| Fan Fiction |
by x.shuang.dao.x
Monkey was right. Kale was observing Ashley’s every move. In fact, if Monkey hadn’t pushed Ashley back into his apartment, Kale would already have found out that Ashley was living with her next-door neighbour. But because Monkey did, all Kale saw was a male figure come out of the house, look at his flowers and retreat back into his apartment.
Kale cursed himself for forgetting his binoculars. It was a mistake he had never made before, and he would never make it again. Now he would not know the identity of the curious next-door neighbour who had hastily went back into his flat after checking out Kale’s bouquet of roses. Kale had found the man’s actions to be highly suspicious but he did not want to make any wild guesses as yet.
Kale hadn’t seen Ashley yet that whole day. He eventually decided to give her some alone space, and went home for some relaxation instead.
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Owodog had just downed his seventh mug of beer when Fabien joined him.
“What’s with you today?”
Owodog looked up from his beer and glanced at Fabien. “Hey, you’re here,” He said groggily.
“Yes, I am. And would you care to share what’s making you drink so fast today?” Fabien asked as Brian personally passed a mug of beer to him.
“I’ve never seen him drink so fast before. He’s been here what,” Brian consulted his watch, “Maybe five minutes or so?”
“And he drank..?”
Brian used his fingers to gesture the number seven to Fabien.
“Seven! In five minutes?! Is he crazy? And you let him?” Fabien shot a disapproving look at his long-time friend.
Brian shrugged. “Technically, he’s a customer. I have to give him what he wants. I’m glad you’re here now, though. Tell the guy to slow down. I don’t want him dying here, or anywhere else, for that matter.”
“Neither do I.” Fabien said.
“Drink whatever you want. Tonight’s tab is on me.” Brian told Fabien as he patted his shoulder and walked away.
“Thanks, pal!” Fabien called after Brian, who gave a small wave of his hand to show that he heard him.
Fabien turned back to Owodog. His hands and face were now sprawled on the bar counter. Fabien poked him. “Zhuang Hao Quan!”
Owodog lifted his head for a moment to scrutinize Fabien then flopped onto the counter again.
“Oh my God, Ao Quan, you’re going to be the death of me.” Fabien let him lie while he had his own fill of alcohol.
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Fabien had dragged Owodog to his MX-5 and sat him in the passenger seat, strapped the seatbelt on for him before his cell started ringing. Fabien groaned. “Zhuang Hao Quan! Are you seriously going to ignore your cell?”
Owodog made some noise that sounded like a grunt to Fabien.
It did not seem like he was going to pick it up. Fearing that it might be an important call, Fabien stuck his hand into Owodog’s pocket very unwillingly and fished out his cell.
“Hello?” He said in a very annoyed tone.
“Yu?” Ashley said in a quizzical tone.
“Er, yeah,” Fabien scratched his head subconsciously, all of a sudden at a loss as to how to speak to Ashley. “Quan’s drunk.”
“Oh… Um, you’re taking him home?”
“Yes, I’m going to.”
“Uh, if he happens to wake up or something before you leave him, could you please pass a message to him that I have something important to tell him? If not, then it’s okay. Thanks.”
“Sure, no problem. Bye then.”
“Bye.”
Fabien hung up before Ashley did. His heartbeat had grown erratic in the past 30 seconds since he heard Ashley’s voice. He tried to stabilize it by breathing at a constant rate. It helped a little and he was almost back to normal before long. Placing Owodog’s cell into the drink holder in front of the gears, Fabien stuck his car key into the ignition, started the engine and manoeuvred out of the car park, feeling like a little boy who lost his power of speech when face-to-face with the girl he had a crush on.
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Ashley pressed the ‘End Call’ button before turning back to Monkey. “Quan’s apparently too pissed to pick up.”
Monkey frowned. “Does he have no work to do? Why’s he getting himself drunk now of all times?”
“Look, baby, it’s not his fault. We’ll just contact him again in the morning. It won’t make much of a difference.”
Monkey sighed, “Yeah, I suppose. I… I just want to know that someone would take care of you and protect you from that psychopath after I’ve left.”
Ashley nodded slowly. “I guess this is really it for us, right?”
“I’m sorry, but I really can’t make any promises…”
She smiled resignedly. “It’s okay, neither can I.”
“But if that psychopath tries to harm you, you know I will do my best to not let that happen.”
“I know,” Ashley said, biting back tears for the millionth time in less than 24 hours.
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Owodog had taken almost the whole of the car ride in Fabien’s beloved MX-5, which was almost an hour thanks to a roadblock along one of the expressways, to regain his consciousness. His first reaction when he woke up was, “Argh! Where’s my car?”
To that, Fabien replied with a straight face and a monotone, “It’s at the Wolf’s Tooth car park, you moron.”
Owodog stretched despite the restrains of the seatbelt and ran his fingers through his hair. Then he automatically reached for his cell phone, which was no longer in his pocket. So that earned Fabien another outburst from his passenger seat. “Argh! Where’s my phone?”
“Will you please quit screaming in my ear you stupid dog!”
Owodog focused his bloodshot eyes on Fabien. “If you tell me where my phone is.”
Fabien lifted a hand from the steering wheel and grabbed Owodog’s cell and waved it in his face. “HERE!”
Owodog snatched it out of Fabien’s hand. “Thanks a lot!” He said in an ungrateful manner.
“Unappreciative son-of-a-bitch.”
Owodog made no comment to Fabien’s last remark as he went through his calls list. His brows shot up upon seeing the latest entry. “Did Ashley call?”
“Yes.” Fabien replied, still irritated by his friend’s ungraciousness.
Owodog consulted his watch for a moment and wondered if he should return the call then or in the morning. Instead he asked Fabien, “Did she say anything?”
“She told me to tell you that she has something important to tell you and that’s it.”
“Oh… Okay.” Owodog spent another moment contemplating if he should make the call. He eventually did.
Fabien had just drove into the car park under Owodog’s apartment when Monkey picked up Owodog’s call.
“Hi, this is Ashley’s cell.”
“Er, hello. Monkey? I’m Ao Quan.”
“Oh! Hey.”
“Uh, I understand that Ashley called me just now?”
“Yes, she did. She’s in the shower now but uh…”
“You can speak to me too if you like.” Owodog said.
“That’s great. Um, you see, I got a threat from that stalker of hers yesterday.”
“WHAT?!” Owodog exclaimed. Fabien got such a shock he literally jumped in his seat.
“Yeah, at first I didn’t want to tell her because I am leaving soon and I didn’t think it was anything important—”
“Wait a minute. Did you just say you are leaving soon?” Owodog couldn’t believe his ears. Though they were big enough to process the correct information.
“I did,” Monkey replied with a tinge of resignation in his voice. “I’m moving to Japan soon.”
“Oh,” was all Owodog could say.
Silence ensued but Monkey hurriedly broke it. “Anyway, I accidentally blurted it out to her just now and after some pondering by both of us, we decided that her stalker might be dangerous.”
Owodog nodded though Monkey couldn’t see. “Okay, I see what you’re trying to get at. But there’s no concrete proof so I doubt we’ll be able to do anything,” he said truthfully.
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Monkey glanced at the bathroom to make sure Ashley wasn’t coming out anytime soon before continuing, “Look, Ao Quan, I have to tell you this before Ash comes out of the shower. I don’t hope you look at this at a professional level; I hope you can look at this at a personal level. As much as I don’t want to leave, I have to. And when I’m gone, I need to know that someone will take care of Ashley and protect her.”
There was no reply from Owodog.
“Ao Quan, I know you and Fabien – uh, is that his name? – care a lot about Ash. So I hoped you will do me this favour.”
“Uh, okay.” Owodog said half-heartedly, still rather unbelieving about what was happening.
Monkey then added reluctantly, “If it makes you feel better and more willing to do it, I’m probably leaving for good. That means… Ashley and I are over. Okay? Thanks again.” He hung up before Owodog could reply.
Then he looked briefly at the bathroom door and wondered how long more his stoicism could last before he broke down.
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Owodog blinked in disbelief at his cell. Then he looked at Fabien with the same incredulous look.
“What is it now, puppy-eyes?”
“Ash and her Monkey-boy are breaking up!”
It was Fabien’s turn to gape. “Oh my – fuck! You’re not kidding me right?”
Owodog hit Fabien’s head. “Do I look like I get paid for deceiving you?”
“No,” Fabien admitted. “Why’re they breaking up?” Then he seemed to realize something as he narrowed his eyes at Owodog, “And why is ASH telling YOU that they’re breaking up?”
“Firstly, to answer your second question, Ash wasn’t the one who told me. I was speaking with Monkey just now. Secondly, to answer your first question, they’re breaking up because Monkey’s going to Japan for work and he might not come back, ever.”
Fabien nodded. “Uh-huh, so shouldn’t the main point be… They’re breaking up but they are STILL very much in love with each other?”
“That… is unfortunately, true as well.” Owodog deadpanned.
“So what’s the point of this whole thing?” Fabien sighed.
Owodog hesitated for a while, then he started slowly, “There’re two, actually… One is, Monkey’s leaving. The second is, Ash is being stalked by some psychopath.”
“Fuck! You’re still kidding me, right?”
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Fabien yawned as he pulled up in the car park below Ashley’s apartment. He stopped the engine and plucked his keys out of the ignition and started to open the door to get out.
“No! Wait!”
“What is it now, detective? How long more are you going to deprive me from my sleep?”
“As a matter of fact, you can leave me here and go home to sleep.”
“You’re evil. You want me to miss out on all the exciting stuff, don’t you?”
“SEE! I’m not the one depriving you of sleep! It is in fact, YOURSELF!”
“Okay, fine. Stop screeching into my ears. They’re small enough, as you can see. What are we waiting for?”
Owodog did not reply Fabien. He was busy scanning the surroundings for any suspicious beings. He couldn’t see any. Of course, Kale wasn’t there anymore, but even if he was, Owodog still might not have spotted him.
“Okay, I think we’re clear to go.” Owodog said as he got out of the car.
Fabien swiftly got out as well and locked the car with the remote while following Owodog closely.
Owodog led him all the way to Monkey’s apartment where the lights were still on. That meant they were still awake. Owodog did a quick look around him again then knocked on the door briskly. Behind him, he heard Fabien ask softly, “What’re we doing here? Aren’t we going to Ashley’s?” but he ignored it.
A moment later, the door swung open and a hand rapidly unlocked the gate to let Owodog and Fabien in.
Owodog nodded to Monkey as he passed whereas Fabien was almost seething as he trailed Owodog into Monkey’s apartment, obviously unhappy that Owodog hadn’t informed him that it was Monkey’s apartment they were going to. (Even though essentially Ashley’s and Monkey’s were next to each other.)
Luna bounded out to greet their guests and immediately recognized Owodog. She jumped around him in delight and Owodog felt obliged to give her a little rub around the neck. He was, of course, quite happy to do so. After all, he was the dog person. It even reflected in his name.
Monkey let Luna play with Owodog but grabbed Sam when he almost lashed out at Fabien. Sam was territorial and he was exceptionally hostile to people or creatures that exude unfriendly vibes. “Sorry, he doesn’t really like you,” Monkey apologized as Fabien gasped at the feline with extended claws.
“Er, it’s okay.” Fabien said, willing Owodog and Monkey to start talking about whatever they wanted to speak to each other about.
“Ash is already asleep. Do we need her?”
‘Oh YEAHHH, we all do,’ Owodog thought and knew Fabien was thinking about the same thing when he snuck a peek at him. “Uh, I think it’s okay. Let her rest.”
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The next day had been a rather boring day for Ashley and Owodog. There had been no advancements made in their latest case and other than a short discussion which had followed after Owodog brought up Monkey’s being threatened, nothing much had really happened. Owodog wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good sign that nothing was happening. For all he knew, the stagnation might just be a break the killer is taking to formulate his next murder.
Kale Chou had been inactive as well and Owodog wished that he would just stay inactive forever, though he knew it was impossible because Kale Chou was a bubbling, boiling volcano with lava so viscous and hot it kills without the least bit of mercy.
And of course, Owodog’s wish was granted the opposite way in the evening; right when Owodog had just reached home and was planning to have a nice, long sleep after a refreshing shower. Water was still dripping from various parts of his body as he wrapped a towel around his waist before heading out of the bathroom to grab his cell, which he had left on the dining table.
“Detective Owodog Zhuang.”
“QUAN!”
Owodog frowned. “Ash? What’s wrong?”
She didn’t speak anymore. And after a while, Owodog could hear the sobs coming from the other side of the receiver. “Ash? What happened? Don’t cry yet, calm down and tell me what had happened.”
There was a huge sniff, then a moment of silence. “Quan, Luna…”
“Ash, calm down. I’ll be right over, okay?” He hung up, got dressed as quick as he could and practically flew to Ashley’s.
When he reached, Luna wasn’t anywhere in sight anymore. He could see Ashley holding Sam, though. But Monkey’s apartment was literally ripped apart with bloodstains splattered all over.
“Ash! Are you okay?” Owodog said as he carefully stepped over broken glass and splinters to reach Ashley.
Ashley nodded weakly. “Matt and the rest are on the way,” She said, then stifled a sob. “My vet just came to get Luna. He says not to keep my hopes too high.”
“How about Monkey? Does he know?”
That triggered Ashley’s tears again. She pointed to a bloodied white gold ring. “He never goes anywhere without it… Quan, HE’S GONE! He’s missing! He must have been taken by my stalker! It’s my fault he’s gone… QUAN! Monkey…”
Owodog took Ashley into his arms and hugged her with Sam clinging dejectedly in between. He stroked her hair gently, “Okay, hush, girl. I’ll find Monkey for you, and Luna will be fine. We’ll get your stalker and put him behind bars, alright? Now, don’t cry…”
But even Owodog found what he had just said hard to believe and knew his voice had definitely betrayed his words.
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->shuang.dao
oooh. my favourite chapter as yet. :D i haven't been doing this cliffhanger stuff since L.X.F. hahaha. okay. anyways. COMMENTS if anyone's reading! :D i do appreciate them, okay? (: