Half of My Heart

One door closes and another one opens.

This is not how he had expected his life to end, in a bank shielding someone who didn't know him. When he saw the gunman aim, Yunlan ran towards the target and gripped him firmly in his arms while he completed a perfect half spin to make himself the victim. But the unknown man flipped him around and willingly took the bullet. The gunman fled when high pitched screams erupted from the terrified customers and chaos took over as they tried to escape through the main doors. The stranger's life was slipping away fast while Yunlan knelt on the floor beside him.

"Why did you do that? You could have lived. My life is not important. keep breathing, an ambulance should be here soon."

"You are more important than you know. I'm glad to see you again before I leave, I give my life willingly, live well my lord."

The victim on the floor seemed to know Yunlan who was disturbed by his actions, and the way he spoke was like a personal friend, but he was sure that they had never met. He didn't want to be here when the police arrived because he knew them all too well, but there was no way that he could leave. The security cameras would have a clear recording of everything that had happened, including him failing to save another life, and he sat on a soft leather sofa waiting. Yunlan was expecting the sarcastic remarks in the way the officers spoke to him, he was one of them before he left his position in Internal Affairs, and now this.

Eventually he was released and headed for the nearest restaurant because he knew from experience that if he went anywhere else, he would end up drinking too much and have intense stomach pain. The meal always slowed down his alcohol intake and forced him to eat properly at the same time, while he thought over what had happened. He still couldn't believe that the stranger was willing to die for him and he added it to the list of all the other oddities that were becoming more frequent in his life.

Yunlan began to feel tired, the alcohol had relaxed his mind and when he managed to get home, he went to bed earlier than normal, hoping for one night of peaceful rest without any disturbances. He was in a deep sleep when the noise filtered into his dreams from the street below once again. The sound of two voices outside laughing as they passed by and he kept his eyes closed, knowing that they would be out of hearing range soon.

As he tried to settle down, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on edge. Someone was in his room watching him and he couldn't move. If he didn't show that he was aware they would just leave, but if he turned he knew that he wouldn't be fast enough to save himself, and he was afraid. This was a regular occurrence which gave him a strong feeling of being in danger every time it happened. His flat was not haunted but sometimes it felt as though it was and he had no normal explanation for his reasoning, except for his nightly visitor who came to watch him and seemed to enter through his locked doors and closed windows.

Several weeks later he received a letter from an unknown lawyer explaining that he had inherited a half ownership of a Victorian mansion from one of his deceased relatives. They had been searching for him for a very long time and Yunlan tossed it in the bin. No one he was related to had enough money to own a mansion and he thought it was a scam. He left his flat hoping to slip past the manager's office on his way to work, but he was spotted and stopped by the ever alert concierge who watched the security cameras constantly.

"Zhao Yunlan, your last rent payment was late and I'm still waiting. Either pay up or get out, your choice." And he slammed his door shut.

Yunlan looked at the floor and sighed, he didn't have enough money for rent and he returned to his flat to fish the scam letter out of the bin, hoping for miracles as he called the lawyer's number. He was surprised when they gave him an immediate appointment to visit and meet the staff who worked in the mansion. Therefore he put on his best smile before he went to see the house.