A Warning From Beyond Part VII
By: P.G. Barnett
Tags: Short Story, Storytelling, Fiction, Henry And Sunny, Stories

My name is Sunny Alexander, and I’m Henry James, and we’re writers for Dark Sides of the Truth magazine.

Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI

After the pat-down and one of the guards disappearing behind a door which he quietly shut behind him, it seemed as if everything started to move in agonizingly slow motion.

No one spoke, no one moved, everyone silently staring at the deadly-looking pistol in the remaining guard’s hand.

The issue was, and each of us knew it, the second guard could easily return with his weapon drawn and both of them could take care of the recent nuisance in a matter of seconds. There would be no way Bo or Lilly to get to the pistols that the guards had taken from them in time to return fire.

“Just hold everybody. If they’d wanted you all dead, they would would have shot first and asked questions later.”

Every one of us heard Manny’s whisper and after another set of painstaking seconds the door swung open and the guard inside waved us in.

“Xiānfēng duì xiànzài huìjiàn nǐ, dàn zhǐyǒu nǐmen liǎng gè”

Rebecca turned to Bo and Lily, “you will wait here for us to return. The Vanguard only wishes to see us.”

Fortunately, the lights inside the room were much brighter and the button cams’ provided a clear view of a well-dressed gentleman sitting behind a monstrous desk of well-polished cherry wood.

Immaculate and clean-shaven he watched Rebecca and Sunny walk in, his deep brown eyes following each step, a curious look of detached impatience forming on his face as if he’d been disturbed during a critical portion of his day.

Behind the man, beautiful tapestries covered the wall, but that wasn’t the only thing behind the man.

Standing to one side and behind him to his left was the image of Rebecca’s grandmother. It wavered twice and then grew steady.

From the surveillance van, we lost the image for a brief moment as Rebecca and Sunny bowed and then straightened.

“Shīfu, wǒmen lái xúnqiú héhé.”

“The Wo Hop To seeks a favor from us, do they? Do you speak English?”

“Yes, Master.”

“I have called the number on the back of this photograph and spoken with your Vanguard. It seems as if we have something you wish to have.”

“Yes, Master. We have come from San Fransisco with instructions to locate this vermin and bring him back to suffer the penalty for murdering our beloved Mountain Master.”

“And you think we have such a person?”

“Yes, Master. We believe he is a blue lantern among your ranks and seeks to hide beneath the cloak of the Flying Dragons…”

Miss? Is there something behind me that interests you?”

“Damn it Sunny this is Henry. Get with the program. Becca’s grandmother is just standing there for God’s sake. Pay attention.

“Uh, yes master she, uh I mean those tapestries are beautiful.”

“They have been in my family for centuries. You said San Fransisco did you not Miss…”

“Master we are red poles from the Wo Hop To. You have spoken with our Vanguard. We have been instructed to follow your direction and await your pleasure.”

“I see.”

We watched as the man leaned against the back of his overstuffed chair and steepled his fingertips against his chin in thought.

“Let us continue our conversation on the premise that we do have this man you speak of. I suppose a change of possession could be arranged. And for this favor what is the Mountain Master of Wo Hop To prepared to offer?”

“I beg pardon Master?”

“Surely you did not think if we knew of the whereabouts of the person you seek, we would offer this information for free?”

“Ah yes. Wo Hop To is prepared to pay two hundred thousand dollars for this man.”

“Dammit Rebecca, are you flipping crazy? This is Manny. There is no way I can come up with that kind of money on such short notice.”

“I see. You may be interested to know. We have discovered that this person you seek is an informant for the police. Our initiation ceremony will take place the day after tomorrow and it was our intent to deal with him accordingly.”

“His death at the hands of the Flying Dragons would come as a great disappointment to our Mountain Master. It has been his wish for us to bring this man back and allow Wo Hop To, to make an example of him.”

After several seconds of silence, the man lowered his hands and splayed them across the desk as he stood.

“You have made a very lucrative proposition. Please let your Vanguard know the Flying Dragons, respect the wishes of the Moutain Master of Wo Hop To and as such will entertain an exchange. This man’s life for two hundred thousand dollars. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

Again we lost sight of the man when Sunny and Rebecca bowed, straightened and then began to backpedal.

“Thank you, Master. How will we be contacted in order to make the exchange?”

“I will once again, speak with your Vanguard with regard to the particulars. I’m sure you and he will be in communication afterward, yes?”

“Yes, Master. Again thank you for your kindness and consideration.”