Page 41 of The Girl with a Thousand Faces
In his corner, the vanguard reached for a blade.
Thousand-Faced Girl waved him down irritably. “I said, give us space! In fact, go bring us a barrel.”
“A… barrel, Madam Snake?”
“Yes, for interrogation. Bring it here, and bring water to fill it.”
The vanguard eyed them both, then detached from the wall and left.
Thousand-Faced Girl turned back to her. “Much better. I won’t have to whisper now.” It made no move to clean off the bloody spit staining its jacket. “I think it’s important to have the police busy in the Walled City, you see. I need to free all those other ghosts, so unfairly locked away in the Murray Building.”
“I knew it,” Mercy said, with a tiny flare of vindication. “Youareone of those combat spirits who fought in the war!”
“Me, and many others. We were all betrayed.” Thousand-Faced Girl sighed breathily. “Do you know what day it is, Chen Mei Chi?”
“Of course.” She didn’t even have to think about it. “It’s the night of Hungry Ghost Festival.”
“That’s correct!” Thousand-Faced Girl clapped its hands in delight. “Today, the dead are strongest, and most angry, because today the gates of hell open. It is the perfect night for a prison full of angry ghosts to wreak havoc on Hong Kong.” She laughed, though nothing was funny.
“What did those people out there do to you?” Mercy demanded, struggling to control her anger. “The citizens of Kowloon Walled City are innocent. So are the citizens of Hong Kong!”
“Are they? I think not.” The pretense of humor fell away; Thousand-Faced Girl’s features were contorted with something like hurt. “Everyone betrays me. I fought for this city, Chen Mei Chi—with sweat and tears and terrible danger. In exchange, they left me rotting in a bottle gourd, once their great stupid war was finished. Their betrayal was even worse than yours.”
Mercy wanted to ask what her betrayal had been, but there was no chance. The door banged open for a third time as the vanguard returned, this time carrying an industrial barrel. He struggled with its weight, knuckles white around the brass handles, and set it down with a half groan.
That done, he unspooled a hose from the nearby wall and began filling the rusted barrel.
Mercy couldn’t take her gaze off the damn thing. “What are you going to do with me?”
“Kill you, obviously,” Thousand-Faced Girl said. “It would be stupid not to. But! But, the good news, Chen Mei Chi, is that dying is not the end. I have every confidence your spirit will endure. When it does, perhaps then you shall remember your crimes.”
“Dying is not the ‘end’ for anyone in a city where we all become ghosts,” Mercy retorted, but deep within her chest, a tiny spark of panic was catching alight. “But being a ghost does not count as being alive!”
“Being… a ghost… does not count… as being… alive,” Thousand-Faced Girl repeated, finger tapping its lower lip. “How right you are! And how ironic that you, of all people, should say that to me.”
“Done,” the vanguard said shortly.
Mercy tried to speak, found her words had all withered up.
“There is no need to worry. I have everything under control.” Thousand-Faced Girl smoothed down Mercy’s hair, as if she were a child. “Never doubt that I will always love you,” it whispered, and for a single breath, despite the incredible strangeness of that statement, Mercy found herself believing it.
The Girl with a Thousand Faces straightened up. “Goodbye, Chen Mei Chi. See you in another life.”
Mercy rolled away, trying frantically to crawl toward the door. For all the good it would have done.
She didn’t get far.
The ghost caught her, held her, dragged her to the water barrel, and pushed her head beneath the surface. She should have held her breath but the panic was setting in. Rationality fled, and Mercy tried—foolishly—to suck in a breath. Water burned up her nose and then down into her lungs, like a cold wet fire.
Mercy had time to thinkOh shit, not againin confused dismay as her spirit peeled away from her body, and there was nothing left of her but empty skin.
PART
TWO
14IN ANOTHER LIFE, MAYBE
Thirty-three years ago…
