6 A Gatekeeper 1 (1/2)

Mao Lu sat on the shaking bus, the 683 back to Daxing. He hugged the large old book to his chest. As he held it he felt his fingers become covered in nervous sweat as he heard it whisper to him softly. \”Open me...open me.\” He glanced around nervously but it seemed no one else could hear it.

\”This is a very dangerous item\”. That was all Mao Lu could think. All of this was too much and so sudden. It didn't make sense to him. Gatekeepers… \”One that held the key to this realm\”, was such a thing even scientifically possible.

No. Of course it wasn't. Something like this wasn't explainable. It wasn't something the common people were aware of. It was something that should exist in the boundaries of fiction. Yet now he was experiencing something so surreal in real life.

As he hugged the book and fretted he noticed a small girl staring at him. She was really young, perhaps only 3 or 4, she had cute little pigtails and wore a red little dress and shiny red little shoes. She hid between her mother's skirt. Her big black eyes gazed at him intently.

Mao Lu weakly smiled at the little girl but she gave no response back, only continuing to look at him.

Mao Lu ignored her, \”kids are weird these days\” he grumbled.

Two more stops passed, five more stops till he was home. Mao Lu felt an odd impatience and tension inside of him. He was itching to open this dangerous book.

As another stop came he noticed the woman with the long skirt getting off the bus. Yet she didn't take her child with her. The little girl was standing in the same spot staring at him.

Mao Lu's eyes widened, he mouthed to the little girl, \”hey look your Mother is getting off, go follow her, quick.\”

The girl didn't respond. Mao Lu watched in horror as the woman stepped off the bus completely unaware of leaving the little girl behind.

Just as he was about to call out to her and grab the little girl to bring her to her mother, the little girl crawled onto the seat next to him.

\”You're the new Gatekeeper, A powerless mortal trash with a short life span. What a waste. Why would the book and Wang Cao choose you?\”

The little girls legs swung as she was too short to reach the floor. Her large black eyes staring up at him. Her lips unmoving but her cold words rang in his head.

\”Well I anticipate great things from you. This Realm has always had shit Gatekeepers. You better not be as disappointing as your predecessors.\”

The little girl gave a very adult like smile that stretched over her small pale face. Her teeth large and white.

Mao Lu was frozen in shock. Before he could respond, the bus announced \”Next stop is Daxing Suburb\” and before his eyes she faded away.

Mao Lu's heart thudded in his chest. He glanced around him, but on the busy bus no one had seemed to notice a thing.

Before Mao Lu realised, he was sitting on the floor of his small apartment. Still hugging that book.

Slowly he lowered it to his small coffee table.

He sat with his knees bended, he wiped his sweaty hands onto his shirt and hesitated.

What was he getting himself into? Didn't he have a right to refuse such an inheritance, right? Why should he open something so dangerous?

Mao Lu remembered that little girl on the bus. His heart quivered. He didn't want to recall it.

If he opened this book would he meet more people… or rather things like that.

His life was already overwhelming for him and he was barely coping as it was with other emotional things.

\”Yet\”… Mao Lu remembered the money. Was he in a position to throw away such an amazing opportunity. After struggling so long, finally the chance for him to live a little was right before his eyes, who knew when he'd get another opportunity like it.. Who knew, maybe being a Gatekeeper might not be that big of deal and he was overthinking it…. Probably.

After sitting there for a while, Mao Lu tightly closed his eyes and threw caution aside as he flung the book open.

Slowly he opened them, expecting to see the worst. But…the page was blank.

\”Huh!\” he exclaimed. Yet the moment he shouted in surprise, four hands emerged from the page and dragged him inside.

Mao Lu didn't even have time to scream.

__________

ROARING TIGER CLUB

The music thrummed, and the club was getting more packed. Girls in slim body fitting dresses danced on the poles.