Chapter twelve - Xiao (ii)

TGV 12

 I slam the door behind me as soon as Ben rush in. After making sure the door is lock, I turn to ben who's laying on the bed. His hand is wrap with a piece of clothing, with sweat all over his face as he turns to me.

 "Ji-li, you are alive." he says as I sit beside him while Becky hands a cup of water to him.

 My first name is actually Ji-li but people from the east prefers to call me by my surname Xiao, mostly because Chinese surname comes before the first name, Xiao Ji-Li, that's my name.

 "Your hand, it's wounded" Becky says as she collect the emptied cup from him. He seems to be very tasty judging from the way he gulps the whole content at once.

 "What happening?" I ask, hoping to get an answer.

 "I don't really know, it's hard to explain," he says.

 "What about the others?" Becky asks but Ben remains silent for a while.

 "They are all dead" he finally manages to speak.

Becky gasp.

 "How?" She ask with her eyes widened and her hands on her mouth.

Ben sits up then he continues. "Last night, we were all playing at the casino. Truth and dare, it was fun as we dared each other to do crazy stuffs then suddenly a lady from nowhere walk into the casino. She looked pale and sick as she shuffle towards us.

"Firstly, she grabs Kathy and bite her on the wrist then we all tried to pull her from Kathy. As soon as we pull them apart, Kathy face suddenly truned pale. She jumped on her boyfriend and bite him on the neck, with chunk of flesh in her mouth she turns to us. Immediately, Jerry stood up and bite a guy beside him then I turn to see the horror.

 "I rush out of the room as they run after me but slower than I am, I've never seen such cannibalistic act before. And when I ran into Rick, I saw a demon instead.

 "But how did you make it?" I ask.

 "I lock myself up in a room and they bang the door for a while before leaving, then I begin to hear noises and screams of people. The same scream you make when being beaten by an animal"

 My heart race as Ben narrates his ordeal, I knew deep down things are worse than our imagination.

 "Oh gosh, this is really bad." Becky says after Ben is done narrating. She sits on the floor and reach for her purse, then she light up her cigar.

 "What do we do now?" Becky asks.

 "I suggest we call for help"

"No network service, I tried several times."

 "I guess we wait for daylight. That way it'll be easy to get out," Ben suggests.

"Good idea," I say.

*******************

 We all sit in silence as day seem to be drawing near. The flashlight suddenly turn off, follow by a deep sigh from Ben who's beside me. Becky is asleep but I can't, not after what I saw. Anytime I try to close my eyes, I see the beast Ryder trying to kill us.

 "Ji-Li," Ben calls.

 "I'm here," I reply, moving close to him.

 Ben's body temperature is very high that I feel it burning my skin.

 "You are burning up," I say.

 "Yes" he nods, "can you get me water?"

 I hurry to the fridge to get him something to drink. I return with a bottle of water, as I hand it to him it falls from his hand. Quickly, I pick it up and feed him. Ben empty the bottle then he sigh in relief.

 'How are you feeling now?" I ask.

 "Hot, my head feels like it's about to break. I can't breathe well but my heart is racing," he says touching his chest.

 His words pierce my heart but I try to remain calm. He place his head on my shoulder then he breathe in deeply.

 "Xiao, I'm sorry," he says. This is the first time he call me by my surname.

 "Why are you sorry? You did nothing wrong," I say.

 "For keeping you waiting, for hiding how I feel about you."

 "How do you feel about me?" I ask.

Ben raise his head and face me. His face looks tired and exhausting with sweat all over it.

 "I did it to protect our friendship. I was afraid if I tell you it'll jeopardize our friendship."

 "Ok, now you are freaking me out. What do you mean?"

 "Don't be a dummy," he smile weakingly. "I love you,"

My heart melts. I look at him for a while in shock, to be honest, I don't know how to feel at the moment.

 "Why are you just telling me now?" I ask.

 He leans back and coughs. I guess his health condition is getting worse.

 "I'm afraid I may not make it," he says, sounding like someone who's saying his last words.

 "You will make it," I say to him then he nods.

 I don't know who kiss who first but all I can recall is smooching on Ben, I lay on him with our lips lock while he presses my bum as we kiss, I try as much to experiment the kisses I usually see in adult movies. We were literally about to have sex with each other for the first time when he suddenly pushes me aside.

 I fall from the bed, hitting my head on the floor. As I get up on my feet i sight Ben shaking like someone who has some kind of epilepsy seizure. His mouth begins to foam and his eyes widen without blinking.

 "What's happening to him?" Becky asks.

 I shook my head, "I don't know."

 He rolls to the floor, still shaking while his mouth foams. My heart race, with my hand clenching on Becky fist as we watch him vibrate. Suddenly he stop moving.

 "Is he dead?" Becky asks.

 His face seems lifeless and his eyes are widen like they are about to pop out anytime soon. I move closer to inspect him, something tells me he's alive. Throughout my university days of studying and practicing medicine, I've never seen such disease as this, I hope I'm not infected.

 "Watch out!" Becky shouts.

 I feel a grip on my leg, before I know it, Ben suddenly yank me to the floor. I land with my back striking the ground as I turn to see the monstrous look on his eyes which reminds me of one person...... Ryder.

 I kick him with my feet and get up. Monster Ben stands up and growl angrily like a beast. He rush to me but I repel him with a striking kick on the chest. Immediately his back hit the floor he bounce back to his feet.

 "Shit" Becky says as he lunges to us the second time.

 With the corner of my eyes I sight his long nails. Skillfully I sway away and pull Becky aside, preventing him from harming her. Then I sweep his feet with a knee kick. He slams his head on the floor then I sat on him holding both of his hand, as I battle with him.

 His teeth is scattered and tainted. He shove a kick to my stomach and I fall. As he try to jump on me, I kick his neck from the floor and he hit his head against the wall.

I won't stop now.

 The monster tries to cut me with his nail. I grab his arm and bent it with a striking blow on his elbow which cracks immediately.

 At the moment, I see nothing but a beast. My head clamp on his neck as he struggle to grip me with his broken arm but I'm going to choke him to death.

 My fist tighten on his neck, his pale face becomes red as he wheeze for air but I already block his windpipe. I violently smash his head on the wall, squishing it like a coconut.

 What's left of his head splatter around the room staining my face. I turn to Becky who seem frighten. I just killed the same guy I was about to have a romantic first sex with minutes ago. My eyes dart to the bloodstain on my hand then I gasp in fear.

 "I'm a killer."