Necropolis

seeing weird things. And there's nobody living at Wisdom Court. The whole place is empty. Are you saying they were all killed?"
    "In the last three months, Hong Kong has been taken over," Lohan replied. "It happened very quickly, like a virus. It is impossible to know how many people have been killed. Anyone who has noticed what has been going on or who has tried to fight it has been removed. What has happened has been so huge, so terrible, that it is almost impossible to understand.
    "Of course, some people have guessed, or half guessed, and they have managed to get out, taking their money and their families with them. Ask them why they have gone and they will lie to you. They will say they wanted a change or had new business opportunities. But in truth, they have gone because they are afraid. Other people are aware that Hong Kong has changed. They have stayed here because they have no choice, because they have nowhere else to go. They are frightened too. But they keep their heads down and they go about their daily business in the hope that, if they ask no questions, they will be left alone. If you are poor, Scarlett, if you run a tiny stall in the street, what does it matter who controls the city? All you care about is your next meal. The city can take care of itself."
    "Who has taken over Hong Kong?" Scarlett asked, although she already knew the answer.
    "They are called the Old Ones," Lohan said. "At least, that is what you call them. In the East, we talk of gwei, evil spirits. We have many names for them."
    "I know about all this," Scarlett said. "It's what Father Gregory told me."
    "Who is Father Gregory?"
    "He's a monk. I went through a door in a wall and I met him…"
    "This was at the Church of St. Meredith's." Lohan knew the name. Perhaps he had read about it in the newspapers when Scarlett disappeared, but she doubted it. He seemed to know a lot about a lot of things.
    She wondered how. She still wasn't sure how he fit in. "You have to understand that we have been interested in you for a long time, Scarlett," Lohan said. It was as if he had been reading her thoughts.
    "We?"
    "I am referring to the organization to which I have the great honor to belong. In fact, we have been watching you since the day you were born." He allowed this to sink in, then went on. "Have you ever wondered how you came to find yourself in the Pancoran Kasih Orphanage in Jakarta? Well, I can tell you. We arranged it. Why were you taken to live in Great Britain, thousands of miles away from your true home? We wanted it."
    "Why?"
    "To keep you safe. To hide you from the enemies that we knew would one day search for you."
    "There was an accident in Dulwich. A white van…" Scarlett didn't know why it had come into her mind right then, but she was suddenly sure that it was connected. She had a sense of everything coming together.
    Lohan nodded. "It happened when you were thirteen years old," he said. "It was not enough simply to send you far away. My organization had a sacred pledge to protect you, even from your own carelessness. When you stepped in front of the van, one of our people was there to push you out of the way. He was able to save you once. Unfortunately, he was less successful a second time."
    "He tried to contact me. In London."
    "His task was to give you a message. Under no circumstances were you to come here to Hong Kong. We had hoped to intercept you before you even left for the airport. But by then it was too late. The Old Ones had discovered who you were. They killed him."
    "He was waiting for me at the restaurant — the Happy Garden."
    Lohan nodded, a tiny spark of anger in his eyes. Perhaps part of him blamed her for the death. "Three people died in the explosion," he said. "And the British authorities didn't even bother to investigate.
    They just blamed it on us — Chinese gangs fighting each other. What did it matter to them? A few dead fei jais."
    He used the Cantonese slang for petty criminals. "To the police, it just meant more paperwork."
    "This all happened because of the church, didn't it?"
    It was all making sense. Father Gregory had told her he was going to hand her over to the Old Ones.
    Scarlett had managed to escape — but not before she had given him her name and address. That had been all he needed. From that moment on she had been in a trap from which there was no escape.
    "As soon as you returned, the Old Ones closed in on you," Lohan said. "They knew that they had found one of the Gatekeepers,