His actions were observed by a solitary figure perched on the doorway near where the car was parked. The man watched his harried motions with a sardonic smile, that bordered on anticipatory and slightly feral.

He paused at the curb to look in both directions. The early morning traffic was anemic but it was clear he didn’t find what he was looking for with the way he stormed back into the building.

In his absence, the figure in the doorway darted forward to quickly place a note on his windshield, secure it with the wiper before melting back into the shadows.

Wang Lu raced out of the building, this time he was almost buzzing with impossibly frantic energy. He looked all around him with an edginess of one whose peace was suddenly snatched away.

He opened the door, got in the car, and closed it with a slam only to wrench it open a second later as he stepped out of the car, moving towards his windshield before standing there, staring gingerly at the note tucked into the wiper fluttering feebly in the wind.

Wang Lu removed the note carefully and read it, even from a distance one could see how he suddenly became pale, the shock emblazoned on his face.

The figure in the shadows smiled, a wide smile that revealed his entire teeth in a show of malevolent enjoyment. The feral gleam in his eyes shone even brighter before moving forward.

Wang Lu didn’t see the movement, didn’t sense the creature behind him, he was so riveted on the note in his hand that he heard only a whisper before he sank into the dark.

Wang Lu came to slowly, greeted by the musty air in a long-abandoned room. He looked around him, a few minutes to take in everything; one minute of quick observation pointed to the fact that he was in a warehouse, seated, tied up and he wasn’t alone

And in front of him was a small camcorder on a tripod with the red light blinking and beside it was a trolley laid out with gleaming hardware. Arranged in neat rows was every implement with a sharp edge he knew, some he didn’t know but even in the dim lighting, all the edges faintly gleamed in the glare of the electric bulbs that lit up the area around him

”You’re awake, good. Smile pretty boy, it’s not a party without you and your bitch will need to see that I’m treating you right. Oh right, she is no more your bitch but I’m sure she wouldn’t let you die” came a familiar voice from beside him.

Wang Lu froze, he knew that voice but that was impossible, he was dead. Gu Zhi was very dead, he had killed him himself, held the smoking gun as he watched him bleed all over the place.

”Gu Zhi” he croaked, his voice cracking with disbelief and anger

”It’s me baby” the figure moved closer until it resolved into a familiar picture in front of him, complete with casual jeans, a jacket, and a baseball cap.

Anyone who saw him would describe him as normal, average, nondescript. Nobody held on to that impression when they saw his eyes, it remained flat no matter the expression on his face except at times when it took on a shade of sick glee.

Like it did right now, it only meant one thing, Wang Lu couldn’t help the sickening awareness that rolled through him. “You should be dead” He ventured.

Gu Zhi smiled, it was more of a caricature of one. “I should right? Now that’s funny, aren’t you glad to see me?”

”You should be dead” Wang Lu couldn’t help the slight shock that was bleeding into his voice, knowing and seeing the evidence were two separate things. The impossible was not easily accepted now even when it was staring you in the face while absently caressing a rack of torture instruments.

”It seems not even death wants me, and that breaks my heart” Gu Zhi casually stripped his jacket rolled up the sleeves of his shirt as he answered in a conversational tone with a conspiratorial and rueful smile.

The casual menace incensed him, Wang Lu hated the almost nonchalant atmosphere between them, it suggested a vague camaraderie, as if at one point he had not fervently wished to tear him limb from limb “I’m sure even your mom doesn’t want you, you should have stayed in hell with your pathetic sister” he growled, tugging at the ropes wrapped around him. Despite his jerking, the bindings didn’t give a single inch.

It was almost as if the frantic motions and anger he provoked pleased him, Gu Zhi smiled, taking time to appreciate the scene in front of him before casually replying “No, I missed all the good times we had together”

”We didn’t have any good times you bastard!!” Wang Lu growled, jerking even harder. He just needed the ropes to give one inch, just a single inch and he would be able to do something.

”No? Guess that’s why I’m back to make it up for all the lost times,” Gu Zhi promised as his hands returned to stroking his favorite toys with a look of predatory anticipation

Fuck you!” Wang Lu spat back at him, straining against the rope that was holding him to the chair. The metal scraped against the concrete in uneven loud screeches that was swallowed by the empty and cavernous warehouse.

Gu Zhi smiled, a look that bordered on manic and he stalked forward, taking care not to block the camera. He stood for a good second smiling down at the man scowling up at him before he threw the first punch.

Wang Lu felt the crunch of the cartilage in his nose, followed by an explosion of pain that slowly drained off into a small but insistent throbbing on his face. “Fuck you, Gu Zhi, ** you!”

The low chuckle drove his head up to see Gu Zhi smiling at the blood on his fist. A smirk was the only warning given before the next blow landed.

With every punch, Wang Lu swore at him, refusing to cry out no matter how brutal the blow Gu Zhi laughed. After the tenth or eleventh punch, Gu Zhi walked away and took the camcorder off the tripod, and fiddled with it.

Wang Lu stared balefully at his attacker, his face a mosaic of rising bumps and bruises, Gu Zhi looked up once, the smile on his face promising even worse things, “I think it’s time little kitty joined us, I can’t let you have all the fun now can I?”

The words triggered an avalanche of panic and anger that drove Wang Lu to start wrenching harder at ropes binding him again, “no, Gu Zhi, no”

”Don’t be greedy” Gu Zhi admonished, the same manic smile playing on his lips, if possible he looked even more feral

”Fuck you, Gu Zhi, don’t send it, don’t send it you eat bastard, I’ll do anything, she doesn’t need to be here” Wang Lu ground out, the screeching of his metal chair against the concrete floor slicing through the air.

Gu Zhi looked pleased, pleased at the emotions he was wringing out of his victim “I beg to differ, she needs to be right here, she’s the birthday girl, you’re just the bait.”