Khalid slipped slowly into the steaming hot bath in Lord Bailey’s bathroom, soaking away the blood and viscera of Lord Bailey himself. It had been a long night, and he wished it could have gone on longer, but Lord Bailey was old, and eventually his heart had given out. Now, Khalid washed away the guts and gore, cleaning himself with the best soaps that money could buy.

Eventually, Khalid, feeling cleansed enough, got out and toweled off, being careful not to step in any blood as he padded back to the bedroom and found his way into Lord Bailey’s expansive closet. He picked out a few of the Lord’s finest suits, as well as some of his best jewelry and watches. Khalid got dressed, admiring himself in the mirror. Times had certainly changed while he had been shackled naked to a cold dungeon floor. He looked stunning in the Lord’s suit, though it was just a bit baggy on him as he was more slender than the old man. 

He put on some fancy shoes, and carefully made his way out of the massacre, and down the hallway. Khalid walked straight out the front door, catching the eye of only one guard that he did not bother killing. Yet. Let him stay, and give no sign that anything terrible had gone down until Khalid was far away. 

It was 1978. Asim was roughly 13-years-old in his current life, and presumably living somewhere in China. Khalid would catch up with him soon enough. He wasn’t sure exactly what he would do with him when he did, but he did know he had other things to do first. 

Khalid forced a boatman to take him back to Inismore. He had the man wait, while he rode a bike across the island. Grabbing a shovel that was sitting by the road, Khalid began to dig near the section of stone wall where Ashlin had fallen and broken her neck. Many years ago, while a prisoner of Lord Bailey, he had forced young Jack up the hill to go into Aidan’s house and grab his bag with all his papers and deeds in it. Jack had wrapped the bag very carefully in leather, and buried it next to the stone on a blustery evening. 

Over three feet down, Khalid’s shovel hit something solid, and he soon pulled out the entire bag, unwrapping it from the leather. His entire fortune was still there, not a spec of mildew upon it. 

Good boy, Jack. 

*****

He spent a few years checking up on his investments. They had ballooned significantly in value. At this point, he was a multibillionaire, with some land that was significantly hard to value since it was worth so much. He chose not to sell any of it, but did put a trust in place to pay someone to watch the land and take care of it. He did turn some of his gold fortunes into bonds, so that it was easier to transfer the value to different countries. 

By 1986, he reached China, and began to search for Asim. The search was surprisingly easy. He simply found the hospital where baby Asim, now called Ling, had been born, and the records led him straight to Ling’s home. Both of his parents were poor factory workers who had put every last penny into sending their son away to college. 

Khalid found Ling in April of 1986 at the Peking University, in the Social Sciences department, studying Political Science. First, Khalid discovered Ling’s dormitory and schedule with a little mental push toward an admissions department member. He checked out the dorm, and was pleasantly surprised at all the pictures of nature, animals, and trees. Ling’s bed was immaculate. His entire room was incredibly well kept. His parents had taught him well. 

Using the knowledge of Ling’s classes, Khalid found him attending a sociology course. He stared at him through the window of the door, struck by how young and kind he looked. Ling wore a half grin as he scribbled down notes from the professor’s lecture. 

Khalid was torn. Implicitly, he knew that this version of Asim was nothing like Aidan. Though, of course, Aidan had been very sweet and thoughtful before the end. The same could be said for Cody. But Khalid had suffered for over half a century thanks to Aidan’s betrayal, so it was difficult for him to trust this newest version of his beloved. 

He decided to test Ling.

*****

Two men were walloping Khalid as Ling turned the corner from just outside his dormitory building. Of course, Khalid had forced them to do so. He barely put up a struggle, letting the blood flow as the men took out their aggression on him. He had been thoughtful enough to choose men who were already prone to aggression. These ones had already taken their anger out on some unsuspecting young women who had turned them down. Khalid didn’t feel too sorry for the consequences their actions would have. 

Ling froze for just the briefest moment, then came bolting over, throwing one man off of Khalid, and then the other. The men then turned on Ling and began to punch him. Khalid lay on the ground for a moment longer than necessary, before getting up and making a show of fighting the men off of Ling. 

Together, they forced the men into a retreat, Khalid moreso as he literally pushed into their minds that they needed to run away. He also made sure that the security guard whose eye he had caught earlier would be the one to find them and get a full confession. 

Without even worrying about his own wounds, Ling rushed over to Khalid, placing a hand on his shoulder and asking if he was okay. 

Khalid couldn’t help it. Looking into Ling’s eyes, into those kind, beautiful eyes, he fell in love with him all over again. 

“Can I take you to the doctor?” Ling asked, grabbing tissues from his bag to try and stem the flow of blood on Khalid’s face. 

Khalid shook his head. 

“Back to your dorm then?” Ling asked. 

“No dorm. Currently homeless.” Khalid said, spitting out a gob of blood.

Ling thought for just a moment, “Come with me. I’ll get you cleaned up.”

Ling took Khalid back to his dorm. 

Tenderly, sweetly, Ling tended to Khalid’s wounds, washing and dressing them. He took great care in the task. Khalid set about doing the same for Ling. They got to talking about themselves, about their lives. There were, of course, a number of details that Khalid left out of his story, but he got across the gist of his difficult life to Ling. In turn, Ling spoke about growing up with his parents, and the wonderful opportunity they had presented him with their hard work. 

“They care so much. I’m terrified of disappointing them.” Said Ling.

“I doubt you would ever disappoint them.” Said Khalid. 

Ling gave a shy smile, then crossed the room and pulled out a record. He placed it on the turntable, adjusted the needle, and a catchy tune began to play.

Ling came back over to Khalid, sitting down on the bed to face him, a smile on his face. 

“Tom Petty. Southern Accents.” Ling said. “I have listened to this album a thousand times. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” Said Khalid, sitting back in Ling’s desk chair and enjoying the music. He had not had a chance to properly listen to music that wasn’t playing through someone else’s head in many many years. He had certainly never heard music like this before. They sat in contemplative silence, just enjoying the tunes, not needing to say anything really to one another. 

What was there to say?

Hello Ling, I’m your lover of almost 500 years. We’ve had our ups and downs. You’ve tried to kill me a few times, but I’m mostly over it. You look like a twenty year old, but your soul has been roaming the Earth in various forms for centuries. We only have about 59 years left for you to choose to be with me forever, before I lose you for good. 

No, it was much better to sit and listen to the crooning of Tom Petty’s vocals as he belted out “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”

Ling’s eyes were closed as he listened with a smile twitching up his lips. He opened them to see Khalid staring at him, and blushed. 

“What? What is it?” Ling asked. 

“Nothing.” Khalid shook his head. “You just look so happy. And…I feel like I’ve met you before.” 

Ling turned his head to the side thoughtfully. 

“You know,” He said, “I feel the same way. It’s strange, but when I saw you, I could swear it wasn’t the first time. I don’t know how to describe it, but you felt familiar. Like family, somehow.”

Khalid smiled in amusement. 

*****

For the next year, Khalid ended up moving in with Ling. They took several classes together, as Khalid was able to make any schedule he saw fit, but didn’t want to come across too obsessive. He began to learn so much by merely looking every professor he passed in the eye. Years and years of education were given to him in an instant. Ling was in awe of his wealth of knowledge, just as Khalid was in awe of how brilliant Ling was. 

One morning, half a year into their friendship, the two of them were studying for a test in the dormitory when Khalid decided he was going to make his move. Ling was such a shy young man. He had never shown any interest in another partner. He never brought girls home, or boys. There were times when he would reach out a hand to playfully touch Khalid’s arm, but if Khalid shifted, or attempted to mimic the motion, Ling sort of shied away. 

Considering the country they were in, and how Ling had been raised, it made sense. 

“I want to take you out to lunch today.” Said Khalid when he had had enough of studying. He knew everything about the subject anyway, having scanned the professor’s mind. And he wasn’t going to let Ling get less than the top grade in the class if he could help it. 

“Where did you have in mind?” Ling asked. 

“Somewhere nice. I’ve been saving up. I wanted to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me. For taking me in, and looking after me.” 

Ling grinned, shaking his head, “You don’t have to do that. It’s been my pleasure all along.”

Khalid leaned forward and took Ling’s hand in his, pleased to see that Ling didn’t immediately pull his hand away, “You’ve heard of the Yue Bin restaurant, I assume?”

Ling’s eyebrows went up in surprise. His mouth fell open. 

“We can’t afford that on a student income!” He insisted. “They’re privately owned!” 

Khalid, of course, could afford to buy the restaurant thousands of times over with much to spare, but he neglected to mention that. 

“I told you, I’ve been saving up. Please, let me do this for you. For us. We deserve a nice break.”

Swallowing, and looking down curiously at their hands, Ling reluctantly nodded. 

“Great! Grab your jacket!” They headed outside, and managed to hail a taxi very quickly to Ling’s surprise. Of course, Khalid had the taxi driver on standy, waiting to pick them up as soon as he pressed the thought in his head. 

An hour later, they were eating a delicious meal of dumplings, pork roasted Tofu, and barbecue duck. The meal was delicious, and Ling appeared to be having the time of his life, though he required a lot of reassurance that Khalid was certain he was able to pay for it. 

After the exquisite meal, they made their way around the city, enjoying some of the sites that they never really had time to see when they were so busy with school. It was October, so they walked through Haidian Park, admiring the many different gardens and the spectacular colors of the changing leaves. It was heaven. 

Khalid wanted so desperately to hold Ling’s hand as they walked, but he knew how dangerous it would be. He didn’t want to paint a target on their backs. After all, Big Brother was always watching in China. 

They made it back to the dorm and headed inside. Ling had the biggest smile on his face. 

“Thank you so much for such a perfect day.” Ling said as Khalid closed the door behind them. Ling was just pulling off his jacket, when Khalid swooped in for a kiss. It was now or never. Ling froze at first, clearly shocked by the motion, confused about what was happening. The kiss lingered for one long moment, and then Khalid stepped back, and they stared at one another, Ling trying to catch his breath. 

“What…I don’t…wh-what was that?” Ling asked. 

“That was a kiss.” Khalid said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“I know that was a kiss.” Said Ling. “Why did you kiss me?” 

“Because I like you.” Said Khalid. “Because no one can see us in here. And because I think you like me too.”

Ling stood for a moment, processing everything. He looked somewhere between nauseated and excited. 

“I’ve never kissed anyone before.” Ling admitted.

“Not in this life, anyway.” Said Khalid. 

“What?”

“Nothing. Do you want to try it again?” Khalid asked. His nerves were beginning to act up at Ling’s hesitation. 

Ling thought for a moment, then stepped forward and planted his lips on Khalid’s, softly, tenderly. They began to make out. Soon, they were removing each other’s clothes. By the end of the night, they lay next to one another, cuddling, and grinning. 

“That was amazing.” Said Ling.

“We’re just getting started.” Said Khalid, feeling his heart flutter in happiness at the life he now had with Ling. A perfect perfect thing. 

*****

For three years, they were lovers in secret, and school chums to the public. Best friends that were inseparable. They had made it to graduate school, both killing it in their respective studies. Ling had expressed wanting to go into government, to help transition China into a true democracy. Khalid was going to do what he could to see that Ling’s dream came true.

Ling would still play Khalid every Tom Petty album he could get his hands on. He had heard about Petty’s solo album, “Full Moon Fever” that would be releasing in the United States in April. Khalid used his influence to order an early copy sent to them. 

He was just about to tell Ling the exciting news about the album, when they were both stopped in the street by screams and cries of students. Through the chaos, they managed to discover that Hu Yaobang had died. Ling looked as though he had been punched in the gut. Khalid could see tears forming in his eyes. Like so many others, he had held a great respect for Yaobang, and his ambition to undo so many of Mao’s horrible policies. 

For the next several weeks, Ling marched and sat with many other students and angry Chinese citizens to protest the government’s treatment of Hu Yaobang, and of its citizens, who were fed up with being crushed under the Communist regime with its out of control inflation, political corruption, and unchecked nepotism.

While Khalid set about getting them tickets to a concert in the United States for Petty’s “Full Moon Fever” tour, in the hopes that these protests would soon blow over and he could whisk Ling away to the relative safety of America, Ling was helping to stage hunger strikes, occupying government buildings, and rioting with the rest of his classmates. 

Khalid stayed with Ling as often as he could, always keeping an eye out for anyone who would do him harm. Ling’s adoration for Khalid grew, even as he threw himself wholeheartedly into fighting the system that struggled so hard to crush him and his fellow citizens. Khalid even saw that familiar glow of turquoise in Ling’s eyes. He was very much on the cusp of choosing immorality, of choosing Khalid forever. 

Unfortunately, Khalid’s abilities did not work through tanks. 

On June 4th, 1989, at Tiananmen Square, Khalid wasn’t fast enough to stop the sniper who shot Ling in the back, sending him sprawling to the ground on the road. Nor was he able to stop the tank that drove over Ling a moment later, ensuring that he was dead.

Ling’s death washed over him, and Khalid fell to his knees right there in the square. Billions of dollars and the ability to control minds had failed him once more, and the love of his life was dead again.

Chapter 38 – Creep