It was a rainy night.
I was on my way home, the car window half open, rain falling into my car, filthy and cold.
Where the rain splashed, an icy chill seeped through the damp fabric into my marrow, spreading to every cell in my body, but I had grown numb to it all.
None of it mattered anymore.
Because I was about to die.
I would head toward freedom.
Perhaps to set the stage for my death, there were no cars or pedestrians on the road home that rainy night. I had already disabled the alarm system. No one would discover my death.
I lit a cigarette and let the bitterness spread through my mouth.
The wind howled in my ears.
I heard my mother's voice.
She said, "Baby, Mommy's here to take you home."
I heard my little brother's voice.
He babbled in his indistinct little voice, "Bubba, hold, hold me."
Then I heard their voices again.
"Fu Hanchuan! Why aren't you dead yet! Why are you still alive! Fu Hanchuan! Sinful blood runs through your veins! You're just like your father! Fu Hanchuan! Why won't you die!!!"
Those curses that had accompanied me for decades shattered my last shred of hope.
The cigarette went out.
I lay in blood.
Looking at a sky I couldn't see.
I thought.
Mom, I'm going to be free.
I won't hurt anymore.
I'm so tired.
My consciousness sank into darkness.
I would run toward freedom.
Suddenly, I heard an unfamiliar voice.
Someone was crying.
I turned back in the darkness.
I opened my eyes again.
I saw an unfamiliar face. His hair and eyes were glossy black, his skin so fair it was utterly flawless. His eyes shone, and he looked like a student fresh out of school, innocent and beautiful.