Chapter 1: That Night…
Author's Word: Well, this will be my first real fic with serious emotion. I'm used to writing humor and such. Anyway, this is actually a collaboration between a friend and me. I won't mention his name, but he knows who he is. If I get flamed really badly it's your fault! Anyway, let's get to the story.
"Hey, throw me another! I'm going for a record!"
"Who Shawn! You're going to have a huge-hand over tomorrow."
"It's all worth it! That guy over there said he'd pay me four hundred dollars if I could down twelve glasses and not puke." The drunkard pointed to a man with raven-black hair.
He also had had blood red colored eyes. His hair was cut short, stray, slim bangs hung in his face. There were empty seats around him. He didn't want anyone getting too close. He had a stare to chase off even the burliest of men. He was fierce, insane, and had a child's mind within him. He was known as Shenlong Shin.
"Seriously, though, you're going to throw up on your fifth glass. I think he made the bet because he knew you couldn't do it. You'll never make it."
"You don't know what I'll do for money." A dark brown haired girl walked over to the two men.
She was beautiful. Her eyes were brown, but if someone looked hard enough they would be able to see violet. Her hair was long and tied in a skinny braid.
"Shawn! Hey! What are you doing here?"
"Ah, Gabriel. What's up girl?"
"Well, I decided to come here after work. What a coincidence running into you. What are you doing?"
"He's trying to win four hundred dollars."
"Yeah, that guy over there said if I could drink twelve glasses and not puke he would pay me." Gabriel looked over to the red-eyed man. Suddenly, she felt a feeling of familiarity.
"What's his name?"
"Don't know. Never caught it."
"I wouldn't go near him though. He's a regular here. I asked the bar tender why no one sits with him and he said… well…-"
"What, is he gay?"
"No! He causes a lot of trouble. He also said he doesn't exactly walk on the right side of sanity."
"…I think I'm going to talk to him." She started to walk over to him. He looked at her from under his hair. She sat down next to him.
"Hello, what's you name?" He sighed.
"Why should I tell you?"
"Because it would be nice to." He looked away from her.
"What the hell do you want? And why would you want to know?"
"Hey, that's not fair. I ask you one question and you ask me a million." She smiled playfully and he only shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, it's not exactly fair that you're ruining my night is it?" She frowned, he was good with words.
"I hate it when someone uses my words against me. I just want to know your name."
"If I tell you will you leave me alone?" Shenlong took another drink from his glass and kept his eyes forward. She could sit there all day staring at him, it really didn't matter. Or maybe it was the alcohol in her that gave her those kind of thoughts. She didn't know.
"Sure…maybe…no, you choose." This was getting a little weird, even for him. HIM. Shenlong. Mr. Insane himself.
"Fine, it's Shenlong." Gabriel's face lit up. She knew he was familiar.
"You're the leader from the ZLF. You caused that thing two years ago. Everyone thinks you're dead."
"Exactly."
"Why wouldn't you want anyone to know you're alive?"
"Because." She smiled.
"Are you a Zoanthrope yourself?" He looked at her and she put her head in her hands. She liked his eyes.
"…Maybe. Why would a human want to know?" He returned his gaze to the front of him.
"Because I think Zoanthropes are awesome. Can you show me your powers?"
"No. I don't even know you." He drank the rest of his glass and knocked on the counter top. The bar tender came over to refill his glass. He looked back at Gabriel. "Did everyone ever tell you you're weird?"
"Of course, plenty of times."
"Well, add me to your list." Then Shawn and his friend came over. Shawn still had a glass in his hand.
"Well Gabriel, did you make a new friend?" She sighed. She liked having Shawn as a friend but sometimes he was just annoying. This was one of those times.
"…Shawn, can't you see I'm trying to talk to-" She looked back to where Shenlong was, but he was gone. She crossed her arms. "Dang it!"
"…Damn, that guy is gone. Well, I guess that means you can barf now Shawn."
"And I will gladly do that!" He runs off to the bathroom. Gabriel gets up and simply waves by to Shawn's friend. She goes out the door. She had hoped he would be waiting there, but who was she kidding? They didn't know each other and he obviously seemed annoyed by her. She sighed thinking she might never see him again.
"I wish he was still around. I wanted to ask him something."
"We'd like to ask you something sweetheart." She turned and saw two Hispanic men.
"I don't date scum."
"We don't want a date. We want your money." She smiled nervously.
"…Well, that's too bad because I don't have any on me right now." She started to walk away, but one grabbed her and stuck a knife to her neck. "Please let me go."
"Give me something worth my while."
"I don't have anything." Suddenly both heard a scream from behind them. The Hispanic man who had Gabriel in his hold turned slightly only to see his buddy was unconscious.
"Antonio, Antonio… How many times do I have to fight your members? I'm going to have to start charging fare."
"At least my members don't start beating up anyone they see."
"What can I say? I love the fight." Shenlong slowly started walking to them.
"Shenlong? I thought you were long gone." Gabriel smiled at him.
"So, this chick's your girl?"
"No way! We… She just knows my name. I don't associate with anyone like that." Gabriel was confused. What did he mean, she thought.
"So you don't mind if I have her?" Shenlong smiled and stopped.
"Nope…" The man turned to Gabriel and took the knife away. She backed away until she hit a wall. She closed her eyes in fear… But after a minute or so, nothing happened. She was still scared to death and her heart was racing.
"…You can open your eyes now," came a soft voice. She opened her eyes slowly only to see red eyes staring at her.
"How could you say something like that?"
"Hey, it distracted him." She stood up and smiled.
"So, you helped me after all."
"Well, not necessarily." She had a disappointed look on her face. "What did you expect me to say? 'I couldn't let you hurt a woman like that?'"
"So, why did you stop him?"
"Well, I still need to ask you some questions." Gabriel dusted herself off and stepped away from the wall. She felt boxed in there.
"Like what?"
"Why did you want to see my powers? Really?"
"I told you already. I just think Zoanthropes are cool." He stared at her with an annoyed look.
"I hate it when people don't tell me things."
"Well, I'm not going to tell you." She started to walk away from him, but she stopped.
"Oh, I never thanked you."
"I didn't DO anything for you." She went to him and kissed him on his cheek. He stood still for a minute, even after the short kiss ended. A crimson streak crept across his face. She smiled and waved, then walked away from him.