Chapter Two
Incessant ringing pulsed in Aiden’s head.
Wincing, he wrenched his eyes open to blinding light.
The ringing turned into cow bells before finally settling down to an annoying hum.
With the softening of the noise, so too did the glare of the light.
Blinking his vision into place, Aiden shook his head to clear the underwater blurriness.
The fake apartment employee at the lobby paced in uneven circles in front of him with tense shoulders and clamped hands.
Aiden’s own fear crawled from the abyss into the open. Cold handcuffs dug into his wrists. Large coils of rope bound his entire body where he sat against a metal column of an undeveloped building. He looked around.
I know this place…
The paint-splotched floor of the concrete ground, dusty footprints, and bare metal columns told Aiden its story. His kidnapper brought him to a cheap piece of land that a rich person bought, developed halfway, then promptly abandoned.
His brother loved to take advantage of places like these—trapped in a time of grandeur vision but unfulfilled future.
Aiden pulled his wrists, but the cold handcuffs bit against his skin. I wish I had a needle. If I had a needle, I could get myself out of this. The humming in his head continued.
Breaths quickening, heart racing, and his legs jittering, he pulled at his tied hands without thought, clanging the cuffs against the metal beam.
The kidnapper turned around at the sound.
Stupid! Why didn’t you recite your lessons first before doing something so brainless?
Aiden wished he could bang his head against the metal column to kick the regret away, but the kidnapper marched, breathing even heavier than him.
In the first second, the kidnapper bore holes into Aiden’s forehead, but at the slightest noise, a gasp escaped from his lips.
His eyes roamed his surroundings like a spinning top.
His knees shook, and the softness that the man originally spoke in when posing as the apartment’s employee now gave away the shakiness.
Aiden should feel reassured at the shared level of terror if it wasn’t for the fact that the kidnapper held a gun.
“I know you know about the Guo family.” The man knelt, pressing the gun to Aiden’s head. “Tell me about them. Now.”
The metal barrel felt like ice against his sweating forehead. Aiden bit his lip to stifle a whimper, but he knew his eyes would give away his pure terror.
The lessons. Remember the lessons.
No matter how badly his lips quivered, he forced himself to breathe through his nose. He counted five breaths. He took one deep sigh for the sixth. His hands stopped shaking.
He remembered.
If people start demanding, you go cold.
“I do not have time for this!” the man barked. “If you do not tell me about the Guo family in three seconds, I will put a bullet through your head!”
Act like you don’t care.
He closed his eyes to force them to stop twitching. He snapped them open.
“Go ahead. Pull the trigger.” Aiden stared at the man.
The kidnapper jammed the weapon harder against Aiden's forehead. The man's hot breath fell against his cheek. Still, Aiden concentrated only on breathing and keeping his eyes on the kidnapper’s.
“So you do know about the Guo family. Tell me, and I’ll let you free.”
Act like you’ve been through this.
Aiden glanced at the gun. He leaned back with a sigh while his hands continued to dig into the cuffs, fingers tapping away at the metal. “I think I’ve met kids more threatening than you.”
Act like everything’s a joke.
“Your plan’s dumb. First, you don’t actually know if I know anything about the Guo family.
Second, no sane person would let me walk free even if I did know and could tell you.
Third, I’ll be torn apart by my own family if it’s something they don’t want others to know.
Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. Why would I have any logical reason to give you what you want?
” Aiden pulled out the smirk perfected in the mirror after days of practice under his brother’s tutelage.
Suddenly, the metal column vibrated. Footsteps approached, moving across the concrete with purpose. Aiden's breath quickened, and he drew his legs close to his chest, shutting his eyes.
The kidnapper cocked the gun with a terrifying click, but another shot cracked through the air, piercing his hand. Blood spurted onto Aiden’s face. He clamped his mouth shut to avoid swallowing it, inwardly screeching at the sensation of it dripping down his lips. Fresh blood was always warm.
The gun dropped to the ground, and the kidnapper howled.
The man crawled behind Aiden, but another shot pierced his leg before he could get far.
His cries of pain bounced around the abandoned building, amplifying his misery.
Aiden flinched at the sight of blood sputtering out from the kidnapper’s leg wound.
“Xiao Hui!” Wang Xing called, dashing over.
Shaky air released from Aiden’s squeezing chest, but his body tightened a second later upon meeting eyes with the person following Wang Xing. Hui Ye approached the writhing man with eyes still and breathed so softly that Aiden couldn’t even see his chest rise and fall without concentrating.
“Wang Xing, give him music,” Hui Ye instructed, and Aiden didn’t recognize the cold voice coming from Hui Ye’s mouth.
The chauffeur set Aiden free.
“Ge—” He reached for Hui Ye.
“Come, Xiao Hui.”
Wang Xing ushered Aiden away before his fingers could brush against Hui Ye’s jacket. He glanced back, watching Hui Ye grab the wounded man by the hair, turn him over, and stomp hard on his leg—right where the bullet was lodged.
The growing cries of pain and his brother’s increasing cruelty invoked nails dragging against Aiden’s skin. He stumbled to the ground and covered his ears, but the calm words still resonated clearly from his brother’s lips.
“Diane, shoot him again.”
Who’s Diane?
A gunshot. The wails of a dying man.
“Just listen to this song.” Wang Xing shoved a set of earbuds into Aiden’s ears and dialed up the volume.
Electronic beats pounded against his eardrums, but not even the highest setting could drown out the thumping of his heart.
He heard every groan, every plea, and every drop of blood that fell onto the floor.
His nails dug into his head. He tried to focus on the lyrics blaring in his ears, but instead, he filtered out the noise to catch the two words he dreaded coming from Hui Ye.
“Kill him.”
· · ·
Aiden tore at the towel spotted with blood. Silence hung heavy as Wang Xing sped on the fastest route back to the apartment. His brother leaned away from him.
Lights blinked around them in colorful advertisements. The people outside roamed the city, unaware of the car that passed by with a dead body in the trunk.
How do normal people live without thinking about these things? Aiden wondered, watching a family raise their child up high in the air. How would someone usually react after they’ve been kidnapped and rescued?
His heart didn’t quicken at the sight of Hui Ye and Wang Xing wrapping up the body.
Instead, he already strayed toward the car to settle down on the comfortable leather seats, waiting to be driven back.
When Wang Xing began the engine, and the world slowly passed, Aiden knew a body, tied and wrapped, rolled behind him, and sickeningly couldn’t find himself to care.
Aiden tugged harder at the towel’s frayed edges. How do you leave this world when you’re so wired to react to it? The questions continued to haunt him as the car pulled back.
· · ·
The two brothers filed back into the living room in silence. As Aiden wandered with the towel in his hand, his brother stepped forward and snatched it away. “I’ll take care of it.” Hui Ye disappeared into his room.
With nowhere else to go and nothing to say, Aiden shuffled into the guest room and turned on the light. He lowered himself onto his bed and pressed his face into the nearest pillow.
He hated this world he was born into.
The truth swallowed him whole—to leave this world was to also leave his brother behind.
But without him, I am alone.
He looked up at the quiet knock on his door. Hui Ye entered but kept his eyes on the ground. He held a package. Sitting down in the chair opposite from Aiden, Hui Ye opened his mouth, hesitated, and looked away.
I can’t end my visit like this.
“Are you with someone right now?” Aiden blurted.
His brother blinked. “I’m sorry?”
“Are you dating someone?” When his brother continued to stare blankly, he continued, flustered. “I saw a dress in your room today. Unless you’ve decided to wear dresses for fun?”
A chuckle left his brother’s lips. “No. And no, I’m not dating anyone.”
“Well, she’s not a fling,” Aiden pressed. “I know you have your flings away from your place.”
“Should I be concerned that you know that?”
“Who is she?”
His brother sighed and rubbed the back of his head. Seconds ticked by, but Aiden held strong, staring at his brother. Hui Ye sighed again and looked back with a crooked smile. “Her name is Celia.”
Aiden memorized the name. “…Is she normal?”
“Am I an idiot? Maybe, considering what happened today. No, she’s not normal.”
“Then she’s part of the business? Another family?”
“Her name is all you need to know.” Hui Ye threw a sharp gaze, and Aiden quickly dropped any fantasies of continuing the conversation.
The two stared in silence a few seconds longer before his brother sighed for a third time.
The crooked smile smoothed to a small one, and his eyes looked to the ground with a glint of excitement.
“Either she got sloppy today or she decided to play a prank on me by leaving her dress out like that.”