Forever

Chapter 5 - the first truth

Zhao Yunlan held on to Shen Wei's shirt and tried to sit up, but Shen Wei held him down and stared deeply into Zhao Yunlan's eyes, until they closed and he was still. Shen Wei backed away, horrified that he had been caught and had to use hypnosis on him. Zhao Yunlan would not remember what had happened tonight.

Despite that night when Zhao Yunlan caught him in his room, Shen Wei could not stay away, and he continued to visit, using hypnosis now and then to wipe his memory clean. Zhao Yunlan still continued to have that nagging memory deep down. Seeing Shen Wei seemed to spark something, but it continued to be a fleeting wisp of smoke that disappeared the more he thought about it.

It was that fateful night. Shen Wei was rearranging the blanket when Zhao Yunlan's hand shot out and grabbed him. Shen Wei tried to stare into Zhao Yunlan's eyes as usual, but this time, Zhao Yunlan kept his eyes tightly shut. Shen Wei was easily able to break his grasp, but now what was he to do? Kill Zhao Yunlan to keep his secret? Was there no other way?

"Professor Shen. You have been visiting me in my dreams and my room all this time, haven't you?" Zhao Yunlan asked in a quiet voice, his eyes still shut. "I know there is something different about you, and I would like to know what it is."

"You would hate me if I told you," Shen Wei said in a small voice.

"Try me. I've seen a lot of things as a detective, and I don't scare easily either," Zhao Yunlan smirked, as he crossed his arms behind his head.

He had been alone for so long, with no one to share his terrible secret with. Did he dare to open up to another, a mortal at that, who would probably be frightened off by this monster? He looked at Zhao Yunlan who still had his eyes closed. He left himself vulnerable, and he knew Shen Wei could easily kill him, but chose to trust him instead. Alright, he would try trusting this human as well.

"You have guessed right. I am not quite mortal like you are," Shen Wei hesitantly began.

"Yes, the temperature of your skin is different. When you gave me that massage awhile back, it initially felt warm, but soon turned cool. I suspect if you had kept at it, it might have turned ice cold."

This man was very perceptive, Shen Wei thought. So different from most of the other humans he had come in contact with all these years, who were concerned only with money or sex or both.

"How old are you?" Zhao Yunlan asked.

"32."

"How long have you been 32?"

"A while."

Both men laughed at Shen Wei's answer. Shen Wei pulled over a chair and sat next to the bed.

"You can open your eyes now. I promise I will not hypnotize you." For now, Shen Wei thought.

Zhao Yunlan carefully opened one eye, ready to close it if he saw Shen Wei's face in front of his, but Shen Wei was looking out the window, so he opened the other eye.

"I was born some time in 1686. They did not keep very good records at the time. My family was not well off, but we did not go hungry and they were able to send me to school. I eventually got an office job. It did not pay that well, but it was steady work, and it was enough to buy food.

"Unfortunately, not all of my so-called friends felt the same, and one night, they ambushed me and took whatever money I had, then beat me, cursing me for my lifestyle. I was bleeding so much, and they walked away laughing, leaving me to die.

"A man came to me minutes later, apparently smelling my blood. He looked different, with pale, white, ice cold skin and golden eyes. He told me his name was Carlisle - he was obviously not Chinese - and said that he would help me, but that it would hurt. And then he bit my neck.