Chapter 8

"Thank you," I said to the cab driver as I handed him the money.

I waited for Hitomi to get out, before I did. When we were out, the cab slowly drove away. We stood on the sidewalk in front of Lian's town house. We were going to ask him about the drawing I found in Jann Lee's apartment. Lian was in an artists club. A place where artists go to share their affection towards art. So hopefully he would be able to give us some information on who drew the picture.

Why am I getting involved in this, you may ask? Well, the police wouldn't tell me their progress in solving the case. Those detectives were being jerks when I asked them about it. But I was able to get one piece of information: Jann Lee was shot right in his heart with a pistol in the alley on the corner of Jiao street. It was the street not so far away from the club we were at Monday night. I couldn't believe it when they told me. My parents were angry with the detectives, because they didn't want me to find out. I kept telling my parents that I needed to find out, because Jann Lee was my friend whether he thought of me as one or not.

Hitomi & I went to that alley. I didn't want to go in. It had an eerie feel to it. As if he was still there; his soul trapped in the alley walls for some reason. Then I saw him. Laying there on his back. Not moving at all. Still wearing his white tuxedo with a stain of blood near his heart.

I had screamed & cried when I saw him. Hitomi was trying to calm me down, but she didn't see what I saw: the pain & sorrow of a life gone forever. I didn't want to cry, but it was something I had no control over. I had cried for almost an hour. I couldn't get him out of my mind & it tore me apart everytime I breathed. My parents didn't want this. That was why they didn't want me to find out.

So I decided to figure it out on my own. Along with Hitomi, of coarse. Two heads are better than one. Besides I had something that could help: the drawing. I had forgotten all about it until Hitomi found it & asked me if I drew it.

"No, no!"

I had tired to ring the doorbell, but Hitomi, being as playful as she is, smacked my hand away & rang the doorbell herself. She grinned at me when she did.

Our heads turned from each other & towards the door when we heard it open. It was Lian's father. He was one scary man. When he was young, he was very strong & brawny. But now he had a gut & a bald spot. He still held arms though & that oh-so familiar angry look on his face. I didn't like him & he didn't like me. Why he didn't like me, I didn't know, but I disliked him for the way he treated his family. At times when I was over Lian's house, I could hear him arguing with his wife downstairs. That was when I had to leave.

"Is Lian home?" Hitomi asked.

I would have asked with her, but I was too busy giving Lian's dad glares. And he was giving them back.

"Just a minute," he left the doorway, "Lian, your girlfriend's at the door!"

I hated it when he called me his girlfriend just because I hang around him.

"You never told me you were going out with Lian!" Hitomi said, shocked at the lie.

"I'm not," I replied.

"Oh."

After a few seconds, Lian showed up at the doorway. When he saw us, he put a big smile on his face.

"Lian, real quick question," I said before he could greet us.

"Uh, okay."

"Do you know anyone who might have drawn this?" Me & Hitomi both asked him while I showed him the drawing of Jann Lee.

Lian tilted his head to the side, his usual thinking look, often when I watch him draw.

"It looks like something you could draw," I told him to help him out a little.

"Well, I-"

"C'mon, Lian, think!" Hitomi said.

"What? Why is this so important?"

"Classified information."

"What?"

"Hitomi, stop. This isn't a joke," I said to her.

"Sorry," she said back.

She was in the mood to play, but I wasn't. All I was thinking about was finding out who drew the darn picture.

Lian looked at us, obviously confused, "That's Jann Lee, right? Who would want to draw a picture of him?"

Me & Hitomi looked at each other.

"That's what we're trying to find out!" we said in unison.

"Uh, well," he was rubbing his chin, "That looks like the crescent moon technique."

Hitomi & I looked at each other, confused. We've never heard of it before.

"What is that?" we asked him.

"It's a technique noobs use to draw faces. There's only three people in the club that are considered noobs. You can consult them if you want."

"Who are they?"

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

As soon as we were at the girl's house, we went up to the porch. She was the last one we were going to see. One of them wasn't home & the other one wasn't really into drawing. He said he wasn't good at it & didn't know how to use the crescent moon technique.

So there we were. On Bi Shetian's porch. I got to ring the doorbell this time, but there wasn't one. So I knocked on the door instead. A little kid answered the door. A boy about ten years old with a little video game in his hand.

"What do you want?"

What do we want? Some greeting . . .

I assumed Hitomi was going to talk for me, but she gestured for me to do the explaining for once.

"We came to see Bi. Is she here?"

He gave us a look, probably wondering what we would want with Bi.

"She's not back yet. But you can wait here until she comes back."

He walked off down the hallway leading from the doorway.

This kid is actually letting us in . . .

I looked at Hitomi. She shrugged then walked inside. I followed after her, closing the door on my way in.

The house was dark. All the windows were curtained. No lights were on. It seemed like a shabby place with no light & dark furniture with white walls covered in picture frames. There were little figurines all over the place. Mostly little dolls. And in the darkness, you could plainly see the white of the eyes. Now that was creepy.

And the house had an odd smell to it & it was sort of hot. The heat made it feel as if small creatures were crawling around my skin so I kept rubbing my arms. And it was hard to tell what was causing the smell. But it smelt like sweat & cigarettes.

And the kid seemed to be by himself. He led us to the living room where we sat on the couch. It was warm as if someone had been there & it was sort of furry. Hitomi looked at me as she sat straight up, tapping her hands on her thighs. She was uncomfortable, I could tell.

"Why did we walk in this house? It stinks. It's scary. This kid is weird."

Even though she didn't say it, it was so obvious.

I turned to where the kid went when he turned on the light. He was at the kitchen doorway.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"No, we're fine," Hitomi answered for the both of us.

I looked around the room. It wasn't all that scary with the lights on. At least the dolls weren't. It was a little peaceful now.

The kid stared at us for a while, ". . . What do you two want with my sister?"

Is he questioning us like we're criminals? Should I tell him anyway? Maybe we won't have to wait for her to get back.

"We want to know if she drew this," I told him, showing him the drawing.

He walked up to me to get a closer look. By the look on his face, he must have recognized it.

"I drew that."