| Fan Fiction |
by SilverDragon
“When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow at first light,” replied Selina immediately. “Yi Xia’s men will be out searching the streets of Taipei for us and it isn’t safe for us to be out at night. Tomorrow morning we’ll at least have more traffic to cover our tracks and perhaps gain a little time.”
Silence once again fell on the group as they began exchanging worried glances with one another. Selina stood back up onto her feet, dusting the dirt casually from her knees. Danson held onto her arm to help steady her, and Selina turned to look at him, his eyes smiling at her in support. Selina smiled back at him weakly, glad for his support.
Danson then turned to face the crowd, addressing them. “So we’ll leave for Keelung tomorrow at first light, and I assume that we’ll all be able to fit in the van. If not, I’ll drive the motorbike and one of you can join me. But we’ll work all that out in the morning. For now, let’s get some rest. We’re pretty safe here for the night.”
The group began to disperse, the parents moving into the old hut while the Twins, Show and Hebe hovered around on the porch, peering at Selina and Danson with curiosity in their eyes. Selina turned her attention away from them to Jin, who had begun walking over to the destroyed aviary, staring at his feet as he kicked the dirt. She supposed he must be feeling down over what had happened, having killed those men and then finding out that his saviour was none other than an assassin. Danson noticed the direction of Selina’s stare and he placed a comforting hand on her back.
“Go talk with him. I’ll go talk with the others for now,” he said encouragingly before strolling over to where the others were seated on the porch. Selina watched him walk off briefly before turning to walk over to where Jin was standing.
Jin stared at the mass of rusted wire and broken bamboo poles before him, brooding over the moment he had pulled the trigger and sent two men into the afterlife. It had all happen so quickly and the strangest thing about it all was that he felt no remorse for killing the two men. He had watched them fire their guns at Su Mei as she went to retrieve her gun from the kitchen drawers. Rage had filled him when he saw the wounds in the older woman and he immediately took the gun from her grip to send the bullets straight into the men. Looking down at his hands now, he still found it strange to think that those hands had been used to kill someone.
“I suppose a lot of things are going through your mind right now,” said Selina quietly as she approached him from behind.
Jin looked up from his hands and peered over his shoulder, before turning away and glaring angrily into the distance. He didn’t know why, but suddenly the last person he wanted to talk to now was Selina.
Selina noticed the hostile air around Jin and let out a sigh. She should have known that his trust in her would waver once he found out that she was in fact an assassin. Walking past him, Selina bent down to pick up one of the split bamboo poles, casually straightening it as she dug it into the ground.
“This was once an aviary Yu Zhe and I built together in this very place. When I was young, I used to hide out here in order to look after my birds and hide away from the world. The world has never been kind to me until I met Yu Zhe, but even then, I wasn’t fated to live the calm and peaceful life I wanted.” Selina fell into silence, moving to pick up another post.
Jin watched her carefully, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. When he saw that Selina was not going to continue speaking, he then asked, “Why are you telling me this?”
Selina stopped what she was doing, leaning on the post she was currently holding on to as she turned to stare at him. “I want to let you know that although I am an assassin, it does not mean that I wanted to be one or that I enjoy being one. Do you want to know why I became an assassin?” Jin remained silent and Selina took it as a ‘yes’. “I wanted to get revenge for my mother’s death and to not feel guilty about the people I had already killed, the first of which was my step-father who tried to rape me.” A sarcastic smile curved Selina’s lips as she saw Jin’s eyes widen in surprise. “That was probably the worst mistake in my life because it has led me down a path which has been full of more pain and misery than if I had just forgotten about the past and laid my mother’s memory to rest. I ended up having to fake my death and assume a new identity, causing much pain and grief to those I never realised I loved.”
Selina turned to look at Danson and noticed him watching her. As their eyes met, he smiled at Selina, giving a small nod. Selina smiled back, Jin watching the exchange curiously.
Suddenly, Selina’s mobile phone began ringing, startling her from her thoughts. She had completely forgotten she had it turned on and she quickly pulled it out, checking the screen for whoever was calling. Yi Xia’s name flashed up onto the screen and Selina hesitated slightly, before taking the call.
“Selina…” hissed Yi Xia over the other end of the phone. It was the first time Selina had heard him speak to her in such a way and it chilled her to the bone. “I never figured that I’d see the day of your betrayal… killing Ji Li to save that pesky kid. But I have to admit that I’m impressed with how quick you were able to mobilise and get everyone involved with your past out of my reach quite quickly. You were always my most efficient servant and I was proud of you. But you seem to have forgotten one, very dear comrade of yours… I suggest you take a look at this video call, Selina.”
Selina pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at the screen as a dimly lit warehouse appeared, a dishevelled figure sitting on a chair in the middle with his head hung low while a familiar face loomed next to him. Danson had noticed that something was not right and had immediately walked over to watch over Selina’s shoulder, the Twins, Show and Hebe following along with him.
“You should remember Xaphan, right Selina?” came Yi Xia’s narration from somewhere behind the field of vision. He began walking closer to the figure seated on the chair and she saw that the ground seemed wet and the man was drenched, blood stains diffused through the white shirt plastered to his bruised skin. “You should remember how Xaphan enjoys torture and as you can see, he has been having fun with this latest toy I have given him.”
Xaphan smiled cruelly into the camera, a wild look in his eyes as he went to grab the long, matted hair of the captive. Selina’s heart raced as she realised who the figure was and she began to panic as both guilt and anger hit her in full force. Xaphan suddenly pulled the man’s head back roughly and Selina could clearly see Zhi Ping wince as his heavily bruised and beaten face was revealed.
Selina’s grip on the phone visibly tightened as she forced herself to watch the horrific scene. Xaphan suddenly removed a pair of nasty-looking pliers, a cruel twisted smile on his face as he slowly lowered them towards Zhi Ping’s hand.
Once again, Yi Xia’s commentary continued. “You know, Selina, I’ve never held much sympathy for those who betray me. I trusted you and Zhi Ping greatly with the matters of the Syndicate, but you both jeopardised our security on the basis of a mere infatuation. Why, Selina? Why did you have to defect from me? And Zhi Ping… why did you help her? You should have known better than anyone the consequences of betraying the Syndicate.”
Suddenly, Zhi Ping let out a loud, painful scream as Xaphan pulled out one of his fingernails. Hebe couldn’t stand the sight and sounds, immediately turning away and huddling in Show’s arms, trembling as he tried his best to comfort her while trying not to show his own fear. The Twins too turned away, exchanging a fearful glance with one another. Jin clenched his fists tightly and was about to yell into the phone in anger when he saw how pale Selina looked, gripping her phone so tight that her knuckles turned white. Danson noticed this too, and he began to grow worried at where all this was headed.
The view in the phone turned away from the horrific scene to show Yi Xia looking in the camera. He chuckled slightly, shaking his head. “That has to hurt…” he said in mock sympathy. Then, turning serious, he said, “You have at least another hour before I pull out his next fingernail. You should know where to come, Selina.” With that, he hung up and the screen returned to standby.
Without warning, Selina suddenly raised her arm and threw her phone as hard as she could across the clearing, smashing it completely on the hard dirt. The others all took a wary step back as she threw it, growing fearful at the silent fury they could feel emanate from her otherwise calm demeanour. Danson was the first to recover as he took a step forward to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Xuan…” he began, unsure of where to begin. He knew that she wanted to go help Zhi Ping, despite knowing that it was an obvious trap. A part of him wanted to let her go, however, an even larger part of him didn’t want to.
Selina suddenly shrugged his hand from her shoulder, startling him out from his thoughts. “I know what you want to say, Yu Zhe, but you should also know what my answer will be.” With that, she spun around on the spot and began strolling determinedly towards the edge of the clearing. “I hope you guys will stick to the original plan and head for Keelung. I will try to meet you there as soon as I rescue Zhi Ping.”
Danson rushed after Selina, grabbing her roughly by the arm. “When will you stop recklessly deciding things on your own, Xuan? I’ve let you do things your way for far too long. You’ve never taken into consideration how others feel about you, how I worry about you…” He went to pull his mobile phone out, flipping it open and immediately dialling a number. “Let the police deal with it for once-”
Selina grabbed Danson’s phone and threw it away before he could finish. She angrily glared up at him and he returned the same glare in kind. “What did you do that for?” he snapped at her angrily.
“Has it never occurred to you why perhaps Yi Xia has always been able to run free for so many years? Do you think, that someone with as many dirty secrets as Yi Xia would be able to avoid being caught without any help whatsoever from within the police?” retorted Selina with just as much outrage as he felt.
They stared one another down, the others watching closely at this small exchange. Danson realised that Selina had a point there, despite how much he did not want to admit it. He knew that corruption was prevalent throughout the legal system, and he himself had even been subjected to it. But in recent years he had not been exposed to much and it had slipped his mind completely. Selina herself felt bad that she was lashing out at him, but there wasn’t enough time to continue arguing with Danson if she wanted to get to that warehouse on time…
“Yu Zhe,” she said, this time more calmly. “Can you please stay here and organise the others? Help take them to safety while I go deal with Yi Xia.”
She turned to walk off but was pulled up short once more by Danson. “I am definitely not going to let you walk off by yourself into this obvious trap. If you really believe you should go, then I will come with you.”
“I’ll go too,” said Jin suddenly and everyone turned to look at him, obviously having forgotten his presence. He peered back at them with a determined look on his face, before continuing. “If you’re gonna go get Zhi Ping, Selina Jie, I’ll come with you. You can’t expect me to not do anything after… after seeing what they have done to Yi Ma and Zhi Ping.”
“Then count us in too,” said Show and they all turned their attention towards him. “Hebe can be the one who’ll stay and look after the others. I’m not gonna let this Yi Xia guy get away from me after he sent that guy who killed my father.”
The twins glanced nervously at one another, unsure of whether they would want to join in the danger. However, they soon answered simultaneously, “You can count on us. We’re not gonna let our Ge and his girlfriend face the danger by yourselves.”
Hebe glanced at everyone, her eyes growing wide in fear. She grabbed Show’s arm tightly, shaking him slightly with worry. “Show! How can you think of going? It’s dangerous and you’re still injured. I can’t let you go-”
“Hebe,” Show cut in halfway through what Hebe was saying. “I have to go. You never saw what they did and I can’t let-”
“That’s enough,” said Selina, roughly and coldly. Everyone stopped and turned to stare at Selina, swallowing nervously as they saw how impatiently mad she had grown. Every second they spent bickering here meant less time to help Zhi Ping. “I’m not letting any of you go and that’s final. Danson, you’re in charge of getting everyone to safety at Keelung,” she said with finality, before turning and strolling quickly off.
Danson turned to look at Show, saying, “You’re in charge, Show.” He then ran off, following Selina out of the clearing before Show or the others could say anything, finally resigning to do as they were told.
It didn’t take Danson long to catch up to Selina’s long, hurried strides down the mountain, falling in step behind her. Selina heard the crunch of his footsteps on the dry leaves and sighed in annoyance.
“I thought I told you to stay behind, Yu Zhe,” she said, finally deciding to give up persuading him otherwise.
“You know I will never leave you alone again, Xuan. I’m not going to let you out of my sight,” replied Danson, determination in his voice.
Selina suddenly stopped and Danson almost ran into her back in the gloom. She spun around to peer back up at him, her eyes glistening mysteriously in the pale moonlight that filtered through the canopy. “Do you really love me that much?” she asked, her voice a barely audible whisper.
Danson took a small step forward, cupping her face in the base of his right palm. “More than anything in the world, Xuan… Your death nearly ten years ago drove me to near insanity. If it wasn’t for Jerry, I may have totally lost my mind.”
Selina peered back up at him confused. “Jerry?”
A small smile curved Danson’s lips in the gloom. “Yeah… remembering how much you loved the bird helped keep me alive, if only to look after a part of you that you left behind in him. I think you two are really quite alike,” he said with a little chuckle, brushing Selina’s lips with a brief kiss.
Selina smiled back before drawing away. “Really…? But I guess we should discuss this another time. Right now, we need to go save Zhi Ping.”
Danson let out a sigh, nodding his head in resignation. “Alright. But I think we should plan how we’re gonna go about it. Any ideas…?”
It was sometime before Selina finally replied, after they continued walking down the mountain. “I think I have one, but I’m not sure if it will work…”
-
A small, half-hearted smile curved Jiro’s lips as he listened to the latest report Jay had received from his spies within the Syndicate. It seemed as if something unexpected had cropped up, something particularly favourable for his plan of revenge…
Aaron sat watching the exchange between Jiro and Jay curiously from his spot, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. The dangerous, dead look in Jiro’s eyes unnerved him somewhat, but he knew that he too must be delivering the same kind of glare as he listened to Jay’s news. It finally looked as if Jiro was ready to pay the Syndicate back for what they had done to his beloved sister.
“Jay; gather all the men you can and have them gather outside as soon as possible. I don’t want to waste such an opportunity as this, with so much discord happening within the Syndicate. Two of Yi Xia’s most trusted personnel are now being hunted furiously by the man himself… With his attention diverted elsewhere, the last thing he would be expecting would be an attack from us…” Jiro turned around in his chair, facing out the window. Jay bowed his head in acceptance of the order, before standing up and leaving. Aaron continued to watch Jiro as he stared out the window.
“Not much longer now, Aaron… Not much longer…” said Jiro quietly, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as he thought of Rainie and her bright smile.
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19th April 2008
2:05PM GMT+08:00
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