-6- Much too short

When Yibo awoke hours later, he felt much better than in the morning. He had hardly any pain and a restful sleep, completely without nightmares. He got up, went to the kitchen, prepared some scrambled eggs and then put them on a slice of bread. It was almost midnight and normally he did not eat anything this late, but since he was very hungry, he made an exception today.

After he had eaten, he took his cell phone and went out onto the balcony. The moon is now full and illuminates the landscape below. It shines so brightly that he can even see a bit more of the forest than usual. But at the same time it seemed much more eerie and mysterious. More dangerous than ever before.

Yibo did not know why this view suddenly gave him goose bumps. Often he looked out into the darkness, but never did he feel so afraid as now. Even when he walked through the forest and to the park on full moon nights, despite the many dark shadows, it never seemed as frightening as this sight tonight.

Because the sight sent a cold shiver down his spine, Yibo went back into the living room, turned on the TV. The late news was on. Again there is talk of corpses that were found in a forest in the neighboring village. The newsreader explained, that the bodies didn't have any drop of blood in them. But despite intensive search, the blood of the corpses was not found anywhere.

It is not the first time that such corpses have been found. Already a few days ago, hikers found three bloodless corpses in a piece of forest. And a week before, there were two bodies. Yibo looked at the map of the sites, which was shown on television. All of these places were very close to where he lives. Is that why Zhan had told him not to walk alone to the park at night anymore?

The weather report said, that the hot, humid tropical weather would continue for the next three days.

After the late news, there was a repeat of a report about the years of searching for a serial killer. Twice they had already had the serial killer and had to let him go again due to lack of evidence. But then the investigating officers received a tip that led not only to the recapture of the serial killer, but also to a series of evidence. Yibo already knew this report and switched through the channels.

But because nothing really interested him, he switched the TV off again and switched to the scary view, from the balcony. When he looked at the clock on his cell phone, it had already been 2 am and slowly Yibo got tired again. Maybe he should write a message to Zhan? Ask him if he could still make it to him?

Slowly Yibo began to ask himself what kind of job Zhan was doing, where he always had to work at night? Is that why Zhan's skin is so pale? And he remembered the shreds of the phone call Zhan made. Which makes him all the more curious about Zhan's job. But the more he thought, the more tired he became.

Since he didn't expect Zhan to come after all, and he was too tired to wait any longer, Yibo went into the bathroom, undressed in front of the mirror and saw for the first time the marks and bites from his last night with Zhan. Some were stronger than others. He remembered how much he liked it and how he asked Zhan to bite him harder. It felt to him like he was getting addicted to it.

He wasn't into that sort of thing before. The young woman he was having a sexual affair with, bit him once and he didn't like that at all, he even stopped having sex with her. And when his stepmother's cat kept biting him, he didn't like it either. Whereby the bite of a cat now doesn't really fit to what's really concerned him.

"Well, I guess with Zhan everything is a bit different." Yibo muttered as he stroked over one of the bites. He went into the shower and washed himself thoroughly, then dried himself, brushed his teeth and slipped into his sleeping pants. He did not wear a shirt at all, because it is much too warm for that.

As he lay in his bed, he stared at the ceiling for a moment before he took his cell phone and wrote Zhan a message: "I guess you have to work and you won't be able to make it. So I will go to sleep now. Good night." He was a little sad, because he was very hopeful that Zhan would come.

And the phone call they had, was much too short. Yibo put the cell phone on his bedside table, closed his eyes and fell asleep immediately.

Around four in the night, Yibo woke up screaming. He had that nightmare again. Always the same and always the same thing. Again he was bathed in sweat, his heart was racing and he was shaking all over his body. Since he had not slept without a light since then, he didn't have to turn it on first. He looked at his bedside table and opened his eyes wide.

On his bedside table was a small bottle. In front of it was a note. "Drink this, it helps against your nightmares. And remember, don't go to the forest or park. Stay in your apartment, even if it's hard. Zhan."

Yibo stared at the bottle and the note. "How did he get in here and when? Why didn't he wake me up?" He asked himself.

He took both and went into his living room, where he found the next surprise. A bowl of rice, a fried egg on top and a vegetable broth. Everything still hot and steaming. Yibo put the bottle and the note on the table and ran to his apartment door, but it was still locked from the inside. Nevertheless, he tore open the door and looked into the dark hallway, it was empty.

When he returned to his living room, he looked at the wide open balcony door. He had left it open in case the air cooled down a little overnight and dispelled the heat in his apartment.

Nervously, Yibo walked to the balcony door, already it was getting daylight again. He stepped out onto the balcony, looked around to all sides, looked down and tried to recognize something, like a man hiding in the still few shadows, but there was nothing.

Yibo went back to his living room, ate the rice, the fried egg and drank the broth, then he looked at the bottle, unscrewed the cap, smelled the liquid, which was odorless, and finally drank it. Then he went into his bathroom, washed his hands and face, and then went back to bed. He closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep again.

At 10 am Yibo woke up again when his cell phone rang. His boss called him and told him that he had sent him an important document that he needs to have corrected and returned this afternoon at the latest. Yibo promised to take care of it immediately.

He got up, went into the living room, saw the empty bottle standing on the table and only now realized that not only did he not have another nightmare, he was really rested. Was it really because of this tincture?

He hasn't felt as relaxed as he does today for a long time. He did his work, cleaned his apartment and tidied up. He even went to the supermarket and bought fresh food, because he feels like cooking for himself. And while he waited for the washing machine to be ready, he prepared his lunch.

When he was done with everything, he called his father and explained that he hadn't called the day before because he had fallen asleep and missed the time. On the other hand, he also told himself that his father hadn't called him either. So if he was really worried, he would have contacted Yibo.

"Have you heard it yet? Two bodies were found in the neighboring village last night. They said on the radio that the culprit or culprits are getting closer and closer to our town and no one should go outside at nightfall." Said his father.

"Last night? I saw on the news how they talked about the other murders. Were the two bodies drained of blood again?" Yibo asked.

"That was not said. Only that it seems to be the same culprit or culprits. Yibo, I know you like to ignore what I say. But this time you'd better listen to me when I tell you not to go anywhere alone at night anymore OK?"

"Where would I go? To visit friends? Ha-ha, hardly. No, I'm staying home. I made a promise to someone and I'm keeping it."

"Whom did you promise?"

"It doesn't matter. Don't worry, Dad, I won't go out at night."

"Oh yes, your mother asked if you'd like to come for dinner this weekend."

"She's not my mother. How many times do I have to say this? I had a mother and she died. Now I have a stepmother and she doesn't even like me. So, no. I'm not coming to dinner." Yibo had been amazed at himself. Yet he had never spoken to his father like that before.

"What's wrong with you Yibo? I've never known you like this."

"I don't know, I just feel stronger and more confident. I didn't want to get louder. But please accept that I want as little to do with your wife as possible." Yibo had always only hinted at this, but never dared to say it clearly. Where did he suddenly get the courage for this?

After the phone call with his father, Yibo wrote a message to Zhan and asked him: "Does this serum or whatever it is make me braver and more confident? Why didn't you wake me up last night? I miss you. Please get in touch with me when you have time."