A Little Night Ride
Chapter 7
Disclaimer: DW belongs to Koei...and such...
The next day, Da Qiao had a quick, yet heartfelt funeral service for Master Pang Tong. The paperwork was rather hard with the funeral home, because, simply, hardly anyone knew who Pang Tong really was... if that was his real name. Yet, the funeral went as planned; without any interruptions.
Sun Ce seemed to be taking this really hard. Upon waking up to see Pang Tong's mangled corpse, he'd had problems getting to sleep. Finally, he ended up taking too many sleeping pills, and his overdose led to narcolepsy- like symptoms.
Xiao Qiao also attended the funeral, and Zhou Yu was too exhausted to go. He sent his regards, however.
By now, Zhou Yu seemed to be recovering, so Xiao Qiao set off to shake off some stress and go shopping.
Da Qiao was ignorant of Xiao Qiao's plans; Xiao had never told her older sister, fearing that Da would deem shopping during mourning as unethical.
Without Da Qiao, Sun Ce, or Zhou Yu in her presence, Xiao could truly express herself, something that she couldn't do comfortably when the rest of the posse was around. Cheerful energy that had been repressed for the last few days was now being set free.
Although Xiao liked going to the mall, she didn't really do much shopping. Xiao Qiao, despite her clumsiness, had excellent sewing skills and made many of her own clothes. How had she achieved such skill? Lots of hard work and dedication. Lots of ruined fabric. Lots of little 'accidents' with the sewing machine. It was quite humorous, minus the pain.
Xiao Qiao was a somewhat reckless girl; not all the time, but it showed. She was the type of person that could roam around alone for a few hours and not call anyone to tell her where she was, in the event that they would get worried. That was what she did today. It was daylight, and she was safe. She felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders and set free.
A few hours later, Xiao Qiao sat at the edge of a decorative water fountain. She was exhausted. And when she was exhausted, she did something that she never really stopped to do: think.
"Where is the source of my problems?" she thought aloud. "What's causing this?"
She continued to think involuntarily, until she saw something that surprised her.
There was a man with long ebony hair walking around who had his back turned to her. He looked just like Zhou Yu.
Immediately, she sprang up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Yuyu!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
The man turned around, and it was not Zhou Yu. He stared at Xiao with a confused expression.
Xiao, apparently embarrassed, looked down. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were my fiancé."
The man put his arm around Xiao, smirked and replied, "Maybe I'm not, but I can be!"
Xiao was dumbfounded. It took a moment for her to realize what the man was implying...
"Err, no... that's okay..." Xiao pulled away from the man's grasp and skipped off.
"Stupid jerk. Hitting on me although he knows I'm taken..." Xiao muttered.
Xiao then tapped into her concept of time and realized that it could already be dark outside. Instinctively, she glanced at her watch. It was 8. The mall closed at 11.
Xiao headed for the mall exit, then unaware that someone (or something!) was following her.
Da Qiao arrived at the hospital to check on Xiao Qiao and Zhou Yu. Surprisingly, Xiao wasn't there...
"Where's Xiao?" Da inquired.
Zhou Yu sounded tired. "Oh... I don't know. I was probably asleep when left. But I had the strangest dream. There was a hyper squeaky squirrel saying 'I'm going to the mall! Bye Yuyu!' Funny, huh?"
Da Qiao immediately made her way out of the hospital, into her car, and then set off for the mall.
Xiao Qiao was almost there! The exit was so close! But then, she realized that she was heading the wrong way. Her car was parked in lot B, not lot F. She then turned around and started off the other way.
Xiao had made it halfway there, that is, until the lights went out, leaving her (and 500 other people) in complete darkness.
The instincts of most people told them to scream loudly, which is what they did. The next few moments would be complete and utter chaos, with people running about, bumping into each other in extreme darkness, and...
"Hey, what if the Kuroi-something was here, too?" A sudden thought.
Xiao screamed when someone yanked at her wrist.. She screamed even louder when someone (or something!) grabbed her waist from behind.
"Eee! Let go, let go!" Xiao protested, bawling at the top of her lungs. But it was impossible to hear her with all of the other people yelling too.
And in the background, a devilish fiend (although it could not show emotion) seemed to smirk and wait for the right moment to pounce.
Da Qiao was in a hurry. She seemed horrified by what could happen to her little sister at this time of night. Not only was there the thing that killed Pang Tong, other people could possibly be after her as well!
Da Qiao was a pretty good driver, but now, she drove like a maniac. Countless times she went well above the speed limit, and also steered in multiple directions to get ahead of people.
The traffic lights before her turned red, but Da didn't seem to notice. She only accelerated the speed of the car and nearly crashed into a red truck. Would she get away with this? The police car hiding under the magnolia tree didn't think so.
For the whole day up until now, Sun Ce had trouble staying awake. His eyelids seemed to get heavier and heavier. And when his resolve broke and he fell asleep, he had dreams. Many dreams. Sometimes nightmares. And what was amazing was the fact that he could remember them vividly. "Too vividly", he thought, shuddering.
For the whole day, Sun Ce didn't do anything. Sometimes, he felt like making coffee, but he'd probably find it too hard to focus on the task.
Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao were gone, and Sun Ce didn't know where they went. Where was Zhou Yu? "Ah, yes, Zhou Yu is in the hospital." Sun Ce chuckled to himself. Perhaps Da and Xiao were just visiting old buddy Yu, and they'd be back soon.
Feeling rather content, Sun Ce let himself drift off to deep sleep.
Chapter 7
Disclaimer: DW belongs to Koei...and such...
The next day, Da Qiao had a quick, yet heartfelt funeral service for Master Pang Tong. The paperwork was rather hard with the funeral home, because, simply, hardly anyone knew who Pang Tong really was... if that was his real name. Yet, the funeral went as planned; without any interruptions.
Sun Ce seemed to be taking this really hard. Upon waking up to see Pang Tong's mangled corpse, he'd had problems getting to sleep. Finally, he ended up taking too many sleeping pills, and his overdose led to narcolepsy- like symptoms.
Xiao Qiao also attended the funeral, and Zhou Yu was too exhausted to go. He sent his regards, however.
By now, Zhou Yu seemed to be recovering, so Xiao Qiao set off to shake off some stress and go shopping.
Da Qiao was ignorant of Xiao Qiao's plans; Xiao had never told her older sister, fearing that Da would deem shopping during mourning as unethical.
Without Da Qiao, Sun Ce, or Zhou Yu in her presence, Xiao could truly express herself, something that she couldn't do comfortably when the rest of the posse was around. Cheerful energy that had been repressed for the last few days was now being set free.
Although Xiao liked going to the mall, she didn't really do much shopping. Xiao Qiao, despite her clumsiness, had excellent sewing skills and made many of her own clothes. How had she achieved such skill? Lots of hard work and dedication. Lots of ruined fabric. Lots of little 'accidents' with the sewing machine. It was quite humorous, minus the pain.
Xiao Qiao was a somewhat reckless girl; not all the time, but it showed. She was the type of person that could roam around alone for a few hours and not call anyone to tell her where she was, in the event that they would get worried. That was what she did today. It was daylight, and she was safe. She felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders and set free.
A few hours later, Xiao Qiao sat at the edge of a decorative water fountain. She was exhausted. And when she was exhausted, she did something that she never really stopped to do: think.
"Where is the source of my problems?" she thought aloud. "What's causing this?"
She continued to think involuntarily, until she saw something that surprised her.
There was a man with long ebony hair walking around who had his back turned to her. He looked just like Zhou Yu.
Immediately, she sprang up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Yuyu!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
The man turned around, and it was not Zhou Yu. He stared at Xiao with a confused expression.
Xiao, apparently embarrassed, looked down. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were my fiancé."
The man put his arm around Xiao, smirked and replied, "Maybe I'm not, but I can be!"
Xiao was dumbfounded. It took a moment for her to realize what the man was implying...
"Err, no... that's okay..." Xiao pulled away from the man's grasp and skipped off.
"Stupid jerk. Hitting on me although he knows I'm taken..." Xiao muttered.
Xiao then tapped into her concept of time and realized that it could already be dark outside. Instinctively, she glanced at her watch. It was 8. The mall closed at 11.
Xiao headed for the mall exit, then unaware that someone (or something!) was following her.
Da Qiao arrived at the hospital to check on Xiao Qiao and Zhou Yu. Surprisingly, Xiao wasn't there...
"Where's Xiao?" Da inquired.
Zhou Yu sounded tired. "Oh... I don't know. I was probably asleep when left. But I had the strangest dream. There was a hyper squeaky squirrel saying 'I'm going to the mall! Bye Yuyu!' Funny, huh?"
Da Qiao immediately made her way out of the hospital, into her car, and then set off for the mall.
Xiao Qiao was almost there! The exit was so close! But then, she realized that she was heading the wrong way. Her car was parked in lot B, not lot F. She then turned around and started off the other way.
Xiao had made it halfway there, that is, until the lights went out, leaving her (and 500 other people) in complete darkness.
The instincts of most people told them to scream loudly, which is what they did. The next few moments would be complete and utter chaos, with people running about, bumping into each other in extreme darkness, and...
"Hey, what if the Kuroi-something was here, too?" A sudden thought.
Xiao screamed when someone yanked at her wrist.. She screamed even louder when someone (or something!) grabbed her waist from behind.
"Eee! Let go, let go!" Xiao protested, bawling at the top of her lungs. But it was impossible to hear her with all of the other people yelling too.
And in the background, a devilish fiend (although it could not show emotion) seemed to smirk and wait for the right moment to pounce.
Da Qiao was in a hurry. She seemed horrified by what could happen to her little sister at this time of night. Not only was there the thing that killed Pang Tong, other people could possibly be after her as well!
Da Qiao was a pretty good driver, but now, she drove like a maniac. Countless times she went well above the speed limit, and also steered in multiple directions to get ahead of people.
The traffic lights before her turned red, but Da didn't seem to notice. She only accelerated the speed of the car and nearly crashed into a red truck. Would she get away with this? The police car hiding under the magnolia tree didn't think so.
For the whole day up until now, Sun Ce had trouble staying awake. His eyelids seemed to get heavier and heavier. And when his resolve broke and he fell asleep, he had dreams. Many dreams. Sometimes nightmares. And what was amazing was the fact that he could remember them vividly. "Too vividly", he thought, shuddering.
For the whole day, Sun Ce didn't do anything. Sometimes, he felt like making coffee, but he'd probably find it too hard to focus on the task.
Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao were gone, and Sun Ce didn't know where they went. Where was Zhou Yu? "Ah, yes, Zhou Yu is in the hospital." Sun Ce chuckled to himself. Perhaps Da and Xiao were just visiting old buddy Yu, and they'd be back soon.
Feeling rather content, Sun Ce let himself drift off to deep sleep.