The neon lights of Shanghai's pudding district shimmered like broken jewelry through the rain soaked window of the "Eternal Relics" antique shop. Outside, the city was a blur of high tech speed and ancient shadows, but inside the air was thick with the comforting scent of sandalwood and again paper.
Dua, a young woman with a keen eye for history sighed as she wiped a thick layer of dust off a ming Dynasty vase. It was 11:00 PM, and the silence of the shop felt heavy. As she moved a heavy mahogany shelf to close up for the night her foot caught on a loose floorboard. With a hollow thud, a small, rectangular space was revealed beneath the wood. Heart racing, Dua reached inside and pulled out a small box wrapped in tattered red silk. Her fingers trembled as she unwrapped it to find a stunning Golden key. It wasn't made of ordinary gold; it pulsed with a faint, rhythmic amder glow, as if it had a heartbeat of it's own. Strange, archaic symbols neither quite Chinese nor Arabic were etched along it's spine. Suddenly the temperature in the room dropped the heavy shop door which she had locked minutes ago creaked open slowly. A cold breeze swept through extinguish the candles on her desk. In the dim light of the Street lamps, a tall figure stood at the entrance his face hidden under a dark hood .
That key doesn't belong to this world Dua the stranger whispered his voice sounding like dry leaves on pavement.
Dua gripped the key tightly her knuckles turning white "who are you? How do you know my name? "
The stranger stepped into the ligh, revealing a silver medallion around his neck that matched the symbols on the key. "I am the gatekeeper. And you just held the soul of Shanghai in your hand. Put it back, or the door's that have been shut for a thousand years will finally open. "