Chapter 67 - SIXTY-SEVEN

Chapter 67: Chapter SIXTY-SEVEN

"So you’re in the dark as well..."

"What was that?" Xin Linhai strains to hear.

"Brother." Zhao Xi turns to his computer "What if I have something with me– evidence that even Xin Linhua can’t ignore. Will he be willing to leave?"

"Evidence? What is it? How did you even find one?" Xin Linhai frowns.

"I stumbled upon it by accident. Apparently, I kept it hidden but before I could give it to Xin Linhua, something happened to me and my memory lagged. I’ll send it to you right now. Just in case..."

"Alright."

Zhao Xi holds the phone in between his shoulders and rapidly taps away on his laptop.

"There were some pictures, extremely blurry, I couldn’t make out the face properly at first, but after using face enhancers, and a few tools, it came out. The angle is tricky, but you can still tell who it is."

His fingers slow on the keys as he hits send.

"It’s on the way."

"Okay."

"It’s kind of slow, but the package is huge so it’s to be–"

Zhao Xi freezes. He could have sworn he had adjusted the heater, so why is the room suddenly cold?

The light above him flickers. Once, twice, three times. Then it stops. A blurry memory slips into Zhao Xi’s mind.

The day he fell asleep and woke up five days later, the exact same phenomenon had happened. The room suddenly got cold, the lights flickered a few times, then stopped.

He didn’t think much of it back then, but now it’s happening again. Just when he found something on that Sentinel, the same thing is happening again.

Same phenomenon. The sudden cold, the lights flickering for a few seconds. The fatigue will kick in and no matter how hard he tries, he’ll be pulled into an endless sleep.

"Brother. Come find me tomorrow." Zhao Xi calmly says as he rapidly types away "I’m afraid I’ll have to hide it again, or it’ll be destroyed."

"Wait. Zhao Xi. What’s going on? Zhao Xi!"

"Remember, find me tomorrow morning! I should be asleep at home!"

The line goes dead. The phone drops to the rug beneath the table.

Zhao Xi wants to stand, but his entire body goes numb. He can’t move. He falls instead, his body collides with the floor with a dull thud.

"Why...?" He whispers.

"I...should ask you."

Deep. Distorted. Strange. The voice is not particularly loud, but in the quiet room, it’s hard to miss.

"Hah! No longer hiding, are you?" Zhao Xi snickers "Does he know? Your guide. Does he know who you are– What you are?"

"No. And he doesn’t...need to know."

"How long do you think you can hide?" Zhao Xi turns to the mirror in his room "How long do you think you can keep it from him?"

The mirror cracks. Dark smoke. No, more like wisps of dark smoke slowly curls out from within. Like snakes– or like Xin Linhua used to call them, tentacles. They make their way towards Zhao Xi.

"Are you going to kill me this time?" The room goes still "What will you tell him? Will you attend my funeral beside him? Pretend like you weren’t the cause of my death?"

"I...don’t want to kill...you."

"You’re not very convincing." Zhao Xi groans "Last time, you trapped me in an endless nightmare. I suspect you only let me off cause you knew he was coming to meet me. If he had arrive a day too late, I’d have been trapped there forever!"

"You...brought it upon yourself."

"I just want to protect my friend–"

"He only needs me!" The voice explodes "He doesn’t...need anyone else."

"Then why are you hiding from him?"

The dark wisps of smoke suddenly stop in their trails. That question...stomps the voice so much, the room goes quiet.

"You’re at war with yourself." Zhao Xi feels drained "I’m right, aren’t i? ’You’ want to be with him, but ’he’ is holding you back. Your existence will be the cause of Xin Linhua’s death. It has always been like this, and you don’t want to watch Xin Linhua die like the others you’ve killed in the past."

"Stop...talking."

"I’m not very good with taking orders from voices that echo from mirrors."

"I...spared you because you are...a good friend to him."

"Thanks. Bonus merits, I guess."

"But next time...I won’t."

"That’s reassuring..." Zhao Xi collapses back to the floor "Are you going to put me in a deep sleep like before?"

"I...haven’t decided yet."

Zhao Xi shudders. He watches as a wisp of smoke approaches his laptop and wraps around it.

__Crack!

The expensive computer becomes nothing but a pile of scraps.

"Great. I’m gonna be killed by a talking mirror in my own bedroom and my last bargaining chip just got wrecked. Fucking great. At least now I don’t need to worry about clearing my browser history–".

"Zhao Xi!"

The man snaps his eyes open. That voice...

"Brother!" He yells "I’m in the bedroom! Hurry!"

"Xin...Linhai." The voice seethes "Those brothers...they don’t learn."

The wisps of smoke quickly withdraw themselves back. The cold disappears in a flash and the room suddenly warms up. The dim light brightens again.

"Leaving so soon?" Zhao Xi can’t help but taunt "Stay a bit."

"I...won’t leave without finishing...what I came here to do."

"What–"

Zhao Xi suddenly curls into a ball. He holds his head like it’s about to explode.

"Fuck you!" He cusses "You’re trying to erase my memory again! Damn you!"

"Don’t try...to be smart with me. I... only let you off...for my Guide’s sake. No more...next time."

The voice vanishes. The broken mirror snaps back in place like it’s stitching itself back. The mirror returns to how it was half an hour ago– unbroken.

"Fuck..." A tear run down Zhao Xi’s face "Xin Linhua, you owe me big time for this."

"Zhao Xi!" The door lock goes flying across the room.

Who locks their own bedroom door despite living alone? Zhao Xi apparently. Then again, he’s paranoid.

Xin Linhai rushes into the room, still dressed in office wear and a grey coat. He kneels beside Zhao Xi.

"What’s wrong?"

"It’s...fading." The youth cries "It’s fading... he’s wiping everything. Brother...get me out of here...I don’t want to be here..."

Xin Linhai doesn’t know what to do. He fidgets for a couple of seconds before lifting the youth.

"Okay. Stop crying. I’ll take you away."

"Call Xin Linhua..."

"Okay." Xin Linhai drapes his coat over him and lifts him into his arms once more "We’ll get a doctor first. Don’t fall asleep."

"I have to... that’s how this works..."