Lights Out (22 page)

Ghost Face sat on the gold brocade couch in the heavily ornate
drawing room. He didn’t like being kept waiting, and certainly not by someone
that he had no respect for. He had
come directly to the house after leaving the warehouse, knowing that he only
had a short time frame to have this discussion. He had been waiting for fifteen
minutes.

He wondered if the girl had called ahead, which was why the old lady
was taking so long, but then dismissed the idea. She was running scared he knew
that. When she had time to think about the events of today, she would realize
that she had broken one of the oaths. She was a traitor to the society and he
would take great pleasure in informing her beloved Grandmother of the truth. Once
the girl was taken care of, by him, he so dearly hoped. Then he would be well
positioned to take over. He would have to be cautious. He couldn’t just allow
her to disappear too soon after her Granddaughter. He didn’t want it to be too
suspicious. It had to feel like a natural take-over, intuitive. No different to
any other business, a merger of two great societies of which he would become
The Great Mountain Master.

The sound of the drawing room door distracted him from his thoughts
and he turned to watch the frail old woman walk in to the room. It was
laughable he thought, that she of all people could be in charge of such a
powerful entity, that she even had respect. Behind her came another man. This
surprised him. He had expected a private audience; certainly that is what he
had requested when he had made the call. He didn’t want a baby sitter present.

Ghost Face stood momentarily to show his respect and bowed his head
as she seated herself in her usual armchair. Silently behind her chair stood
the unknown Chinese man. He was dressed all in black. His hair slicked back,
and his skin dark and golden. His head was bowed, so Ghost face couldn’t see
his face clearly.

He looked from the man to the old woman.

“Ghost Face,” The old woman spoke with such a gracious air that it
captured Ghost Face’s attention immediately. He had forgotten how commanding
her voice could be.

When he settled his gaze upon her, she continued.

“Ghost Face, you requested to see me in private, do not be alarmed or
feel unease by
Mr
Ng’s presence.” She smiled, fully
aware that the unease he felt was exactly her intention. “He is here by my
request, my personal aide. He is discreet and invisible”. Lily’s Grandmother
continued.

“It’s been a very long time since you have been here to see me. What
occasion is this?” She asked.

Ghost Face, moved himself closer to the edge of the couch and toward
the old woman. He wanted to see her face in detail when he told her that her
Granddaughter was a traitor to the society.

“Dear Madam, I am here under very unusual circumstances and to bring
news that affects our society greatly.” Ghost Face spoke softly, causing the
old woman to move her face toward him, to hear him more clearly.

“Go on”, she said.

“We have a traitor in our midst, someone who we both trusted. Someone
who has placed us in such an exposed position that it is likely that our
Society will be critically damaged. We cannot allow this person to remain
within our group, and I urge that the Masters conduct a hearing immediately to
resolve the matter in a swift and appropriate manner.” Ghost Face finished, his
head theatrically bowed to show his respect.

“Exactly who and what is troubling you so, Ghost Face?” The old woman
asked.

“Your Granddaughter.” Ghost Face replied, lifting his head to watch
the reaction.

The old lady’s back stiffened, but her faced remained stony and calm,
free of emotion, disappointing Ghost Face. He had hoped for at the very least a
gasp or a verbal outburst. But she showed nothing except the very smallest of
flinches.

“Tell me more.” She said.

“Your Granddaughter appears to have an affiliation with the man that
we used for the Bank Robbery. Along with him, she tried to release our only
negotiation card, the man that would ensure that Harper would carry out his
duties without difficulty. Yet after the event, your Granddaughter decided in
her wisdom to help them both and tried to release him without consultation. She
has betrayed us Madam and she must be punished. “ Ghost Face paused.

“Casualties?” The old woman demanded.

“Yes, one. Robert Black, the friend. He is dead. Harper is on the run
and so is your Granddaughter.” He continued. “She has broken one of our most
cherished oaths, and she cannot be trusted.” He stated. He began to feel
irritated at her apparent lack of concern. This is not how he had planned it.

He raised his voice, so that she could truly understand the gravity
of what he was telling her.

“She has broken an oath and must be punished accordingly.” He said.

“Oath number four states;
“
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.”

“It
is clear,” he carried on. “It is a clear disregard for the privacy and secrecy
of our society.” He stopped now.
Aware that she was now
watching him intently.
Her eyes reduced to narrow slits, her brow in a
deep frown. It was a look that he hadn’t experienced before. He remained silent
and waited for her to speak. After a few moments, she did, so quietly and
calmly, that Ghost Face had to lean in to catch what she was saying.

“Ghost
Face. I appreciate your devout loyalty to the society over many, many years. At
least thirty I think. However, as much as I am indebted to you bringing this to
my attention, I was very happy to hear that you were coming to see me today. As
it happens, I was planning to pay you a visit myself, but you made it possible
for me to see you here, in the comfort of my own home. So I thank you.” She
said and gave him a small bow of the head, which Ghost Face returned back to
her.

“Now
it’s your turn to listen.” She said, her voice hardening. “Over a year ago, we
had a tragedy within our own kind. Loved ones, well respected, members of our
society were killed, almost provoking a triad war, of which we did everything
in our power to prevent. We have managed to do so, until now. We have eyes and
ears in many places, as you well know Ghost Face. The Government, the Police,
the Bank, the list goes on and on, and we also have eyes and ears inside other
societies.” She paused to allow what she was saying sink in.

It
was his forehead that was set in a frown now, and his skin, she was sure, had
turned an even paler shade of white.

She
continued. “Our good friend has been feeding back to us for over twelve months,
and some interesting things have been brought to light. Things initially that
we disregarded as not possible. Things that we didn’t want to believe. But
slowly the truth has unfolded, and now those things are no longer hard to
believe. They simply leave us feeling cold. A wise Englishman once said, that
being forewarned is being forearmed. I think that is a very true statement.
Wouldn’t you agree Ghost Face?” The old woman smiled slightly, her thin lips
pulled tight across her mouth showing her old brown teeth, making her look
suddenly ugly. There was no humor in her eyes despite the smile.

“I’ll go on. It is not my Granddaughter that is the traitor, Ghost
Face. It is not she who has thrown this Society into turmoil and uncertainty.
Trying to strip it of all its values and respect. Trying to push it into
directions that we do not intend for it, or wish it to go. Slowly killing off
members one by one, until there is just an old lady left to protect and guard
the oaths that we once all swore to abide to. It is not she who murdered her
Grandfather, Mother and Father in cold blood and made it look like an
accident.” She paused to catch her breath. Her cheeks were flushed now, the
oxygen rising to the skin as her heart pumped fresh blood around her body
giving her a youthfulness and energy that she had not experienced in some time.

Dropping her voice, to a mere whisper she continued, forcing Ghost
Face to lean in even more to catch her words.

“It is not she, who is trying to overthrow our society and pull us
into a black hole of corruption and murder of war and terror. No. It is not
Lillian. There are thirteen oaths,
of which all have been broken. If there were a myriad of swords in this room,
they would all be pointing at you, Ghost Face. The man who sits before me and
tries to take advantage of an old lady, thinking foolishly that I will simply
accept your lies and respect and honor you. No, I will not. I have lived too long
and seen too much. Age gives you strength and knowledge that youth cannot
offer, it prepares you for death, so that when it comes, you accept it
graciously and with open arms, not bitterly and with fear.” She paused and
settled herself in her chair. She turned her head the side slightly to
acknowledge the man behind her.

Ghost Face was silently in turmoil. All that he wanted to do was lean
forwards and place his two hands around her neck and to squeeze the last bit of
life out of her, enjoying the look of terror and helplessness on her face. He
had to fight hard to stop himself, knowing that her protector would be on him
in a second. He could feel his temper rising.

He needed to get out of this house. Thirty years of visiting as a
guest had made it familiar to him. He would never get out of the front
entrance, so he would need to go through the kitchen and out the back. Then he
could then make his way through the garden and over the fence. He was still
fast and agile, and was sure that he could out run anyone on his tail if he had
a head start. Ghost face gently ran his hand down his leg and pretended to
scratch it, whilst feeling for the hilt of his knife hidden by his trousers. It
calmed him immediately. He always carried it strapped onto his lower leg for
exactly these situations. When the security guard had patted him down upon
arrival, they had only removed his gun. Luckily for him they had missed the
knife.

Suddenly the sound of the old woman’s voice quickly drew him back
into the moment.

“How many woman have you murdered Ghost Face?” Her eyes were full of
distaste now and hatred.

How did she know that?
He thought. His mind worked quickly.
She’d had him followed, that must be it
,
he thought. Whilst he was under suspicion, she had someone follow his every
move. They must know about the police too, his mind quickly started to scan
events over the last year. He looked at the old woman. She looked like a
stranger to him now.

“You know the answer already, so why do you ask?” He replied simply.

“You are pure evil.” She stated. The old woman tapped her hand gently
on the armrest of the chair.
Her signal to the protector that
this meeting was now over.

Ghost Face pulled out his knife and had it pointing to the old
Woman’s throat before the protector could react. He heard the old woman breath
in as she focused her gaze, not on the knife, but on him. Her protector had his
gun already aimed at Ghost Face at point blank range at his temple. They were
in a catch-22 now. If he stabbed the old woman, the protector would shoot him
dead. If he ran, he would be shot in the back. He had to take out the protector
to stand a chance of survival. Making his mind up in a second, he quickly
ducked in front of the old woman and moved himself next to the protector before
he even had time to shift his gaze toward Ghost Face. The knife was plunged
deep into the left side of his chest between the ribs and straight into his
heart. The protector didn’t make a sound as he slumped to the floor, his legs
buckling beneath him as he did so.

Then the screaming started. Her voice surprised Ghost Face. There was
such a force behind it that it didn’t belong to an old woman. She pushed her
self back in her chair momentarily caging Ghost Face into the corner, but his
strength was too much for her as he pushed the chair over to the side throwing
her out onto the carpeted floor in a heap. Physically she was frail, and he
watched her pathetic body as she tried to pull herself up. This kill would be
so easy, he thought arrogantly as he stepped over the protector’s lifeless body
and stood over her. He was sure that he could see fear in her eyes. He wanted
to see fear, as he felt the heat in his body rise.

There were footsteps, many footsteps. He scanned the room and chose a
window. It was too late for the kitchen
exit,
he had
to get out now. Picking up the chair in front of him he ran and thrust it as
hard as he could against the window, shattering the glass. He shook off his
jacket and placed it over the broken glass jumping through onto the deck below.
He heard the drawing room door burst open and raised voices. He ran through the
familiar grounds and onto the street and kept running until he reached the
first street corner. He stopped and walked down the road, more casually now,
not wanting to draw attention to himself. He glanced behind him. There were no
signs that he was being followed.

He twisted his neck and cracked the bones on both sides, making him
feel better. He did the same to his knuckles and released the pressure in his
shoulders. He slowed his pace down to a stop and waited for a taxi. He didn’t
have to wait long.