snarky_panda (snarky_panda) wrote in mulanficspace, @ 2007-06-08 20:13:00 |
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Title: Prey
Summary: Alternate universe suspense story set in the 20th century, specifically the early 1980’s. The memory sections take place in the 1960’s, during China’s Cultural Revolution.
Disclaimer: Everything from the Disney movie belongs to Disney.
Link here for beginning of story.
Chapter Three
Mulan made sure she was alone in the back room of the bank before withdrawing the key and opening the safety deposit box with the number that Fei-pu had written. As she expected, the box contained papers, copies of the files.
Without reading anything yet she swept up every piece of paper in the box and shoved it into her bag, pushing it all the way down to the bottom. She would read everything later, in a private place. Right now she wanted to leave the bank before someone else showed up with another copy of the key to the box.
The Civic Center was a couple of stops away on the train and she headed into the station to catch the next one headed there. Someone had left that day’s newspaper on the seat beside her and she picked it up to read it. There was a small article on page five about the ‘as yet unidentified Chinese man’ found in Mission Dolores Park. The police were speculating that it was a drug-related homicide, given the location of the body, but they hadn’t drawn any definite conclusions yet and were still investigating. So far the gun that was used to kill Fei-pu hadn’t been retrieved and the police hadn’t located any witnesses yet either.
When the train reached the Civic Center stop she got off. The main branch of the public library was nearby and she headed toward it, hoping it would be open on a Saturday. It would be quiet there and she could find a private alcove in which to read.
Unfortunately the library was closed and she aimlessly wandered around the empty streets of the financial district, her bag slung over her shoulder. She’d already checked out of the hotel by the bus station. One night amidst the stench was enough to make her sick; now she needed to find somewhere else to go.
She hopped a cable car at Market Street and Powell and got out at the marina, then caught a bus to Golden Gate Park. That seemed as good a place as any to hang out in, and it was a nice day. A small food shop was open across from where she got off the bus, and she went in and bought a bottle of juice and a sandwich. Sitting down under a tree in the park and leaning against the trunk, she unwrapped the paper containing the sandwich and took a bite. The moment she was eating her body suddenly let her know how famished she was; and she realized she hadn’t eaten in over twelve hours. She found herself wolfing down the sandwich, stopping only to open the bottle of juice and gulp some of the liquid down.
“You’re going to choke on that.”
Mulan almost did choke at the sound of the voice. She began to cough and he took a seat beside her and began to slap her on the back.
“Stop,” she managed to croak out between dry coughs.
“Are you alright?”
“Fine.” When she recovered and the hacking coughs subsided she whirled on him angrily. “Why are you following me around, Shang?”
“I wasn’t following you. I’m here with my friends. Maybe you’re following me,” he quipped lightly.
She merely frowned.
His smiled faded. “I didn’t think you were coming back to town. And then I saw you…”
“Well, I had to come back.” She bit back the impulse to accusingly inform him that he’d screwed up her plans by following her around.
“Oh.”
They were silent for several minutes. Then he pointed to another tree several yards away. A couple of young men around their age were lounging beneath it, drinking beers.
“My friends are over there. Would you like to come over and have a beer?”
“No thanks.”
“Are you alright? You look exhausted,” he remarked quietly. “Like you’ve been running for days. What are you running away from?”
“Nothing. Mind your own business. Ever since we ran into each other again you’re being too pushy and nosy.”
“Mulan.” He shifted and came around to kneel in front of her, then reached out and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. “You can’t lie to me. I’m worried. What are you so scared of?”
She looked into his face. There was so much concern and caring in his expression and she wanted so much to believe that he was a friend, not a foe. But she couldn’t get the image of him talking to Mr. Luo out of her brain.
Mulan shook her head slowly and laughed wryly.
“My shadow.”
His gaze lowered and rested on her bag. “I assume you haven’t returned to your apartment since you left for Palo Alto.”
“I don’t like it there.”
“Where are you staying then?”
She didn’t answer.
“Mulan, you’ve always been so secretive,” he murmured. “For as long as I’ve known you. But you have to trust someone sometime. I know you’re in some kind of trouble. Please trust me.”
“Is that why we didn’t work out three years ago? Because you find me secretive?”
His jaw went slack as he stared at her, clearly caught off guard.
“Things were difficult then, the timing was bad,” he managed to respond finally. “I already told you that, and I meant it. And don’t change the subject.”
She reached up and stroked his face, unable to help herself. He sighed in resignation and brought one hand up to cover her hand, pressing it against his lips and kissing her fingers tenderly. A sweet pain shot through her legs as she felt his warm breath and lips on her flesh.
“What are you doing later?”
“Looking for a place to stay.”
“Have dinner with me. We can talk, and you can stay at my place for the night.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
He smiled and stroked her cheek gently. “I promise you’ll be infinitely safer in my home than in some seedy hotel.”
“Seedy? How do you know I wouldn’t be staying in a four-star hotel?”
Shang laughed. “Just a hunch.”
Averting her eyes, she drew away from him skittishly and turned to look out in the distance. He knew that she was staying in seedy hotels because he’d seen her going in, no doubt; which meant that he’d been watching her, at least one of the days.
“Where do you want to meet?” she asked. “Other than Chinatown.”
“Well, you can join my friends and me, and then later you and I can go our own way.”
Mulan hesitated for a moment, pondering.
“I’m going to look for a place to stay for the night first,” she told him.
“Okay. I’ll pick you up somewhere.”
“No, it’s better if I just meet you at the restaurant later. Is seven o’clock good?”
“Fine. I’ll make reservations for dinner at seven. Do you like French food?”
“Sure.”
“Let’s meet at L’Olivier then. It’s on Davis Court, in the Financial District. Near Jackson.”
“Alright. See you at seven.”
*******
Saying no to Shang would have been the wiser thing to do. She didn’t completely trust him, though she didn’t sense any blatant attempt at deception on his part and he seemed genuinely concerned for her well-being as always. But she did sense that he was telling the truth when he told her he still loved her; and she felt the same way about him. She wanted to be with him.
As a precaution, she decided to go back to the bus station and leave her bag in one of the lockers there. For all she knew, he was good at putting up a front. What if she stayed at his house and he looked in the bag while she was asleep? He’d find the papers from Fei-pu.
She would need to be dressed nicely for dinner. Rather than change in the filthy bathroom at the bus depot however, she made her way to the Union Square area first. There was a Saks Fifth Avenue there and she went in to use their ladies’ room.
Fortunately she’d washed her hair earlier so she didn’t need to bother with that again. She washed her face and her body with paper towels, soap and water, then went into one of the stalls to change. L’Olivier sounded like it would be an elegant restaurant. Jeans and sneakers would not be appropriate attire. In her haste to get out of her apartment with the barest necessities she’d left most of her clothes behind, including her business clothes. Her nice silk cheongsam and matching shoes were the one exception; but she would have to iron the cheongsam. Or buy a new dress for the night.
Sighing with impatience and frustration she left the bathroom and headed for the dress department.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered as she browsed through racks of lovely dresses that were too expensive for her to afford. “I should have told him I couldn’t make it.”
By the time she got to the restaurant she would probably be too tired to enjoy anything.
Luckily she ended up speaking to a very nice saleswoman who sympathized with her predicament and arranged to get her dress pressed for her in the store. Mulan thanked her, then went to one of the fitting rooms and changed into the dress and her high-heeled shoes.
Her money was stuffed inside her socks. She pulled out a small purse and transferred all of her cash into it, along with her passport, the safe deposit key and a small case with a toothbrush.
As the sun was beginning to set she went straight to the bus station and put her large bag, with the confidential papers and all her other possessions, into a locker. Slipping the key into her purse after locking it up, she left the bus depot and went to the restaurant where she was to meet Shang.
Just as she’d predicted, she was already exhausted and worn out.
“I’m going to be a bundle of fun tonight,” she muttered.
Now having second and third thoughts about meeting him, Mulan felt anxious and disturbed. The fact that she’d gone through so much trouble to stow her bag somewhere away from him, thinking that he might look in it if she brought it to his home, showed that deep down she didn’t trust him anymore than she trusted anybody else.
*******
He was still asleep when Mulan quietly got out of bed in the morning, unable to remember anything that had happened after they left the restaurant and got into his car. She was dressed only in her black bra and panties.
What memory she had of the night before was wonderful; the dinner was delicious, Shang looked as handsome as ever, and the ambience of the restaurant was extremely romantic. She wasn’t hung over and she didn’t remember feeling drunk. In fact she’d only had one glass of wine. Had she merely fallen asleep in the car? Whatever had happened, Shang brought her home, slipped off her dress and shoes, and put her into his bed.
Ending up in Shang’s home wasn’t a bad thing though. There was something on her mind and now that she was here, maybe she could answer her own questions.
Pulling one of the extra blankets around her body to keep warm she crept over to his closet where his suits and other clothes were hanging and checked his pockets, searching for a gun. Unsuccessful at locating one, she flicked on the light in the closet and checked thoroughly for a holster of some sort.
Nothing. She turned the light off and closed the door behind her, frowning as her eye swept the room. There was a dresser with drawers and she tiptoed over to quietly check inside.
After her search turned up nothing still she softly eased herself back into bed and tugged the rest of the covers up over her body. Maybe she was being paranoid and had misjudged him. It was possible that Shang just happened to know Mr. Luo. It was a small world and Chinatown was smaller.
“What were you looking for?”
Her heart thudded in her chest as she started from the sound of his voice. For a moment she lay still, not answering. Then she slowly turned her head to look at him. Shang’s eyes were still closed and he’d sounded half asleep when he asked the question. Maybe he was dreaming and had asked the question within the context of his dream.
But he opened his eyes after a minute when she still didn’t respond.
“Mulan. What were you looking for?” he asked again.
“I’m sorry I was a crummy date,” she finally spoke up, still attempting to hedge his question.
He leaned over and kissed her. “You were a lovely date,” he laughed. “But I knew how tired you were. I could see it when I met you in the park. So, when you fell asleep in the car I didn’t disturb you. I brought you home, carried you inside and tucked you into bed.”
“Thanks.”
“And now, I’m not letting you change the subject. What were you looking for?”
“A gun,” she sighed.
“What?”
“I was looking to see if you have a gun here.”
Shang looked utterly dumbfounded. “A gun? Why would you think I own a gun?”
“Forget it. It was stupid.”
He raised himself up on an elbow and gazed at her with an amused expression. “Were you afraid I was going to shoot you?”
“Yes.” She tried to keep it light, a joke, but her voice was tight. His eyebrow quirked up and without warning she burst into tears.
“Mulan. I can’t believe it. How could you think such a thing?”
“You told me that I’m secretive,” she began to speak through her tears. “But what about you? I don’t know what your intentions are, but you’ve been following me around this whole time. Maybe you know more than you’re telling about me and my life.”
“My intentions are to look out for you, Mulan, and to make sure that you’re safe. That’s all.”
His arms wound around her and he pulled her close to him, beginning to stroke her hair tenderly.
“We were going to talk last night, but I knew you needed to rest. Let’s talk now.”
“You first,” she answered.
She wanted him to reveal himself before she talked about herself.