Chapter 5 - The Bus-stop

“Who are you?” I asked as I raised my sword fingers

To my wariness, she smiled and waved “Hi, hi."

As I neared, my sensory radar picked up her vibes and found them benign.

I lowered my hand.

"I am Jia Xuan." She introduced herself.

"Jia Xuan?"

"Yes, you can call me Xuan.”

“Hi" I looked around. "Why are you here?”

“I am waiting for someone.” She replied.

“You were here all the time? You saw all that action?"

She nodded, her round and expressive eyes manifesting curiosity and kindness.

“Yes. I saw that. I saw all the fighting.”

As I drew closer, I reached out and touched her hair. He energy is indeed benign and she

is human.

“I am sorry if it gave you a fright.” I quickly added.

“I am not scared.” She said calmly before extending her finger and pointing to my leg.

“You are bleeding.”

“Bleeding?”

I checked where she pointed and realized that on the side of my right thigh, the pants were torn with a cut about the length of my palm, and there was a wound.

Damn it, Ken Ito!

“Thanks. I didn't realize that.”

"Is it painful?"

She dug into her bag and pulled out a packet of tissue

“You will need this.”

“Appreciate this, Xuan.” I said and sat down next to her.

I dabbed the wound and found the blood had trickled to the foot of my pants, leaving an ugly streak of maroon. I would need more than a packet of tissue paper.

"Don't worry, I am fine." I said, trying not to alarm the girl.

“ Who are you? Why are you fighting here in the middle of the road?” She asked

“That chap you saw just now. He is up to no good."

“What did he do?”

“ He took my friend and created this ambush.”

“I thought you were friends. When you fought, I thought it was a show. Those bats and the snake.”

She giggled.

“You could see them?” I asked, surprised, and she nodded.

“By the way, he is good-looking.” Her words left me struggling for words.

I shook my head. “Looks are deceiving. He was a bad, bad character.”

Usually, humans would be frightened by such a spectacle but Xuan was unperturbed.

“Are you not afraid?”

She shook her head, “I dont know. What’s there to be afraid of?”

“You mentioned you are waiting for someone?"

" I am waiting for my Gong Gong, my grandfather.”

I looked up and down the street and drew closer to the girl.

She is human and not a wandering spirit.

Who could she be waiting for?”

“At this hour? It is almost 11 pm. You should be home.” I observed

“Is your grandfather working late?”

“He is semi-retired, and sometimes he goes out to meet friends. However, he would always come back at night to sleep.”

“Probably he has been held up somewhere?”

Xuan shook her head

“I have not seen him for days. Today is Wednesday. He was out since Sunday.”

“Where are your parents? Did they say why? Maybe your grandfather told them about the reason”

Again, Xuan shook her head. This time, I sensed her despondency in her expressive eyes.

“They are busy at work. I had asked my dad but he was too busy. My mum is at home with my brother.”

“How old are you?”

“I am twelve.”

I looked at the surroundings and did not feel good. I worried Ken would return.

“Look, I think you should go home first. Maybe your grandfather is held up.”

“You think so?”

I look around the street “Yes, I think so.”

“What if he does not return?”

I was stubbed. “Let’s say we meet her two days later. If he is not back, I will help you to find him.”

“Is it true?”

I nodded

“What’s your name?” Xuan asked.

“I am Adam.”

“Adam, that’s a nice name. You are the first person I met who is called Adam.”

“My mother gave me that name.”

“She is clever. In this way, everyone will remember you.”

A very witty reply that told me Xuan is emotionally intelligent and highly expressive.

“I am proud of that name.” I said.

“Adam.” She repeated and giggled

I nodded. "You can keep calling me that"

Xuan did not reply but scanned her environment with a hapless expression.

“Xuan, can I escort you home?” I said as I noticed the time was ticking away.

She looked forlornly at the street and then at me and nodded.

“Let's go.”

“Thank you, Adam”

“Where do you stay? ”

She pointed to the block at the end of the street

“Block 164. Third floor.”

“Let me walk you over then.”

As we strolled, Xuan was leaping from one side of the walkway to the other like she was playing hopscotch.

“You enjoy doing that?”

“I am just trying to find fun.” She smiled

“You are going to stay up for your grandfather?”

“I am not sure.”

“Is he still working?”

“My grandfather used to work as a security guard. Recently, he stopped.”

“What’s the reason?”

“I am not sure. Again, my parents didn't tell me.”

I sensed a family issue but did not press further.

“I would wait for him at this bus stop. Sometimes, we would wait at the playground at the park opposite my block. He is usually home by10 pm.”

“You will wait for him every day?"

“Yes. He will arrive around 10.30 pm. Sometimes the bus is late and he is late.”

"It seems both of you are very close."

"He raised me when I was a toddler."

Xuan beamed proudly as she spoke.

“Look, I think he is fine. Probably, he had stayed over at his friend's place.”

We had started climbing a flight of stairs to the block.

“He does not have any friends,” Xuan explained, blandly and then added "A couple but

I am not sure."

“Give it another two days?” I comforted.

“Fine. I will listen to you, Adam.”

I stuck up a thumbs-up

“By the way, you were terrific in fighting. Those kicks and somersaults. Were you trained?”

I nodded. “When I was your age, I was made to do those every day plus tree climbing and fording across streams."

“You sound like some warrior."

"I am not."

Xuan clasped her hands

"Can I learn from you?”

I nodded. “Someday.”

“Then, what about those cards you threw?”

“Those were amulets, which are tools for us to generate power against dark forces.”

“Huh?” Xuan was agape “Amulets? “What do you mean?”

I smiled. “I will explain more in the future.”

“Sure. You promise you will tell me?”

She had extended her little finger, and I hooked mine around hers

“I promise,” I said in earnest.

She giggled

“What do you find funny?”

“I think you are good-looking.” She said diffidently and her cheeks blushed.

“I am speechless.” I flushed. “Thanks.”

We walked to the lift lobby and were about to send her in when Xuan stopped suddenly.

She turned around and then cupped one hand with the other and shared.

“By the way, when I walked down the stairs earlier, I saw those men trying to dump something into a van.”

“What?” I was astounded. "Can you say that again? What did you see?"

“I saw them packing a black bag into a van.”

“Goodness, you saw them!”

She extended her handphone. “This is the picture I took. You can take a look.”

I bent over and took a look at the picture she took.

The image was hazy, probably from a shaking hand, but the van outline and number plate were clear.

“I think I can see the number of the vehicle." I said as I slowly enlarged the picture.

"Good thing!” I said to Xuan “GZ 1919 K!" I exclaimed.

“Hope it is helpful!”

“It will be very helpful,” I said, hardly suppressing the emotions in my chest.

My mind swung to the friends in the police who could help.

“Now I have to send you home.”

“It's fine. I will take the lift. I stay on the third floor.”

I nodded as I looked up

“Which unit?”

“That corner unit.”

She pointed to the nearest end of the corridor.

“Well, then I will say farewell now, Xuan.”

Before she left, she turned her back and said,

“Hey, you promised two nights later?”

I winced. “How can I forget that?” I bent over “I promised. I will meet you there right at the bus stop. 9pm?”

She nodded and gave a thumbs-up.

As the lift door closed, she waved non-stop.

I could not help feeling a strange sense of things as I watched Xuan's lift ascend.

Why would she wait for her grandfather alone?

I guess I will know in two days' when we meet.

For now, I have more urgent business.

I picked up my handphone and called that familiar number.

“Visnu?”

“Hey, Adam. What’s up? Are you missing me already? We just spent an entire day together.”

He commented about the case I just helped to crack.

“No, I am not missing you. However, I needed a favor. “

“A favour?”

“Am I interrupting?”

“Well, yes. I thought of getting a drink before heading home to sleep. It has been a week of sleepless nights.”

“You are not going to like me.”

“What is it? You don't sound good.”

“Kelly has been abducted,” I pronounced slowly.

“What? Your Kelly?” Visnu’s cry on the other end of the phone was so loud that I had to put the phone away for a moment. “You are saying your fellow Onmyoji Kelly Nishimura?”

“My Kelly?” I repeated. My Kelly?

“She is the best spirit master I know. How can she get abducted?”

“It was an ambush. I received her distress call earlier and reached Queenstown Street 9. When I arrived, I was attacked.”

“Sounds bad. Are you hurt?”

I looked at the wound on my thigh.

“No,” I replied, “I am fine.”

“What can I do for you now?”

“I have a picture of a vehicle that may have taken Kelly.”

“That’s great. Send me the details,s and I will get the Traffic Police to do a follow-up.”

I forwarded the picture to Visnu without delay.

“I will get back to you. Call you back, Adam.”

After Visnu hung up and I mumbled my thanks, I limped my way back to my vehicle.

As I moved, I felt a sense of numbness in my thigh.

Once I climbed into the driver's seat, behind the wheel, I performed a quick check on my wound

through the gap in the pants.

There was a swell over the wound, and the edges had turned green.

I have been poisoned!