Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"What are you talking about? Whose story this is!? That is bullshit! This is my life, this is my story and I will live it how I want!" I snapped. I could see my flames exploding out of me in frustration. The colors a complete contrast to the darkness.

"This is not your story," hissed the first voice. "And those are not your men."

I tilted my head back and burst out into laughter. But it was not the lighthearted kind. No, this was the laughter of someone that was pushed too far. The kind of laughter that had you locked up in a nice white room with a jacket that allows you to constantly hug yourself.

"Did you think that you were the only one to come back to the beginning?" asked the third voice. Where once I relished her gentleness, now it only served as nails on a chalkboard.

"Who?" I demanded, I needed to know who was the heroine more than I needed my next breath. And then once I found out, I would hunt her down and kill her.

"It doesn't matter," replied the third.

"She is just scared that you will go off and kill them," chuckled the first voice. "But after that pathetic display in the basement, I don't think she should worry so much."

"Then tell me, who are the heroes?"

"You already know," said the second voice. I gasped, feeling the tears starting to pool in my eyes. Closing them, I took a deep breath.

"They are mine."

"They aren't supposed to be," replied the third. "They were never supposed to meet you, in any of your lives. But your second one messed everything up. Two of them saw you."

"If they aren't meant to be mine, who cares if they saw me or not?" I snarled, refusing to let the tears fall, to give in to this overwhelming despair that I was feeling.

There was silence, none of the three voices rushed to answer my question.

"Why do you get all four?" demanded the first.

"Because they are mine," I replied, not even needing to think about the answer. I could feel Chen Zi Han and Liu Yu Zeng inside of me, their flames rushing around my own faster, in an almost frantic manner.

I had to leave, I had to get back to them. But how?

"Find the heroines, stop the apocalypse, save humanity," said the third voice. Although her softness remained, there was now an edge to it. "You cannot keep what is not yours."

"And that is where you are wrong. I licked them, they are clearly mine!"

---

I sat bolt-upright and frantically looked around. I was starting to get tired of falling asleep in one place and waking up in a completely different one, but since this one had Chen Zi Han and Liu Wei on either side of me, I would take it.

Taking in a deep, calming breath, I laid back down between the two. But I had a problem…

I really needed to use the washroom.

Squirming my way down to the bottom of the bed, I sipped off like a big lump of jelly. Standing up, utterly proud of myself for not disturbing the two men, I opened the door and when in search of the elusive toilet.

"And where do you think you are going, little girl?" came a voice at the end of the hallway. I closed my eyes as the warmth and smell of Wang Chao enveloped me from behind.

"To the washroom," I replied, although, for the life of me, I couldn't remember why it was so important. I felt him chuckling behind me as I let myself sink into his embrace. "I'll show you where it is," he said. "Then we should talk."

I froze. After the dream that I just had, the dreaded "We should talk" was enough to cause my stomach to tighten into knots. "Don't worry, it's just about the girls in the basement," he assured me, because hey, he was fantastic like that. Nodding my head, I let him lead me to the bathroom where I took care of what I needed to before meeting him outside in the hallway.

I stared at him where he stood leaning against the wall, his feet crossed in front of him and his arms folded across his chest. He was wearing a pair of black dress pants with a black dress shirt, its sleeves rolled up to his elbow. His black hair was disheveled, a single strand coming down over the top of his right eye.

He reminded me of a panther, calm, languid, but in complete control. Just one of the many reasons why I would not let anyone take him from me.

"I am yours and you are mine, little girl. Or did you forget about that?" he asked, his head tilted to the side.

"I guess that depends on who you ask," I said crankily. I mean, according to the voices in my head, he was not mine and would go after some transmigrated/reincarnated bitch. It was his turn to let out a bark of laughter as he stood up and walked over to me.

It might have only been a few steps, but I knew I was definitely his prey. His dominance and aggression practically flowed out of him in waves. He came to a stop in front of me and placed both hands on the wall behind me, trapping me between him and it.

One of my favorite positions ever if I had to be honest.

"I don't know what voices you have been listening to, but the only one that matters is my own. So, listen carefully, little girl. You are mine. Every part of you from your head to your toes belongs to me. I will share with the other just to make life easier on you, but that is only to make sure that I don't lose you."

He leaned forward until his piercing gaze met my own and caused me to freeze. "I cannot, I will not, lose you," he growled, his gaze never leaving my own, willing me to feel what he was feeling. "This connection, this... thing, it is forever, in this life and the next and even the one after that." He started laying down gentle kisses along my jaw and down my neck.

Tilting my head to the left, I exposed my neck, encouraging his kisses to continue. Out of nowhere, I felt his teeth clamp down on my neck and I couldn't suppress my moan. There was something about the boys biting me that, although I didn't encourage it, I absolutely loved. It was right up there with random flowers. Things are more special when you don't ask, they just gave.

I could feel him relaxing his grip and then proceeded to run his tongue up the side of my neck. "I licked it, it's mine," he said as he pushed himself off of the wall and took a step back. "Don't forget it this time."

I hummed, my body vibrating like I was just shot with a bolt of electricity. "Now, nap time or should we discuss our next move?" he asked as he wrapped an arm around my side and pulled me away from the wall.

Talk about a buzz kill. I narrowed my eyes at him.  "And if I choose nap time?" I asked raising my eyebrow at him. I was no longer as tired as I was before, but with that dream, it didn't feel like I actually got any sleep. Plus who really wants to talk about what our next step should be?

I was not in any rush to try to save the world only to let some random person take credit for it. Besides, I had a few things that I wanted to do, and I would have to wait for the correct time to do it. Might as well sleep.

Wang Chao chuckled and scooped me up into his arms. Taking me into a different bedroom, he gently set me down on the floor so he could pull back the covers. Inviting me in, I laid down and let him tuck me in. Giving me a kiss to my forehead simply because he knew how much I loved it, he walked around to the other side of the bed and crawled in after me, not worrying about his clothes.

Pulling me into his arms, I rested my head against his chest and just listened to his heartbeat. My right hand started to make random patterns on his chest, my nails clicking against his buttons every so often.

"Why do people have to be either good or bad?" I asked, staring at his shirt and refusing to look at him.

"Because the world like simplicity. If you are good, you can't be bad and if you are bad, you can't be good," he responded as his right hand started to play in my hair.  "But that is not how life is," he continued. "Good or bad, it is only a matter of perspective. After all, to a mouse, a cat is a villain, but that doesn't make the cat evil."

I hummed in agreement, trying to suppress my yawn. Completely unsuccessful, I could hear my jaw cracking with how much I opened my mouth. Wang Chao let out a gentle laugh and kissed my head. "Go to sleep, we can discuss philosophy in the morning."

I groaned, "Hated that course," I grumbled remembering my university days. 'If there is nothing between me and this book then me and this book must be one,' bullshit.

"Sleep, little girl, I will be here when you wake up," he promised me as I felt my eyelids get heavier and heavier. One last sigh and I was gone.