The Creatures that We Are

Gao Yang tightly held onto his phone. Not far from him was the restaurant Wu Dahai told him about, which sat right by a private beach. With his improved vision, he could see arches adorned with colorful, flickering string lights, as well as the dining table he could faintly make out.

Sitting at the table was the backlit figure of a girl. She was eating on her own.

On the other end of the call, Wang Zikai continued, “Come on! She’s gonna kill herself at this rate. I’m going insane…”

“Settle her down! I’ll be right there.”

Gao Yang hung up and turned to leave.

“Achoo—”

Qing Ling, still eating shrimp balls, sneezed with a glint in her eyes.

Then she quietly looked at the hotpot. The salman slices she had put in had already floated to the surface of the silky broth. She quickly picked up two slices and dropped them in her bowl.

During the sneeze, her sister had taken over the body.

Oh, you turned down Wu Dahai, didn’t you?

Although you said it was troublesome, I still believed it was necessary to make him give up. Then he would stop bothering you, and you could train without the distraction.

Little Qing Ling talked to her sister in her mind as she nibbled on the salmon.

Although her sister couldn’t respond now, what she had spoken to herself would be conveyed to Qing Ling like voice messages when she took over. That was how the sisters had always communicated with each other.

Little Qing Ling took a few more bites. The salmon was fresh.

Still, she felt like something was missing. She couldn’t finish all the food on her own, which was such a waste.

She took out her phone and snapped a shot of the hot pot.

Then she paused.

Why did I take the picture? she asked herself. Who am I going to share it with?

She had one friend: Li Weiwei, who had passed away.

Now, the only person who mattered to her was her sister, Qing Ling, but there was no need for her to show anything to her sister since their memories could be shared.

Who was she taking the photo for?

Or who would she show the photo to given the chance?

Suddenly, Gao Yang’s face came to mind.

The young man’s delicate facial features, his half-covered eyes under his hair, his ever-changing gaze that was gentle sometimes and sharp other times, and the tolerant, faint smile he had on his face whether he was scolded, taunted, or humiliated… Something about him inspired trust and the urge to depend on him. ṘἈ𐌽ỔβЁŝ

Qing Ling’s hands twitched like they had been electrocuted. She hurriedly put down her phone and shoved it into her pocket.

No, that’s not it!

I swear, Sister, that he’s not my type!

I just, I just thought of him for some reason.

Her panicked gaze froze for a moment before the look in her eyes became fierce again.

Qing Ling was back in control.

“That’s none of my business.”

Qing Ling picked up another slice of salmon and blew at it to cool it, muttering to herself, “And I like my salmon a little overdone.”

…

Gao Yang didn’t know how long it had taken him, but he rushed to the island villa Wang Zikai was staying at as quickly as he could.

The door was open. He dashed straight in.

What he saw made him freeze. The living room was a mess with the table and chairs toppled, the sofa damaged with scattered white foam, and almost all the decorations smashed.

Standing at the center of the living room, Wang Zikai implored, “Holy mother of god would you get down here and stop messing around?”

Fresh Snow was perching on the fridge like a cat, her back arched. Under the loose black t-shirt she was wearing was a pair of slim, fair legs. Her expression was fierce and her eyes even more intensely red, her messy silver hair almost standing on end.

Baring her teeth, she looked enraged and pained, like she was suffering from acute stress.

“Ugh…ah…”

“Bro, you’re finally here!” Wang Zikai looked at Gao Yang like he was his savior. “I’m ready to throw hands here!”

“What’s wrong with her?” Gao Yang slowly approached them.

“How should I know?” Wang Zikai whined. “I came home to play games with her, and we had fun. But then she suddenly started rolling around screaming all over the place like she’d lost her mind.”

Gao Yang calmly went up to the fridge and called out, “Fresh Snow?”

Fresh Snow continued to make strange groans, glancing at Gao Yang from the corner of her eyes.

“Fresh Snow, it’s me, Gao Yang…” He tried to wake up her rational mind.

Fresh Snow’s eyes widened suddenly like a predator spotting prey.

“Ah!”

With a cry, she lunged at Gao Yang from on top of the fridge.

She was as fast as a leopard, and Gao Yang ended up tackled to the floor, unable to get away in time.

Bam!

His head slammed into the floor, making him see stars.

When he recovered from the spell of disorientation, Fresh Snow had already torn through his shirt and sliced his chest with the sharp nails extended from her fingers.

Mouth wide, she seemed to have lost her mind altogether.

A second later, she bit at Gao Yang’s neck without hesitation.

Shit!

Gao Yang reflexively raised his hand to push Fresh Snow away. Strangely, however, he came to a sudden halt when Fresh Snow was going to sink her teeth into his neck.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to push her away, or that he didn’t have the strength to.

What stopped him was a strange loss of memory, like he had forgotten how to push anyone away.

His rational mind was screaming, Get her off you! You’ll die!

Yet his brain couldn’t retrieve information on the motion required to push her off, and his body remained prone on the floor.

“Hey, enough! Get up already!” Standing behind him, Wang Zikai didn’t stop her, assuming that Fresh Snow was playing with Gao Yang.

Shit, I’m going to get eaten.

That was Gao Yang’s only thought.

He felt a stab of pain in his neck from the bite, but it didn’t go deep.

A few seconds later, Fresh Snow pulled her hands off Gao Yang’s chest, and her teeth parted from Gao Yang’s neck.

She was shuddering all over with her face unusually pale and her eyes bloodshot; the silver lining was that her gaze seemed a little warmer, and there were even tears in her eyes.

She was fighting her urge to hunt despite how painful it was, she was fighting the all-consuming hunger inside her body.

“Ah!”

Fresh Snow screamed and jumped off Gao Yang.

Then, like a derailed train, she rampaged about in the room.

“Whoa! She’s gone mad again!” Wang Zikai yelled.

Bam! Bam, bam! Clang!

She slammed into the toppled sofa that was almost falling apart, then she shattered the TV cabinet and finally a window wall, falling into the seawater outside.

She plunged down and down without any fight in her.

At that moment, her hunger finally quieted, replaced by the pain of the abuses her body had taken and an empty sort of sadness.

All around her was the same deep blue. The cold seawater enveloped her.

She was scared, but even more overwhelming was her exhaustion. She was so tired.

She wanted nothing but to sleep soundly.

Splash!

A sound came from above.

Fresh Snow forced her eyes open by a crack to see someone plunging down through the water, as if breaking a deep blue mirror to reach the cold world of despair she belonged to.

The figure swam toward her with struggle and reached out to her.

Fresh Snow’s vision blurred gradually. Finally, she got a good look at him.

Gurgle.

His name was at the tip of her tongue, but she ended up getting an involuntary gulp of water.

Despite the burn in her throat, she reached back to him with a smile.

A heartbeat. Then her hands were grasped.

—Pinkies, then thumbs! The promise will last a hundred years.

Houseau3's Thoughts

Hmm interesting how the act of feeding itself renders the prey helpless. Wonder if it's a Fresh Snow thing or a Spectre thing.

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