Requiem II: Soul's Honor Lost

by Alisa Joaquin

Part 3: Matthew Makes A Decision

"A man was murdered two nights ago. His body was found in a wooded area outside St. Adele. The man has been identified as Lee Sung, a man believed to be associated with a Chinese hit squad called the Triad. Police have no clues as to the identity of the killer."

Matthew Caine shook his head. He did not want to believe that the man who committed the murder might have been his own son, but he could not ignore the fact that his son had come home several nights in a row in a catatonic state. The last time his son returned, the front of his shirt was bloody and torn. And now, his son had disappeared without a trace. Matthew was worried. All sense of his son had vanished. The only person he could turn to would be his grandson, Peter.

'Perhaps he might have some luck finding and learning the truth of what was happening to my son.'

Matthew Caine went to his old writing desk and pulled from a drawer his old passport. Though he had lived in France for the last 30 years, he managed to retain his U.S. citizenship. He had continued to renew his passport every ten year, even after he had traveled to the states the last time. That had been over 15 years ago when he had been told that his son and grandson had been killed when their temple had been destroyed. He did not know why he continued to keep the thing up to date. Perhaps deep down, he truly had not believed the old priest, even when he had directed Matthew to his son's and grandson's marker in the woods behind the ruins. Seeing that marker had nearly undone him, but he held on desperately to any small shred of hope, just in case the old one had been wrong. He was ever so glad that the old priest had been proven wrong after all. Now, Matthew hoped that he would find Peter and together they would find Kwai Chang before whatever was causing his son great distress, would destroy him. Then it occurred to Matthew that perhaps there was an easier way than trying to travel to where Peter lived. There was very little time. His son was in danger, and he had no idea where he could be found. Perhaps by bringing Peter here, they might work together in finding Kwai Chang Caine. Matthew replaced his passport in his desk then set out to prepare for meditation.

***

Peter sat at the small outdoor cafe, unaware of everyone going about their business. He would glance up whenever someone would walk by wearing a costume. It was then that he realized that Halloween would soon be upon them. Some businesses allowed their employees to dress up for the occasion the weekend before. It was a very strange time of year. Festive in a bazaar, twisted sort of way. The celebrating of vampires and werewolves always puzzled Peter. Perhaps, it was because of his background, growing up in the temple. Celebrations there resided around the Chinese calendar. Halloween, or the equivalent of it, did not exist in Chinese myth and culture. Only after he had been fostered by the Blaisdell's did Peter learn what Halloween was all about. And even then, the thought of it gave him nightmares for a month. In Peter's world, demons were very real and nothing to celebrate. He could readily accept the idea of going out and collecting bags full of candy, but he preferred the more austere tradition of collecting money for UNICEF. At least he knew that the money that he was collecting as a kid was going for a good cause. It was one way how he could begin to think about doing good, and he also believed that his father would have been proud of him for doing so.

Thoughts of his father brought Peter back to the dream and the uneasy feelings he had been having since. He felt as if he should do something, but at the same time, he felt torn leaving Chinatown without a "resident" Shaolin and a Caine at that. Filling his father's shoes was not an easy task, yet Peter was slowly fitting into that mold while trying to remain true to himself. At the same time, he had not expected to be filling in for his father this long. His father had not given him any indication as to how long he would be gone. He knew his father would be back, but now, he wasn't sure. Something had happened to him and if he did not get any news soon, Chinatown be damned, he would go search for Caine himself no matter how long it would take.

Continues with Part 4