“Yo! Zhou Mi wake up!!” Zhou Mi bolted up right in a cold sweat, a very worried Henry sitting beside him. Pale light poured through the window as a cloudy day was dawning.

Recalling his hellish nightmare, the older man’s eyes were immediately drawn to Henry’s neck. There was no tear, gash or scar to be found on the boy’s soft pale skin. Zhou Mi brought a trembling hand to his face, searching for the blood that the moon spilled upon his face. Much like the wounds upon Henry neck, there was none to be found.

“Gege, are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” The younger man asked with concern. “You were screaming and thrashing around like a lunatic.”

“I…- I’m sorry Henry,” Zhou Mi croaked, his throat sore from screaming.

“I just… I had a…” he fumbled over his words, his voice cracked and dry.

“Geez, you sound awful.” Henry said, standing up. “I’ll get you some tea to help your throat.” The boy said and he jogged out of the room.

The Chinese man stared blankly at his hands, the mysterious girl’s voice echoing in his head.

“Why did you kill him?.... You ripped it out of his neck like a wild beast.”

Her accusations sounded completely and utterly ridiculous. He loved Henry like a brother; the last thing he would ever want is for harm to come to the boy, let alone death by Zhou Mi’s hand.

The thought of Henry’s torn neck made Zhou Mi’s stomach churn. What kind of person kills like that? It was feral, beastly to rip apart a human’s neck. Zhou Mi’s hands trembled at the mere thought.

The Chinese man could hardly throw a proper punch or even muster enough hate to wish ill upon others, much less tear a man's neck out. How could he, a docile, non-violent man, kill a sweet, loving boy like Henry so viciously?

“This should fix you right up.” Henry returned with a steaming cup of tea in his hands. Zhou Mi accepted the cup from Henry, their finger brushing against each other. Henry flinched back and Zhou Mi’s heart nearly stopped. The girl in the nightmare flinched back when he tried to comfort her.

“Your hands are really cold gege!” Henry exclaimed. “Hurry and drink that tea!”

Zhou Mi sighed and swallowed a bit if the tea, the heat and herbs soothing his dry throat.

“Thanks Henry,” he said, his voice no longer cracked.

“You looked like you were having a nightmare,” Henry said, patting the older man’s shoulder comfortingly.

Unable to speak, Zhou Mi nodded and stared into his tea.

“What happened ge?”

Zhou Mi shook his head weakly.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Henry sat on the edge of the bed of Zhou Mi’s bed and grinned.

“Try me.”

Zhou Mi could tell Henry wasn’t going to let this go until he got the whole story. The older man sighed and told Henry everything. About the forest, the creature stalking him, the girl in the clearing, the boy’s lifeless body in the girl’s arms, the blood drenched moon: everything. Henry paled as Zhou Mi told him described the gash in his throat and the accusations the girl made. Henry was silent for a good five minutes before he said anything.

“Oh my gosh…” Henry scooted closer to Zhou Mi.

“I… that’s… I can’t…” he stammered.

“I know, it was the most frightening dream I’ve ever had.” Zhou Mi wrapped an arm around the boy’s shoulders.

“It just sounds so terrifying ge, I’m scared just hearing about it. You’re like a brother to me,” Henry rested his head on Zhou Mi’s shoulder.

“That’s how I feel, I’d never have the nerve or desire to hurt you, or anyone for that matter,” Zhou Mi replied, wrapping an around around the boy's shoulders.

“You know I would never hurt you, right Henry?” Henry looked up at Zhou Mi.

“Of course I do ge, we’re closer than brothers.” He replied.

Zhou Mi breathed a sigh of relief.

“And that girl…” Zhou Mi trailed off as her face flashed in his mind.

“I don’t know anyone like her.” Henry said.

“None of my friends or past girlfriends had red eyes or wore colored contacts.” The boy sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. "I have to admit though, she sounds pretty." 

“Speaking of girls, we’ve got a lunch date with Yumi today.” He nudged Zhou Mi playfully with his elbow, trying to brighten the mood.

Yumi, Zhou Mi nearly forgot about her.

“I almost forgot about that.” Zhou Mi replied, half laughing weakly.

“Well, let’s not dilly-dally. We’ve got a few hours to get ready and perk up a bit.” Henry climbed out of Zhou Mi’s bed. He offered his hand to the Chinese man.

I suppose there’s no use in worrying about the dream right now. Zhou Mi thought and accepted Henry’s hand.

“Come on, we’ve got a date to get ready for!” Henry said with excitement, turning back to Zhou Mi.

For a split second, Henry’s skin was as pale as snow and his eyes were the color of blood, a light violet tint beneath his eyes as if he hadn’t slept.

Zhou Mi blinked and Henry was back to his normal, healthy appearance.

~*~*~*~*~

“Feelin’ alright ge?” Henry asked as they waited outside of Handel and Gretel.

“I’m fine Henry, you don’t need to worry.” Zhou Mi replied, ruffling Henry’s hair.

Henry was concerned that Zhou Mi might not be in the best of spirits after having that horrifying nightmare, but the older man was too excited to let his bad dream get the best of him. Zhou Mi fixed his jacket for the umpteenth time.

“You sure?” Henry raised an eyebrow. “You’re really fidgety.” Henry pointed out Zhou Mi constantly fixing his clothes, a habit of his when he’s nervous or excited.

Zhou Mi shook his head.

“I’m okay. I’m just a little nervous.”

Henry grinned and patted the older man’s back.

“It’s going to be fine gege. Yumi seems like a nice girl. And last time I checked, every person who’s ever met you can’t help but like you.”

Zhou Mi was never a shy person, even as a child he would happily greet new people with a friendly smile. His ba said that he has a way with making people happy.

“You’ll make many friends Mi. There’s no end to your happiness.”

Zhou Mi could only hope his ba was still right.

“She’s different from other people Henry. I can’t explain it.”Zhou Mi sighed. Henry pressed his lips together and glanced down at the ground.

“I hear ya. She’s not like other trainees. She’s more confident than others with an approaching debut.” Henry replied.

That wasn’t exactly what Zhou Mi was getting at. Yumi was confident, for sure, but she was… ethereal for lack of a better word. The aura about her was too foreign. It was as if she was an entirely different breed from the people that surround her.

She was…

“Sunbaes!” A happy, honey-sweet voiced called, breaking Zhou Mi’s thoughts.

Zhou Mi turned in the direction of the voice and there, at the end of the street climbing out of a cab, was Yumi.

The Japanese girl waved happily to the men as another woman steeped out of the cab. Yumi took the girl’s hand and led her toward Zhou Mi and Henry.

Zhou Mi quickly checked his outfit once more, and lookooked back up at Yumi.

The amber eyed girl walked with grace in her three-inch, long black boots. Her gracefulness sent a chill up his spine.

The Chinese man shifted his gaze to the woman accompanying Yumi.

She was a little shorter than Yum; and looked a little younger too. The girl had pin straight, shiny shoulder length hair, dark blue skinny jeans, a dark green, ruffly shirt and a chic grey jacket. Her eyes were cast to the ground.

Zhou Mi cocked his head to the side. There was something about her that …

“Hey Yumi ssi!” Henry broke his elder’s train of thought.

“Annyeonghaseyo sunbaes! Sorry we’re late,” Yumi apologized, bowing.

“Don’t worry, you’re not late! We just came early.” Zhou Mi replied. The Japanese woman smiled in relief, then gestured to the girl beside her.

“I hope you don’t mind, I brought a friend with me,” she gently nudged the other girl forward.

“This is Kaede Asahara, my best friend.”

The girl raised her head and smiled shyly. A flash of recognition clicked in Zhou Mi’s mind.

Yumi gestured to Zhou Mi and Henry, and spoke a jumble of Japanese words to the younger woman, probably introducing them to her. 

Asahara had a lovely face, with full coral pink lips and a cute, perfect little nose. Surprisingly, her skin was as pale as Yumi’s, but that’s not what caught Zhou Mi’s attention.

Her large, almond shaped eyes were as red as roses. Zhou Mi has seen those eyes before.

“An-annyeonghaseyo, j-jeonun Asahara imnida.“ She said softly.

Her soft, sugar sweet voice was familiar to Zhou Mi. Then the girl from his dream flashed before him, her words echoing in his mind.

“Why did you kill him?”

Asahara was the girl from his dream. 

Sneak Peek:

"Police are currently investigating the murder of a construction worker, who was working a late nigh shift. Medical examiners state that he was murdered by some kind of animal and that the cause of death is severe blood loss."

At that statement, Yumi's whole body became stiff. 

*********

I have returned my readers! 

Sorry for that loooooooong hiatus!! I had a bad case of writers block and couldn't get rid of it until 2nd period on Wednsday. *bows repeatedly*

But no more of that! I have an awesome co-author who rocks my world and we are set and ready to go with this story.

There have been some veeeery slight changes to the story (no more Henber) so you might want ot read the last chapter so you don't get too confused. My cousin read this story and complained about there being Henber and said.

"Why don't you add another character instead to make it scarier?" 

Thanks to her, and my co-author, we have a new character! 

Thanks for sticking with this story guys. 

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