27

“AARON!!”

Mike helped him up so that he was sitting against the wall as he help Mr. Wu tend to his injury. While Mike helped Mr. Wu mend the wounds on Aaron, Jiro and Calvin pull Hebe off to the side to explain the situation. Just like they have predicted, Hebe did not sit still and listen like an obedient girl; she exploded like a volcano.

“HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN? GUI IS GONE?! UNCLE WU IS GONE TOO! ONE OF YOUR BEST FRIENDS IS HELD CAPTIVE! DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT’S HAPPENING? I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN! I KNEW IT! I TOLD YOU GUYS TO LEAVE AND FORGET US AND LOOK WHERE IT GOT US TOO! GUI IS GONE AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW!”

“Calm down Hebe.” Mike said as he looked up to see Hebe glaring at him, frustrated that it came down to this. “CALM DOWN? HOW CAN I CALM DOWN WHEN THEY HAVE GUI, UNCLE WU AND WU CHUN? WHAT IF THEY DECIDED TO KI–“

“STOP! HEBE, STOP!” Mike grabbed onto her shoulder but she pushed him away. But what can she do? There was nothing she could do. She had nothing, nothing that can help her little sister, her uncle and Wu Chun out of this situation.

“YOU DON’T GET IT! YOU... You don’t get it. THIS IS WHY WE HAVE BEEN RUNNING AWAY, THIS IS THE REASON WHY WE HAVE BEEN HIDING FOR SO LONG! IT’S TO PREVENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS FROM HAPPENING!”

“THEN DO YOU WANT TO KEEP RUNNING AND HIDING FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?”

“IF THAT’S WHAT IT TAKES THEN THAT’S WHAT I WILL DO! AT LEAST WE WERE SAFE!” Mike stared at her in disbelief while she glared at him, she came so close to slapping him on the cheek but she held back. “Stop... It’s my fault...” As Mr. Wu tend to his wounds, he spoke up in Aaron’s defense. “Son... I am sure you didn’t want this happen and I am sure you tried your best to protect Ying Jie. So don’t blame yourself too much. We should be thankful that they didn’t choose to harm you any further. If they did, you would’ve been saying your goodbyes.”

“DAD! DO YOU KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED? GUI... CANNOT BE AWAY FROM ME! SHE CAN’T! WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TOEGETHER AT ALL TIMES, I WAS SUPPOSE TO PROTECT HER IN MOM’S PLACE! N–NOW SHE IS GONE!”

Aaron places his arm over his eyes, covering it so that he could only submerge himself in darkness. Replaying over and over again the images that would haunt him for nights. The cries and pleading from Gui, the laughter and taunting from the men that came, this was going to ruin him external and internally. Hebe was right, it was his fault. His role was to protect her and in the end, he couldn’t even do that!

“Fu Chen, I know how hard it might sound to you but calm down. You need to calm down; we will deal with this tomorrow with a clear mind. I am sure they won’t do anything that will harm them. Just go to sleep and relieve your tension.”

“DAD! DO YOU SERISOULY BELEIVE THAT I WILL JUST CALM DOWN? I WON’T BE ABLE TO SLEEP! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON! YOU REALLY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO DO ONCE THEY FIND OUT ABOUT US!! You don’t know dad…”

“Fu Chen, go to your room. We will discuss this tomorrow.”

“DAD!”

“WU FU CHEN!” Hebe eyes widen as her father walked over to her, squeezing her shoulder to give her reassurance. “Your mother wouldn’t want to see you like this.” She wiped the tears away. “You don’t understand... What just happened... I am worried and I am getting tired, lie after lie, I don’t know how much longer I can go on...” Mr. Wu wrapped his arms around his daughter, securing her in his embrace as he pat her back repeatedly. “Let’s go to our room...” Jiro whispered as Calvin nodded, showing Mr. Wu his room as they left the room. Mike glance over to Hebe who was still frustrated, confused, anxious, scared, afraid... of what was going to happen to Gui, Uncle Wu and Wu Chun.

“Let’s go...” Mike whispered, telepathically wishing for her to leave so that Aaron could have a moment of silence to himself. Catching his request, Hebe looks over to Aaron one last time to hear Mike speak on her behalf. “Today has been a crazy day but right now, we can only hope that they are safe.” Mike tried to ease the awkward silence as he held onto Hebe, bringing her to her room.

Hebe knew he would protect her but in the end, the very definition of ‘protect’ was diminished. She looks over to Mike and she felt her shiver. Whoever took Gui was going to come after her. If they knew the truth, they would chase after her and given their situation, it would be best for Mike and Aaron to leave her and Gui alone. All good things must come to an end. They will have to realize that this battle is not theirs to fight. They were two players forced into everything and it pained Hebe to see them go through a battle that isn’t theirs to fight. ‘It has to end.’

At last, Aaron was alone. Some say the dark is comforting but to him, it was the complete opposite.

Flashback (Chapter 18 - Additional scene/ Deleted scene) Aaron’s POV

As I lay with Gui, I could feel my heart racing against my skin as a smile prances on my face. I, Aaron Yan Ya Lun fought against my temptations but in the end, I gave in. Tonight, I told myself that I will stop when I kissed her. I would not push her any further because if I did, I would only have myself to blame. But the more I kissed her, the more selfish I became.

When I pulled her close, I was going to stop. When my eyes locked onto hers, I was going to stop myself, seriously. When my mind blocked any thoughts of pulling away, instead it told my heart to silence all objections and give in; it wasn’t going to be easy to stop. When our lips met, I gave in. And by the time our kiss got deeper; I gave up and marked her mine. I wanted her touch, I wanted her lips, I wanted her to engrave my words of ‘I love you’ in her mind, I would sing it to her for as long as my voice would allow it. 

As the night grew colder, I swiftly got up, being extremely careful not to wake her up. I walked ever so quietly over to the storage room to retrieve another blanket but when I got back into the bed, my eyes widen. The moonlight was peeking in through the curtains, lighting the room up just enough to see what I never knew existed. I sat next to her cautiously, my fingers run over the ink on her back. But with every letter, every word, the tiniest splatter of the black ink made me go insane.

How did this happen? When did this happen? Was this always here? No.. It couldn’t be... “Who did this to you?” I whispered, still wondering if my eyes were playing tricks with me. No, this couldn’t be a trick... This can’t... I–Impossible... Yes, this was impossible to believe. Whoever would do this? The more my mind questioned, the more curious I became. If I kept coming up with questions, the more restless I would get and it will wake her up. “Why can’t you share your pain with me?” This secret that you didn’t want anyone to see, is it this?

This pain... Is it what I am seeing right now? Why are you carrying the pain all by yourself? Why can’t you share your pain with me? “Why are you doing this to yourself?” I whispered quietly. Half of me wishes she was awake to hear my voice while my other half wants her to remain asleep.

7 years ago, you vanished without a trace. But just a couple of days ago, heavens have answered my prayers and I finally found you. 7 years flew past us only to have fate decided to reunite us 7 years later. The reason why she wanted the world to forget about her is because of this tattoo. It was because she was the truth, the truth about why she has been missing for all these years, was because of the words that were imprinted heavily on her back. This was her reason for her to go into hiding and stay hidden.

I could, can and will do anything but forget. There was no way I can just get up, leave and erase her from my memory. I covered her with the blanket and held her close. Then I bent down to gently kiss the words forever imprinted on her body before kissing her on the forehead.

End of Flashback

“What have I done?”Aaron whispered as he cursed himself heavily.

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PREVIEW

(Rough Draft)

As the night grew cold, at the first shot of lightening, her eyes widen. Gui could feel her pulse racing against her, this was like her dreams that occurs every night but the only difference is between dreams and reality, she knows that this wasn’t a dream where she will wake up to find out that it was all a dream. “Sweetheart, how long has it been since we last met?”