| Fan Fiction |
by SilverDragon
Jay led Aaron into a lavishly decorated guest waiting room to take a nervous seat on the cream coloured Italian leather sofa that surrounded a white marble coffee table. He glanced around him in awe as Jay left the room, amazed at how expensive everything looked. Even though living with his father meant that Aaron was slightly better off than his mother and Rainie, it still couldn’t compare with the lavishness of Jiro’s mansion.
Rainie suddenly appeared at the doorway and Aaron stood up straight, a huge relieved grin spreading across his face as he quickly walked over to greet her. “Jie, you’re alright! I was beginning to grow worried, seeing as you stopped turning up at the ice-cream parlour.”
A playful frown creased Rainie’s brow as she proceeded to ruffle her younger brother’s hair. “Do you think I will let anything happen to me that easily, Aaron Yan Ya Lun?” she teased. “I’m amazed you even managed to find me, though.” She suddenly grabbed his hand, leading him out of the guest room. “Come on; I’ll show you my room here.”
Aaron followed his sister along, relieved that Rainie seemed to be doing fine. She led him up the staircase and into a pretty pink room, a large king sized bed covered in white satin sheets in the middle of the room. White painted furniture furnished the room, giving the place a princess-like feel to it. From the window Aaron could see the mansion’s large swimming pool and the garden that surrounded it.
Turning back around to face his sister, he came to sit on the bed beside her. “Jie… why… why are you here?” he finally forced himself to ask. He wanted to know the real story behind everything, still finding what his mother had said hard to believe.
Rainie stared at the ground before her, the smile on her face from earlier fading away. She let out a sigh before answering. “I thought you would already know what has happened seeing as you managed to find me.”
Aaron turned to stare at Rainie, a searching look on his face. “Mother told me she was forced to sell you to the loan shark,” he said, trying to gauge his sister’s reaction.
Rainie let out a small sarcastic laugh, shaking her head in disbelief. “Is that what she said? She’s still the same, trying to find excuses to feed her greed.” She stopped laughing, her hand gripping the sheets tightly as her face hardened. “She was the one who suggested that Jiro should buy me from her. Jiro realised that she would use any means to gain more money so he decided to protect me by agreeing with Mother’s suggestion.”
Arron stared at Rainie, feeling a sudden burst of anger for their mother. He knew the woman had lied to him and hearing these words confirmed it. “Jiro… Is he the one named Wang Dong Cheng?” asked Aaron after he had finally calmed himself down.
A small smile lit Rainie’s face. “Yeah… he’s been kind to me these past few days. He’s agreed to let me live in his house as his sister, but…” Rainie drifted off mid-sentence, a distant look on her face as she remembered the morning’s events.
Aaron suddenly grabbed Rainie’s arm, startling her from her thoughts. “But what, Jie? What happened?” he asked, slightly panicked that something terrible might have happened.
Rainie turned to glance at her brother before peering over her shoulder at the door to see if anyone would enter unexpectedly. Shuffling in closer it Aaron, she lowered her voice as she said, “Jiro seems… a little strange. I think he’s involved in more than just his company, the pub and being a loan shark.”
“A little strange?” repeated Aaron, his eyebrows creasing into a slight frown.
Rainie nodded, also frowning slightly. “I accidentally overheard his conversation earlier this morning. He was talking about weird things, about someone named ‘Dawn’ messing up something badly. Then afterwards he found me eavesdropping and-” Rainie stopped talking there, leaning back away from Aaron as she turned away in embarrassment. Aaron peered at her, a small fear nagging at the pit of his stomach for what Jiro could have done to his sister that caused her to stop talking.
“What did he do to you, Jie?” he asked in a fearful voice, trying to turn his sister back to face him. “Did he hurt you?”
Rainie shook her head, shaking Aaron’s hands from her shoulders as she stood up. “No… no, he didn’t hurt me. Nothing really happened… he just told me not to interfere anymore if I value my life.”
Aaron stood up, shocked. “He threatened you?” He stormed over to her side and began trying to drag her out of the room. “Don’t stay here anymore, Jie. It doesn’t feel that safe. Why don’t you come live with me and Dad? There’s plenty of room there for the three of us.”
Rainie pulled her hand out of Aaron’s grip, staring back at him with a small frown. “I can’t just leave this place, Aaron… If I do, who knows if he’ll do anything to Mother?”
“But-” started Aaron but he was cut off by Rainie.
“There’s no but, Aaron.” She then came to place her hands on her brother’s shoulders, staring into his eyes reassuringly. “Don’t worry about me, Aaron. I’m perfectly safe here. There’re guards everywhere and Jiro has been treating me well, despite threatening me this morning. But that was my fault. I was eavesdropping on him after all.” She firmly squeezed his shoulders, a small pleading look in her eyes. “Please, Aaron… Don’t worry about me, okay? You can come visit me whenever. I’m sure Jiro will allow that.”
Aaron peered back at his sister, mixed feelings running through his mind. He didn’t want his sister living alone with some guy who was a potential mobster. Yet, he didn’t want to go against his sister’s wishes. Although their mother had never really treated them well, Rainie was always worried about her and it seemed that this time was no different. With a small sigh, he finally nodded.
“Alright… I won’t pressure you into leaving here, Jie.” His eyes then hardened as he gripped Rainie’s arm tightly. “But if that Jiro ever does anything to you, remember to come to me immediately. I’ll show him his place, no matter how much power he has.”
Rainie smiled at her brother’s response, faltering slightly as she let him go. She knew her brother was just very worried about her but she couldn’t help but wonder whether Aaron would ever have to follow through with his threat to Jiro. Silently, she prayed that nothing of the sort will ever happen, which would cause her little brother to be put in danger.
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Ella collapsed behind her desk, her head falling onto her crossed arms as she let out a tired sigh. Interviewing the witnesses had turned up not much more than what they had already gleaned from them the other day. All that she had been able to find out was that Dawn had covered her face with a mask and that she was perhaps over 160 cm tall. Ella let out another tired sigh. They had also come to realise that if Dawn was in a tight situation, she would resort to using guns as well, aside from the bladed weapons she seemed to prefer. So that meant the assassin could have killed more than those that have already been associated to her name.
Her mobile phone suddenly began ringing in her pocket, and she blindly groped around for it. Half-heartedly, she thought that if this was Danson calling, she would immediately begin yelling at him for not accompanying her. What was more important than trying to solve the Dawn case? It was something he had been eager to do since they’d first received the case, but when it seemed that something had finally turned in their favour, he disappears off on some kind of ‘important business’.
She flipped open her phone and held it to her ear without looking at the screen. “Wei?” she answered, a little roughly. “If that’s you, Danson, you’d better get your stinking ass back here this instant so I can scold the unhelpful bastard you are.”
“Hmm… someone seems to be in a really bad mood. Would you like me to call you back later when you have calmed down, Detective Chen?” replied Chun over the phone, his voice hiding a humoured note to it.
Ella sat up straight on the desk, pulling the phone away from her ear to check the caller ID. It was Chun. Cursing silently to herself, she slowly put the phone back against her ear. “What do you want, Mr Wu? I believe there is no reason for you to contact me anymore, seeing as I no longer have to act as your bodyguard.”
“Perhaps… but what harm is there in calling up an old colleague?”
“A lot,” snapped Ella. “Look, I don’t really have the time to exchange friendly banter with you, Mr Wu. There’s a dangerous assassin out there that I have to catch.” She was about to hang up the phone when she heard Chun telling her to wait.
“It’s that ‘Dawn’ case isn’t it?” he asked in a serious voice.
Ella paused, surprised that Chun would know about the case. “You know about it?”
Chun chuckled slightly over the phone. “Of course I do. Being Wu Lang’s son means I’ve heard more things than the average person.” He paused before asking, “Does Dawn have anything to do with Chang Fu Shen’s death the other day?”
Ella let out a sigh, rubbing her face tiredly. “Perhaps you should be a detective, Chun, seeing as you’re so perceptive,” she snapped sarcastically.
“Perhaps I should, Ella,” he retorted in a happy tone.
“Who gave you permission to call me Ella?” she suddenly asked somewhat indignantly.
“Then who gave you permission to refer to me as Chun?” he retorted back, still with that annoying happy note to his voice.
Ella opened her mouth to retort back but nothing came out. She let out a frustrated groan. “If you’re just calling me to amuse yourself, then I’m going to hang up now.”
There was silence on the other end and Ella frowned slightly, wondering why Chun was now being so quiet. The suddenly, “Would you like to go out to dinner with me?”
Ella was at a loss for words. “Dinner?” she repeated, still shocked.
“Yeah… just to get your mind off the case for a while, if you don’t mind. I mean, I don’t want to bother you or anything if you’d rather continue working on your case, so you don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to,” he babbled, somewhat nervous all of a sudden.
Ella continued to remain silent, pondering over his invite. Just then, she saw Danson enter the department, storming straight over to Li Lang’s room. Standing up, she said, “Alright; come and pick me up in an hour outside Taipei 101. But right now I have some unfinished business with my partner.” She didn’t wait for Chun to reply and immediately hung up her phone as she went to cut Danson off before the superintendent’s room.
Danson peered down at Ella with a small frown. “I really don’t have the time to play games with you now, Ella. There’s something I need to see the Superintendent about.” He tried to push past Ella but she refused to budge.
“What have you been up to today? You’ve been acting weird since yesterday,” she asked him, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
Averting his eyes elsewhere, Danson answered in an offhand manner, “Nothing’s really happened, Ella. I just… just have a hunch about something.” He tried to push past Ella again but she stopped him once more.
“You have a hunch? Then why aren’t you sharing it with me?” She shoved Danson back roughly as she took an intimidating step towards him. “Since when have you started keeping secrets from me?”
Danson just shook his head in frustration at her as he finally pushed past her and entered Li Lang’s room. The superintendent looked up from his paperwork to stare puzzled at Danson’s sudden entry with Ella stumbling in behind him.
“Is there… something the matter?” he asked as Danson came to sit in the chair before him. Ella remained standing behind.
“Sorry to barge in on you like this, Superintendent, but…” Danson seemed to pause for a minute, pondering over what he wanted to say. “Has Chen Yi Xia ever been suspected of being involved in illegal activities?”
Li Lang raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Why are you asking me this now, Detective?” he questioned.
“I’m just… curious, that’s all,” was all Danson was willing to say, staring at Li Lang with a look that revealed nothing of his true thoughts.
The superintendent leaned back in his chair, peering at Danson suspiciously. “Of course Yi Xia has been suspected to be involved with illegal activities. It is impossible for someone of his status to never be affected by such accusations. He has been known to associate with the leaders of the Five and is rumoured to be on good terms with Li Da Dao of the Chu Jian gang. But there has never been any proof to warrant an arrest of the man.” He crossed his arms over his chest, studying Danson’s reaction to this information.
“Then… what kind of activities has he been rumoured to be involved in?” asked Danson after several minutes.
“What kind? Hmm… almost everything, I think. But from what I know of the man personally, I don’t think any of those rumours are true, especially the one about him being the leader of the Syndicate. How could the leader of Chen Enterprises have the time to manage both his multibillion dollar company and the most powerful organised crime group in Taipei? It’s impossible.”
Danson suddenly sat up straighter in his seat. “Yi Xia has been rumoured to be the Syndicate’s leader?” He then turned away, lost in thought.
Li Lang nodded slowly, wondering what was going through the young detective’s mind. “Yes… but like I said, it’s impossible.” He leaned forward to peer at Danson. “Now will you tell me why you are suddenly asking about Yi Xia?”
Danson snapped away from his thoughts, turning to peer at Li Lang as if he had only realised that his superior was still in the room. “Oh… I… I just remembered the man and wondered whether he would be Dawn’s next target,” he lied. “But… from what you’ve told me, it seems like my hunch was wrong.” He stood up. “Thank you for answering my questions today, Superintendent,” he thanked, bowing.
Li Lang waved off Danson’s thanks. “No worries, Detective. It’s good to see you trying to predict Dawn’s next moves.” He stood up, giving Danson a firm pat on the shoulder. “This isn’t the easiest case and it’s great to see that your spirit has died yet.” He then sat back down and Danson gave him a salute
“It is my duty, Sir,” he said before leaving the office. Ella followed him out behind after saluting the superintendent as well.
She ran to catch up with Danson’s long strides. “Danson! Danson, hold up for a second!” Danson suddenly stopped walking and Ella almost collided into his back. She then walked around to face his front. “Do you mean to say the hunch you had was truly about Yi Xia perhaps being Dawn’s target?” she questioned, gazing at Danson suspiciously.
Danson turned to stare at her, a small, weak smile on his face. “Yep. That was my stupid hunch which turned out to be wrong.” He then pushed past Ella, heading for the door.
“You’re hiding something,” Ella suddenly shouted after him, causing Danson to freeze as he was about to open the door. Smirking, she strolled towards him, elated that she had perhaps struck a nerve in him. “I know what you’re thinking, Detective Danson Tang Yu Zhe. We have been together since we graduated from the academy and in all those years, I have never seen you act so strangely before.” She came to stand next to him, looking up into his face. “What are you not telling me, Danson?”
Danson swallowed nervously, turning to gaze somewhere else. Finally, he said, “Just give me some time, Ella. When I’m sure about everything, I… I promise I will tell you everything.”
Ella continued to stare at Danson, curiosity burning in her but she fought back the desire to pursue the topic further. Glancing away with her hands on her hips, she said, “Alright; I’ll wait. But answer this first: does it have anything to do with the Dawn case?”
Again, Danson shifted nervously on the spot with his gaze averted. “Yes,” was the silent reply before he opened the door and stepped outside.
Ella had no choice but to watch him leave. She then turned away, heading back over to her desk. So the reason Danson was acting strange was because he had found out something about Dawn. But what exactly did he find out, that he wasn’t willing to disclose with even his own partner? Sighing, she back down on her desk with her elbows, knocking the mobile phone she had left there earlier. Then she suddenly remembered; she had agreed to go to dinner with Chun in an hour. Cursing slightly, she glanced at her watch and realised she had only fifty minutes left before she was to meet him. With another frustrated sigh, Ella began banging her head on the table. As if Danson’s secretiveness isn’t enough! How in the world did she agree to that rich boy’s date? She suddenly looked up, shocked. Date? Why would Chun want to go on a date with her of all people? She wasn’t exactly pretty, or even feminine at that.
She sighed again, lying her head back down on the desk. She couldn’t back out of it now. There was nothing she could do but stick to her word.
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A/N:
Yeah... nothing much to say today... Must go work on chapter 39 now...
Next Chapter: Where is Chun going to take Ella? And how will Selina go see Danson?
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30th January 2008
5:05PM GMT+09:00
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