Ourselves : A BL Horror Novel

Chapter Five - The Night We Met

The world would be such a nice place without shit like me in it. Ruining lives with my own selfish need to feed myself on everyone around me. I lie, I kill, I hurt everyone I love. Estelle I wish I could talk to you about this, show you, me....would you love me then?" Zhao asked the open air from where he sat on one of the highest roofs in the city. Below him the city moved on living it's loud bustling life unaware of his pain. His heart beat was labored from the effort it had taken to get here.

Beads of sweat draped across his forehead like a crown, his pink lips open gasping for air. Crescent Tower, a beautiful and whimsical building in the very center of the city of Avalon was the place he had chosen to die. The building was designed like an hourglass of glass and metal. It felt like there were insects beneath his skin burrowing towards the top layer of him from the need for human blood and flesh. He knew it was just the hunger but he held himself tightly as if he would come apart at any moment. He had to bite back the scream that was building in him as he crawled towards the edge. Each movement made the pain converge on the area that was doing the most contact with the cement ground.

He rose up to his feet shakily and looked out at the city. The post modern buildings were all lit up like frozen fireworks in the night to him. Today was his birthday, the day his mother had died, the day he had murdered that bastard of a stepfather. Now everything that hurt him would end with him. He smiled bitterly at the irony of his birthday being his death day. He could feel his hunger burning now as he took the step up onto the edge of the building.

"What the hell are you doing," a deep timber voice shouted as a strong hand grabbed hold of his arm and yanked him back from the edge.

The physical contact burned Zhao and he screamed and fought wildly against his unknown assailant. He thrashed and swung in a frenzy against the man who slapped him hard across the face. Zhao stumbled to the left, his cheek a blaze from the human contact and it felt like hundreds of fire ants were biting that spot. The two traded blows for a few moments. The young man dodged his fist next and linked a long leg around his and sidestepped him shoving him towards the center.

"I'm just trying too fucking kill myself!" he shouted at the tall, broad with lean muscles,  young man who tilted his head to the side, causing his dark bangs to fall into his eyes and looked at him in disapproval . Zhao gritted his teeth against the pain of living and looked into those large questioning brown eyes. The man scratched at the back of his head of short wild dark hair, he was pondering something for a moment. Deciding the stranger spoke

"Why would you do something so stupid, there is so much more to life then right now?" the man demanded as he came at Zhao from the left. Zhao barely dodged the kick by stepping back and then he plunged forward with his fists up. The two traded blows swiftly, the stranger clearly had training in martial arts as he deflected most of the blows Zhao attempted to land. Grabbing one of Zhao's sloppy punches, he swung Zhao around and got him in a headlock and kept the pressure on. Zhao scratched at the thick forearms but couldn't get free. The young man bent back lifting Zhao up onto his tip toes and spoke into his ear.

"For someone who wants to die you're fighting for your life pretty hard," the man said his thick voice held a mocking tone.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO," Zhao wheezed as tears sprang from his eyes

"If I let you go are you going to talk or run off the building?" the man asked. For a moment they stood there in a state of brutal intimacy, then he felt Zhao go slack. He chose to take that as his submission and released him from the hold. Zhao stumbled forward a few steps before turning back to look at the man. Now that they weren't fighting he could see the man was younger then him, maybe twenty years old. The young man had shrewd amber brown eyes, a large flat nose, full lips and the vanilla of honey suckle petal colored skin that showed he was a native of the fishing islands of the far east. Despite speaking perfect English it was a bit stilted in places. The man wore a plain black t shirt and basket ball shorts with black leggings beneath.