Chapter Three: The Unforgettable
The night felt wrong.
Li Shen stirred from his restless sleep, his body still aching from old wounds that never truly healed. The air was heavy, suffocating in a way he couldn't explain, like something terrible had already happened and the world was just waiting for him to realize it.
Then a faint sound accompanied with shaking.
"Help....!"
His eyes snapped open.
Beth.
The moment her voice reached him, something inside him tightened violently. Fear, panic, rage. All of it surged together as he threw himself to his feet, ignoring the pain screaming through his body.
He ran.
Barefoot, stumbling, crashing into walls as he forced himself forward. The sound came again, louder this time, desperate, breaking.
"Please....stop...!"
His heart slammed against his chest.
Faster and faster.
He reached the door and shoved it open with everything he had.
And what he saw broke something inside him.
Damion stood over her.
Beth was on the ground, her clothes torn, her body trembling as she struggled beneath him. Her hands pushed weakly against his chest, her face streaked with tears, her voice hoarse from screaming.
"No....please...Damion please stop....!"
Li Shen's vision went red.
"Get away from her!"
His voice cracked as he charged forward, throwing himself at Damion without a second thought. He didn't think about strength. Didn't think about consequences.
Only one thing that mattered was saving her.
His body slammed into Damion, forcing him back slightly. Beth scrambled away, gasping, curling into herself as she tried to cover her torn clothes.
Li Shen stood between them now, his chest heaving, his entire body was shaking but his eyes were locked on Damion.
Fierce, terrified but unyielding.
"Run…" he said, his voice barely holding together. "Beth… run…"
But she didn't move.
She couldn't.
Her body refused to respond, pain rooting her to the ground.
Damion straightened slowly.
Annoyance flickered across his face, then twisted into something darker.
"You again," he said quietly.
Li Shen didn't back down.
He stepped forward instead.
"I said leave her alone!"
Damion laughed.
Not loudly.
Just enough to make it clear this meant nothing to him.
"You think you can stop me?"
Li Shen didn't answer.
He attacked.
His fists swung wildly, driven by desperation rather than skill. Each punch lacked power, lacked aim but carried everything he had left inside him.
Pain, fear and love.
Damion blocked one easily.
Caught another.
Then he struck back.
A single punch.
Li Shen's head snapped to the side as he stumbled, his vision spinning.
But he didn't fall.
He couldn't.
Not now.
He rushed again, grabbing onto Damion, trying to pull him away, trying to buy time, trying to do anything
Anything to help Beth
But Damion's patience had run out.
"You're annoying."
The words were calm and final.
The blade appeared in his hand without warning.
Li Shen didn't even see where it came from.
Only the flash of metal then a sharp, deep unimaginable pain.
The knife drove into his abdomen.
Once.
Li Shen froze, his breath catching in his throat as his body locked up from the shock.
Twice.
A choked sound escaped his lips, his hands instinctively reaching down as warm blood spilled through his fingers.
The third time Damion stabbed his neck.
His legs gave out.
He collapsed to his knees, his body trembling violently as the pain spread through him like fire.
"…Why…" his voice came out broken, barely more than a whisper.
Damion didn't answer, he just watched.
Watched as Li Shen struggled.
Watched as he bled.
Watched as life slowly left his body.
Li Shen's vision blurred, dark spots forming at the edges as his strength drained away. His hands shook uncontrollably, trying to hold onto something that was already gone.
"…Please…" he whispered, looking up weakly. "Help me…"
Damion's expression didn't change.
There was no pity in his eyes, no hesitation to his actions.
Nothing.
He turned away.
Like Li Shen didn't matter.
Like he never had.
Li Shen's body swayed, his strength finally giving out as he fell forward onto the cold ground. The impact barely registered. The pain was too much. Too overwhelming. It drowned everything else.
But not everything.
Because even as his vision faded, he saw it.
Damion walking back to Beth.
"No…" Li Shen tried to move, his fingers digging weakly into the ground as he forced his head up.
But his body wouldn't respond.
Wouldn't listen.
Beth's voice filled the room.
She was broken and desperate.
"Please.....don't.....please.... Help him.!"
Li Shen's heart twisted violently, a fresh wave of pain surging through him that had nothing to do with the wounds in his body.
He watched, helplessly as Damion grabbed her.
As she struggled.
As her cries turned into sobs.
"Li Shen....!" she screamed, reaching out toward him.
His name, her voice.
It cut deeper than any blade.
"I'm here…" he tried to say.
But no sound came out.
Only blood.
His vision dimmed further, the world around him fading into darkness, yet that scene.
That moment, burned itself into his soul.
Her pleading, her pain, her eyes looking at him.
Begging him to do something, anything.
And the fact that he couldn't.
He couldn't even move.
Couldn't fight.
Couldn't save her.
Tears mixed with blood as they slipped from his eyes.
"I'm sorry…" he mouthed weakly.
The last thing he saw was Beth's face.
The last thing he heard was her voice breaking as she pleaded for it to stop.
And then
Silence.
As darkness took over.
Li Shen died.
But in that moment deep within his body a sound echoed though faint, it was unmistakable a click.
Like a lock breaking, like chains snapping, like something long sealed had finally been released.
For a brief instant in the endless darkness
A spark appeared.