"This shirt is too big," Joey muttered, trying to shove the excess fabric into his pants. "I look like I'm wearing a balloon."
"Would you rather have it be too small?" Red replied, squinting at her phone again. Geez, did she ever look at anything else? "And I didn't exactly have a lot of time for shopping. We can get you another one afterward."
"The coat was the right size," he mused, as they wound through the bustling streets of Chinatown. "You just nabbed this out of a donation bin, didn't you?"
She shushed him, peering back at the screen. "I could've sworn we were going the right way."
"Try using a paper map next time."
She didn't react to the comment, so he took the opportunity to take a better look around. The red paper lanterns that lined the streets popped out against the white snow that lay over everything in a thin sheet. Despite the cold, the walkways were constantly filled. A lot of old ladies with grocery bags. A young family, their baby reaching for one of the lanterns before getting placed into a stroller. Some teenagers laughed in a group, their backpacks filled to the brim with whatever they'd picked up on their trip.
There was a corner grocery shop nearby, a bright assortment of fruits and vegetables gleaming in its displays. A bakery lay just across the street from it. Its windows showcased elaborate cakes decorated with character likenesses they likely didn't own the rights to sell. The door swung open, the smell of fresh-baked copyright infringements and other assorted goods wafting through the air as a child tottered out, dropping a bun on the sidewalk. Immediately, a horde of nearby pigeons rushed in to devour it, heads bobbing up and down as fast as they could move them.
And down the street, there was what looked to be... ah.
"Hey, Red?"
Her eyes were still glued to the hunk of metal. "Not now, Joey. I just gotta... ugh! Why does the app want to update now ?"
He looked back at the building, carved wooden dragons snaking around the pillars. "I really think you should see this."
"Joey-" She paused, expression falling. "It's the restaurant, isn't it?"
He grinned back at her. "I knew you'd get it eventually."
She sighed in defeat, pocketing her phone. "Come on. Let's go."
"After you, doll."
The restaurant was fairly quiet at this time of day, with the lunch rush having ended. There were still a few people at tables, but there was a distinct lack of the hubbub you'd usually associate with a large Chinese restaurant.
A young man exited the kitchen, walking over. He looked maybe in his late teens, early twenties at most. Scrawny looking kid, but evidently hard-working. He had a small towel slung over his shoulder, and was still wearing an apron, stained with what appeared to be a coating of flour.
"Hey. Are you Rosangela?"
She nodded, shaking his hand. "Rosa's fine.
"Kevin Huang. Who's your friend?" He gestured his head toward Joey.
"Joey Mallone," he said, nodding in greeting.
"So what are you guys?" Kevin questioned, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Like paranormal enthusiasts, or..?"
"We're trying to hunt something down," Red explained. "A malevolent spirit."
The kid's eyebrows raised. "Um... that might be a little above my pay grade. Unless knowing how to make really good Chinese food has anything to do with this."
Joey's stomach rumbled at the idea. Maybe he should've eaten more of that hospital junk.
"It doesn't," Red continued. "But I was wondering about what you wrote on your forum post."
Joey nodded. "Your folks know how to summon a ghost, huh?"
"Shhh!" Kevin's eyes went wide, finger to his lips. "Not here. Not where my parents can hear, okay? Just, uh, follow me."
He led them upstairs into a small apartment, switching on the light. Huh. Quaint little place. Had a cozy, lived-in feel to it. Brightly colored paint. More tasteful than whatever Red had up. A row of family portraits hung on the wall, and Joey scanned over them. A buck-toothed younger Kevin gleefully grinning at the camera as what was presumably his father helped him carry a massive fish. His mother in the kitchen, a slightly older Kevin studying her every move.
The three-dimensional Kevin in the room walked over to a dresser, picking a hefty book off the top of it. "Here. This is a book my parents always kept. It's uh, an encyclopedia I guess. Of Chinese mythos." He sat on the couch, gesturing for the two guests to do the same.
Geez. Joey really hoped they hadn't just walked into a book club. They didn't have enough time for that.
Kevin flipped through the book, stopping when he reached the page he was looking for. "For nearly a century, my family has been summoning the Ba Jiao Gui for financial help. Once every decade, someone does the ritual, takes a sleeping aid, then asks the dragon for lottery numbers."
"Dragon?" Rosa asked.
Kevin nodded. "The spirit takes the form of a dragon. According to my dad, anyway."
A dragon spirit was still better than no spirits at all. Maybe it could help. For a moment, Joey savored the idea of Madeline getting bitten in half by a dragon. God, after everything she'd done... "So, theoretically, if we were to do this ritual..."
"You can't do that," Kevin gasped, eyes going wide. "It's not time yet. You've got to wait for a decade to pass." He stopped, wiping his forehead with his hand. "Sorry. That was a little extreme. The legend says that if you ask for fortune too often, the dragon will doom you to a terrible death."
Been there, done that. Not that he actually wanted to do it again.
"But we're not looking for lottery numbers," Red continued. "Maybe the dragon would make an exception?"
Kevin was baffled. "Man, you guys really want to get killed, don't you?"
"That's what I keep telling her," Joey muttered, only to earn himself a jab in the ribs. "Ow!"
"It's the best shot we have." She smirked at him, adjusting her glasses. "Also, I'm so glad I can do that now."
"What, cause me physical pain?" He rubbed the spot indignantly. "Don't answer that."
She chuckled. "I'll make sure to aim for the bullet wound next time."
Kevin ran a hand through his hair, eyes shining with concern. "I mean, I can ask my dad for permission, but it's a long shot. Why is this so important, anyway?"
Joey looked over at Red, making eye contact. She shrugged, nearly imperceptibly. Yeah. That's about how he felt. They'd be dragging a kid into something that was way over his head.
"Something bigger is at stake," she said eventually, looking back.
Kevin blinked a few times. "Yeah, I'm, uh, gonna have to know more than that if I'm putting my family at risk."
"I know that this isn't easy for you," Red started, in that diplomatic way of hers. "You don't know us, and we're asking a lot from you."
"No, I don't know you, and you don't really know what you're asking," he growled, standing up. "Do you have any idea-"
Joey stood up as well, cutting him off. "Take it this way, kid. If you don't help us, this ghost we're chasing could flatten the city and everyone in it. This is a lot bigger than you and your family."
"I-" Kevin's expression faltered. "Promise me you're not kidding. Or crazy."
"Pinky," Joey said, extending the digit. Hesitantly, Kevin extended his own finger, and they shook on it. Huh. Rough hands for a kid. Probably spent all day working in that kitchen.
Kevin took a deep breath, fingers idly tapping on his thighs. "Fine. Then I've got one more thing to show you."
They followed the kid out to a balcony, where an impressively large greenhouse sat, filled to the brim with plants of various colors and sizes. Vegetables , Joey realized, scanning them over. The Huangs must have grown their stuff in-house. He had to admit it was pretty impressive. Cost-efficient, too. As they entered the greenhouse, there was one thing that was strikingly apparent. He could hear Red give out a little gasp as she saw it too.
A banana tree, its leaves impossibly green and vibrant, stood in the center of the room. It almost looked like it was glowing in comparison to the other plants. Around its trunk a single loop of bright red string was tied, the rest of it pooled on the ground around the tree's pot.
"I'm going to talk to my dad," Kevin said, stepping back. "Just, uh, hang tight."
It wasn't long after Kevin left before Red spoke again. "Joey?"
He quirked up an eyebrow. "Something you wanted to say?"
She had that look in her eye again. Nose wrinkled up, eyes narrowed. Whatever was coming out of her mouth next, it wasn't good.
"Was what you told Kevin true? About Madeline destroying the city."
Yep. He should've known. "It's not important."
"Joey, we talked about this."
He gritted his teeth, averting his eyes. Yeah. He supposed they had. "She was desperate. It didn't happen. We didn't let her."
"Desperate," Red echoed, her frown deepening.
The snow had started coming down again, errant flakes sticking to the glass walls of the greenhouse. "She wanted to destroy herself so badly she was willing to kill millions of people to do it."
They stood there in silence, both gazing out the walls as the falling snow absorbed the city ambiance.
"What about you, Joey? Have you ever felt like that?"
"Maybe with your grandma," he chuckled, before his expression went serious again. "No. Never." I made you a promise when you were dying in the snow. You didn't let me get the chance to keep it.
He blinked a few times, looking away to try to find something to distract himself with. A piece of worn parchment tacked to the wall caught his eye, the yellowed corners of the paper fluttering gently in the drafts that snuck in through the cracks around the door. A list of names and dates, back to 1927. Huh. "Kevin wasn't kidding when he said his family's been doing this for nearly a century. The first entry's from before I died."
"That's how you know it's old," Red jabbed, grinning that stupid little grin of hers. He'd heard so many awful jokes accompanied by that face. And yet, never too many. Not with her.
He realized he'd been staring a little too long when she gave him a quizzical look, tilting her head. Turning back to the parchment, he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Going off of what the kid said earlier," he said, looking down the list, "we're three years early."
Red sighed, looking at the banana tree. "This dragon isn't going to be happy to see us."
Joey scoffed. "You think?"
"Just once, Joey. Just once, I want to go somewhere and have someone be happy to see me. Is that too much to ask for?"
"Here," he offered. "You can step outside, and I'll turn around, and when you come back in I'll smile at you."
She pouted at the idea. "It's cold outside."
He shrugged. "Suit yourself. Don't say I didn't offer."
She crossed her arms, looking away. "I wonder what's taking them so long."
"Eh, maybe they're hoping we freeze to death before they get back." But as the words left his mouth, he could already see Kevin and his father walking toward them. The older man entered the greenhouse first, looking over him and Red with an eye of great scrutiny.
"You want to summon the Ba Jiao Gui?"
He wasn't a particularly large man, Joey had a few inches over him, but he held his head high in pride, making up for stature in expression. There was a sharp wisdom in his eyes, knowledge Joey suspected extended beyond Chinese cuisine.
Joey rolled his shoulders. "Well, want is kind of a strong word-"
"Yes," Red cut in, determined. "We don't have much of a choice in the matter. I hope you can understand that."
Kevin's father narrowed his eyes. "I understand that you are putting my family in danger."
"You're already in danger," Joey said. "Everyone in this city is already in danger!"
But whatever they dished out, the elder Huang wasn't buying. "You are telling me to believe you. Two strangers on my rooftop."
"We don't mean any harm," Red continued. "We're not looking for money. We just want to talk to the dragon."
"Hmph." He crossed his arms. "Fine. Come back in three years. I let you talk to the dragon."
Yeah, that wasn't going to cut it. Joey cleared his throat. "So, I hate to break it to you, but this is kinda time-sensitive. We've got days. At best. And you don't need to believe me, but when what we're up against ends up killing everyone, that'll be on your hands."
Kevin's father's frown only grew deeper, posture more rigid. After a moment of contemplation, he turned to his son. "What do you think, Kevin?"
"Me?" The kid didn't really know how to react, looking between the visitors and his father.
"You brought them here. What do you think is best?"
Kevin gave them a long stare, expression clouded.
Come on, kid. World's ending. We don't have all day.
"Give them a chance," he said, sighing.
His father nodded. "Very well, then. Follow me."
He led them back to the living room, seating them before leaving and returning with two steaming cups of what looked to be tea.
"You drink these. Then sleep in the bed in the other room." He set the tray down, sighing. "Good luck." With that, he headed back to the roof, while Kevin went downstairs.
Joey picked up a cup, raising it in a mock toast. "Ten bucks says this is poison."
Red wasn't amused at the notion. "Joey, they own a restaurant ."
"Twenty?"
"Joey."
"Hey, you're not drinking from it."
"I'm trying to prepare myself," she chided, examining the purple liquid in the cup. "Who knows what we could see?"
"A dragon, I'd presume?" To say he wasn't nervous as well would be a lie, and yet... "Bottoms up, Red." He lifted the cup to his lips, drinking the whole thing in one go. Thankfully, it wasn't hot enough to burn his tongue, or else he would've looked kind of stupid.
After a moment of hesitation, Red followed suit, downing her cup. "Come on. We'd better lie down before it kicks in."
"Ah, so you do admit it's poison."
She rolled her eyes, grabbing his tie and dragging him into the room.
"You know you can touch my hands now, right?" he protested, the door shutting behind them. Whatever he wanted to say next caught in his throat when their eyes met, bodies only a foot apart. Focus. You gotta focus . But he didn't want to. He held her gaze for a single indulgent second longer before breaking it to examine the room. The sliding door on the other side of it had been cracked open, the length of red string that slipped through from the roof leading to the foot of the bed.
She let the tie slip out of her hands, eyes lingering on him for just another moment before she took a seat at the side of the bed.
Taking a deep breath, he tucked his tie back into his jacket before reclining on the opposite side, hands behind his head. "So, how long do you think before..."
Whoa. He blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden onset of drowsiness. It was like he got hit with a sack of bricks, like he was trying to think through some sort of thick sludge. When he looked over at Red, she was already curled up, out cold, and he could hardly... keep his eyes...
A/N: Fun Fact: The Chinatown description here is based on the one in San Francisco, as I've never been to the one in Manhattan. I'd like to think it's somewhat similar, though. Just like the next chapter, this one is just one long continuous scene.