was never spoken of, and she would never be allowed to speak of it
after this evening, not even with her Grandmother.

She nodded numbly at her uncle.

He dipped one finger into the blood and drew a symbol onto her
forehead. Lily could smell the blood. It smelled of metal to Lily. The feeling
of him drawing on her forehead was an odd sensation. His finger felt hot and
the pressure in the
centre
of her forehead made her
head buzz. She tried to keep her focus on her uncle and stood still whilst he
finished his task. Next, he lifted the small glass to Lily’s lips and said quietly
to her; “now drink”.

Lily closed her eyes and drew the liquid into her mouth. She tried to
block off her nose. The thick warm red blood swirled around her mouth and she
almost gagged. She screwed her eyes up tighter and drank some more, her Uncle
each time raising the glass to let the contents slip into Lily’s mouth.

Lily took a last gulp and opened her eyes and blinked. She felt
flushed and a little unsteady. She looked around at all of the nine faces
surrounding her. Her Uncle took away the glass, placing it back onto the stone
alter, and opened a black wooden box; he withdrew a small book from inside.

He walked back to the
centre
of the circle
where Lily stood and gave her the book. The book was covered in red silk, the
colour
faded with age. It was slightly dog-eared on the
corners and Lily wondered how many times it had been used over the years. She
tried to imagine her father doing the same rituals, but couldn’t picture him.

“Now read the Good Fortune Harmony oath’, her uncle said to her
gently. ”There are thirteen in total.”

Lily cleared her throat, wishing desperately that she could drink
some water to free her mouth from the metallic taste that was still so pungent.
But she knew better than to ask.

She looked around her. All members were now silently waiting for her
to begin.

She opened the book, and taking a deep breath, she proceeded to
recite the contents to her audience.

“The thirteen Oaths of the Good Fortune Harmony Society”, Lily read
out loud, her voice echoing slightly around the temple. She continued.

“1. After entering the
Good Fortune Harmony Society I must treat the parents and relatives of my sworn
brothers and sisters as my own kin. I shall suffer death by five swords if I do
not keep this oath.

2. When my sworn brothers
and sisters visit my house, I shall provide them with board and lodging. I
shall be killed by myriads of knives if I treat them as strangers.

3. I shall not disclose
the secrets of the Good Fortune Harmony Society, not even to my parents,
brothers, sisters, husband or wife. I shall never disclose the secrets for
money. I will be killed by myriads of swords if I do so.

4. I shall never betray my
sworn brothers and sisters. If this oath is broken, I will be treated as a
traitor to the society and will receive one hundred cuts to my body.

5. I must never commit any
assaults on my sworn brothers and sisters, or the family of my kin.
I shall be killed by five swords
if I break this oath.

6. I shall never embezzle
cash or property from my sworn brothers and sisters. If I break this oath I
will be killed by myriads of swords.

7. I will take good care
of the family of my sworn brothers and sisters entrusted to my keeping. If I do
not I will be killed by five swords.

8. If I am arrested after
committing an offence I must accept my punishment and not try to place blame on
my sworn brothers and sisters. If I do so,
I will be killed
by five swords
.

9. If any of my sworn
brothers or sisters are killed, or arrested, or have departed to some other
place, I will assist their family who may be in need. If I pretend to have no
knowledge of their difficulties,
I will be killed by five
swords
.

10. If it comes to my
knowledge that the Government is seeking any of my sworn brothers or sisters. I
shall inform him in order that he may make his escape. If I break this oath,
I will be killed by five swords
.

11. I shall not appoint
myself as Deputy Mountain Master without authority. After serving the Good
Fortune Harmony Society for five years the loyal and faithful ones may be
promoted by the Mountain Master with the support of his sworn brothers and
sisters.
I shall be killed by five swords
if I make
any unauthorized promotion myself.

12. I must not take
advantage of the Good Fortune Harmony Society in order to oppress or take
violent or unreasonable advantage of others. I must be content and honest. If I
break this oath,
I will be killed by five swords
.