Page 20 of Loved to Death

In that moment, he realized that her bigotry ran too deep for him to ever change her mind. “Things could have been so different between us if you’d been kind,” he said.

She shook her head with a patronizing smile and said, “Ihavebeen kind to you, Thomas. But I won’t be if you run from me again.”

He started to cry. His chest burned as the tearless sobs wracked his damaged body. Polly sat up and pulled the tarp full of dirt over to cover them for the night.

Part Two: Shen

Chapter Eight

1880, San Francisco, California

Shen crept through the dimly lit streets of Chinatown, pulling his coat closer to his body to ward off the chill from the dense fog. The usual din of the city had quieted for the night, but Shen could still hear random footsteps in the distance, the occasional barking dog or crying baby, and conversations from people he passed. When he finally reached the street where most newcomers in town found lodging, he slowed his pace. He looked behind him for witnesses, but the fog made it impossible to see more than ten feet in any direction. Not seeing anyone, he darted into a small alleyway between two tall buildings. It was even darker in the alley away from the street’s gaslights. He stuck his right hand into his coat pocket to grasp the handle of the knife he’d brought just in case.

He stayed near the front but kept his ears focused on the darkness at the back of the alley. He couldn’t discern any noises but that didn’t mean the alley was empty. The men who met in this particular spot knew silence was their friend.

Shen’s introduction to the alley came when he was seventeen, with a young man he’d lusted after since puberty. The man had been friends with his older brother since they were all children, and one glorious evening the man had invited Shen to this alley. Less than a month later, the man had been forced to marry, and he’d stopped coming to the alley in favor of the opium dens. Shen had continued to frequent the alley. That had been two years ago, and he’d lost count of how many times he’d been since then.

The robust young man who’d caught Shen’s eye this morning at his father’s spice shop might not come. And if he did show up, he might try to do Shen harm. But Shen doubted it. They’d shared thelook. The kind of look that only men of a certain persuasion shared with each other. And when Shen had slipped him the note, Wang Yong had stuck it in his pocket without reading it. A sure sign that he knew the note wasn’t about spices.

Footsteps coming closer from the street made Shen tense. A few seconds later, Yong came around the side of the building and stepped into the alley. After making eye contact and sharing a smile, Yong tilted his head toward the darkness and moved toward the back. Shen let go of his knife and followed, already excited.

Once they were cloaked in the cover of darkness and fog, a hand on Shen’s chest stopped him. The hand moved to the side of his face and pulled him down for a kiss. After a quick taste, Yong’s hands gently pressed down on Shen’s shoulders and he happily got on his knees. At five feet eight inches, Shen was the tallest member of his family and taller than most of his peers. Ironically, he found the most joy on his knees, looking up.

Shen helped Yong undo his pants. When Yong’s cock was free from constraints, Shen took it in his mouth and then stifled a moan when Yong’s hand groped the base of his skull and gripped his long pigtail to guide Shen’s movements. Shen reached into his own pants and wrapped one hand around his member and moved his hand in time with the pace Yong set. It didn’t take long to bring Yong to a mostly silent orgasm, and Shen sped up the pace to get himself off right after.

Before Shen had even come down from his high, Yong squeezed his shoulder and walked out of the alley at a brisk pace while fixing his pants. The usual disappointment washed over Shen as he adjusted his own clothes, stood up, and slowly made his way out of the darkness.

As Shen meandered toward home, he fantasized about what it would be like to have a lover in bed with him. Someone who could spend a few moments just holding him, once they found their release instead of running off. But that was never going to be an option. Eventually his parents would make arrangements for him to be married. The thought made him shudder, but luckily, he was the youngest of six children and his siblings were all married, so there was no rush. Would he have the willpower to stop coming to the alley once he had a wife? He doubted it.

He pulled his coat closer against the chill that seeped in once the erotic excitement faded.

***

Thomas prowled the streets of Chinatown looking for a victim. It had been five long years since he’d become undead. During those five years, he’d killed a hundred and sixty-three people. He didn’t want to keep track, but it was impossible to stop. The guilt had dulled, his reluctance had waned, and the victims’ faces had blurred with time, but the number of dead kept ticking away in his mind as a constant reminder of his sins. Thomas had been wandering for half the night, and he’d already forgone eight potential meals. The longer he stayed hungry, the longer he could justify avoiding Polly.

He hadn’t tried to escape since his failed attempt three years ago, but he had stopped trying to please her once he knew it was impossible. He tried to avoid making her angry, but no longer started up conversations or tried to prove his self-worth to her. The only thing he ever begged for was to be allowed to feed separately, even if it meant he had to wait a day longer. Over time, she allowed him to feed alone more often but never twice in a row.

Earlier she’d been in a good mood and told him they would find separate victims and then meet back at their rendezvous point before dawn. In Polly’s words, “The police won’t put much time and energy into investigating the murder of a Chinaman.” Thomas had seen the way the workers in his father’s mill had treated anyone who wasn’t white and English, and hadn’t disagreed with Polly’s assessment. But even if he had disagreed, he wouldn’t have voiced his opinion because he relished the nights when she allowed them to feed separately.

Over the course of the night, he’d followed each of his potential victims for a few blocks. His usual advantage of being able to see in the darkness was somewhat thwarted by the fog, but he knew he could still see farther than the humans. He wasn’t being stealthy, and when he got within hearing distance, some of the humans turned around to search the fog. He could see them clearly from a block away, but they hadn’t been able to see him.

He walked past a small alleyway and stopped in his tracks. Halfway down the alley, two men were kissing. The shorter one pushed the taller man to his knees, and Thomas caught the look of joy on the taller man’s face as he helped undo the shorter man’s pants. The slight quirk of the lips and the looking up through eyelashes brought back memories and emotions that Thomas had pushed away for the past five years. Memories of Jeffrey.

Thomas had been Polly’s loyal lapdog for so long, it was jarring to remember the man he used to be. He stood there mesmerized by the illicit act going on in the alley, and long suppressed desires flared inside his chest. Not only the desire to have a submissive lover but also the desire to escape Polly’s clutches.

The smell of sex filled the air and Thomas took a deep breath. It didn’t take long before the shorter man let out a tiny moan soon followed by the man on his knees. Thomas stealthily moved to the opposite side of the street to stay hidden. The shorter of the two men fixed his pants, walked to the street, and turned to the left. Thomas was torn for a split second. He wanted to talk to the taller man who was still in the alley, but he was too hungry to get close to a human and not feed.

He quickly followed the shorter of the two men instead and as soon as the man passed another little alleyway, Thomas attacked from behind. He slipped a hand over the man’s mouth, an arm around his chest, and then lifted him off his feet to pull him into the alleyway before sinking his teeth into his neck. The usual euphoria hit and for a few moments, Thomas was lost to it. Nothing mattered except the blissful cessation of pain in his stomach and the erotic thrill the blood gave him.

The instant he came back to his senses, Thomas dropped body number one hundred and sixty-four in the alley and rushed back the way he’d come, hoping to catch the other man. As luck would have it, he caught a whiff of the taller human’s scent and rushed to follow it. Five blocks away from the original alley, he spotted the human just before he turned a corner.

Thomas ran to catch up but slowed down just before turning the corner. He didn’t want his pounding footfalls to scare the young man off before he had a chance to talk to him. Once he rounded the corner, he stopped short. The man he’d been after was less than ten feet away holding a small knife and glaring in his direction. It was difficult not to chuckle at the menacing glower the human was giving him, but Thomas contained his amusement. He held both hands up in surrender and tried for a friendly smile.

“Do you speak English?” Thomas asked.

“Yes,” the man answered warily.

“I mean you no harm,” Thomas assured him. “I just want to talk.”

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