Lights Out (6 page)

He had a vision. He would embrace the triad society and its entire
heritage. He would be a good leader. He would make it his sole duty to
re-instill the rules to everyone and they would respect him for it. Guan Yin
was slipping. She was old and weak and let the members run themselves. They
didn’t respect her anymore. They respected
him
.
They listened to
him
and followed
his
orders. He would never allow it to
happen.

Two hours later he had left without eating, leaving just his empty
tea cup and scrunched up napkin on the table.

Lily and Ryan were still so engrossed in their conversation that it
was only when the waiter presented them with the bill that they realized that
they were the only diners left in the restaurant.

Without looking at the waiter or taking
his eyes off Lily, Ryan pushed his hand into his back trouser pocket and pulled
out his wallet to pay.

Ghost Face sat in the corner of a dingy Dai
Pai
Dong café nestled down a narrow side street, calmly drinking Chinese tea and
waiting for his guest to arrive. He was wearing the same black suit as the
previous day. The only difference to his attire was his black tie. It was
missing. He’d forgotten to put it on in his haste to get out of his apartment
on time. It was unusual for him and he reprimanded himself for it.

He felt tired today. He hadn’t slept much, and had spent many hours
the night before pacing up and down his apartment until he couldn’t stand it
any longer. The pent up excitement of what lay ahead was almost bursting out of
his body. Images flashed and danced in front of his eyes as he remembered the
previous encounter. He wondered if the chill that he suddenly felt running
through the entirety of his body was from the cool air conditioning in his
apartment or from the adrenaline that was starting to course through his veins.

Thumbing through the local newspaper he’d quickly found the Sex101 ad
that he was searching for. There were hundreds of women offering their
services, that he was almost spoilt for choice. Ghost Face hurried down the
page, scanning the brief descriptions and paused over one particular ad. There
was a tiny thumbnail image in grainy print of a young looking woman. Her name
was Ling
Ling
. She had a tiny figure quoting
34B-23-34 and a height of 5’4”. She offered full services and described herself
as a
smooth skinned phoenix, ready to fly
.
Her working hours were listed as 12:00 noon until 02:00am. Ghost Face dialed
the number and waited impatiently for it to be answered. Finally Ling
Ling
picked up the call and spoke in a soft seductive
voice. “Ling
Ling
, how may I help you?”

It was one step closer for Ghost Face and he allowed a thin smile to
escape across his mouth as he spoke. “I need to see you now.” He stated.

Well practiced in the art of closing a deal and used to all kinds of
callers, Ling
Ling
immediately fell into her normal
sales patter that she used on all first time clients. “The full service is
$1’600 Hong Kong Dollars, which you pay in cash before we begin. I can offer
other services later, like massage and reflexology if you like. Is the price OK
with you?”

Ghost Face breathed deeply into the receiver trying to control the
eagerness that was filling his body. “The price is fine, I’m sure you will be
worth every cent.” He prolonged the ‘every’ making Ling
Ling
shiver on her end of the phone.

“Where do you live?” He almost whispered the last question.

Ling
Ling
read out the address to Ghost
Face as he mentally stored it in his head. Without saying another word, he
switched off his phone picked up his wallet, and walked out of his apartment.

Across the City in a run down area of Sham
Shui
Po district, Ling
Ling
started to prepare her room.
She’d been doing this now for two years on and off and was used to strange and
weird men calling her for appointments throughout her day. This call had been
no different. She’d had a quiet day and was glad for the last minute
appointment. It was late now, so she suspected that he would be her last one for
the night.

Ling
Ling
walked through the basic one
bedroom apartment plumping cushions and straightening curtains. She lit another
incense stick in her bathroom, and topped up the water in the t-lite burner
that she had placed in her kitchenette stove. She loved the smell of
frangipanis’ and had been delighted when her sister had given her the tiny jar
of oil. Now the smell was working it’s way through to the bedroom and Ling
Ling
breathed it in deeply. She lowered the lighting,
switching off all the main lights and just keeping her side lamp on. She’d
thrown a red silk scarf over the white plastic lampshade to give the room an
exotic feel. She’d seen this in a magazine and thought that it improved the
atmosphere. She gave the room one last glance, and satisfied with how it looked
she went to the bathroom to prepare herself. Ling Ling’s working attire
consisted of black lacy lingerie, normally a bra and tiny panties and she
always wore a silk patterned kimono over the top when greeting her client. She
had her hair twisted and secured with a single long pin, so that she could
shake her thick long mane of hair out in a hurry if she needed to. She checked
her face in the mirror and noted that still had enough mascara on. She expertly
touched up her base and lips and added a tiny drop of the frangipani oil to her
wrists and the nape of her neck. She was ready. The smell of the fragrance
always reminded her of her sister. Only the day before she had dropped by to
chat. She had sat Ling
Ling
down and warned her about
the recent one-women brothel slayings, telling her that she was worried about
her. She’d begged Ling
Ling
to re-think her career
and had so many suggestions of what she could do, all of which Ling
Ling
dismissed. She was street smart. She knew how to handle
herself, and had told her sister as much. She didn’t need to be taken care of.
They hugged, and then her sister left, promising to drop by in a few days.

Twenty minutes had gone by since Ghost Face had called the girl. Now
he found himself in a run down area of Sham
Shui
Po,
bordering the old fabric markets and wet markets. It was deserted with the just
the occasional taxi or pedestrian passing by. The address that he had memorized
was leading him to a small low-rise apartment block. He walked passed shuttered
entrances scanning the numbers until he found the one that he wanted. 78. He
looked around and slipped unnoticed into the building entrance and walked down
a narrow hallway before finding the stairs. The narrow winding staircase was
dimly lit, but he took the steps two at a time and quickly made his way up to
the 5
^th
floor. The landing was dark and poorly lit except for a
single yellow light bulb above the doorway. To the right of the door was the
number; 5B etched into a metal plate and an intricate scroll design of what
Ghost Face could only assume was a phoenix. He straightened out his clothes
smoothing down his jacket and trousers, and ran his fingers through his hair
smoothing it back into place, then he stepped forwards into the yellow light and
gently knocked on the door.

Ling
Ling
answered at the first knock and
inspected her visitor through the gap in the door leaving the security chain
across. Ghost Face forced one of his thin-lipped smiles showing his yellowing
teeth. Ling
Ling
nodded politely and quickly closed
the door to release the security chain then she opened it wide enough for him
to enter. He stepped over the threshold in one stride and Ling
Ling
silently closed the door behind him, slipping the
chain across as she did so, so that they wouldn’t have any surprise
disturbances by her
neighbours
or the Police.

Ghost Face immediately slipped off his shoes at the door and turned
to face her.

Ling
Ling
gave Ghost Face her well
practiced respectful look and gently reminded him of the $1’600 dollars up
front in her most apologetic voice. She didn’t like the business side of things
and was always relieved when a client handed over the money so that she could
concentrate on the job at hand.

Ghost Face looked around the shabby dimly lit room. It was a tiny
apartment, maybe only 300 square feet he estimated. She had a double bed
situated under the only window in the room with an oriental silk printed quilt
draped over the top piled up with cushions. A dark wooden Chinese-style side
table with a small lamp in the
centre
sat next to the
bed, covered with a red silk cloth, which he thought looked cheap. Heavy old
grey curtains hung precariously above the tiny window. He noticed that the
bathroom was to the left and a small kitchenette to the right. Ghost Face
focused his attention back to his prize. He looked at her more closely. She
couldn’t be a day over eighteen. Her hair was long and piled up high onto her
head in an attempt to make her look older. She had make-up on, probably freshly
applied, knowing that he was coming. She wore a cheap silky kimono style
dressing gown with wide sleeves, depicting oriental cranes and flowers covering
her small frame. She had tried far too hard, but she was pretty. He couldn’t
tell what her body was like yet, but it didn’t matter to him now, she would do
perfectly.

Ghost Face didn’t speak. He put his hand into his pocket and pulled
out the $1’600 dollars in bills and pushed them into her outstretched hand. He
sensed her relax a little as she turned and quickly went over to her bedside
table, opened up the front drawer and slid the money safely inside. She then turned
back to Ghost Face and with a nervous smile, undid the waist tie holding her
kimono together revealing her lacy underwear, hoping that her client would approve.

Ling
Ling
felt a little unnerved at his
silence. He wasn’t a good-looking man, she thought. So pale and there was something about
his demeanor that was unsettling to her. She hoped upon hope that he wouldn’t
be too rough and that it would be over quickly. She’d had her fair share of
assholes to deal with and didn’t feel like a fight tonight.

Taking her by surprise Ghost Face took a sudden step towards her and
gently pushed her backwards toward the bed, she stumbled slightly, but obliged
him and straightening herself up she took another step back herself. He leaned
forward and tugged on the kimono’s wide sleeve causing it slip off her
shoulders altogether and watched with satisfaction as it fell into a silky pile
at her feet. He pulled the pin out of her hair and let it fall onto her
shoulders and down her back. Ling
Ling
suddenly felt
exposed and a little awkward, she hadn’t experienced this silence before. She
pushed her sister’s warnings to the back of her mind, shaking them off as
ridiculous, and tried to give him her best smile. She dropped her hands
modestly to the side and waited for him to take the lead. It was clear to her
that this client wanted to feel in control.

After a few moments of just standing, Ling
Ling
broke the silence. “What do you want me to call you?” She asked.

Ghost Face was serious now. His breathing had increased as he took in
the view of her body. Her ad had stated that she was smooth skinned, and she
certainly was.

Ignoring Ling Ling’s question, Ghost Face hungrily pulled her closely
to him forcing her small body against his strong frame. With one hand he held
her wrist tight behind her back squeezing hard so that she couldn’t move, and
with the other grabbed clumsily at her bra strap pulling it down as far as he
could until her firm left breast bobbed out of the lace.

“That…that hurts a little”, Ling
Ling
managed to say, trying to keep the anxiety out of her voice.

Ghost Face leaned in close to her face squashing his cheek up against
hers. He whispered close to her ear, gripping her wrist even more tightly.

“Good.”

Fear seized Ling
Ling
as she wriggled her
wrist to try and free herself from his tight grip. With her other hand she
pushed against his upper body as hard as she could, but the attempt was futile,
he was so much stronger than her.

“Stupid, stupid girl”, he snarled, starting to enjoy himself. He
could feel his erection grow as he pushed his body towards hers until they
reached the side of the bed.

Still with his face against her cheek, Ling
Ling
could hear his breathing quicken. She could feel her own heart was beating
faster, and a cold panic began to take hold as she realized that she was in
mortal danger. Survival kicked in as she forced herself to focus.
Maybe
, she thought, trying to calm
herself,
if I just let him do what he
wants to me without fighting, then he’ll leave
, she reasoned with herself.
She’d had enough rough clients before and had always managed to survive the
night.

Any glimmer of hope that she had at that moment diminished
immediately.

“You should always double check who you let into your home.” Ghost
Face rasped the last sentence. Unable to hold back any longer he pushed her
down onto the bed with his one free hand as he quickly fumbled with the belt
and zip of his pants with the other.

Before Ling
Ling
could say another word, he
had covered her mouth with his hand, and pushed her legs open. Her eyes were
wide with horror now as she could feel the pressure of his hand across her nose
stopping the flow of air. He pushed down against her, and yanked the delicate
lace underwear, ripping the elastic to one side grazing her hip in the process,
and pushed himself inside her. He could feel that she was tight. He looked down
at his prize. She was gripping onto his wrist with both hands trying to lift
his arm away from her nose and mouth desperate for air, but his whole body
weight was now against her small frame. He took pleasure from the look of sheer
terror on her face; he always did like this part the most. The more she
struggled to release herself, the more he pressed down and the harder his
erection became. He could feel her gasping and struggling to breathe, her
muffled sounds worked well as background noise, complimenting the lighting and
shadows. Her grasp became less urgent now and he moved his hand away from her
nose and mouth and settled his grip firmly across her throat moving the
pressure to her windpipe. Ling
Ling
could only manage
a small gasp. Her mind was in turmoil now as she could feel her lungs screaming
for air. She fought unconsciousness as the black spots danced and flickered in
front of her eyes, the crushing pain across her neck spiked through her whole
body. Now she didn’t have the energy to fight. Her body began to submit as the
black closed in around her. Her eyes became glassy as she looked up again for
the last time at her killer, his face now out of focus and slipping further
away. She lay still as he moved in an out of her body. Her knees flopped open
wide on either side of her, whilst he continued to move back and forth forcing down
on her with as much strength as he could muster. Now he had forgotten her
completely, lost in his own fantasy, his eyes closed enjoying himself to the
end. He could feel the odd twitch and movement beneath him, but this just
heightened his pleasure.