Part 15: Obstacles

ACT 2: Obstacles

Christian’s Perspective:

Margaret went with Samera and the two kids while Christian and Desmond talked for a bit at a table.

Christian asked how long they have all worked here, and how much they knew the students who studied here. Desmond said they were rather close with the students, almost acting like seniors. After all, their job was to keep a lookout whenever school starts. Desmond was closer to the Primary 6 students and often taught them the subjects for their PSLE. Christian found out that Louis was a role model to many of the boys studying here and he was mostly in charge of the Primary 1 and 2 students.

Desmond said he wasn't friends with Louis or Samera. He was merely a colleague who he met through this line of work. There were rumors of a girl who really liked Louis and would share many things with him. But he never pried into his matters, since he was pretty looked up to as kids thought of him as some sort of hero.

Christian knew that he could not sit around waiting and approached Louis at the sick bay.

“I do not have anything to speak to you about.” Louis said, as he sat on the bed and stared out the window.

He was not willing to spare any talk with him, and refused to speak a single word.

Christian had no options left but to remind him of a story about a girl who is really close to him. Upon hearing that, Louis took him by the collar and knew that Desmond must have said something.

“Why such a reaction? What does Victoria mean to you?” Christian asked as he let go of him.

In order to not make matters worse for himself, he decided to speak out about that girl he knew.

“That girl grew up with only her father. Not having anyone to talk to, she grew reserved and quiet. I was the one who opened up to her, giving her advice on how to become mentally stronger.” Louis had a painful expression on his face, almost as if he was holding a grudge against her.

"Now we are talking." Christian thought. "Was all that hiding necessary?"

“Victoria slowly enjoyed coming to school more, but not in the way I expected. In fact, she became more disruptive during classes, bullying others, and stole from her classmates. Her father was called many times to come down for a word but he refused to. Many authorities were sent to check on her living conditions, but Victoria seemed to pretend everything was okay. She was sent to a rehabilitation center near her home once or twice a week with little to no improvements.”

“Wilbert… is not a great guy. Not before he let his Dozer consume him, and not after his Dozer consumed him.” Christian said. “He was just a man who felt like he was betrayed by his lover but could not let go of her.”

“It’s none of my business to pry into her family background, whether her father was a piece of crap.” Louis said. “So I thought I would avoid her as much as I could. I don’t like to feel responsible for opening up her heart the wrong way. But every time I avoided her, she told her friends how I was manipulating her into all the wrong things that she did. In fear, I wanted to quit this job, if not for Li Peng.”

“Hmm.. finally we get to hear about him.” Christian said, crossing his arms. “Go on.”

“Li Peng was the one who turned my life around.” Louis said, staring out at the bright blue sky. “For some reason, Li Peng was a boy who had such an enlightening personality. He was a transfer student from a different school whose mother just moved home to be closer to their grandmother. As such, Li Peng changed my life by being able to find a way around Victoria's mischief.”

“A boy with a grateful and bright personality…” Christian thought. “To think he would disappear like that…”

“One day, Victoria was arguing against one of her classmates over a stolen pencil case and that she was the one who hid it in her own bag. This time though, Victoria was bullied back by one of her classmates by purposefully hiding the case in her bag without her noticing. This resulted in a lot of drama, and the teacher blamed it on Victoria. In a fit of rage, she threw her chair at the girl who accused her, only to be blocked by Li Peng himself.”

“That’s quite a story.” Christian said.

“Right… that girl is insane…” Louis said, with terror in his eyes just remembering what he was told.

“Li Peng suffered a wound on his head but he simply stood there with a smile. He did not blame Victoria, because he saw what happened when they were out for recess. Victoria was punished and was suspended for 2 weeks, while Li Peng was praised by everyone for being a hero. In those two weeks, Li Peng spoke to Louis about Victoria, and how she was a girl who had a chance to change.”

“But… to me, that was not how I saw it.” Louis gave a forced smile, as Christian began to connect some dots.

“To be honest, I was distraught, and said that she was a demon child and could not be saved. But Li Peng was somewhat naive and empathetic towards others, but it was also one of his strongest points.”

“Strongest points?” Christian said. “It sounds as if Li Peng was … too easy to trick.”

“That’s what I thought.” Louis continued. “Through the next few weeks, Victoria and Li Peng became close friends where she visited his home to play games together. She told Li Peng about everything including her father's abuse towards her.”

“Li Peng was the type to empathize but not someone who knew the right course of action. After all, he was just a kid. Hence, he told me everything and wanted Victoria to be away from the toxic abuse of her father.”

“That’s the response that should be logical for a mere child.” Christian said, pointing at Louis. “But I guess you were reluctant to be involved, but spoke to the principal about it. That is why she knew such details.”

“Of course. After all, I am just someone hired to defend against Dozers, and not to be involved in student matters.” Louis said, as he held his arm tightly. “Am I selfish to have not given him the advice he needed? Or to look into it myself?”

“You are still an observer.” Christian said. “I think what you did was right, and his disappearance isn’t your fault. You can’t simply watch over everybody. Bad things just happen to people. That’s how it is.”

“I don’t know.” Louis said.

“What came after?” Christian asked, as they felt like he was able to open up to him more.

“Soon, it was Victoria's birthday, and Li Peng's last day was with me after school had ended. He said he had bought something for her that she wanted. He refused to say what it is or where he got it from because it was a surprise. He would tell him all about it after he came back to school.” Louis swallowed his saliva, and clenched his fists.

“What did he buy exactly?” Christian asked.

“I was suspicious of what he bought, but knew their friendship was out of my business. Besides, they were a bunch of kids. They wouldn't get anything weird online without their parents figuring it out. So I just patted Li Peng's back and encouraged him and sent him off.”

“You don’t really know what kids are capable of doing when you aren’t looking.” Christian said, slamming his fist against the wall. “But it seems like we might be too late.”

“I never knew that I would never see him or Victoria again.” Louis was feeling devastated as Christian felt like the weight on his shoulders was already heavy enough.

“Any reports from the police?” Christian asked.

“They have asked for answers involving the disappearance and death of the two students but I kept silent and pretended I knew nothing. My guilt has only haunted me more and more, it has made it difficult to fall asleep every night.”

Louis was finally able to release it all to Christian which was somehow relieving in a way.

“I know all about you and how you were a criminal acting under the DEA's orders, so I knew no one would believe your stories anyways. I just thought I wasn't responsible for those two kids so I kept silent as I did not want weird twisted rumors to spread to the proprietor of Parc Centros.”

Louis briefly mentioned that his proprietor was one of the men who stopped Randall Tang after all.

“So… I thought you would keep my secret with you to your death.” Louis said. “Not that I should be scared of it, I did nothing wrong.”

“Tch, to think you were so scared of this.” Christian said, staring out at the emptiness of the clouds. “You are right. I am pretty much a criminal and nothing else. I am only serving my sentence as an investigator that can be thrown off to die in the front lines.”

“If I told you I never killed my wife and the Dozer that controlled me did… you wouldn’t believe me, right?” Christian said as Louis looked down at the ground.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t believe something like that.” Louis said. “Just like how I did not believe in my own judgment when Li Peng told me about it. If I had stopped him that day, he wouldn’t have disappeared.”

As he spoke those words, Christian saw how lost they both were. Not just in this whole case of Li Peng’s disappearance, but them living in guilt about something they should have done differently.

“Since I have time, and I don’t know where Li Peng went, how about we deal with something else completely different?” Christian said, as Louis looked at him in dismay.

“You wouldn’t want to meet him.” Louis said. “My boss isn’t someone who likes to meet anyone that is uninvited to his premise…”

“Oh it wouldn’t hurt to just talk.” Christian said. “Now that Randall has escaped, I am sure he would like to find him again.”

“That’s exactly the issue…” Louis felt cold sweat flowing down his cheek.

“Just bring me to him.” Christian said. “I will make a phone call real quick.”

“Oi.. wait.. I didn’t promise to-” Louis realized that Christian had already left the sick bay as he threw his fists into the air.

Christian phoned Josh about Randall's escape, as Margaret met him outside to tag along. Louis was afraid to see his boss but he knew that he wanted some justice for Li Peng. Hence, he decided to be a little more courageous and take them to him.

“Wait, where are we going again?” Margaret asked.

“To meet the proprietor of Parc Centros…” Louis said, fumbling his words as they met Desmond on the way out. “Desmond, do you want to meet-”

“No, thank you. I’ll stay here.” Desmond shut him off immediately as Louis felt even more pressure.

As they waved their goodbyes for now, the three set off to a new journey to meet this terrifying person.