“Are you okay?! Are you okay? We are your neighbors! Please open up!” Marcus kept banging on the door of their neighbor, but neither he nor his father could hear anything from them. Marcus tried to peek through the gap of the door. But the gap itself was way too narrow, and he could only see that the room was dark, and there was something gray on the ground.
“Can you break through? I’m worried they might - ” Elvin asked, trying his hardest to peek through the curtains behind their window facing the corridor. It was to no avail, this neighbor of theirs seemed to be much more concerned for their privacy and they chose extra thick curtains with nary a gap in them.
“Alright. Whoever’s inside, listen up!” Marcus coughed and made his voice stern: “This is Detective Marcus Cai, of the Poison City Police Department. I am suspecting there are people who might be in danger behind this door. If you’re not in danger, please respond right away. Or I’ll be kicking through the door, because this just made up of exigent circumstances.”
He waited a few seconds, before concentrating his Qi on his right leg. His leg thrust at the door like the pole from a pile driver. He measured his force with consideration - it was enough to knock the door down, yet not too much that he could injure whoever might be behind it.
The metal door whined and swung open, hitting the wall on the other side. Behind the door and on the floor was a middle aged man lying face down, his arms grabbing his chest and his neck.
“Sir! Sir! Wake up!” Marcus did not recognize this man, so all he could do was call to him with a generic name as he turned the middle aged man over. The man was still breathing, but was doing so rather rapidly while clenching his teeth and shaking as if he was suffering from low temperature. His face was covered in sweat, and it appeared that his heart rate was greatly elevated. Marcus tried to separate this man’s fingers from his neck so that he would not choke himself. This man’s fingers were cold and stiff, as were all the muscles in his arm.
“I’ll call an ambulance. ” Elvin immediately rushed out of the apartment and toward theirs to find his phone.
Marcus pushed a little bit of his Qi into this middle aged man’s back as well as his right wrist, so as to loosen his grip on his one neck. It worked - this man’s body relaxed a little, his breathing soothed, and his heart rate dropped slightly closer to the normal range.
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“Hello, I’ll need an ambulance. My neighbor passed out on the floor. His muscles were stiff and he’s breathing very quickly. I don’t know what’s happening to him…” Elvin’s voice came into the apartment from the corridor.
The emergency medical personnel's rough diagnosis was that this middle aged man was having a panic attack and it exacerbated his heart condition. The man might not be in any immediate, urgent condition but would still need to go to a hospital to be treated.
The blaring alarms of the ambulance and the voice of the medical personnel provided enough assurance of safety to their other neighbors. They all opened their doors, windows and even came out of their apartment to watch this middle aged man being carried away. Their neighbor family, whose father passed away seven days ago, were among them, only appearing more concerned and scared than others.
“That’s them.” Elvin raised his jaw at the window to a nervous family when he and Marcus passed them by.
Marcus nodded. He could already tell - it was quite obvious, for they had white ribbons hanging on inside of their windows, food offerings on a table inside the living room along with an incense burner and ritual lanterns dangling from the ceiling - clear signs that they were holding the ritual for the Night of Return.
The family flinched and moved back when their sights met with Marcus’, closing their windows.
“Let’s get to them when we come back.” Marcus whispered to his father.
The middle aged man opened his eyes before he was just about to board the ambulance. He mumbled something and tried to move, but was immediately calmed down by those carrying him into the ambulance. The final moment before the backdoors of the ambulance closed down, he stared at Marcus and Elvin, trying to gesture, pointing somewhere upstairs.
Marcus and Elvin did not pay this much mind, for they rushed upstairs first thing after the unfortunate middle aged man was put soundly into the ambulance. They took a minute to make them seem in less of a haste, then knocked on the door of the family.
“I’m sorry, we’re in mourning - ” The one who opened the door was a young woman, and was not able to hold the door before Marcus pushed his way in. Another young woman in the room gasped and called out for help. Before Elvin could say anything to calm things down, a man seemingly in his early 30s rushed out from inside.
Judging from their facial expressions, the two women and the man recognized Marcus. There was a brief moment of silence, before the man stood between Marcus, Elvin and the two young women: “What do you want? Can’t you see we’re still in mourning? GET OUT!”
“I’m afraid I’ll have to interrupt. And I meant no disrespect - but that man you just saw? He almost died.” Marcus pointed at the corridor.
“What the FUCK ARE YOU SAYING?!” The man almost lunged at Marcus, but was thwarted by the sharp look Marcus threw his way. He stood still, blocking the way between the younger women and Marcus: “GET OUT NOW! Or we’ll call the police!”
“I’m the police.” Marcus pulled out his badge: “No need to call. And - please don’t be alarmed. I’m not accusing you of anything, I just need to ask you a few questions.”
“But - why are you questioning us, AT ALL?” The young woman who opened the door raised her voice: “We didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Maybe. ” Marcus nodded his eyes: “But - if it really is the case that you found out only very recently, then I’m afraid you might be in danger as well.”
The man and the two young women went silent. After a while, the two women started whispering to each other, while the man tried his hardest to stay straight, his eyes were shaking and switching.