Scene 9: Thomas Residence, Tuen Mun

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Feng Shui: Case Files of Section 44
61

[i]Huang manages to get the Mossberg stashed back in the bag behind his back before hobbling slowly toward Ming. As he listens to Ming go on about jail time for him, for a moment, Huang slowly shakes his head. Section 44's cases do not go to trial, and even if they could get Yunru into lockup, he doesn't know what kind of trick she'd be able to pull in order to get away, if she lasted long enough to pull one.

For a moment, finishing Yunru passes into his mind, but with a visible shudder, the maverick cop shakes his head. He may have a tendency to break the rules when they need to be broken, but Ken Huang is not an assassin.[/i]

Huang: I don't think she's going to live long enough to serve time, Ming, even if our cases did go to trial. Even if we do get medical attention for her...she's been keeping herself alive like this since at least thirty years ago, and quite frankly, I don't expect her to last long without it.

He looks off into the distance.

Huang: She cared more about herself and her fear of dying than about the family that she and Mr. Thomas created. It may not have been created with the best of intents...but it was still a family. I can only imagine how Mingxia and the others are going to deal with this.

And then he looks up at Nic and grimaces when he sees the rookie's arm.

Huang: Jesus Christ, Nic, what did Yunru do to you? Am I going to need to have Arthur look at that?

62

Nic pushes himself to his feet, picking his walking cane up and leaning heavily on it. With a grimace, he rolls up his shredded sleeve and inspects his arm, where the vicious gashes from Yunru's corrupt nails raked his flesh open.

Nic: Ah, crap. Nasty magic. Saw something like this in Namibia once back in '95. One of our guides got bitten by a Bile Demon, and his whole left side boiled and peeled before we could find a tribal shaman.

Nic rolls his sleeve back down gently over the injury.

Nic: Well, Huang, it doesn't hurt as much as being shot ...cough cough... but this infection is beyond my skills. We may need to give Arthur a call indeed.

Nic looks over to where Ming Shi has trussed up Yunru.

Nic: Ming, I'll send the paramedics down. If she comes to, shove this in her mouth. (Nic pulls the holy water from his cargo pants, splashes some on a piece of his shirt, and tears the piece off to hand to Ming Shi.)

Nic walks out, to find Mingxia and the arriving emergancy staff. He's a bit unsteady, listing somewhat under the effects of the poison, leaning on his cane.

63

[i]Huang shakes his head before taking his flashlight and looking around until he finds the shell that he ejected at the beginning of the fight and places it in his pocket. He's still bloody, he's not in the best of shape, and his broken ribs are still giving him hell. As he kneels down beside Ming and the fallen Yunru and waits for the paramedics to show up, he finds himself remembering all those times he sat there in silence with Meiying during the aftermath of a case, back before his life went to hell.

It isn't often that a case has a happy ending, and in the case of this one, Mingxia has been rescued and the perp responsible for kidnapping her has been taken down. But the fact that the perp turned out to be the poor girl's own mother is the one bitter note to an otherwise happy ending, as the Thomas family will likely never be the same after tonight. But Huang has handled worse endings in his lifetime, and he's learned to take what victories he can from a case and move on.

Huang turns to Ming and sends one of his warmer smiles her way.[/i]

Huang: Ming...you did good out there.

64

[i]Yunru stays unconscious. The ribbons from her sleeves hang limp and lifeless- whatever power animated them has left them. It's easy enough to bind her wounds- and if she gets medical help soon she should live to see another day. Ming watches carefully by the light of a torch to make sure that the woman is breathing normally and that the gag isn't stifling her.

Nic makes his way out of the dingy cellar and into the sweet, sweet air. He scouts around the ground floor of the house without finding Mingxia, although James Thomas and the gardener seem to be sleeping more normally. Mingxia has made it all the way to the gates at the end of the drive. She's sitting with her back against them.

As Nic approaches, she looks up, tear streaks visible on her face.[/i]

Mingxia Thomas: Are you real? Can you hear me? I heard policemen outside the garage. I shouted and shouted, but they didn't hear me. I thought I was going mad.

An ambulance and a couple of police cars pull up outside the gates. Officers and paramedics rush out and start trying to open the gate.

65

Ming smiles back at Huang ...

Ming: You didn't do so bad yourself, Inspector.

Then a quick look of realization crosses Ming's face.

Ming: The tapes! We need to grab those security tapes before anybody else gets their hands on them. They're the one thing that might tell us what really went on here.

Ming's eyes go wide.

Ming: And they'll show our ... um ... our "arrival" on the scene, too!

With that, Ming dashes toward the door.

Ming: Take care of Mingxia and Yunru, will ya Inspector?

66

Nic lays a reassuring hand on Mingxia's shoulder, and smiles at her.

Nic: I am indeed very real, Ms. Thomas, and there's nothing to be afraid of now. I'm Nic Bennet, and I'm with the HKPD. You've been through an awful lot, but it's over now, and I'll take you to your father, who's very worried about you. When we figure out exactly what's happened, we'll explain it to you, but we may need your help to sort it all out. You're the only one who knows what's been going on since you disappeared on us.

Nic offers the girl a piece of ginseng gum, popping one into his own mouth.

Nic: Now, let's go see your dad.

67

[i]Ming rushes to the house's hall, nearly tripping over James Thomas and the gardener. A quick review of the tapes shows the officers climbing over the wall and the exorcists arriving and leaving, but nothing else untoward that day. Mingxia must have brought back to the house earlier than that.

Ming turns up the tape from the day before yesterday (just before Aaron Thomas reported hearing her voice), and Yunru is seen dragging a large suitcase onto the grounds.

Mingxia stands up slowly, and with Nic's help staggers back towards the house.[/i]

Mingxia Thomas: I was going to meet Sarah, when suddenly I blacked-out. I woke up in this.. garage... chained to the floor. I could hear people outside, but they couldn't hear me. I kept falling asleep, too.

She stumbles a little, and Nic has to help her find her balance again.

Mingxia Thomas: Then was in the cellar- I remember sneaking in there once when I was small- and mum was closing the door on me-

She begins to cry again.

Mingxia Thomas: It wasn't her was it? I was someone else who looked like her, wasn't it? And I called out to anyone who might hear me. Someone must have, mustn't they? Otherwise how would you have found me?

Nic and Mingxia reach the door to the house, where Ming is still looking at the tapes. As she stops the one she's watching, the monitor shows what the camera is currently seeing- two police cars and an ambulance outside the gates.

68

Huang sighs as Ming leaves and then looks down upon Yunru with a grimace.

Huang: Well...I don't know about you, but I could use a goddamn vacation after this...

And with that, he hauls the ex-witch up with a grunt and a growl, supporting her head and neck with one hand as he starts making his way out the door himself. He hates having to carry injured people out of the scene on his own, especially when he's taken enough damage to warrant medical attention himself, and especially when that injured person happens to be the goddamn perp.

Huang: I could use a good Sonny Chiba marathon after this...

69

Ming stuffs the tapes into evidence bags, then stows them in her satchel.

Ming: My spleen hurts.

Ming stumbles out toward the ambulance to seek some much-needed medical attention.

70

On her way out, Ming hits the button that cranks the gate open. Two ambulances hurry down the drive, police cars running ahead of them.

Ming waves at them wearily, then sits down on the step next to the waking men.

Huang emerges from the bushes by the side of the house and gives the arriving officers the 'all-clear' signal before gently resting Yunru down on the gravel.

Paramedic rush about. The Thomas brothers are helped to their feet, then sat in ambulances so they can go to hospital 'for observation'. The gardener is stretchered into one in a neck brace. James Thomas sits next to him and chats light-heartedly to him to keep his spirits up.

Paramedics look over Mingxia.

Paramedic: She looks dehydrated and a little under-nourished. She might be in shock, so we'll take her in.

He sees the weals around her wrists and ankles where the manacles had been

Paramedic: Damn.

He looks up at Nic and gives him a sad nod, as if to day 'you did good work, here'.

A matte black van pulls in behind the ambulances and then drives over the grass to get nearer to the house. Dark grey lettering on the side reads 'SECF'. Ming and Huang recognise this as 'Supernatural Entity Containment Facility'. Occasionally, when something nasty has surrendered or proved unkillable, these black-suited men arrive and drag away the remains. No-one seems to know where the black van goes, or what they do with the monsters they catch.

They fuss around Yunru. Out of sight of Mingxia, Yunru is loaded into the van.

Two paramedics look over the officers, putting quick bandages on their wounds and distributing pain-killers.

Paramedic: We'll have to send another ambulance for you three, sorry. You're stable, but a couple of us will stay here in case you go into shock.

The newly arrived uniformed officers then make with the police tape and wait for forensics to turn up.

71

Huang sits up and lights up one of his remaining smokes. It feels good for this case to finally be over.

Huang: That's all right. Just make sure that Arthur's there to check on Nic. He's had a hell of a first case. I think he'll fit right in.

He takes a drag off his smoke and then turns to Ming.

Huang: So...got any big plans for this upcoming weekend?

72

[i]Nic leans heavily on his white walking stick, watching the SECF crew and the paramedics do their work. The poison in his system makes his head swim occasionally, but doesn't dampen his spirits.

He watches as the staff cares for Mingxia and gets her safely in the ambulance. All the frustration, all the weariness, all the desperation of the last few hours roll from him now, and he smiles broadly. He murmurs to himself:[/i]

Nic: Damn fine first case, if I do say so myself. Guess I was right after all, thinking this was the place and the job for me. If things stay this good, I may live to collect a pension...

Nic heads over to his partners.