A/N: "As I'm finishing my exams on Tuesday, I'll post another chapter." Yeah, I'm sorry. I really am bad at sticking to my word, so the extra chapter can come today instead! I really hope you enjoy it, and I've finished my exams now, which means I have no more obligations towards school for the rest of the summer! Enjoy the chapter and have a good week everyone!
Chapter 4
After being a pair for so long, Yao suddenly found it weird to have become a trio. Mei walked quietly and thoughtfully beside Yong Soo. She appeared to be in distant thought. Yao drew his eyes away from her. He wondered how long this alliance would last until blood was spilled; and he knew that the peace couldn't last forever.
There were less officers standing around the theatre compared to yesterday, and the Chief Officer Arsehole wasn't hanging around outside. Perhaps he was pestering Lei at the station about the video footage? Yao was just glad that, for once, he wouldn't be the subject of the Chief policeman's harassment. Swiftly flashing his ID to the officers, he was granted entrance, ducking hastily underneath the yellow tape. He technically had two sidekicks now, which meant he'd have to do even less running around. Looking at Mei's heels changed his mind. He doubted she'd do any of the running, and he also doubted she'd be the one performing grunt work. She wasn't as... naively gullible as Yong Soo.
The lobby was as untouched as it had been yesterday, and there were no more officers posted nearby. The sudden reduction in staff only brought more questions to Yao's mind. Cautiously, he opened the doors to the opera room and saw the Chief Officer on the stage, giving orders to his people.
"Excuse me," he called over. "What's going on?"
Officer Kirkland turned and forced a smile on his face at the very sight of Yao standing there with his crew. "This is a public building. It's only natural that we should eventually clear the scene away. It's been three days. You've had plenty of time to look around. Besides, the police have all the evidence stored away in our archives to assess."
"I'm not bribing my way into the files with your authorities," he stormed up the stairs to come face to face with the Chief Policeman.
"I wouldn't allow you to bribe your way into a sewer," Kirkland glowered.
Yao hated his meagre stature of five feet seven. It meant even Arthur Kirkland, who stood an average height of five nine, could use build in a method to threaten and intimidate. However, he stood his ground, determined to have free reign in the opera house until the very last minute.
"I'm looking around, Kirkland, so step aside," he growled.
"Excuse me, sorry to bother…" Mei's gentle tone rang out softly behind them, and Yao turned to see her having approached, an almost timid expression on her face. "But, um… I hate to interrupt the work of a good gentleman doing his duties, Officer, but we shouldn't take too long. Just a last minute sweep of the area and then we'll be gone."
"G-gentleman?" Officer Kirkland blinked, then smiled proudly of himself. "Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt too much to let you look around. You have ID, after all."
That last part had been directed to Yao.
"Um, Sir?" a puzzled policeman stood with the piano stool in his hands.
"Put that down," Kirkland hissed. "Detective Wang and his," he glanced at Mei. "…team… would like to take a look around."
"Yes, Sir," the piano stool was put aside as the police squad scattered across the stage, avoiding the direct scene of crime.
"Thank you," Mei displayed the sweetest of faces.
"You're welcome," Kirkland nodded as he breezed past. "After all…a… gentleman such as myself would never deny a lady such a simple request. Good luck with your search and take as much time as you need."
He walked off, Yao and Yong Soo following him with their gazes. It was like a switch had been flipped and Arthur Kirkland had become a contained self-satisfied git rather than an open one.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" they both looked to see her giving them an incredulous look. "Just because he said we had all the time in the world doesn't mean he's going to let us stay the night."
Yao saw the sudden uncertainty in Yong Soo's eyes as Mei revealed her true self in one wicked twist. He rolled his eyes and approached the piano, which hadn't been touched. Crouching beside it, the bow was still in place, yet still had its strings attached. It seemed something else had been sacrificed to make the piano stand.
"What is it, Aniki?" Yong Soo crouched beside him.
"I actually see something, aru," Yao placed a flat palm to the floor and ran it along boards that were uneven.
His searching fingers found a latch and he fumbled with it for a moment. With great effort, he swung open a strange trap door that led down into darkness.
"What is this?" Yong Soo spoke his thoughts.
"I don't know, but…" Yao tried to squeeze under the piano. "I just don't fit. If I was a little smaller then, maybe, but…"
The pair of them turned their heads to look at Mei, who was busy investigating the piano. She was barely tall enough to climb on top of the grand instrument, and that was even with heels on.
"It would be asking too much of her on her first job," Yao murmured to his assistant. "Let's see if we can move the piano…"
"But it might collapse again, and that would be even more trouble to move," Yong Soo bit his lip as he looked at the weak, broken leg.
"That's true, aru," he groaned, then stood. "Mei, if you do a favour for me, I can treat you to some ramen for dinner?"
This was an extremely rare occasion. Even growing up, Yao had always been careful with money (although perhaps not as careful as he should've been), and that had only intensified when he had to start thinking about rent and keeping himself with a roof. The last thing he wanted to be doing was buying extra meals for people, so this truly was a once in a year opportunity. Yao didn't want to make a habit of it.
"You? Treat me?" she laughed. "You must be desperate. What do you want?"
She walked over and he crouched beside the piano again. He could see Kirkland and another officer glancing over at them by now, noting their strange behaviour. Mei assessed the trap door carefully and a frown slowly formed on her face.
"What do you need me to do?" she asked cautiously.
"Could you go down there?" Yao asked, wincing, and silently praying she would agree to it.
"Down… there?" anxiety formed on her face as her eyes traced the pitch black little square. "Where does it lead?"
"You'll find out for free ramen!" Yao beamed. "C'mon, Mei. We need to investigate this place to the best of our abilities, aru. We need to see what's down there, but me and Yong obviously won't fit underneath the piano – we're too big."
"Why not just move it?" she asked.
"One of the legs is broken," Yong tapped it and received a glower from Yao, who would prefer not to have a grand piano topple over and crush him.
"Free ramen… is it worth it?" she looked sceptical.
"Please, the ramen is the best in this city, I promise," he said. "Remember, you're also getting five per cent of our total profit for this?"
She drummed her fingers gently against the piano, then turned her gaze to his with a slow nod. "Fine. OK."
"Thank you so much," Yao breathed a sigh of relief – he was just glad he wouldn't have to force himself underneath.
Both he and Yong made space for her, stepping aside and keeping an eye on the police, whilst she got down on her hands and knees and began crawling underneath the piano.
"You'd think it'd be dusty underneath a piano," she commented, angling her body and sticking her legs down the passageway. "But then... I suppose a musical enthusiast such as Niklas would want every inch of his precious theatre cleaned."
"Can you see what's down there?" Yao asked hesitantly.
"Not really," she replied, just as he heard clunky boots come to a stop beside him.
Yao raised his head to see Officer Kirkland looking down at him, his thick eyebrows drawn together.
"What are you doing?" the Chief of the Police asked. "Is there someone down there?"
"Officer, us Investigasians are great at being flexible in our abilities," Yao smirked. "She'll be fine, aru."
"Are you still making terrible puns?" Mei groaned as Kirkland blanched, his eyes falling back down on the trapdoor. "I think I've reached the bottom."
"Is there something solid beneath your feet?" Yong Soo called down.
"Yes?" she said hesitantly, her voice distant and echoing.
"Then that's the bottom," he said pointedly.
"Thanks… kid?"
"Can you see anything, aru?" Yao asked hopefully.
"No, but there should be a light switch somewhere around-"
Something caught his eye moments before disaster struck. There was a movement under the piano, as the thinnest of strings tied to the leg tugged, the light moving across its almost invisible surface. There was a loud crack as the piano's leg snapped in half and caved downwards. Yao whipped his head back and clambered away. The floorboards suddenly sunk and the piano dropped a metre before groaning to a standstill.
In the distance he could hear noises – to be precise, Mei was saying something, but the volume and words couldn't reach his ears past the piano. It was like someone had put headphones on his ears and muffled her words alone. Dust drifted up from the stage, but landed around them. He heard the odd shafts of wood falling down to the bottom.
Yong Soo reached for the piano. "We need to help her! She's stuck down there!"
"Wait," Yao caught his wrist. "Do not touch that piano, aru. If it falls because you prod it around, it could kill her. Did you get her number or anything?"
"No?" Yong Soo looked at him. "Why would I do that?"
"To keep in contact?" Yao stared at him incredulously. "Did it not occur to you that you might need to call her should the two of you separate?"
"You didn't get her number either, Aniki," Yong Soo protested. "I'm not the only one at fault here."
"I should've guessed something would go wrong with you around," Kirkland sighed, glaring at Yao. "If I'd been in my better senses, you wouldn't be here."
"Mei, can you hear me?" Yao called out and heard a muffled response. "Well, she's alive?"
Mei heard all the mutterings happening up top. She wasn't entirely sure exactly what had happened. One second, she'd been at the bottom, then something had tugged at her leg, and the entire scene went blank with a loud crash and unpleasant scraping. It seemed she would have to press on and find the light switch.
Fumbling for her phone, she turned on its flashlight, which illuminated the room in soft, yet eerie white light. There was something about these phone lights that didn't have the fiery warmth of an orange-yellow glow. She spotted the light switch almost instantly and flicked it. Nothing happened. She even waited a few moments to see if it would eventually sputter on, but it didn't. She raised her phone torch to the ceiling and saw a cut wire. It seemed the flashlight would have to make do.
She appeared to be in what looked like a little store cupboard. The floor was darkened beneath her feet. Metal racks were stocked high with little white boxes that, when Mei nosily peered inside one of them, turned out to be hundreds of little screws. It was cold and musty; it seemed heating underneath the theatre was out of the question. There were probably very few people who went down here, other than members of staff. A cardboard box in one corner was full of dusty props. The ladder she had taken down swung uselessly, still from the impact of whatever had fallen. She could only assume the piano had given way.
She heard a slightly louder, yet still muffled call from up above.
"I'm just going to go exploring," she replied. She couldn't make out the response, but what did it matter when she was going to do this anyway?
Cautiously, Mei pushed open a metal door at the back of the room into yet another cold area. This time it was a long, clinical looking hallway. In dystopian science fiction movies, or horror films, hospitals with grimy tiles and a flickering light and patchy, dusty walls were a common scene. This hallway resembled that greatly, minus the light, because all the bulbs had been completely cut from where they'd been. Some part of her doubted any theatre worker had done that. Mei's footsteps were extremely loud in this seemingly abandoned part of the musical theatre. Was it possible this was the janitor's quarters? Or perhaps a 'Staff Only' area that someone had recently cleaned? That was the strange thing about this place. The floor was mysteriously shiny as it reflected her flashlight.
A door that remained slightly ajar caught her eye. For some reason, Mei's pulse had picked up. She couldn't possibly be frightened... could she? After countless horror films, Mei believed it wasn't the scene but the experience that had set her on edge. The atmosphere was so real it was almost like she was in one of those movies. She pressed her palm to the cold, stainless steel, heart thumping, and began to push the door open.
"I can't hear her anymore?" Yong Soo frowned. "Do you think she left?"
"Maybe…" Yao said. "Would it be worth trying to move the piano?"
"How about you don't increase the death count?" Kirkland scowled. "I actually think you should leave, because this a case for the emergencies. For all we know, your colleague is stuck down there. Besides, I won't hesitate to arrest you if you land her either in hospital or her grave."
"Mei's made of stronger stuff than you seem to think, aru," Yao replied firmly. "She'll be able to find another way out. I say we try and get the piano down."
"I agree with Aniki!" Yong Soo chorused.
"Are you two fucking mental?" Officer Kirkland glowered. "Are you not even slightly worried that this piano you're so eager to move could kill one of the only people willing to work for your detective agency?"
"Mei's not even there," Yao said. "I know that because I can't hear her anymore. She never stops talking, aru."
"What if she passed out from insufficient oxygen?" the Chief Policeman folded his arms. "I'm just not in the mood to risk someone else's life. If it was you, I might allow myself to get swayed and see the piano get pushed down, but as it's an innocent citizen you've dragged into this mess with you, I can't afford to let that happen. It was my duty to clear away the crime scene and keep it untouched for a little bit, but here you are, making my job difficult."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Officer," Yao scowled, standing to face him once more. "But my Arumeter is telling me that Mei will be better off with the piano crushed and broken."
"Your… what?" Kirkland looked a little thrown.
Without further hesitation, Yao planted his foot roughly onto the piano's lid, watching it tilt dangerously – and fall. The three of them nearby the edge saw the spectacular show as the piano dropped a fall worth at least three stories high, and burst into splintered wood, broken strings, plastic casing and scattered chords and notes everywhere with a terrific noise that sounded both like bones cracking, but also a very wrong chord being played. There was also no sign of Mei as the plumes of dust rose and settled once more around what used to be the grand piano Niklas Edelstein died at.
Officer Kirkland's brows furrowed and he straightened up indignantly. "I hope you're happy. I expect you to clear that mess up."
"Not a problem for me, aru," he watched the Chief Policeman stride off stiffly, and started descending the ladder. "Come on, Yong. We need to find Mei."
Mei had just pushed open the door when the loud echo of terrible music, a several octave chord, suddenly rang down the deserted hallway. She could only assume the piano had inched further down, just that little bit more, until its eventual collapse. She was just grateful she'd chosen to look around rather than wait for the others to do something. Turning the flashlight back in the room, it appeared to be exactly the same as the previous room where she'd first come down in. Metal shelves stood in rows, a stainless steel library where you had endless numbers of screws. For some reason, this door had been ajar. If Mei had to guess, someone had been here a little more recently compared to the rest of the hallways.
She glanced behind the door, because as a child, she'd believed hiding behind doors was the best place to not be noticed. However, nothing was extraordinary there. Tracing her flashlight around the room, Mei noticed the footprints on the floor, leading up to a cardboard box. Ensuring she didn't stand on any of them, she took her own route, and opened the cardboard box with immense care. Inside were stacks of lightbulbs that hung from snipped cords, useless and yet, enough to fill an entire cardboard box. It was baffling.
She let the lid fall back in place just as a hand closed around her shoulder.
A/N: Just thought I'd leave it on that cliffhanger for you. Will Mei be OK? Find out next time!
Yao Wang: China
Yong Soo Im: Korea
Mei Xiao: Taiwan
Arthur Kirkland: England
Lei Siu Chun: Hong Kong