Requiem III: The Search for The Truth

by Bonnie Eagan & Alisa Joaquin

Part 27: Kim Luc

Kim Luc watched for a few moments as Marlene left the building. He knew he made the right choice by letting her go. Though it could take several hours, he knew she would be the one to bring the rest of the Caine clan to him. As soon as the elevator doors closed, the smile that Kim Luc had turned to a more sinister grin. He turned toward the figure lying on the bed and slowly approached the young man. The gash that had opened along the young man's temple had stopped bleeding.

'Still,' Kim Luc thought, 'We can't have your grandfather seeing you like that, can we?'

Kim Luc reached up and placed his hand over the gash. Within minutes the wound was healed. "Even a Sing Wah Master can heal a wound," he said.

As Kim Luc finished with his ministrations, he ran his right hand along the right sleeve of Peter's shirt and ripped it open, revealing one of the brands.

"So, you are Shaolin as well. I saw the report on you, boy, but for some reason, I did not want to believe it. Three generations of Caines, all of them Shaolin. This will prove challenging."

At that moment, Peter began to stir.

"Oh, my head." Peter opened his eyes and looked around. "Aunt Marlene?" Peter looked up to see an old man dressed in the robes of a priest. His hair was silver, and his eyes were black as coal. Not a ring of color could be seen within their depths. Peter tried to hide the sudden shutter in response to the coldness he felt there. "Who are you?"

"You will soon find out, boy."

"Where is my aunt?"

"She has gone to fulfill her assignment in this little game of mine."

"Oh, I take it you're Kim Luc." After hearing Ping Hai's tale of Kim Luc's disappearance with Marlene, Peter figured something else had to be going on, but he had not been sure at the time. "So, I take it this whole charade was nothing more than an elaborate plot?"

"I see you figured out part of my plan."

"And I take it you're also the Master. So, tell me Master, what else do you have up your sleeve?"

The Master gave a decidedly crooked grin. This boy was smarter than he had thought. "Do you really think I would tell you?"

"I don't know. Maybe your conscious has been bothering you, lately. What I can't understand is why go to all this trouble? And how did you manage to do this anyway? It's taken years for you to plot your revenge, if revenge is what you're after. Surely there could have been another way."

"Do not get smart with me, boy. I could take you out with just a thought," Kim Luc concentrated and Peter was thrown back upon the bed, his head suddenly feeling like it was on fire. "If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you by now. You are bait for my trap."

"I don't think so." Peter brought his arms up and concentrated. A blast of psychic energy from his chi ran through his arms and out his hands and slammed into the psuedo-priest. It did not completely cause the man to collapse, but it did force him to take a few steps back away from the bed. Peter did a quick summersault off the mattress so the bed was between him and his adversary.

Kim Luc was surprised at Peter's sudden attack. "You are powerful, young priest. Perhaps it was you I should have trained instead of another. But you are no match for me."

Kim Luc brought his energy to bare and with the force of a hurricane, lifting Peter off his feet and crashing him into a nearby window frame. Glass shattered, revealing that even the windows were only illusion, put there to give the appearance that the room was more than what it seemed. From the force of the Master's chi, Peter collapsed on the floor. At that moment, Jake and the large burly man entered the room.

"See to it that he is made uncomfortable and that he is restrained where he cannot escape."

"Yes, Master."

Kim Luc looked around the room. There was no need to use this room any further. Soon his enemies would be here and when they arrived, they would receive the surprise of their lives. Kim Luc folded his arms back in his robe and stalked off to his private office. He turned on a monitor and watched the men secure the young Shaolin in a cage and raised it up off the floor just enough where jumping down from it could be injurious. "Insolent, boy." Kim Luc said to himself. "Using his powers to fight me. He shall learn the true meaning of pain and the power of the Sing Wah. It will take the combined powers of a Shambhala Master to stop me, but everyone knows there are no Shambhala Masters. No Shaolin will stand against me. Not even Matthew Caine. I have waited too long."

The plan that Kim Luc so carefully cultivated was not going to be undone by just a mere boy. Li Pei had been the key to his plans, Li Pei, his wife and their son, who waited for the next stage, if this one failed. It had been so simple. Allow the raid to take place at the Shaolin temple where Matthew was its Master. Capture one of his prized students. Save that student's life, leting him believe it was because he did not wish to see him killed, and then learn all he could about Caine. Afterward, take that student to a place where no one was sure to find him, right in the waiting arms of the Dalai Lama. Then become one of the Dalai Lama's followers. Allow Li Pei to continue his training while he continued his in secret. Let it be known that there was danger for them all, especially for Li Pei's new bride and their child. Watch, wait, and plan. Keep tabs on Li Pei in hopes that he would somehow contact his old teacher, but no, his teacher had disappeared, escaping China without no one the wiser.

Another chance. Separate the student from his new wife and child. Become one of the wife's protectors as she returns home. Disappear and make contact with the Sing Wah in Paris. Help them to continue to rebuild their empire and in so doing rebuild one for himself. Become the Sing Wah's new established leader by discovering the poison that has no cure, its delivery system, a simple white powder that is absorbed through the skin or inhaled. Even if the cure could be found, the herbs were so rare that very few knew of their existence. Learn that Matthew Caine had once again disappeared, this time presumed dead. His son still lived. Change of target, go after Matthew's son instead, but the opportunity to kill him was not right, too many variables. Continue to watch and wait.

The training of his prodigy, Tan. Anger, hate, no way to gain back his family's honor. Matthew's son now has a son of his own. The Caines continue to thrive while Kim Luc's family honor is still not satisfied. Then another opportunity, Matthew turns up alive while his son and grandson are presumed dead. Tan betrays and tries to take away that opportunity, again. But there is still a chance while Matthew still lived. Arrange to meet the wife. Pretend to be a friend once again. Too many years, too many lost opportunities, but this one if patient would be fruitful. What was thought lost was reunited. The son and grandson of Matthew Caine live. The time grows nearer. Arrange to be in the same city. Find a way to bring Matthew to Kim Luc, the powder. Give him just enough to bring Matthew to the brink. The time is at hand. Kim Luc watched the monitor one more time. It was time to send Xia to the Ancient.

Continues with Part 28