I opened my eyes to two warm pools of Jack Daniels staring back at me.
"Beautiful," I whispered, reaching for them; when they swirled, I couldn't tell if it was with happiness or relief, but they stirred my heart. I moved to close the distance like a man parched and thirsting for water in the desert.

"Zhao Laoshi?"

My eyes dipped lower.

Why were my drinks of choice attached to pink strawberries?

"Everyone knows that fruits and whiskey don't go well together." I reminded the now concerned-looking fruit and thought it was too early to consume either.

"Sleep." I hear myself say. "Yes, that. I should do that." I agreed with myself and closed my eyes.

"Zhao laoshi! What's wrong with you!?"

An earthquake tried to rouse me, but I kept my eyes shut. "If I don't open them, it shall pass."

"Please. You are scaring me!"

The earthquake got worse, making it impossible to sleep. "This is disappointing, isn't it?"

Inky black orbs set below a creased forehead; straight, prominent nose and cheeks that had yet to lose their baby fat greeted me.

I wished whatever had knocked me out could have done a better job.
I was not ready to face my reality yet. A reality where the barely off-age boy with a gremlin smile and a bright future could be one responsible for the gruesome deaths of over a dozen or so people.

"Are you alright?" The boy, who could well be a mass murderer, enquired, caressing my cheek like I was someone precious, who he needed to protect.

My mind told me to move. I was unsure whether to confront or interrogate the idol under my care, but my body felt otherwise. It was at peace, lying in Junjun's arms, protesting against any movement that would bring discomfort.

The dark mono-lids upraised me in detail, lingering on my face (a smidgen) longer than necessary.
My position allowed me to listen to his heart; it seemed intent on escaping the confines of his chest. "I will be," I replied, covering his hands with mine and (like it was even possible) heard his heart beat faster.

Wasn't it supposed to calm down!?

What the fuck was up with his heart!?

I ignored my body's protests and sat up; leaning on the kitchen wall, I gave him a once-over. He seemed like himself. I got directly to the point, "Do you feel any different than before?"
"From before the shift?" He asked to confirm, and I nodded. "A little, maybe, but I am not sure. It might be the running around that I must have done after turning." He said, shaking his head.

"Do you remember anything at all from last night?"

"I wish I could. After leaving you, I went straight to bed and woke up aching all over. I think I saw someone, but..." He shook his head, "I felt alone. Very alone. Miserable. It didn't make sense. I have stayed away from my family since I was thirteen."
I quirked my brow. "Since thirteen?"

"Yes. Training to become an idol is no joke. I didn't just earn my fame overnight, you know. I got to where I am now with my blood, sweat, and tears. My journey wasn't easy. I love what I do, and I am proud of what I have achieved." Junjun's eyes shone with pride, and I could relate to it deep down. After all, I had slogged my butt off to be where I was and was pretty proud of it if I was being honest.

The idol gulped thickly and turned his face away for a moment. "I felt a pull I couldn't ignore…everything after that is a blank."

"Is that it?"

Junjun nodded. "I don't remember anything you told me about what I did last night." He pulled in a long breath, "As I was saying, I shouldn't have felt alone. Especially now that I have... " he let the thought hang and waved his hand dismissively.

'What did he have now?' I wanted to know but didn't push. However, there was something that was bothering me. My gut told me that I was missing something…something just out of reach.

"You told me that there were dead bodies in the pit where you found me, but I don't remember seeing it." As soon as he finished, his brows crawled closer, and lips pressed into a think line; his pupils dilated an instant later. Our eyes met, and without looking away, he demanded, "Do you think I killed those men!?"
I rubbed my temples and replied guiltily, "It did occur to me. But now that I think about it, some things don't add up."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that the bodies in the pit were not the freshest. If I had to guess, I would say that some were at least a week or so old. I am going on a whim here, but if the intruder I saw leaving Ai-Jiejie's place was the one who injected you, then that would mean that they knew who you were and how you would react. So, it's not far-fetched to assume that they might have known where you might head after being injected as well."

"That makes sense." He agreed. "Your brother told you that you are shifters. If there are shifters among us, what's to say that there aren't any others like you?"

"You mean other families with shifter genes in them?"

"Not just shifters. I am talking about the existence of other supernatural creatures."

Junjun shook his head, "Gege told me that not many of us were left in the world. We are a dying breed, so to speak. Then again, I never believed Gege." He lowered his eyes, "But what does that have to do with whether I am a killer or not?" he added hesitantly.

"It's not an easy thing to make peace with and accept that you are not like the rest of us." I patted his back to comfort his guilty heart and pressed on. "We know Bunny91 is not working alone. He is an exceptional hacker. From what I can tell, he is definitely collaborating with the one who injected you. I think it's a lot bigger than merely wanting to kidnap you for ransom." I said, taking his hand in mine.

"How big?"

I shrugged, "I can't be sure just yet, but I think the reserve has a bigger part to play." I thought aloud and decided that time had come to put my 'street skills' to use. Pulling out my laptop, I suggested that Junjun go through his social media accounts and see if he could find any suspicious messages or comments.

My years in the Secret Service had taught me much. Bunny91 was good at what he did, but I was better.

I glanced at the boy, who had taken my words to heart; leaving him to his devices, I hacked into Bunny91's server.

By evening my assumptions about the reserve being of paramount importance proved correct. Many other disturbing facts came to light as well.

Bunny was part of an organization called The Reach; it had deep-rooted connections with all major public and private sectors in the state and was at least thirty decades old, maybe more, but the trail ended there.

The Cure was one of the largest pharmaceutical brands in the state; digging into Bunny91's profile had revealed that The Reach was the silent (and the largest) stakeholder in it.

Bunny's real name was Gao Xi (at least that's what he went by in that circle). He was on The Cure pharmaceutical's payroll as a researcher until two years ago.
He was, at the time, associated with a project titled: Catalyst. All of a sudden thought, he had vanished before resurfacing as Bunny91.

Unfortunately, I hadn't found anything else that could shed light on what the project was about or who else was involved in it.

What was also surprising was that Bunny was like a ghost. Except for his name, there was nothing else I could find on him. It led me to believe that perhaps Gao Xi was not his real name either.

I was stuck and needed a change of scenery. Checking the time- it was nearing seven- I recalled that I had only a couple of hours before we had to leave to meet Haoyu. It had been four, almost five hours since I had left Junjun at the kitchen counter and wondered if he had found something that could help me move forward with the investigation.

I peeked into the kitchen and found that he had fallen asleep. My stomach grumbled, which jogged my memory that I had forgotten to feed my charge.

Fuck.

"Hey," I shook the slumbering idol's shoulder. "Wake up."

The youngster rubbed sleep from his eyes and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I fell asleep. It was actually the first time I read what my fans had to say about me." A deep blush covered his cheeks, taking me back to one of the last dusks I had spent with my mother years ago when I still had a family to call my own.

"Zhao ge?" Junjun's voice broke my reprieve, and I stared into his worried amber pools.

Why have his eyes changed color again?

"How are you feeling?" I enquired.

His whiskey eyes dilated, trapping the reflection of the pearl-like moon within its depths; the side of his lips curled up, morphing into a predatory grin. Dangerous. Alluring.

"Hungry..." He muttered coyly before snaking his arm around my waist and pulling me in for a searing kiss, setting my heart ablaze.

[Chapter word count: 1622;
Word count so far: 26760]