Heaven to Wudang by Kylie Chan

Author:Kylie Chan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2011-05-29T12:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

The kindergarten had a tiny garden with a lawn and bamboo edges. We went along the concrete path to the front door and the light above it lit automatically.

‘I’m here,’ I said to the door.

It opened to reveal a plain-looking, middle-aged Chinese woman who I didn’t recognise. We followed her through the dark office into one of the playrooms, which smelled of waste and disinfectant. The desks were neatly lined up in the room, the tiny chairs on top of them. The walls were covered in educational posters showing the alphabet and the first hundred Chinese characters that children were expected to know for entry into first grade.

I shivered at the memories this place brought back: the children had been lovely, but Kitty’s tyranny had been unsettling even back then. The knowledge of what she had done to me here, filling me with demon essence without me even knowing it, made me tremble. I took deep breaths to control it, hoping I wouldn’t need to use chi calming.

‘We can leave if you change your mind,’ Leo said.

I straightened and centred my energy. ‘Be ready to run if the boys aren’t here.’

‘Gotcha.’

The woman waited for us on the other side of the playroom and we followed her into another, larger room. As we entered, the lights snapped on, blinding me. I put my hand over my eyes and peered into the brilliance.

Figures came into view: Kitty, the Death Mother, a pair of high-level demon guards in human form, and my nephews. The boys stood dully, their eyes wide and unseeing.

‘Mark, Andrew, are you all right?’ I said.

‘They’re fine,’ Leo said. ‘Sedated but okay, from what I can see.’ They look human, he added silently.

‘Emma, walk towards us and we’ll send the kids to him,’ Kitty said.

‘Try anything and Leo will destroy you,’ I said.

‘He couldn’t take both of us in a million years,’ the Death Mother said with contempt. ‘Gay-lo.’

‘Just come over here and let’s get this over with,’ Kitty said. ‘You’ve caused me way too much trouble over the years, Emma, and it’s about time you performed the task you were designed to do.’ She waved me forward. ‘Come on.’

I stepped forward and she pushed the boys towards me. They moved mechanically, not seeming to notice me as I passed them.

I waited until I was just out of reach of Kitty and the Death Mother before turning to check that Leo had the boys. I saw something out of the corner of my eye, moved to block it, but wasn’t quick enough. The Death Mother had shoved a hypodermic into my arm. She quickly pushed the plunger down and ripped it out.

‘That was unnecessary, I was coming with you,’ I said, holding my arm and glaring at her.

She smiled slightly. ‘Just making sure.’

I turned back to Leo. The boys were next to him; he took their hands and they all disappeared.

The Death Mother took advantage of my movement and grabbed my hands, pulling them behind me. She roughly tied them together with raffia packing twine, commonly used to bind boxes and shopping bags in Hong Kong.

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