From the brilliant, first light of day to the still and dark of night, a serenade is being sung through the instruments of the heart; creating a dazzling illusion that strikes the imagination of dreams
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Under the Light
Chapter 7:
Hollow Dreams
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Mei just couldn't believe it. Things were so different in just a few days. Classes had become incredibly awkward for her. Every time she turned to see Xiang, she would remember what happened during the past weekend and get incredibly flustered. And even if he wasn't around, she couldn't drive her thoughts of him out of her mind. She knew that it was wrong of him to kiss her if he didn't really care but a little voice inside of her kept telling her different. Even though he didn't care, she absolutely did and the voice told her that it was possible that he did care about her too. She would remember that confused and concerned face and along with that, she couldn't hold back the heat that rose in her cheeks.
Unbeknownst to Mei, Xiang was feeling something similar. Things had changed in just a few days. He was returning back to his life as an assassin and it seemed that each mission was getting more difficult. And because of this, his training became more intense than ever.
Even though Mei didn't know the truth, she could feel an unusual sense of unease from Xiang. She wondered now if he did feel the same way but from the look on his face, it didn't seem like it. Everyone saw just a stoic handsome face but she believed she saw the truth. It was just those little things that caught her eye; the light in his eyes especially. In this way, she wasn't honest with herself, and she knew it.
The day went on with an eerie silence; even all the other students were quiet. It was all very unusual but they seemed to follow Xiang's silence; even though he was always silent, today was the exception. Xiang's intimidating aura could be felt by everyone; even if they didn't know it was coming from him.
Xiang seemed to return to how he was right when he started attending the academy. He was so distant now. With every class, Xiang didn't make any movements and when class ended, he would also ask the teachers something. Now as the day was coming to its end, Xiang entered music class and was speaking to the teacher once again. Mei was curious as to know what he was talking about but she couldn't hear anything over the music being played. What surprised her was when Xiang left the class right after finishing his chat with the teacher. Now Mei was greatly concerned.
As soon as class was over, she rushed out of the room and went to their dorm room. The moment she entered, she saw Xiang was about to leave the room but he had a suitcase with him.
"What's that for?" she asked.
"For carrying my things."
"Why do you have that? Are you going somewhere?" she asked nervously.
Xiang sighed. "I am."
"What! Why? Where?"
"I can't tell you where or why. Please understand that but I'll tell you that I'll be gone for a while."
"Are you going to come back?"
"Who knows? Maybe…" Xiang then walked to her, whispering, "See you later," as he passed her ear. Mei turned around to see him walking off. She wanted to say something, she really did but she was too shocked to say anything. Xiang soon disappeared as he turned the corner; the echoes of his footsteps fading away.
Mei collapsed onto her bed and looked toward Xiang's. Something really made her feel uneasy. The atmosphere wasn't the same without him around. She held the center of her chest as she came to realize, that Xiang was truly part of her life, and without him, there was a void.
"Did you make all the arrangements?"
"Yeah I did…" Xiang answered. "I told them myself that I was taking a leave of absence."
"Good, we have a lot of missions that require your aid."
"I see…" Xiang stared out of the window as the car drove. He could feel an indiscernible feeling within his chest. He couldn't tell what it was; regret? Longing?
Arthur noticed the slight change in Xiang's mood and grew vaguely concerned. "Is something wrong?"
"It's nothing… let's just get on with the mission."
"Alright then," Arthur took out a folder and began to shuffle through some papers. "Oh…"
"What?"
"This mission is… different."
"Different how?"
"Well all the missions before where always somewhere where the location was secluded and away from prying eyes. But this one, the location is at the center of the city."
"If it's stealing something, it won't be-"
"It's not stealing. You have to kill someone but the chances of you not getting caught are slim."
"Why is that? I can make a quick assassination."
"No, that's not it. Listen. There's an estate at the center of the city but the problem is security is extremely tight. There are guards posted at all possible locations, cameras everywhere and worst of all, the police station isn't far. What puzzles me is that they can still conduct their business in secret despite the attention they would get from being there."
"What do they do?"
"They traffic exotic animals; either endangered or just rare."
Xiang took the papers from Arthur and skimmed over the info. Arthur was right, the security was far too tight for Xiang and even if he could infiltrate the base, he could get caught if he did anything. There were just far too many people around that location.
"How are we supposed to do this? Even with proper planning, this could take months to do."
Arthur began to dig through more papers from the folder when one particular caught his eye. "I think we found our solution."
"What's that supposed to be?"
"They're going to be holding a party this weekend. With people entering the estate, security should be weakened and we can infiltrate. That means we have a few days to prepare and execution must be perfect. And there will be two leaders you must kill, don't take this lightly."
"I'll perform as I usually do." Xiang took the papers and began to form a plan, pushing his strange feeling to the back of his mind.
Mei waited quietly as she stood on the sidewalk for her brother. The week had passed by so quickly and at least she could finally rest.
The car rolled up near the sidewalk and Mei hopped into the car. Mei sighed and leaned her head against the seat. Yao began to drive but he noticed Mei's sigh. "Is something wrong? ~aru"
"Not really. It's been a long week."
"Oh, well cheer up ~aru. I have a surprise for you."
Mei raised an eyebrow, "What would that be?"
"Don't get too excited ~aru. But we're going to a party," Yao announced proudly.
Instead of the excited reaction Yao expected, he was responded with a confused one. "Really? Why?"
"Well because I was hired to cook for the party. I'm finally getting recognized and they're paying a lot for the night. Also when they did a background check, they found you were a musician and they wanted you to play at the party as well. You just have to play one song."
"Huh? Why do I have to go?"
"Because you get to play your music, I thought you'd be happy ~aru. And if not for that, I really could use the support. I've never cooked for five hundred plus people in just one course."
Mei sighed, "I guess its fine then. I don't have anything to do anyway."
"Great! It's tomorrow night so you have all day to pick the song you want to play ~aru"
"Okay."Mei turned her attention back to the outside. 'Except the song I want to play is a duet…'
The night air was filled with excitement as streams of people were entering the current hot spot of the city. The estate was incredibly large, making it perfect for the party that was being held. Many people began to arrive at the strike of six o'clock and many where high class citizens or talented individuals. What gave this party a mysterious atmosphere was the fact that it was actually a masquerade; requiring every attendant to wear some form of a mask.
Yao had to arrive a bit earlier in order to prepare for the many people but Mei was just now arriving with everyone else on the list. She entered the grand ball room, her white mask complimented her red qipao nicely. She looked around and saw that almost all the attendants were older than her. This disappointed her; the night would be long and boring because she wouldn't have anyone to associate with. Mei sighed, she was beginning to regret her decision to attend the party. The only upside to actually attending was it was better than doing nothing at home and at least she could earn a little money.
She would be performing around eight so that gave her at least an hour to do whatever she wanted while the other musicians played. At the very least, she requested a violinist to accompany her since she wanted to try something new but she doubted greatly that the person could meet her standards.
Mei decided that she would visit her brother in the kitchen and began to find her way to it. After some searching she found it but as soon as she reached there, she found her brother storming off in a fit. "Aiyah, how dare they ask me to cook something so precious?"
"Yao-ge?"
"Oh Mei, why aren't you out there having fun? ~aru"
"I wanted to see how you were doing. What's wrong?"
"I'm mad! ~aru. Those idiots are asking me to cook exotic foods which I was okay with until I found out they had a live panda!"
"Wait. They want you to cook a panda?"
"They do! But I refuse to do it. I don't even know how they got such an endangered animal here ~aru. Don't tell anyone but I'm going to get the panda out of here and just make something and call it panda."
"Ehh alright? Good luck with that." Yao nodded and then ran off to the kitchen but then made a quick turn about.
"Oh Mei, I've been wondering, where did you get that peony in your hair? You've been wearing it all week ~aru."
"Huh? Oh it was given to me…" Mei blushed slightly when thinking about who gave it to her. "And I like it."
"I see ~aru" Yao grew suspicious of Mei's reaction but shrugged it off and returned to the kitchen. Mei was glad he didn't pry too much about who gave it to her and also wondered why he couldn't just call the police but she was sure he knew what he was doing, somewhat anyway.
Mei returned to the dancehall, finding herself a bit parched. In order to quench it, she went over to the drink table and looked around for some water but there was none to be found. She then saw a bar was serving drinks and went over.
"Do you have any juice?" she asked politely.
The man chuckled to himself. "Right, juice." The man quickly prepared something and poured it into a glass for Mei.
She looked at the glass suspiciously but took a sip. It tasted sweet so she assumed it was okay and went on to her own business. She checked the time and saw she would perform in just half an hour. She found a spot to sit down and relax. She looked over to the other guests and saw everyone was either mingling or dancing to the music.
A hand was suddenly put in front of Mei, "May I have this dance?" he asked.
Mei looked over to see the man but as with everyone else, he wore a mask that hid his face but not his blond hair. He spoke in a suave voice, despite it being a bit deep. "Err I'm not sure…" she answered nervously. Mei wasn't exactly comfortable dancing with a complete stranger but she didn't want to seem rude.
"I'm sure you'll have fun," he insisted.
"But I don't know how to dance…" The ironic thing about Mei was the fact that she could play wonderful music but at the same time, she really couldn't dance.
Even after she said she couldn't dance, the man took her out to the dance floor. "Follow my lead."
He put his right hand behind Mei, below her shoulder. Then he took Mei's left hand and raised it. After that he moved forward with his left foot, his right taking a step back. He took a step to the left and his right foot slid to follow the left.
The man repeated it over and over; it took Mei a while to get used to the movement but even then she was still clumsy with her feet. As they continued, Mei constantly stepped on his feet with her movements, apologizing many times for it.
The song finally ended and Mei was greatly relieved. She didn't enjoy dancing in the least because it was incredibly awkward dancing with him. "Umm, thanks for teaching me to dance. Sorry about your feet."
"It's alright, you weren't too bad. Oh may I ask for your name? My name is Kyle. "
"My name is Mei. Nice to meet you."
"That fits you well."
"Thank you. Well it was nice meeting you." Mei moved to go back to her seat but Kyle continued to follow her. Mei turned around, "Umm do you need something?"
"Not exactly but you seem like a very interesting girl."
"Thank you?"
"I'd like to get to know you more if you don't mind."
Mei began to panic in her mind. She didn't want to be rude but she really didn't want to dance with him again. He seemed really suspicious; his eyes carried a very dreadful light. Just then, her cell phone went off and she took it out to see that she had ten minutes left before she would perform. "Umm sorry, I have to go perform."
"Oh is that so? You must be that protégé that we invited."
"Wait, you're the host?"
"Yes, me and my brother. He's going around and meeting people."
"Oh I see, well I should go now."
"I'll meet with you afterwards then."
"Err, right." Mei walked away quickly and took a breath of relief. She was glad she was able to get away from that man.
She quickly made it to the side of the stage and she was just behind a young man. Mei waited patiently as the musicians on stage finished. It was the young man's turn and he got onto the stage. Now that he was on stage, Mei could get a better look at him and the sight startled her. There was something about his appearance that struck a memory within her.
The young man reminded her of that dark figure along with his mysterious aura. The mask reminded her far too much of that night she was rescued by an unknown person. She tried to calm herself down, "it can't be the same person," she said to herself.
Mei finally quieted herself when the young man picked up his instrument. His choice didn't particularly bother Mei; it was just a violin after all. The young man placed the wooden instrument at his shoulder and jaw and readied the bow.
Immediately, the bow swiftly struck the strings in a gliding motion and he began to create a symphony of sounds. Mei's eyes widened at the sound of his violin playing. The sound was just too familiar to ignore at all. The way the violin seemed to sing as the violinist skillfully played every note. Mei was entranced by the music, finding that with each passing second, she learned more and more about the mysterious musician until her suspicions couldn't be held back any longer.
But she couldn't just go up and make him confess; she needed a way to confirm it. As strong as her suspicions were, she needed some evidence at least. And the only thing she could think of was through music.
The young man soon finished his piece and the guests applauded accordingly to the magnificent performance. At this moment, Mei began to smirk slightly and she quickly went up to the stage and blocked the young man from leaving the stage. He didn't appear to be afraid or nervous but Mei could tell from his golden eyes that he slightly was.
"Excuse me, could I get you to be my accomplice in my piece?" she asked innocently.
The young man just nodded slightly in response but to Mei, it was a 'yes' regardless. She smiled and went up to the piano, taking her position and calming herself. She began to play the melody of her new duet, hoping that the violinist could pick up on it as well. Her expectations were met as he began to follow the rhythm of her playing and soon enough matched it perfectly.
Mei couldn't even feel the presence of the audience as she remained solely focus on her playing and tracking the young man's. Through the final moments of the song, she confirmed her suspicions entirely as the song came to its climatic end.
Mei and the young man took their bows and began to leave the stage for the next performers. The young man tried to escape quickly but Mei saw it coming and intercepted him. "That was a nice performance…" she commented. The violinist just quickly nodded in response and hastily tried to escape once more but again Mei got in his way, smirking slightly. "Xiang."
His eyes grew wide and in a hushed voice, "How?"
"I knew it!" she exclaimed. Xiang quickly quieted her, making her talk in a low voice. "Anyway, I knew because of your playing and the way you were dressed seemed familiar."
"But I sound like anyone else."
Mei began to think intensely and soon began to flush as she realized why she noticed the difference. "I uhh… your playing… it touches my heart in a way that no one else can seem to do."
Xiang seemed slightly startled by her response. He would never have imagined that he could connect to someone in such a way; or with anyone else period. "Is that so…? I'm not sure how to respond to that."
"It's true and you don't have to say anything… I just wanted to let you know that fact." Mei held herself from saying the other thing inside her heart, fearing greatly for his reaction to that. "Well… I'll be going now."
Xiang watched as Mei began to walk away. He wanted to follow her, he really did but he had a mission to accomplish. He had to stay undercover and not associate with anyone until the time struck nine; at that point, he would have to abandon the light atmosphere of the masquerade. Xiang sighed deeply as he placed his violin in a case, leaving it with the other instruments and entering into the sea of people.
Mei almost got back to her table when she noticed Kyle walking towards her. She turned directly back, trying to distance herself from him. Mei turned her eye slightly and saw that Kyle was still following her. Mei didn't even notice that music began to play again and everyone was dancing as she moved through the crowd. Despite the sea of people, Kyle knew where Mei was but it was also because of her unique dress in comparison with everyone else.
Mei tried desperately to avoid him, not paying attention to her actual surroundings. Soon enough, she returned back into reality when she bumped into someone but rather than falling back, an arm wrapped itself around her waist and held her close. Mei opened her eyes and was surprised to find that she ran into Xiang, yet again.
"Just relax and follow my lead." Xiang took her other hand and began to waltz with her. Xiang was able to read the situation almost instantly; seeing that Mei was being chased by someone she really didn't want to meet with.
Mei did as she was told and found it much easier to dance with Xiang. Instead of trying to learn something she never did before, he was guiding her every movement in an elegant and graceful motion. Mei thanked that the party was a masquerade because if she didn't have a mask on, Xiang would be able to clearly see her flushing face.
"Who is that guy?" he asked.
"Just someone I met. He won't leave me alone and he's really creepy."
"You think he could take a hint or two," Xiang commented.
"I know right? Anyway, umm thanks for saving me."
"It isn't a problem. I'll escort you back to your table." Now that the song had ended, Xiang could easily take Mei back to her table. Mei pointed in the right direction and the two found themselves at the table. Mei was somewhat saddened that they had to stop dancing so soon but forced herself to shrug it off.
"Thanks again." Xiang nodded and moved to leave when Mei quickly grabbed his wrist. "Umm could you stay and keep me company," she asked shyly. "You're the only one here that I can talk to…"
Xiang sighed slightly but took a seat, motioning for Mei to join him. She happily obliged. Even though Xiang had agreed to keep Mei company, he kept silent, not attempting to start any kind of conversation unless he absolutely had to; he was on a mission after all.
Mei didn't mind his silent personality at all, she enjoyed his company regardless. She noticed that her drink was still there and she took it and began to sip. A waitress walked by, carrying a few bottles of what looked to be wine. She noticed Mei's drink and went over to her. "Pardon me, would you like a refill?"
"Huh, no. I don't drink. This juice is just fine."
The waitress was about to respond when Mei turned her head, turning a bit wide eyed. She sprung up from her seat and took Xiang out to the dance floor. "… but we don't serve juice here," she finished.
Xiang was confused with Mei's sudden action. He peered over his shoulder and saw Kyle behind them. Xiang thought to himself that the man was relentless. A strange feeling welled up inside of Xiang. He didn't know what it was exactly but he felt somewhat angry and… protective?
After they gained some distance from the man, Mei draped her arms around Xiang's shoulders, a blush already covering her face. Xiang didn't understand why they needed to dance but followed her lead and snaked his arms around her waist. The two began to dance slowly to the beat and rhythm of the music. Xiang was slightly startled as Mei buried her face in his chest.
"Mei? Is something wrong?"
"Nope," she chimed. "I feel completely fine." Even if she said so, Xiang could tell something was wrong. Mei's speech seemed slightly sluggish from before and realized it was the drink. She couldn't hold her alcohol.
"Mei I think you should rest for a bit."
"I told you I'm fine," she answered. Mei's speech seemed to be slurred and her vision became blurred.
Despite her protests, Xiang guided her back to the table. She wasn't fighting back too much, her body feeling dizzy and weak. The two finally got back to the table and Xiang got Mei into her seat. "Just rest Mei."
Xiang took a look at his watch and saw that only a few minutes remained until he would have to start the operation. Just then, Mei began to tug at Xiang's sleeve. The Cantonese teen gave her a questionable stare until Mei motioned him to come closer. Xiang obeyed and leaned his head closer to the girl and Mei held him close. "Hey Xiang, I want to tell you something," she giggled.
Playing along, Xiang responded, "What would that be?"
Mei giggled more, "Guess."
"Umm I don't know, you're tired?"
"Yes but that's not it."
"Then what is it?"
"Okay listen closely." Mei leaned closer to Xiang's ear and in a soft whisper, "I. Really. Like. You."
Xiang's eyes widened as Mei pulled back and fell into her seat. The girl giggled to herself as she looked at Xiang's stunned face. "M-Mei do you know-"
"I really mean it!" she exclaimed. Mei looked like she was about to do something else until her head leaned down and she became silent.
Xiang snapped back into his mind and examined Mei. She passed out. Xiang sighed deeply as he took off his coat and wrapped it around the sleeping girl. He leaned her head onto the table so she would have somewhere to rest more easily. As he fixed his coat around her Mei's mouth began to move. "…Xiang…" she muttered.
Xiang gently caressed her hair and leaned closer to the girl. "Mei…" Then in a very soft tone, he muttered something into her ear. After a few moments passed, he stood straight and walked away, only taking a few seconds to look back at her.
The time for the operation had begun.
The two twins sat in the back of the estate, conversing with each other about the party. At the same time, they were preparing for another shipment of animals to be delivered. The brothers started to laugh at the fact that it was so easy to keep so many animals hidden.
The grounds were set up in a way that there was an underground jail where the animals were kept and also the outdoors garden that held a few animals that was portrayed as a zoo. The two were now walking through that said zoo garden as they looked down at different pits that held a variety of animals.
"This party is going splendidly."
"Yes it is brother. And it's during this time that the authorities are too blinded to see the extremely rare animals we steal."
"True but I think I found something more appealing to the party," commented Kyle.
"What would that be? Usually you're not this happy over the party."
"There was this very interesting girl."
"Ha, I should've known it was a woman."
"I believe it was that pianist that we invited. Though she seemed to be avoiding me."
"You have that effect on people," he joked.
"Shut up Lyle."
Before the man could respond, a sudden alarm rang throughout the entire grounds. The two's faces turned serious as they quickly ran over to what was going on. When they arrived, a large crowd of people were running from the estate and when they got inside, the only thing they could see were the crimson flames of a fire.
"What's going on here!" Lyle demanded.
One of the guards ran up to the twins, sweat covering his face. "Sir, we don't know exactly what happened but out of nowhere, an inferno started."
"What! Put it out! We can't have the fire department getting into the estate."
"We're trying sir. So far we've been able to evacuate all the guests…"
"Who cares about them!" he interrupted. "Put out the fire! We can't have it getting to the animals!"
"Right away sir." The man then ran off to try and put out the fire.
"Calm down brother, we need to do something."
Lyle sighed. "Let's find the cause of this fire th-"
Before the man could finish his sentence, an explosion roared through the air, locking their attention to the growing fire. The men ran toward the inferno of scarlet and found over half of their guards had been completely enveloped by the fire. But what frightened them was that the rest of them had been cut down and left to lie in a pool of their own blood.
"W-what's happened here?" they said in unison.
Their answer appeared.
A dark figure began to emerge from the flames; walking steadily towards them. The twins backed up at the same rate as the figure approached them. The fire seemed to completely avoid the figure but as it moved forward, the fire covered the area behind it.
Finally, after an eternity of moments, the figure emerged from the flames and presented himself to the twins. Staring right at them was the dark haired Xiang.
"Who are you?" demanded Lyle.
Instead of answering the man's question, Xiang continued to move forward. Now that he was out of the fire, the blade he carried was in full view. But the steel blade carried a crimson glow; added by the roaring fire and from the blood that stained it.
The two stared at Xiang; their sights locked onto Xiang's emotionless face, especially his unmistakable eyes.
"We have to get away from here Lyle."
"Are you insane! I'm not going to let him hunt us down like a common animal."
"That's fine and all but we don't stand a chance against him," he argued. "Look at all our men; he single handedly took them all down. We need weapons at least."
Lyle growled in fury but nodded towards his brother. "Fine. Let's go then." The two began to run away from Xiang. Kyle whipped out his communicator and called all guards to their location.
On a whim, Kyle looked back to see if Xiang followed them. That was a mistake.
Right behind was the very same pair of golden eyes and before he could react, Xiang overtook him and slammed his fist into Kyle's stomach; relieving him of his breath and stamina. The man was knocked down to his back with a sudden kick to his chest. The man stared up to see Xiang but something was different in his eyes; it carried the signs of anger despite his stoic face.
"Kyle!" Lyle ran up and attempted to strike Xiang down, only to have his fist stopped midair.
Xiang held Lyle's fist tightly until he abruptly twisted his arm and made him fall to his knees. Now that Xiang was distracted, Kyle had time to recover. The man got up to help his brother only to have him glared at. "Kyle! Go get weapons or help. I'll be fine." Kyle seemed reluctant at the order but after Lyle screamed at him to run; he forced his body to move.
Xiang sighed to himself; it just gave him more work to do now. Xiang raised his leg and slammed it into Lyle's head, knocking him to his side. The man grinded his teeth together as he rose up. He held the side of his head that Xiang had kicked; feeling extremely disoriented.
"I'm going to make you pay for that." Lyle straightened his stance and removed his jacket. He began to stretch out his arms and held his fists up; readying himself to fight Xiang.
Lyle charged Xiang in his fit of rage. Xiang swiftly jumped back, dodging the punch. Lyle didn't end there however; he continued his onslaught until Xiang was backed to a metal railing. Xiang looked over his shoulder and saw that it was a pit; a pit that held a pack of tigers.
Lyle grinned widely; thinking he had Xiang backed into a corner. The man charged Xiang, fist rose until only inches separated the two. Xiang quickly leaned back to dodge the fist but it was far over the railing. Xiang began to fall back until his hands gripped the metal railing and his legs tied themselves around Lyle. The Cantonese teen lifted the man and swung him over until both were on the other side of the rails. Xiang however was still holding onto the railing and Lyle dangled on a ledge. The man desperately tried to keep himself from falling down to where the tigers rested.
Xiang easily pulled himself back over the railing and now Xiang stared down at the man. Lyle's eyes were filled with fear, knowing that his death were only a few meters away if he fell. The Asian removed a gun from his vest and aimed it to Lyle. The man's eyes grew even wider and in an instant, Xiang pulled the trigger. The bullet ran into one of the man's hands; now Lyle could feel his arm being pushed to its limit to holding onto the ledge. Xiang shot again but instead of shooting Lyle, he shot the ledge.
The rocks crumbled and Lyle fell freely and crashed to the ground. He quickly scrambled himself as he turned around and saw all the tigers eyeing him hungrily. The tigers took in the scent of the fresh blood that trickled down Lyle's hand. He quickly crawled toward the wall, trying to climb out but the walls were far too steep for him to climb, let alone get a grip.
Xiang took one last look at Lyle's pathetic attempt to escape until he turned around and began his search for Kyle. As he ran through the grounds, he could clearly hear the roars of the tigers and the screams of a man.
Kyle ran through the darkened grounds, desperately searching for any kind of weapon he could use and also waiting for the guards to find him. But the area seemed completely foreign to him; now that it was darkened by the night.
Kyle continued to wander through the jungle like terrain; occasionally bumping into plants. His senses were incredibly handicapped at this point. His sight was completely gone, any sudden sounds would make him jump and his body was starting to become exhausted from running.
Things began to change suddenly when he ran out into a small clearing. He was now surrounded by tall poles of bamboo but that wasn't the strange thing. The atmosphere was filled with an aura of bloodlust that was wearing onto Kyle's mentality.
"It's about time you showed up."
Kyle quickly turned around to see Xiang, leaning leisurely on one of shoots. "Y-you… Where's Lyle?" he asked nervously.
Xiang began to walk toward the man, slowly. "You mean exactly? He's in several different places technically."
"What do you mean? Where is he!" he demanded.
In a flash, Xiang appeared in front of Kyle and in an instant he smashed Kyle's head into the ground. "Don't raise your voice with me," Xiang commented.
Kyle squirmed under Xiang's hand but his attempts were useless as Xiang only increased the pressure to his head. Xiang raised his head from the ground and once again smashed it back into the ground. The impact from the blow quickly knocked the man out.
The man shifted his head slightly as he made a loud groan. He opened his eyes and found that he was chained to the ground. Kyle struggled to try and get free but his attempts only succeeding in making splashes. Then he realized that he was lying in a small pond.
Slowly, Xiang began to emerge from the shadows of the shoots and walked closer to the man. "What are you doing!" he demanded.
"Right now, I don't have to do anything."
"What are you talking about?"
Xiang moved over and pulled one of the bamboo shoots down until it abruptly snapped. He then moved it over a small waterfall that lay close. The combination of the bamboo suddenly created a type of pipe that began to transfer the water over and directly onto Kyle's face.
The man began to gasp and choke at the water but the stream wasn't strong enough to drown him. "I d-demand to k-know what y-you're doing."
"You don't even realize what you grow here do you?"
"W-what are you talking about?" he gagged.
Xiang took out what looked like a few seeds. "See these? They're bamboo seeds and your company has been using them to create this forest of bamboo shoots."
"What does that have anything to do with this?"
Xiang sighed. "How much of an idiot are you? You realize how this bamboo grew? Because of the natural conditions here were absolutely perfect for their growth. And I imprisoned you right over a sapling."
Kyle still stared at Xiang dumbfounded. He didn't understand where he was going with his plan.
Xiang began to get annoyed with the man. "That bamboo sapling under you will grow; quickly."
Kyle started to gain an idea of what the Asian was talking about and knew his final question. "H-how fast?"
"Considering these conditions; it will grow right through your body in three days."
The man's eyes grew wide; Xiang wasn't going to kill him just like that, he wanted him to be tortured. "No! Let me go!" He began to struggle desperately to escape but the chains held strong. "Don't do this to me! What did I do?"
Xiang turned around and began to walk away. "No one will hear you out here and by the time they do, you'll be long dead…" Xiang continued and found a path that would lead him out. "… And you don't deserve to know why. You can just suffer in ignorance…"
Mei turned her head all around to see where she was but it was nothing she ever saw before. The entire area was covered in a white mist. Mei began to wander the empty area; finding with each step she took, it echoed through the entire area.
After walking for a seemingly endless amount of time in and endless space, she finally saw something different. In the distance stood a figure but it was clouded by the mist. Mei started to walk toward it but even as she moved forward, the figure didn't seem to be coming any closer.
All at once, the figure turned around and Mei was stunned to see it was Xiang. "Xiang!" she cried out. She began to run faster toward him but still the distance wasn't closed.
Only when he began to walk did they start to get closer. As soon as only a couple of meters separated them, he stopped. Mei also broke her running and waited in her spot, slightly panting to herself but smiled to see that he was with her there.
Xiang's lips began to move and in a soft whisper he spoke. "I'm sorry Mei."
"What are you…?"
"Despite how much I feel for you, we can't be together. If you knew the truth, then you'd understand why…" Xiang turned around and began to walk away.
"Xiang?" Mei reached out for him but he became even more distant. "Wait!" she shouted. The Taiwanese girl began to run after him, wanting to know more. "What do you mean?" Xiang still continued to grow farther away until he was so far away that she could barely see him. "Xiang!"
"Mei? Wake up. Mei ~aru"
"W-what? Huh?" Mei sprang up from where she was laying and saw her brother in front of her. "Yao-ge? Where am I? What happened to the party?"
"You passed out ~aru. I saw a glass next to you and you drank wine."
"Seriously?" she exclaimed. "That bar tender lied to me…"
"But that's beside the point ~aru. We had to evacuate the estate."
"Huh? Why? Did something happen?"
"Let me finish ~aru. Okay, a fire started in the center of the building. All the guests started to evacuate and when I was escaping, I saw you out cold on a table. I was able to carry you out of the building."
"Really?" Just then her thoughts returned to Xiang. "Did everyone get out okay?"
"I believe so. I'm sure all the guests did but I'm not too sure about the hosts and guards ~aru."
"That's a relief…"
"Indeed ~aru. But what worries me is you. Are you okay?"
"Huh? I feel fine. Why do you ask?"
"Just making sure, you usually get like this if you even touch alcohol. And also you were muttering something in your sleep. I think it was a name ~aru."
Mei blushed slightly as she remembered who he was referring to but at the same time, dread began to fill her chest. Those words that Xiang had said to her in her dream seemed so real; and they continued to remain inside her mind. As if he actually said it.
"Mei? Are you okay? ~aru"
"I'm fine… I just had a weird dream…" Mei returned to her bed and pulled the sheets over herself. "I just need rest Yao-ge."
Yao nodded and quietly left the room. Mei lay there; her thoughts obsessing over that dream. Just then she realized that there was a coat wrapped around her that wasn't hers. She took a moment to examine the jacket and found that there was a distinct scent coming from it. Mei took in the scent and to her it smelled so familiar and so very heavenly; there was no use denying that it was Xiang's. The fact made her blush madly but she buried her face into her pillow, trying to calm herself. Her thoughts took her back to the dream and what had it meant and most importantly, why Xiang was the one to say it to her. He was constantly on her mind and at this point she realized something she was denying. She had fallen for him.
Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia
A/n: Another update~ I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter as I didn't really go too detailed into the violence and there was a lot of suspense and fluff no? Also Kyle and Lyle are just people that you don't have to worry about. If you guys noticed, I went really heavily onto the theme of music and dreams so that gives you something to think about ;) And the suspense you get in this chapter? It's only a droplet of what's to come so stay tuned for Under the Light :)
And just as a random note, the next update might come a bit later because I shall be graduating in just a few days from high school so I'm really excited/nervous. But the update will come, just later. Bye for now my dear readers and don't forget to review if you can. Every review makes me very happy.
