Until Then...

Chapter - 43

Living is just an adventure. Every day you wake up, the world awaits you with all the uncertainty and possibilities to throw your way at every corner. It takes courage to open your eyes and let the light enter you, lifting you away from the safe arms of dreams. It takes strength to take a step out of your cocoon and enter the unpredictable world. Every day, all of us are taking risks, being brave and facing problems no matter how mundane it may seem.

It takes everything within us to accept the challenges and be actually satisfied and contented with them. We can neither control the world outside our hands nor can we predict the future. We are just mere humans, running on the wheel out of our own volition and diving down the sky with nothing but a pair of broken wings.

The private plane owned by He family descended in Beijing airport at the estimated time. The craft glided down gracefully directed by the skillful pilot and with a loud screech the plane finally settled in the runway. The private planes were not necessarily landed in the same place as the commercial flights but instead they were landed in aviation ramp reserved only for certain aircrafts. The He family being the prominent family as they were, it was a given they had their own private ramp to use.

The plane carefully made its way into the hangar without any difficulties and its passengers on board were now getting ready to depart. Ran leaned closer to a window for a better view of the outside and saw two black Mercedes parked right outside the plane. "Well, they are already here. I have to say boss I don't feel so good coming back here empty handed." He Cheng put his glass down and smoothed his coat before standing up a towering 6ft 3in giant. "It is not always guaranteed that we will always get what we want. Sometimes there will be losses. It depends on what we do with them from here on." He glanced at Qui who slapped Ran's head with a faint smile and headed to the door which opened with a hiss off air.

The white hair giant stepped out of the craft first and he inhaled deeply till his lungs painfully expanded inside his muscular chest. "Nothing beat the air of Beijing...the sweet...yet smoky?" He wrinkled his nose as a hint of peculiar smell reached them. Was it from the tires? "What are you doing?" Ran asked appearing behind him with a yawn. "Get off quickly, will you? I'd like to stretch my legs." Qui grumbled and with large, heavy strides he marched down the stairs followed by Ran close on his heels. He Cheng stepped outside the plane last and he stopped for a moment at the top of the staircase watching his two men bickering before him. It was quiet.

He watched the black cars a few feet away from them but as if there was no one in there, the air in the hangar was stagnant and eerily quiet. "Qui...Ran..." He called out to his men who were now heading toward the cars. "Yes, boss?" Qui asked turned to look at the boss who was taking his sweet time climbing down the stairs. May be he had trouble walking after that rendezvous in the plane. "Something is wrong..." He Cheng said with a low voice, his hand digging into the coat as his dark eyes scanned the surrounding like an eagle. Realizing the look on He Cheng's face, Qui tensed and without making any large movement, he too slowly buried his hand into the jacket to reach the weapon.

Something was really not right in here. Even though there were cars from their company, there was no one around to welcome them. Not even the staff stationed at hangar. The place was eerily empty as if there were someone lying in ambush... "Qui bro, where are the youngsters coming to greet us? Even if we didn't succeed in Macau, isn't this just too much?" Ran whined not realizing that Qui had stopped in his tracks and headed toward the car all by himself. "We..." before he could finish the words, he glimpsed a trail of red substance dried on the ground near the tires.

There was only time for a raise in eyebrows and constriction of pupils before his nerves were alarmed of a shadow across from him pointing a gun at his face. "RAN! DUCK!" He Cheng's voice roared inside the hangar and it literally gave life to the dread atmosphere as a series of gun fire exploded in a matter of seconds. Hearing the commend and witnessed the bullet flying right at his face through the car's window, Ran dropped so fast to the ground, he hit his chin hard making it bled in the process.