Bloodied s.h.i.+rt. Blood trickling down from the wounds on her ghostly white skin. Her nails have been ripped out. She"s too numb to feel the pain. Her conscious drifts to nothing as she feels like she"s falling into a deep slumber. The man grabs her hair soaked with sweat and pulls hard. When he hears her whimper like a little bruised animal, he grins at her. He presses the tip of the knife on the middle of her forehead and draws it downward, forming a trail of blood as the tip of the knife reaches her jawline. The wisp of red smoke tightens around her leg, digging deeper as it burns the flesh; blood pours out and dribbles on the floor.
"It will leave a scar." Ian caresses her other cheek that doesn"t have a drop of blood. "It doesn"t matter, does it? You are dying anyway."
"You are right." She doesn"t open her eyes. In the last few hours, he did everything that he could do to make her feel pain. But she can still endure. She is clinging to the last strand of clarity -- Fu Sheng. She needs to live because she doesn"t want him to die. If she reveals how to kill the vampire-zombies, this man will try it on her first. If she dies, Fu Sheng will die too. She tells him with a mocking voice, "Are you tired, Mr Jonation? I am sure that you can do more."
Ian grits his teeth and thrusts the knife into her shoulder. Her body jolts once. She lowers her head, closing her eyes shut in pain. She wants this h.e.l.l to end, but she can"t embrace death either. Not just Fu Sheng, even Xiao Chun Dan"s life is depending on her.
"You won"t learn this way." Ian pulls the knife out and throws it away. "We will do this your way, my beautiful vampire."
Despite the determination that she showed to Ian in the past few hours, Huang Qiuyan releases a breath of relief when she sees him leave the room. The light is gone as soon as he leaves. She winces when she tries to move her fingers. She purses her lips together. In the darkness, stifled sobs can be heard. Her salty tears aggravate the wound on her face. She c.o.c.ks her head to the right. How long can she live? How far is death? When will Fu Sheng come?
Ah! Is he even coming?
"Haha..." She laughs, but her tears won"t stop. "I should have died that day."
If she only died that night, she wouldn"t be clinging so hard to live right now. Being a soulless vampire-zombie was better.
When the door opens, her shoulders become Tense. She"s trying to act brave, but it hurts nonetheless. The room is bright again and Huang Qiuyan could see the person"s face. The woman looks at her smugly. "It"s been a while, Huang Qiuyan."
"Meng Su Yin." Huang Qiuyan mumbles her name with a feeble voice, "Why… you…"
"I am here to greet my sister-in-law." Meng Su Yin claps her hands in front of Huang Qiuyan, startling her. "Oh, wait for a second! Are you still my sister-in-law?"
Huang Qiuyan looks at her, unable to discern her words.
"Tsk! Tsk!" Meng Su Yin shakes her head at her. "You are still a ditzy girl. Do you know what your mother said behind your back? When you left for work every day, your mother wished that it was better if you never came back because looking at her reminded her how she failed at raising you into a proper woman."
She already knows it. Her mother did care about her, but her mother was also ashamed of her. She was never good enough. She wasn"t smart or beautiful. She wasn"t good at seducing a man. She was a n.o.body. Her mother didn"t want a daughter who was n.o.body. "Why are you saying it right now?"
Meng Su Yin scrutinizes her face. "You are uglier now. What will your true mate do? Isn"t his name Fu Sheng? You even brought a pureblooded vampire to our house? You planned to feed all of us to him, right? You must have hated us from the bottom of your heart."
"You are wrong." Huang Qiuyan manages to reply. She doesn"t want to talk anymore. She wants to sleep. Just for a while.
"Huang Qiuyan, don"t be lazy. Didn"t you live your entire human life as a good-for-nothing woman? At least, have some shame as a vampire." The woman grips her jaw hard. "I don"t like touching a vampire, but I cannot let you have an easy time. We are supposed to have a conversation. Have you wondered what happened to your brother?"
Huang Qiuyan"s eyes snap open. "What did you do to Huang Wei Yi?"
"Huang Wei Yi?" Meng Su Yin snorts. "I guess that you don"t think of him as your brother anymore. It is not a surprise. Vampires cannot feel human emotions."
"That"s what you think."
Seeing the chill in Huang Qiuyan"s eyes, Meng Su Yin lets go of her face and steps backwards in fear.
Huang Qiuyan chuckles lowly. "Scared?"
"We both know that you can"t get out of the inflamed iron chains." Meng Su Yin"s voice trembles near the end. "You aren"t scaring me."
"Then, why are you shaking like a little mouse in front of a cat?" Huang Qiuyan sneers at her.
Meng Su Yin crosses her arms and scowls at her. "Huang Qiuyan, you are still stupid."
"I have heard this a lot of times." Huang Qiuyan snarls at her. "If you can"t come with anything new, get out of here."
She can"t believe her ears. Where did this good-for-nothing woman get her courage to talk back? Meng Su Yin slaps Huang Qiuyan"s cheek hard. Huang Qiuyan could barely get a grip when she stomps her foot on Huang Qiuyan"s feet. She sn.i.g.g.e.rs at her when she sees Huang Qiuyan"s face contorts in pain. "You have guts to put up an act in front of me. I am not a fool like your brother who digs his own grave"
"Where… is Wei Yi?" Last time, she saw him at the Hunter Headquarters after he released her from the prison cell. They talked a little. She said goodbye to him, hoping to never come across him again. She is a vampire and he is a vampire hunter. Even his beloved wife is a vampire hunter. She doesn"t want her brother face hards.h.i.+ps because of her.
"Where do you think he is?" Meng Su Yin chuckles. "Take a guess."
He didn"t get in any problem, did he? They might have had many differences, but they are family. He is her twin brother. They shared their mother"s womb once. He wasn"t always harsh to her. He changed a little after he met Meng Su Yin. But they were on good terms before he got married. When they met last time, he apologized to her and she forgave him.
"He didn"t help me. I tricked him." Huang Qiuyan yells at her, "Tell me where he is, Meng Su Yin. Believe me. I was the one who tricked him into opening the door."
It pleases Meng Su Yin to see her so desperate and anxious for her brother. The love between siblings is high, after all. Huang Wei Yi chose his twin sister over the loyalty to the hunter and his wife. Huang Qiuyan is struggling to be free; the chains and the wisps of red smoke intensifying the pain with her each struggle.
"Huang Qiuyan, why don"t you see for yourself?"