Poison City

 

Two hours was not a short period of time, but still not a lot for a break after the night and day Marcus just had. He thought about lighting the incense sticks before he went to sleep, in the corner of his room to see if what he suspected to be his mother’s spirit would come and find him. But he then decided it’d be better if he saved it for another time. 

 

The night had come, and he could hear the snores coming from his father’s bedroom. Marcus put on his jacket and snuck outside. At this time, there should be one final bus heading towards the direction of the Temple of Forgetfulness. And per Marcus’ experience, this bus would only be carrying a very small number of passengers, if any at all.

 

“Young man, you’re my last passenger today.” When heading onto the bus, the driver, a warm and kind looking old man smiled at Marcus: “Where are you heading to?”

 

“Temple of Forgetfulness.” Marcus nodded and smiled back. But when he walked down the bus, he noticed a young boy sitting at the back with a large cap on his head. For a moment he wanted to ask where the boy’s parents were. But when he laid eyes on the boy’s pale and slender arms and legs, a strange feeling struck him that this boy did not seem to fit in with his surroundings. After a short moment of hesitation, he decided to sit in the front, right behind the driver.

 

“So, why are you going to the temple at this time of night?” The driver asked.

 

“I have some questions I need answers to.” Marcus peeked at the boy at the back of the bus with a side eye, while maintaining a nonchalant demeanor: “So, old sir, how’d you end up driving the last bus? I heard the city usually assigns drivers that are around forty - forty five to drive night shifts. No offense.”

 

The driver laughed out loud then shook his head: “None taken, kid. And you’re right, this is the second week since I came back. They assigned me to the night shift because there’s not many who are willing to drive it.”

 

“Why? And what about you?”

 

“Some weird stuff was happening in the city, and many of the drivers are just too afraid and worried to drive when it’s late. The company offered additional bonuses each shift, still no one would.” The driver sighed: “It’s natural, the money’s only good as long as you’re healthy. But people do need to commute, even at this time. And I want to save my grandson some money so he can afford to marry a good girl when he’s older.”

 

“That’s nice. ” Marcus nodded with a smile: “I hope you make plenty so he can buy a house.”

 

The driver laughed once again: “Thank you for your kind blessings, young man.”

 

There were no other passengers on other stops along the way, so the driver just drove past them and only stopped the bus when they reached the station at the foot of the hill where the temple was. Marcus took another look at the young boy, and his skin crawled a little as he found him already standing at the door of the bus, seemingly waiting to get off.

 

“Well, here’s your stop. ” The driver smiled: “Hope you get your answer.”

 

“Sure, thank you…” Marcus stood up and was ready to use his Qi on the young boy, should the boy attempt something that could endanger him or the driver.

 

But the boy just headed off the bus like he was not paying any attention to anybody, and started walking up the hill on the same road Marcus was about to go. His steps were sickly looking and trembling, his walking composure was also slightly off. Marcus could hear his fast breathing as if he was eager to go somewhere, and was relieved that this boy was heading to another place instead of staying on the bus.

 

“Drive safe, old sir.” Marcus let out an exhale of relief, then headed off the bus, keeping a decent distance from the boy.

 

The boy’s steps were getting slightly faster and faster by the minute, and Marcus had to step it up to follow him. Luckily for Marcus, the boy did not get too quick and still remained at human-able speed, so he did not need to speed up too much. And before long, with still some way to go till the midpoint of the path up the hill, the boy started running. Strangely, even though he was running, his speed was still human speed, barely faster than the speed at which Marcus walked. So Marcus sped up as well to gain up on him - there was no point in keeping a distance anymore, since it was clear the boy was running away.

 

“Aaaah!” Before Marcus could get within an arm’s length, the boy screamed and turned back at him, with an old bottle of pepper spray and a paper talisman in his two hands: “Stop chasing me! Stop! Or I’ll spray you with blessed chili water and obliterate you with this fire talisman!”

 

“What?” Marcus immediately stopped and raised both his hands.

 

The boy was nervous and seemed to be crying before, for his face was full of tear marks and snot was dripping below his nostrils.

 

“Wait, you’re human?” Marcus narrowed his eyes.

 

“What? What the fuck are you saying?” The boy cursed and screamed while still sniffling: “Don’t come one step closer! You ghost passenger!”

 

“I - I’m not a ghost.” Marcus sighed, still wondering how he could have thought this now clearly human boy of flesh and blood was a ghost: “I thought you were …”

 

“Stop lying!” The boy still had his pepper spray and talisman pointed at Marcus: “If you’re not a ghost, why did you get on that bus!?”

 

“You were on that bus too, kid.”

 

“That’s - that’s because I didn’t know! I got on by accident!” The boy wiped her nose and sniffled again: “How did you get on it? And why did you talk to the driver like that?”

 

“That was the last bus here. And I was under the impression that you were the ghost, because you don’t exactly fit in - ”

 

“Of course I don’t fit in!” The boy put his pepper spray back but still held the talisman in hand: “That whole bus is not normal! It’s a fucking ghost bus! The driver is a ghost driver!”

 

Marcus felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and a cold feeling shoot through his spine and extremities: “What? How’d you know?”

 

“Ojison, do you even pay attention to your surroundings? Especially knowing that there are ghosts in the city now?” The boy snickered, then turned around and continued his way to the temple: “He did not even have shadows under the light! Plus, I didn’t know this before getting on the bus either - that is not the last bus! The actual last bus was around half an hour ago. The later buses were canceled by the company because no one wanted to drive these shifts.”

 

Marcus thought for a brief moment - indeed he was not paying too much attention to any signs of abnormality with the driver. It might be because his meridians were pretty empty right now and his senses were dull due to his lack of Qi and rest, or it might just be that he was operating under the first impression and thus ignored the signs that should have been obvious.

 

“Well, I’m just glad we both made it out.” Marcus gained up on the boy again and chuckled: “Why are you going to the temple of forgetfulness at this time? And alone?”

 

“I - I need to have some more talismans for my home, maybe even some blessed objects. Like a buddha statue or something.” The boy shook his head: “We don’t have enough now, and mom and dad both work night shifts. I want us to have some more so that they can be safe…”

 

“Understood. ” Marcus smiled: “Then you’re going to the right place, Master Liaoran will for sure help you?”

 

“What about you, Ojison?” The boy’s tone became softer: “Also here for talismans?”

 

“Yeah, but I’m not in a hurry.” Marcus sighed: “I’m here because I need some answers.”

 

“Ooh, what kind of questions? And what kind of answers?”

 

“Questions about how to talk to ghosts, well, communicate with them. Because I have some questions that possibly only they could answer.” Marcus chuckled.

 

“Geez, Ojison, you’re bold.”