Beneath the Surface

Part 30

The key trembled in Longtai's hand as he slid it into the lock, exhaustion dragging at his bones after another long day lost in the quiet safety of the bookstore. He pushed the door open-

And froze.

A shift in the air.
Thick.
Wrong.
Heavy, suffocating, like the room itself was holding its breath.

A presence.

Close.
Breathing.
Behind him.

Before his brain could process it, before he could even scream, a hand clamped over his mouth. The door slammed shut behind him with a dull finality as he was shoved brutally against the wall. His skull cracked against plaster. Stars exploded in his vision. Pain lit his nerves on fire.

Then the breath-hot and sour-filled his nose, and his body locked up.

"Missed me, Tai?"
Ren's voice slithered into his ear like a toxin, curling around old wounds.

Longtai's breath hitched. He couldn't move.

Ren's grip was iron, fingers bruising as they shoved his head back, pinning him like prey. Ren's body pressed close, too close, the heat of him smothering. Every nerve in Longtai's body screamed in warning-but his limbs wouldn't obey.

No. No, no, no.

His heartbeat thundered, too loud in his ears. His vision blurred-not from the impact, but from memory.

That room.
The locked door.
Ren's voice laughing while he cried.
The way it never stopped, no matter how much he begged.

His knees buckled. He would've collapsed if Ren wasn't holding him up.

"You're so damn rude," Ren hissed, grabbing his jaw, forcing his head up.
Then his mouth-
God-
It wasn't a kiss. It was a violation. Hard, punishing. Teeth catching his lip, making it bleed. Longtai whimpered, frozen, his fists pressing weakly against Ren's chest, too afraid to fight, too trained not to.

Don't fight. Don't make it worse.

But the panic surged like a tidal wave, choking him.
His chest heaved.
He couldn't breathe.

A choked sob escaped as Ren finally pulled back, grinning cruelly.

"What you gonna do, huh?" he sneered. "Run to your new boyfriend? Think he's gonna save you forever? How long you think he'll stick around once you're all broken and pathetic again?"

Longtai's vision pulsed at the edges. His hands trembled violently. His body was locked in place-muscles taut with terror, heart slamming so hard it hurt. He felt like he was watching it all from outside himself.

This wasn't now. This wasn't safe.
This was then.
This was again.

He was right back there.
And he didn't know how to escape.

Ren leaned closer, voice dripping with malice.

"Maybe I should give him a matching scar. A little reminder that you're still mine."

Longtai's stomach dropped.
No.
No no no.

The words barely formed in his mind before the memories surged-hot, jagged, suffocating.
The sting of the blade.
The warmth of blood running down his wrist.

Ren's face, twisted in rapture, cutting not just to hurt-but to bind.
To make them bleed together.

Longtai remembered crying through clenched teeth. Remembered begging Ren to stop. Remembered the way Ren whispered "You're beautiful like this."