Ghost on the Run
(eBook)

The last breezes of sunlight touching the red tiles on the temple wall for the last time. For a few minutes, the baby boy on the floor of the courtyard will experience the mysterious ceasefire between day and night for the first time in his life with his own eyes. Thick smoke curls up from a giant copper incense urn. Dozens of burning and burned incense sticks rub each other, stuck in the sand of the pot. The smoke is filling up the small courtyard of the Chinese temple. Next to the urn lies the baby boy, naked, hardly any older than a week or two. Only a deep red silken cloth separates the young life from the bare stone floor. The baby doesn't cry but looks up with his big black -almost angry - eyes, absorbing the twilight as if it's his last. A human shape wrests itself from the smoke and walks slowly towards the child. The smoke doesn't change course; it looks as if the figure is passing right through it without touching it. Grief and determination seem to struggle for attention in the eyes of the handsome Chinese guy in his late twenties. His body must be the result of hundreds of training hours. The barefoot, muscled man, dressed only in loose white linen trousers, kneels next to the young creature. There is a certain acquiescence to be felt in him; a certain tranquility, but also a certain sadness. He holds his right hand above the baby, who still doesn't make a sound but only stares with almost unnatural concentration at the good-looking face of the man. "I know you can see me." He pauses for a moment. "You know who I am, don't you? Somehow you already know." His dark eyes cross those of the baby boy. For a moment they are the only ones that matters in the world for each other. He caresses the boy, stroking his hair. But his words seem to contradict his behavior. "I took the lives of others but I don't know if I can take yours." Going to hell. Not the most flourishing prospect when it comes to dying. For the Singaporean martial arts champion Zachary Lim there seems however little else to do. But he refuses to accept his fate. Despite all measures of the hell-visor, he managers to escape to earth to settle a few things before he has to get on the subway to hell. An albino angel named Lucy decides to assist. She is fascinated by the fiery Zachary although she is the last one to admit this. She even risks becoming a fallen angel, losing her wings. As a sort of afterlife version of Bonnie & Clyde, they both must ensure to stay ahead of their pursuers. Meanwhile Zachary is trying to get in touch with his mother and his girlfriend through the chubby medium Chow. Zachary's killers however are doing everything to prevent this from happening. A few questions remain: why is Zachary supposed to go to hell and what is his Korean girlfriend up to?