Payback Time

10

Where am I?

When she woke, Zhang Meng found herself lying on the ground. The chill in her body was still present but she was no longer teeth-chattering cold. The landscape around her was something out of a post-apocalypse movie, with no other human being or living thing in sight, a barren plain frozen all the way through. Akin to her worst nightmare.

Was she dead? Is this how death was? Pulling herself to sit up, the woman was surprisingly unfazed. Almost calm. This place was unfamiliar yet there was nothing menacing or scary about it. Even though it was basically a huge freezer - she wasn't freezing. Unlike before.

That Ying Kong Shi, what the hell did he do to her? She was certain that there had been no physical contact between them but something definitely shifted in the air after he posed the supernatural question. Whatever he did couldn't be seen but that ended up more frightening. The fear that she felt wasn't for her life. But for something more important - that she didn't know. Something more important she needed to protect.

Being naturally athletic, Zhang Meng found the trecarious landscape easy to navigate, even in a ridiculous dress. Her heels had somehow gone missing, anyhow she would have kicked them away. Walking along, she decided that death, if this was it, was quite pleasant - except it would be a tad bit lonely without anyone else.

Sliding down a icy smooth decline, her family suddenly came to mind. What would her father and brothers do without her? Especially that Ya Xin. Such a silly idiot. She could only hope he didn't ugly cry at her funeral.

And then a person came into sight. Casually sitting next to a huge bonfire. As if that was the most natural thing to do in what seemed to be a deserted Antarctica.

As Zhang Meng got nearer, she could make out that it was a woman, perched on a log. Not sure whether this individual could be friend or foe, she slowed down when she was a few feet away, hesitant. Even from a distance, she could make out the woman's dress - it was extraordinary, complete with a cape. As though she was royalty from long time ago.

When the lady turned towards her, Zhang Meng saw her own face. Was this the part of a horror movie where she had to start running away from her evil doppelganger? There was no menace in her aura emitted though.

"I've been waiting for you. Come, sit by me. I'll warm you up." This woman sounded exactly like her too.

Zhang Meng looked around again, there still wasn't any other human being or living creature lurking around. Before she knew it, she found herself planted on the same log as her lookalike, looking straight into the fire.

"Where am I?" She asked the first question.

"Don't you remember this place?" The woman answered the question with her own. It was a little disconcerting to hear her own voice back like a direct echo but with different words.

Oddly, Zhang Meng's usual impatience didn't rear its head - yet. "I've never been here. I hate cold places."

"You have. We have. But it was a long time ago. A lifetime ago." The woman smiled, flicking hair behind her shoulder. "But it does look different, doesn't it. With no one around."

Everything this woman said was creepy but Zhang Meng was yet to be spooked out. She admired the luxe material up close - could it be haute couture? Perhaps she should ask the next important question - which ironically isn't whether she had died.

"Who are you?"

There was no answer - only an enigmatic smile.

"So Ying Kong Shi found you."

She snapped to attention at the mention of that name, her eyes narrowed and nostrils flared now. Not angry but defensive and demanded, "What about him?" Why on earth did this man elicit such response from her? They had only just met. She guessed she blamed him for putting her in wherever the fuck this place was.

"He hurt you. He hurt us. So many times." The other woman started speaking in riddles. "Not just twice. Not the two times we died. But each time he chose his brother, it was a stab to your heart, our heart." A finger reached out to jab Zhang Meng at her chest.

With each jab, Zhang Meng could feel the sadness of the woman flow into her cavity. It was obvious her new acquaintance had unfinished business with Ying Kong Shi, even though she seemed to belong to a different place and time.

"Even if it wasn't his brother, he didn't seem to bother. It was always someone else. That damn mermaid princess or Li Luo. He never once cared. Not about you. Not about us."

Like a lightning flash out of nowhere on a clear day, it hit Zhang Meng all of sudden.

"You are Yan Da."

Again, she didn't get an answer. But Zhang Meng was more than certain that her mirror image was the person that Ying Kong Shi first mistook her to be.

Yan Da simply smiled, with overwhelming sadness reflected in her eyes. The same eyes that greeted Zhang Meng in her own reflection.

"I want to protect you. I need to protect us."

With Yan Da's statement, a series of jumbled images materialised before Zhang Meng like a projected slide show. Like everything she had experienced in this strange environment, she didn't understand them. Although the visions seemed like memories seen from Yan Da's perspective. Scenes from a slick fantasy film.

Zhang Meng saw her father, Jiang Chao and Ya Xin in costumes and wigs - ensembles they would never be caught dead in. But they weren't her family, they seemed distant from the people she loved. She couldn't see Yan Da herself, however her doppelganger's despair and frustration cut deep into her.

In flashes, she caught sight of Ying Kong Shi - or a few different men that looked like him. She couldn't make head or tails of anything.

And then it all went black around her, except for the strong glow of the bonfire.

Again, Yan Da spoke, "But you, we, won't be hurt anymore. You won't trust Ying Kong Shi. He can't get close to you."

"The moment he makes an impact on you, our magic will turn us into ice. Ying Kong Shi's own tribe magic. The tiny part of himself that he put in us when we came to life the second time round."

"I promise you. Ying Kong Shi will never hurt you again."

Yan Da's pupils glittered - was it with tears - but Zhang Meng understood enough.

"You don't need him to be happy anymore. You have everything you need in this life. Your father, your brothers, they love you more than anyone can. You have to be happy in this life."

The many many questions Zhang Meng had to ask swirled around her head like a messy parade. But before she could counter, before she could even try to console the heartbroken Yan Da, everything disappeared.