Chapter 3

I closed my eyes & leaned my head against the glass. Its frigidity cooling my heated face. I could've fallen asleep just like that . . .

"Ma'am, peanuts?"

I turned my head to the woman talking to me, the stewardess.

"Yeah, sure," I said while stretching then taking the bag of peanuts she handed to me.

The redhead beside me was having trouble opening her bag. I watched as she pulled with all her force, making the peanuts fly all over the place. I shook my head. Tsk, tsk . . . I said she could have mine & that I didn't really want them, but she declined & said that she would ask the stewardess for another pack. When she got her new pack, she tried to open those, but was still having trouble.

Why is it so hard?!

I offered to open it for her so she wouldn't embarrass herself any more. The two men behind us had laughed to themselves & the woman across from us seemed really annoyed when her last pack of peanuts went all over the place.

When I opened it for her, she thanked me & proceeded to eat them. But stopped, squealed, & clung to me.

"What?!" I said, wondering why this woman was acting crazy & drawing attention not only to her, but us!

I looked where she was looking & saw a rather chubby kid clinging onto her leg as he tried to get up while eating the peanuts that were on the floor. The redhead & I stared at the kid, wondering where he came from while he stared at us, chewing his peanuts. Then a woman came by, picked the kid up, apologized, & left.

The redhead got back in her previous position & wiped the place on her leg where the kid had his hand like it was suddenly filthy. She looked down at her peanuts in her lap & put them off to the side, suddenly disapproving of them. I suppose that kid disgusted her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

That night, I set my suitcase down on my bed in my apartment & opened it. The first thing I saw was a pocketknife Donovan gave me to use. I had told him I didn't see what damage a pocketknife would do, but he said it was a different knife. It was sharper or so with a jagged edge. It laid on top of the costume Donovan gave me as well.

"Here . . . Go as an angel," he had said, smirking while holding out a white angel costume.

I picked it up out of the suitcase & stretched it out on the bed. The costume was composed of two white stockings that went up to mid-thigh, a white, full-body skirt that was really short, I might add, & a halo that attaches to your head. The wings were attached to the back of the skirt.

I took out the boots that had heels & they were white as well. No coincidence there.

After I put on the costume & slipped the knife under my skirt, I decided to put makeup on to hide that ugly mark on my forehead. I made my whole face white to go with the costume & my lips gold to go with the halo. And sure enough, I still had a sour taste in my mouth from that punch. I looked at myself in the mirror. I didn't really like white that much . . .

Time to go.

As, I drove in my car, I thought about how I was going to carry this mission out.

Michael Kin, a man who use to be a close friend of Donovan. Now, he supposedly owes Donovan, but decides to flee the country instead . . . How smart . . .

He was hiding out in a club in Hong Kong. The club was having a costumes-only party & that's why I have to dress up.

I finally arrived at the club & it was crowded with so many people. It looked like a freaks' convention to me. So many people in unusual costumes . . . There were fairies, dragons, plants, birds, genies, vampires, all sorts of costumes, some I couldn't even make out what they were.

I viewed the club through my windshield in the parking lot. The building was lit up with Chinese characters in red lights. There were colorful balloons & ribbons all over the tall building.

After I parked my car, I made my way towards the entrance, looking up, keeping my eyes on the building & its exotic appearance. Some idiot popped up & roared in his lion costume, startling me. I gasped, but quickly closed my eyes, trying to regain my composure. After I did I gave that idiot a glare.

"Better watch it!" the man said, playfully in his accent, "You stepped on my tail . . ."

I looked down at his tail as he grabbed off the ground & twitched it around in front of my face. I ignored him, because I didn't have time for childish behavior.

When I stepped into the doorway, it was then that I was awestruck. The club stretched far as the eyes could see & was lighted with flashing lights. There were balloons bouncing off the crowd that was dancing to the music. Techno . . . Chinese techno, I suppose. It sounded sort of awkward when you don't know what they're saying.

Why am I so amazed to see a club like this . . . ? Haven't been to one & enjoyed it in so long . . .

There were also women dancing in cages, hanging off of the ceiling. There were even a few dancing in cages with tigers & lions.

They think they're queens of the ball just because they get to dance in cages?

I noticed some men cheering as they watched the girls dance.

Well, whatever makes the men happy . . .

As I walked into the club, it seemed like I was in my own world. I walked past the dancing people towards the bar, barely noticing or paying any attention to the people around me. My mind was set on how I was going to carry out my mission & where I was going to start. I was surprised it wasn't hot with all the people inside. It was cool. I sat down on one of the stools at the bar & looked around me. The bar wasn't all that crowded, just a few men. And one woman. I stared at her.

She looks depressed.

Well, not my business.

Then a flashback came to me. The bar reminded me of the last time I was at a bar. The time when I first met Bayman . . . Him . . . A lot of questions were running through my mind about him. But I doubt I would be able to see him ever again. But then again, maybe I would. If he was the man in black, then I was sure I would see him again. I remembered coming back to his hotel room the night before I left to Hong Kong. But he wasn't there. I went back for the same reason as before.

I looked around for the bartender. She was talking to a couple of men from behind the counter.

Nah, I don't want a drink tonight . . .

"So you're here?" I heard a voice behind me say.

"What?" I turned around to face whoever was talking to me.

I saw a tall man dressed in a white tuxedo with black pants, shoes, & mask that covered his eyes.

I realized I recognized this person . . . Bayman . . .

Bayman? Why is he here?

"What're you doing here?" I asked him as he sat next to me.

"It's his birthday," he responded.

"Who?"

"Michael's . . . Old friend of mine. This party is for him."

"Oh, I see."

It was my victim's birthday. How bad can that get?

I studied his tuxedo again & asked him what he was suppose to be. He looked at me, but I could barely tell his expression with that mask covering his eyes.

"I'm a bouncer here . . . If you hadn't noticed, all the bouncers are wearing this . . ." he replied.

I looked behind me & spotted some of them. And he was right. I just said oh after realizing my mistake.

What a dumb question . . .

I thought I heard Bayman laugh, but I could be wrong.

Well, it was a good time to ask him about that incident that one night, but I knew he would probably lie again. But there's a chance that it could not have been him.

"Bayman," I started.

He acknowledged me.

"You were still asleep when I left, right?" I asked him.

He stared at me for a short while, thinking of something. Afterwards, he finally said yeah.

He could be lying, he could not be lying.

I asked him if he was telling the truth & he looked at me the same way again.

When he finally spoke it was almost a whisper & slow, "Why is it so important to you?"

You're either trying to convince me you're innocent with your question or you really like to know . . .

"Did you ever find Diana Moores?" he asked me.

He probably realized I wasn't going to answer his question or he just didn't care.

"No," I lied, "I never did. Doesn't matter though."

"She's dead," he told me.

". . ." I just nodded my head a bit just to let him know I took it into mind even though I already knew.

Bayman just looked away as if we never had this conversation.

Just then, the DJ started to talk to the crowd. I couldn't understand what he was saying, because he was speaking Chinese. But I did know he was welcoming someone, because the crowd assembled around the podium the DJ was pointing at & they were clapping their hands.

Is Michael Kin about to show up?

"Listen," Bayman got my attention.

I turned & looked up at him. He was standing up. He said he was leaving & that he'll see me some other time then he left. I watched him leave.

"Bye," I said when he was gone.

The crowd started to cheer louder & I turned my head to the podium, expecting Michael to be on it. And he was . . . He waved at the crowd & greeted them.

I'll get a closer look . . .