The Fate in your Eyes

Chapter 13 - Masked Man

"Wait what?!", Luana's voice rolled over. Now she finally understood. "So this is how you guys always did the jobs!? I thought you two were hackers!" she exclaimed. She massaged her temples. "Now I realize a lot of things," she grumbled. "That's why you're always hiding. Why didn't you tell me right away?! Cheng. You were the one who saved me from the truck! You had seen it...why didn't you tell me?", Luana wanted to know. Cheng hesitated. "We didn't want to put you in danger...that's all," Cheng confessed. Luana rolled her eyes. She sat down on the bed with Lu and stroked his shoulder. "I saw who killed Scarlett," Lu said icily. Cheng looked at him, upset. "This one?" the white-haired one held up the photo of the suspect. "Yeah, that one right there...pig," Lu growled. Cheng, however, shook his head. "It can't be. He's in a wheelchair. Min Guan hasn't been able to walk...it couldn't possibly have been him," Cheng grumbled. "What?! But...but...I did....," Lu couldn't believe it. Then who had killed Scarlett? "The police came to see him. Even though Scarlett was sitting in her car...it looks like...that when Scarlett died, Min wasn't around," Cheng told. Luana and Lu exchanged a glance. "They had found her body dead in the river after all," the girl murmured. "That's right...Scarlett died at half past one in the night...and in that time Min was already in the hospital," the white-haired man explained tiredly. "It seems like...Scarlett was still alive and threw herself into the river," Luana whispered. That was the only way it would make sense. "On the cameras on the bridge next to the construction site, Scarlett had been seen strolling across it," Cheng added. "Scarlett...committed suicide?", Lu's breath caught. "That's what it looks like." The three were silent for a moment. Somehow, everything didn't seem to fit. Something was missing. Lu couldn't believe it. But he had seen how...Min....

Suddenly, Cheng's cell phone rang. "Yes hello?", Cheng answered the call. It was the officer.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone in Shenja's apartment. No one is answering the door or responding. Even the neighbors haven't seen Shenja since the day before yesterday," Xiao Lee explained the situation. Cheng bit his tongue. Damn, that couldn't be true. "Thanks anyway," he said and hung up. "Do we have a picture of Shenja? Did she post something yesterday? Was she out somewhere?", Lu huffed. Luana thought for a moment. "She went to work after us and...I think she got her bubbletea and otherwise..." she mused aloud. She hadn't written with Shenja yesterday. "Here, an ugly selfie of me and Shenja, in front of our store. That was yesterday," she exclaimed. "Cheng, we have to try it right now!" exclaimed Lu excitedly. Cheng nodded seriously. He used his powers to see into the future. Tensely, Luana and Lu looked at their friend. They didn't dare breathe, as if it would disturb him. Cheng saw Shenja on her bed. Then something in the kitchen. A sound. Shenja in her pajamas. Suddenly the light went out and that was the end of the vision. "The vision is incomplete. Something or someone is at her home," he gasped. "When?", Lu wanted to know. "About half past two. You'll find something there," he said, swallowing. "I'll go right in to the memory...with my power I might manage to protect Shenja...like I did with little Denny," he clarified. "Are you sure you're well enough?", Cheng wanted to make sure. The Scarlett thing had taken a lot out of him. "It could be...that you might get to see the worst outcome," Cheng whispered clearly. Lu hesitated. "I'm 100% sure," he replied. Lu was aware that it was probably possible he would have to watch Shenja die. "Let's get going...", Lu said and sat down.

***

"Mr. Min. The room is cleaned," said the cleaning lady and disappeared from the room. The blond man sat on the balcony and looked at his wine glass. The red wine glinted in the evening sun. The rings around his eyes bounced on his skin, his hair blew disheveled in the wind. Greedily, he drank his wine and threw the glass to the floor. 

"Disgusting," he grumbled, annoyed. Since he was in the wheelchair, he did only one thing, get drunk. How disgusting, just to get drunk. But what else could he do? He scrolled through the messages on his phone. LifeJoy should appoint a new successor. But can Min Guan even run this company after his car accident? 

Will the company go bankrupt? Or will his father have to entrust the company to someone else? 

Min Guan laughed softly. How stupid. He wouldn't be able to run Lifejoy? What a shame. He was meant for greater things, for more. But no, neither money nor the company was coming off him. He slapped his phone on the table. "

Tell me...do you really think I still feel like running this retarded company?" he growled. He started laughing again. "You think you can solve the case with this bitch? Well...I have another idea...my friend," he spoke as if someone else was sitting next to him. 

"Let's play a game with those idiots...with the price as a bitch," he laughed.

***

Shenja and Luana were still sitting at the table talking before they would enter the store. Lu felt like someone was watching them the whole time...but maybe he was just paranoid after the case with Scarlett. "Say Luni...you seem to really like Cheng," she suddenly said. Luana choked. "What, me?...eh..." she stuttered. Shenja just laughed. "You don't have to answer all good...but...as for Lu...he seems so...lifted up," she grumbled. "Me...lifted up? Now listen here missy!" grumbled Lu. "Calm down you fool," Cheng hissed. "It may be that he seems like that...but he's actually quite different. Especially...after his parents disappeared," Luana explained. "None of the neighbors wanted to take care of him. But Lu wouldn't accept help either. Only I...had been playing with him," she murmured. "I did help him...but he always tries to be positive on the outside...but...inside he's pretty shattered," Luana whispered. She could well remember how they used to sit together on the floor by the front door every night and just wait. Lu's heart began to pound. How much he appreciated Luana. He was so happy to have her. "I have to go now," Shenja said and left. (Later she came back to the store for the crush).

Shenja was lying in her bed. In a moment it would be time. "Are you ready?", Cheng wanted to know. "More than ready," Lu replied. "I hope our plan works," Cheng muttered. This time, things were going to be different. Lu wasn't sitting next to his best friend, no, he was sitting in the photo room. Tick tock. Tick tock. The clock only made Cheng chew his lip even more. Lu had to do his best, Shenja's fate now depended on him. He couldn't make a mistake! Cheng stood up and quietly crept to the corner. If the culprit was really coming today, he would do it right away. Cheng had seen through his vision that he and Lu were changing the past so that the culprit would come to them. Hopefully, it would stay that way. For safety's sake, the white-haired man checked his wristwatch over and over again. So that the culprit or the culprit thought they were busy, Cheng had turned off the lights everywhere. Thus, he could hide better. Suddenly, he heard the front door open quietly. In a moment, it was time! The person entered the store and heard a voice from the photo room, "You're on time." Only in this room the light was burning. At the same time, Lu also heard someone enter the apartment in the past. He took a breath and focused on slowly taking control of Shenja. He stood up and quietly moved towards the sound. The person was about to jump on Shenja any moment. Lu, in Shenja's body, braced herself. In the corner of her eye, she recognized the outline of the person. When Shenja turned on the light, Lu was startled to recognize the face. No. That was not a face. It was a mask. The person wore a white mask to which pieces of photographs and rolls of film were glued. The eyes looked at Shenja greedily for a moment, a few seconds later the knife raced down on Shenja. Now she was going to die, now it was over. But Lu used his strength and dodged the knife. Immediately he grabbed the hand and held it-the attacker seemed quite surprised. "Hmph, I guess you didn't expect this," he growled. "To explain it to you briefly. I plan to change the past, you fun, so let's play," Lu hissed in Shenja's body. He had done it, the past was overwritten, Shenja would live. "You know where to find me, right?", Lu teased him. "Tomorrow. Same time," Shenja added. The masked person thought for a moment. "With pleasure," the person replied. "You leave Shenja alone, and we won't turn you in to the police," Lu suggested. The person nodded in agreement. "And now, I have you," Lu said suddenly, clapping his hands. The next moment he woke up and looked into the mask of the person in the photo room. "NOW!", Lu yelled with all his might and Cheng sprinted around the corner and slammed the door. Before the person could even bat an eye, he was locked in a room with Lu. Lu stood up and grinned. Now they had the son of a bitch! There would be no getting the person out of here. "Game Over," he hissed and let his fingers crack.