Under The Moonlight

Chapter 24

TW: death, injury, transphobia, homophobia, beating someone to death (not graphic), fighting, breakup

It had been 2 and a half years ago, possibly longer. Happened in June. Damned June. Mei was 21 at the time, the best moment of her life. Well, until that night.

Her birthday would be in just a few months, she also had a girlfriend. Mei was studying at art school, preparing her career as an artist, out and proud about her sexuality to her parents, friends, and family, with not a worry other than the exams that she'll have next year. Her hair was long, mid back, highlights dyed a pink-ish tone that extended over her hair until the ends where fully vibrant with color, her skin was darker than now, not a sickish pale, but actually alive, golden skin.

The day had been so much fun. Mei had gone with her girlfriend to a pride parade, had stayed there all afternoon until the sun fell. Even if her and her girlfriend's places where in opposite directions, Mei insisted on walking her home, later getting back to the place where the parade had ended. For the occasion, the girl had been wearing a rainbow flag as a cape, along with shinny makeup, the ace and omni flags painted in each of her cheeks. Her clothes included rainbow socks, blue shorts and a white t-shirt that read "Love is love", with a pin with her pronouns in it.

It was all very clear in her mind, every second of that day, all until the second punch.

To get home, Mei had to go through a small alley. Unlike the other streets, it was much darker, the only people going through it being her and some other two men who walked on the opposite direction. Mei could've just ignored them, let them pass by, not start an argument, keep the head down. But not today. The adrenaline from spending the whole afternoon screaming and laughing and partying was still rushing in her veins. And so, when one of them pushed her against the wall "by accident" when passing by, her stupid little brain had nothing better to do than scream:

"Hey! Watch your way!"

The two men turned around, eyeing her up and down, a stabbing glare in both their faces. Mei backed up a bit but tried to keep on a strong face.

"What did you say to me, fag?" One of them asked, the one on the left.

"I said, watch your way," Mei repeated. When she was younger, Mei was a fighter, a strong person with morals and ideals, someone who would fight for what she believed. That got her killed, "And watch your mouth as well. We're literally in pride month."

"Hear that, Chad? He says we should 'watch our way'. How cute."

"He?" Mei was genuinely confused. Why had she been called 'he'. Oh. Oh, the pronoun badge...

"Yeah, tranny," Well, that's straight up rude, Mei thought to herself, "Got anything else to say?"

"Well, yeah, first of all-"

She didn't have the opportunity to finish the statement. A fist came out of nowhere, hitting her nose, creating the biggest amount of pain she'd felt until the moment, but from there it'll only get worse.

Due to the force of impact and her small size, Mei was thrown backwards, loosing balance, falling to the ground sideways. Her eyes became teary, fer face warm a wet. In an attempt to brush off the tears, another warm liquid stained her hand. Blood.

Looking up from the ground, the defenseless girl noticed the two men had gotten next to her. A sadistic smirk had appeared on one of their faces, possibly Chad's while the other was hidden away by the shadows of the night.

Next strike was a kick on the stomach, sending shocks of electric pain through her system, blocking her throat with the wish of vomiting that never came.