A Gatekeeper & The Celestial Sovereign

"How are you related to the victim?" Lin Yang asked

"We were dating but we recently broke up."

Lin Yang raised an eyebrow, "Really what was the reason for breaking up?"

"She stopped messaging and barely replied to my texts. One day she sent me a message saying she didn't really feel like there was a connection between us, and that she didn't picture me in her life. So, we broke up."

Frank reached for his phone and showed them the messages.

"Wowee what did you do to make her say that? Sending this via text is harsh" Lin Yang hissed.

Officer Yuanji coughed, "Be professional Officer Lin."

"Ah yes, so she broke up with you via text on…" she looked at the date of the messages, "on the 11th of December. Did you have any contact with her after that?"

Frank shook his head, "No, none at all. I obviously wanted to talk with her and sort things out, but when I went to her workplace, I found out she had quit, and they didn't know why or where she'd gone. And when I went to her flat, I learnt from her neighbour and Landlord that she'd just collected her deposit and moved out in a hurry the day before. I lost track of her."

"It must have been shocking for you to see her again like this after the breakup."

"Yes, it was shocking. It was the last thing I expected to see." Frank explained.

Yuanji Lyu nodded, "That checks out with the information we have. Around about the time she broke up with you Qi Zhou mysteriously quit her job and moved out in a hurry. For two weeks her whereabouts were unknown until recently.

We've spoken to a few eyewitnesses and many claims state they witnessed her being purposefully dumped in front of your building. A handsome man, who looked like a model, was holding a sack over his shoulder. He walked straight up to the entrance and then he dumped her there like trash and just strolled off. Many couldn't believe it because the man did it so casually.

We have many witnesses saying the same thing, but none of it was captured on camera, and no one has a definite idea of the man's face. All they know is that the suspect is a handsome male.

Considering all these circumstances this seems like a hate crime. Our guess is that the suspect is someone who has a grudge against Qi Zhou and may be someone she personally knew, but since she was dumped in front of your building we also believe that it could be someone who has a grudge against you personally. Do you know of anyone that fits the suspect’s description that could have a grudge against you or Qi Zhou?"

Frank clenched his fists when he thought of Qi Zhou being dumped on the ground like trash, but he didn't get angry, he thought about it rationally. The security around his building was tight. It was impossible for someone to just walk up to the entrance without being caught on camera unless the footage was erased. Or perhaps something more sinister. Something that involved Category P, some huge government conspiracy.

Why was Qi Zhou dumped at his door?

"No, I can't think of anyone. On Qi Zhou's end...well I just don't know. We weren't dating for that long. I didn't meet any of her friends. There's a lot about her that I don't know, she might have been close to the suspect, but she might not have been. I have no idea."

"I understand." Yuanji nodded, "Well that's all the questions we have for you today, but we may come back to you for some more follow up questions."

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help towards the investigation." Frank stood up and bowed apologetically.

"It's fine you've done more than enough." Officer Yuanji reassured, "There will be some officers coming later for protection, since we don't know whether the suspect will come back or not." After saying this Officer Yuanji left with Lin Yang.

As they turned around the corner, Lin Yang gave Frank a thumbs up and a silent 'you can do it' sign.

Frank gave her a small smile and waved her off.

When she was out of sight, he rubbed his eyes tiredly and sighed. He had so many questions now. Like what was Category P, who could have done to Qi Zhou and why? What had Mao Lu gotten himself wrapped up in? He wondered if he'd ever get the answers, he wondered if he even wanted to know.

_________

Eventually Qi Zhou emerged from the operating room and was placed in an emergency ward intensive care unit.

Zhao Detong, Fei Bing Bing, Tanaka Kato, and Bei Lao eventually went home, and, in the end, Frank was the only one left at the hospital.

"Are you planning on staying there overnight?" His Mother asked him over the phone.

"She's all alone and there's the risk that whoever did this to her might come back to finish the job, and even though we broke up I still have feelings for her. So, I'll stay by her side."

"Aiyoo, my son is so chivalrous, I raised you well, but you shouldn't be putting yourself in danger. Aren't there other officers at the hospital to protect her?"

"There are other officers here, but I want to be here for her." Frank replied adamantly.

"Aiya, I see you're determined, but what will I do, I'll end up on my own on Christmas morning." Fay Wang sighed.

"Sorry Mum." Frank felt guilty, "Why don't you spend it with Uncle Charles. I'm sure he'd love to see you." Frank Suggested.

"Hmm maybe I will. We’ll be safe okay, make sure to come by for Christmas lunch."

"I will. Bye."

Frank ended the call and re-entered the emergency ward. He sat down just outside Qi Zhou's room. He could see her lying there in the ICU, connected to all these medical equipment and wires, through the glass window.

Next to him stood two police officers.

He nodded towards them and they nodded back.

A clock on the wall went tick tock tick tock….

Frank didn't know when he fell asleep, but he suddenly found himself in a dream.

He could see himself at the police station, he was in his uniform, sitting at his desk.

"Huh, is this one of those lucid dreams?" Frank wondered. It felt so real, like he was really watching himself working at the police station.

The Frank in his dream put down his phone and muttered to himself, "Where were you last Mao Lu?". Frank watched the other Frank typing quickly on his keyboard, zooming in on maps and looking at locations.

"I remember this!" Frank exclaimed. He realised that this dream was actually a memory from a few months ago. When Zhao Detong had been worried about Mao Lu, Frank had decided to track Lu's location and check the CCTV to see if he was okay. Frank remembered going through all that effort only to realise that Lu was home the entire time, and that there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Frank continued watching as the version of him in this memory sat stooped over his desktop, analysing CCTV footage from outside Mao Lu's apartment.

Just as Frank became bored of the dream and began wondering when it would end, something that he didn't remember happening, happened.

There were crowds of people outside of Mao Lu's building surrounding it in the CCTV footage.

Frank began to shake; fear and panic began to fill him entirely.

A red eye appeared on the screen. The Frank in the dream jumped back in horror.

"What's going on?! What is this?!"

Frank watched as the Dream Frank checked the footage again, but everything he'd seen before was now gone.

Then he was running towards his car.

Frank felt his heartbeat rapidly as he watched this scene.

"BATHUMP, BATHUMP, BATHUMP!"

His breath came out raspily, he was so terrified that he could feel a chill across his entire body.

"Why am I so scared…. what’s going on?"

The Frank in the dream jumped into his car and just as he was about to start it, he felt a hand on his throat.

"Shhhh…" she said, putting a finger to his mouth, "So you're the one that was watching."

It was Qi Zhou.

Frank felt an unbelievable pain erupt in his head and he quickly realised, "This really is a memory… this happened…"

Her words echoed loudly, "Forget what you saw...Mao Lu is fine.... There’s no reason to be worried."

"She changed my memories, she controlled me…. she...she has some kind of power!" Frank gasped out loud as he woke up in a panic.

He breathed heavily, his entire body was soaked in sweat, an icy chill permeated his flesh.

"Well more than some kind of power it's better to say that she's a witch." A joyless voice said.

It came from above him.

Frank raised his head slowly and saw a person wearing a rounded white mask. It was entirely smooth and covered their entire head. There was no hole for the mouth and only thin slits for the eyes.

Through those thin slits Frank could see a gleaming gaze that flashed with a hint of red.

Frank felt powerless, his entire body shook and even though every instinct in his body told him to run, he couldn't.

Near him both officers were lying face-down on the floor, whether they were dead or alive, that was uncertain.

What caused Frank the most horror was when his eyes wandered towards the glass window. He could see into Qi Zhou's room and there was just blood splattered everywhere, all over the place.

Was she dead?

"How do you feel now that her spell on you has been broken? You don't need to thank me. Hunting witches is only a hobby of mine, out of all practitioners and especially out of all the Mages, Witches are the type I hate the most." the person said, his voice was robotic and lacking in emotion.

He held two daggers in his hands that had strange runes across them. They glowed an eerie green. They dripped with blood.

"Sadly, it's a part of my rule, never to leave witnesses, even if they're mortals like you. In the next life you'll thank me for doing this. Once you know about witches and begin seeing the World, the Realms or understanding sad truths. You can never go back. Death is the only liberation"

The masked man raised his green blood smeared blade.

Frank felt helpless, he couldn't even move his body, he felt like some force was pinning him down. He wanted to yell but his mouth wouldn't open.

Just as the masked man was about to bring his dagger down, he halted.

The formerly emotionless voice cracked and began laughing. His laughter sounded creepily like a little girl.

"You're hahaha... you're one of the Gatekeepers people."

Unbeknown to Frank an insignia depicting a silver flower had appeared above his head.

"Oh, then do you think he'll give me an award since I saved you from the Witch...but then I can't just leave you here." The masked man seemed to be thinking intensely before he sheathed his blades.

"Then I guess you're coming with me." The masked man laughed.

Frank could neither protest nor defend himself as he was hoisted over the masked man's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. As his face slammed into the masked man's black cloak, he felt himself feel very sleepy.

He didn't have time to think before everything went dark.

_________

Watching this entire scene was a black Raven. It sat perched on the branch of an aged tree nearby the hospital, it witnessed how Frank was taken away by the masked man.

"That may be a brilliant idea." it muttered.

"What would be a brilliant idea?" Another black bird landed next to the Raven.

"Well that Witch Hunter is protecting one of the Gatekeepers people, he's sure to get a reward from the Gatekeeper because of it. Don't you think that's a brilliant idea?"

The other bird cocked its head to the side and clucked slightly, "Err I'm not so sure. Little Red ordered us to leave the Gatekeepers people alone. Also, Gatekeepers are weird and temperamental. There's a 50% chance you'll get a reward and there's another 50% chance you might get killed for meddling. My motto is never get involved with Gatekeepers unless you need to go to another Realm."

"I thought your motto was never eat where you poop." The raven replied lazily.

"Well I have many mottos." The black bird giggled.

"You know what, if it’s a 50% chance I'll do it." The Raven announced.

"Do what?" the black bird asked while scratching its feathers.

"I'll help the Gatekeepers people; he didn't do anything to stop what just happened. I'm sure he'll be pleased. I'll give guidance to those curious little kittens."

The black bird groaned, "I'm not sure Little red will be happy about that."