And this will also be the last chapter for a while, I'm travelling to Germany because of a school project and won't be able to write anything.
I don't own JCA.
NI TANG
Chapter 15
It was red. You could see different shades of orange and yellow here and there, but the dimension was almost totally ruled by screaming red. The air was hot and poisoned by bitter gases and nothing would have grown there even if someone had been stupid enough to plant something.
Chow walked alone in the red landscape and looked around. His glasses reflected the red colour and everything was be unclear. He felt the heat on his skin and would have given anything if he just had had the possibility to cool himself.
He didn't know where he was, how he had got there or how he could get out. And it didn't matter, what was important was the present. The man didn't see or hear anyone else, but he could sense he wasn't alone. He had no idea who was there with him, but that didn't matter either.
The ground was dry and dusted when his shoes made the sand move. Chow hoped he could find some water or that it started to rain, he couldn't stand this.
A small stream of liquid made its way in the sand and stopped when it met his shoe. After a moment it continued going around him and Chow watched it with fascination. Blood? But whose?
He lifted his eyes following the stream which was growing bigger and bigger. It wasn't just a stream anymore, but had grown into a small river. Just a moment ago the so dry land was now covered in red blood and Chow couldn't go nearer anymore.
This felt somehow wrong, all this blood had to come from somewhere. Chow was both curious and unsure, he didn't know if he really wanted to find out what had happened and to who.
Something wet and warm dropped on his cheek and Chow brushed it automatically away like a drop of water. Just then he noticed from the corner of his eye that the water was suspiciously red and he immediately took away his glasses thinking and hoping they had just reflected the colour of the sky. No...
The drop on his palm was still red and he flinched when another one fell hitting him on the forehead. Chow felt like he should have understood something from this, but everything was be so confusing that he just brushed this one away too.
He let his gaze wonder for a while before finally raising it above himself where the screaming red sky spread for who knew how high. But that wasn't all he saw.
Valmont hung above him in some kind of chains. His stomach was slashed open with sharp claws and his entrails and blood had flown to the ground. It seemed the man had been suffering like this for a good while already, the bleeding had subsided into small dropping. There was agonised grimace on his face and his long white hair fell flat on his face. The blue eyes had a feverish, wandering look in them and the man's skin was wet from sweat and blood.
Chow swallowed and backed away trying to understand this. It was... He felt a lump in his throat and he really wanted to get rid of it and just then Valmont seemed to notice him for the first time.
"Chow..." he said weakly and some clear blood gushed from his mouth. He coughed for a while trying to clear his throat and managing to spill more blood on his clothes.
"Help me Chow..." he tried again and he had a pleading and begging expression on his face. Chow had never seen the man wearing an expression like that and it made him really nervous.
What had happened? Who had done this to Valmont? Who could have been this cruel and cold-hearted?
"I..." Chow started but the words stuck in his throat when he even looked at his suffering superior. Lord, he shouldn't even be alive anymore!
He suddenly felt the desire to vomit and he fell on his knees on the bloodied sand. He could smell the salt and pain everywhere around himself and he just couldn't stand it anymore. Chow tried not to touch the sand with his bare skin, he didn't want to know what it was like.
The man felt like his entrails had been ripped out too and he coughed before finally throwing up. It was like the world was thrown upside down and for a while he understood nothing of what was going on around him. Then he wiped the corners of his mouth and forced himself to look at Valmont again.
"What happened?" he asked weakly but Valmont either didn't hear his question or just didn't care.
"Help me... Chow.. hurts..." he muttered and Chow could only barely hear his words. He didn't know what he should have done, even if he got Valmont down somehow he could never carry him to safety.
He swallowed and backed away some more.
"I'll get help. I will be back soon," he promised and yelped in surprise when Valmont wrenched the chains so that new blood gushed from his wounds.
"No! Don't leave me Chow! He will come back... I don't want to see him ever again..." he said and his voice was so desperate Chow was ready to do anything to help him.
But he wasn't stupid, he saw that even if he managed to do something the help would come too late, nothing would safe Valmont anymore. Why couldn't Finn be there? Somehow Chow knew the Irishman would know what to do and say, he could always trust and lean on him.
"Who, Valmont? Who?" he asked to hear his own voice and to prove himself he could still talk. Valmont closed his eyes and grimaced like his pain had suddenly increased and Chow could only wish him a slow and easy death. He was ready to give it to him if he just had a gun with him...
Suddenly a huge shadow flew above them and the red colour seemed to disappear, change and die. Chow raised his eyes to the sky and the first thing he saw was a huge form with no wings but which still managed to fly. The form reminded him of a dragon, it had sharp claws and mean looking teeth.
"No..." he heard Valmont muttering and he turned to look at the man.
His face was disorted from fear and his blue eyes reflected such panic Chow wanted to run away too. The dragon landed next to him and stared at him with his red eyes.
"You," he hissed with a low voice Chow remembered just too well.
He felt cold shivers going down his spine and he stumbled few steps away before his legs gave in under him and he fell down. The bloodied sand felt slimy under his bare palms but he barely noticed it.
"Shendu..." he muttered in terror and could have bet the dragon was smiling. The he turned his scaled head towards Valmont and Chow noticed to his shame that he had totally forgotten the man.
"You have not paid your debt yet, Valmont," Shendu hissed lowly and the British man closed his eyes in desperation.
"Please don't..." he pleaded but got no positive reaction from the fire demon. Before Chow managed to do or say anything Shendu had rushed forward and sank his claws in Valmont's already slashed chest.
Valmont screamed and Chow closed his eyes to avoid seeing the new blood flowing from his wounds. He had thought the man was already almost dry, the sand had been so red. Chow swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth and told himself that after this Valmont would at least be given peace. The screaming continued for a while before finally subsiding and Chow dared to open his eyes.
Shendu had disappeared, left somewhere without him noticing it. Slowly he rose on his feet avoiding looking at Valmont's slashed body. He had to get out of here before Shendu came back!
He managed to take few steps before a whisper stopped him.
"Chow..." He turned on his heels and stared at the half way closed eyes of Valmont. There was much more blood now and he looked even more awful, Chow could see his ribs, part of them broken, it was a miracle he had not been cut in two.
"Oh man..." Chow muttered to himself. Couldn't anything kill Valmont and give peace to his tortured soul?
He suddenly felt sick again and he pressed his palm on his mouth to stop himself from vomiting...
Chow sat up on his bed and ran to the bathroom. After wrenching the door open he didn't bother to turn on the lights, but kneeled on the floor before throwing up. He felt so sick, he had had one of those dreams again.
The dreams had started soon after he had found out what had really happened to Valmont. Finn and Ratso had tried to hide the truth from him, they had thought he couldn't stand it. Chow didn't like that he was treated as if he was a child, not especially when Ratso was much more childish than him. But the man could stand things like this better, he had been born into rejecting depressing thoughts.
Chow couldn't do it and regretted ever demanding the truth to be let out. He would have done much better without the knowledge and his imagination, now he suffered like this almost every night.
Sleeping pills were an expensive luxury and even though he was ready to pay almost anything to get them he didn't even ask. They were already living tight and he was not going to make it any harder just because of him.
Someone switched the light on behind him and he swallowed hard.
"You okay?" Ratso asked in worry and Chow shrugged.
"I'm fine," he answered quietly. Ratso was quiet for a while before talking again.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.
"I don't know," Chow admitted and stood up, his stomach was already empty. Ratso turned out of his way when he left switching the light off and returning to his bed. He would not try to sleep though, it was no use this night. "I saw him again," he started after a long silence and Ratso raised his eyes.
"Valmont?" he asked. Chow nodded.
"He hung from chains and his stomach was ripped open and then... then..." he started but couldn't continued. He let out a suppressed shout and buried his face in his hands.
"I can't stand this anymore! Just thinking about what he must have gone through..." he said with a thick voice and Ratso moved closer to give his friend some support.
He might be a bit slow and some people considered him to be even stupid, but you really had to look for a better friend. Ratso had the ability to understand other people's feelings and even though he was pretty useless with advanced crimes those few who knew him well respected him. He put his palm on his friend's shaking shoulder.
"He was all alone Ratso... What if he begged us to help? We should have gone! We should have been there with him!" Chow shouted angrily and Ratso sighed.
"It's over Chow, Valmont is dead," he reminded.
It was quiet for a while until Ratso continued.
"You know, my mother used to say we all become angels when we die." Chow raised his eyes and snorted.
"Angels don't exist. And even if they did, Valmont wouldn't be one. Maybe you, but not Valmont, not me nor Finn. Our place is somewhere way else." he said quietly.
"You want some tea? I could ask Isabelle to make some," Ratso suggested to change the subject, but Chow shook his head.
"No thanks. I think I'll go out for a while," he said and Ratso couldn't forbid him when he reached for his clothes.
Chow dressed up quickly, he didn't want to stay in for even a short moment anymore. The dream was still strong in his mind and all he wished for was the sweet forgetting of this all.
Where had everything gone wrong? When had been the last chance of turning back and had he even noticed it?
Chow didn't know.
But what he knew was that this wasn't what he had wanted from his life. He didn't even remember anymore what he had wanted as a kid, it all had lost its meaning when he had moved to America. Everything should have been so easy, he had thought he would become rich, but the reality had been something way different. Soon he had been involved with everything he didn't even want to hear as a child.
He snapped angrily at himself and stepped in the pub which was now full of people. It was useless to think about something like that, past was past and he could do nothing about it.
The place was crowded and Chow had to make his way in the mass of people. He knew Finn was somewhere there and he really wanted to avoid the Irishman right now. Finn would guess something was wrong and Chow knew how much he hated talking. He also knew that despite that Finn would still try if he saw him in this condition and didn't want to make him feel embarrassed.
And he didn't feel like talking either, for some reason it was always much harder to talk to Finn than to Ratso. To Ratso he could say anything not needing to worry about what he thought, but Finn... No one looked at him twice when he moved towards the door. At this point everyone knew that what remained of Valmont's empire lived with Isabelle and nobody was interested in them or what had happened to the Dark Hand anymore. New winds blew and lots of more interesting news were already spreading.
He stepped out and sighed in relief when he heard the door slam shut behind him. It was much quieter now and darker too, his distress eased a bit now when he didn't have to be surrounded by strangers.
Now he could also think quicker and he started to walk on the dim street. He wouldn't go very far, he'd just stretch a bit and think about the situation.
Chow wasn't the only who was out that night to clear his thoughts. Ni Tang sat on a roof and stared in front of himself deep in thought. Lately he had had lots of thinking to do and he didn't know what he should have believed.
This city... He felt like he knew it somehow and it made him nervous. It wasn't possible, but why else would it seem like that? At times he really felt like he knew everything here, but then it was gone as soon as it had started.
After visiting the abandoned warehouse he had not got any peace. The place had seemed familiar, but he couldn't say how. It seemed as if the place was full of important memories, he just couldn't reach them.
Maybe it was because Shendu had been there? If something had happened to the fire demon there it must have left some traces and maybe he could sense them because they were brothers? Maybe this was just because he was sharp enough to sense his brother's memories of this city?
Ni frowned. It was the only sensible option, but somehow it didn't seem right. He still felt there was something more in this...
He flinched when he heard steps below him. Someone was coming towards him and he crouched down so that he would not be seen. He didn't fear the humans here, but he didn't want to attract too much attention. Even if Hsi had already got Bai Tsa free this mission could fail and he was not going to be the one who the others could blame. He heard rattle, the human had probably stumbled on something he had not noticed in the dark and Ni heard him swearing quietly. A shiver went through his body and he froze. That voice...
It was familiar, just like Jackie Chan's, but this time he felt like it was something really important. Something he should not have forgotten. Ni had sometimes thought about what he would do when he finally understood what this all was about, and did he even want to know. Now he knew he had the chance to find out something or turn his back to this opportunity and leave.
He was a bit nervous, what if the truth was something he couldn't handle? But would it be better to live in a lie without knowing all facts about himself and his life? Ni shook his head, what was he thinking? Where had that come from? He was a demon, had always been and would always be. There was no hidden truth he had to find out. There was a logical explanation to all this and he would ask it from Tso Lan when they got the moon demon free.
But he was still curious and he had nothing better to do. So he could have a glance of this human and then leave before he noticed him. Ni jumped down on the street nimbly and hid in the shadows. He waited patiently when the human walked closer and after a while he could see he was dealing with a man. And when he understood this he noticed something else too.
A shiver went down his spine when he looked at the man. He was clearly from China or other Asian country, he was a bit short and dressed in black. Ni couldn't say what colour his eyes were since the man was wearing orange glasses.
Nothing special in that, Ni had noticed how many different ways of wearing clothes humans had, but this man looked so familiar. Even more than Jackie Chan, seeing and hearing this man made him feel really confused and somehow broken. He even believed he could remember his name of he really tried... But why?
When he looked more closely at the man Ni noticed that he too seemed to be very confused. He couldn't say why, but he just knew the man was shocked about something. As if he had known him once and could tell if something was terribly wrong with him.
Suddenly the man stopped and Ni cursed himself. He had again forgotten his glowing red eyes, they always blew his cover no matter how well he had hid himself. He watched as the man backed away few steps and looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Who's there?" Chow asked weakly and leaned against the wall. This walk had supposed to make him forget all the horrible things, but what had happened? He had met another red eyed freak!
He watched in terror as a figure he had never seen before stepped out of the shadows. He was taller than him and dressed in black and silver, he had long white hair which reminded Chow way too much of his dead boss and he had a smiling mask on his face.
And Chow knew. "You are one of them! A demon!" he shouted and would have backed away if the wall hadn't been there. He felt cold sweat on his back and the beating of his heart. Ni Tang flinched in surprise, this human knew him? Or maybe not him, but one of his siblings, probably Shendu.
He took a step closer, this human was very interesting and could be useful.
"What's your name?" he asked and watched the man, who looked like he desperately wanted to disappear. Well, Ni couldn't blame him, any normal person would fear a demon.
"Chow," Chow muttered quickly and swallowed. What did this demon want from him? Had he come to get him so that he would suffer the same fate than Valmont? The name made Ni flinch.
"Chow..." he whispered to himself and Chow shivered. That had sounded just like in his dream... A sudden burst of self-confidence made him rush past the demon and push him away.
"Leave me alone, you monster!" he shouted angrily and ran away as fast as he could. Chow didn't bother to look if the demon was following or not, he just wanted to get out of here.
Ni stayed there looking after him in confuse, this Chow was an interesting fellow. He was not going to follow him, it wasn't worth of the risk. If this human recognised him as a demon he had to know why he was here and Ni didn't want to deal with any new problems.
Chow... The name was familiar and echoed in his mind even after he had left the scene. It affected him almost as deeply as Valmont...
Chow didn't know how he got back to Isabelle's pub, he suddenly noticed he was surrounded by people again. He swallowed and blinked trying to adjust them in the light and took a glance around himself. There was too much noise and people and Chow decided to return back to bed.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look into Finn's green eyes.
"Everything okay?" the Irish man asked looking worried and Chow nodded.
"Fine," he said quietly and pushed past him to return to Ratso.
Finn frowned and watched as his friend left. Despite what the man had said he knew something was wrong.
To be continued...
