4. The Awaited Encounter

                                    

                                          

Chapter 2
He looked at the glass windows as rain splattered on them like a dancing queen accompanied by the storm that not only raged outside but inside his heart as well. His dark eyes gleamed in something unforseen but subdued soon again  emanating longing, pain and something that was undesirable and forbidden. 
He remembered the day well even after so many years, rain peppering and driving on their faces as they stood close, looking at eachother.
The way her long cloth flared in the wind, the smell of her perfume and her gleaming eyes.
What had happened then he knew was irrevocable and impossible to unwound but at this moment it seemed there had to be some way to go back to that moment and turn the wheel of time and make things happen differently. 
A burning sensation marred his dead heart as he felt the raindrops smouldering him and this was something that would live with him forever because he was the unluckiest creature of immortality, blessed to be agonised and writhe till eternity. 
********
On the 3rd floor, in a victorian room a figure tousled and turned and finally woke up from the deep sleep.
Zhan opened his eyes and looked around, he could see the grand chamber, adorned with large wall paintings and embellished wooden furnitures ,  crafted with the finest work of art,  those were not only magnificent but rare and would cost millions.
Then he felt the bed he was lying upon and he sat up instantly. He felt the softness of it with his fingers and the fine threads of the quilt. 
He had never known a bed could be this wonderful and could render such comfort, Zhan felt his eyes closing again due to the warm feeling.
He shook his head. This was secondary,  what was more important was how he landed here. Who brought him or rather saved him because he could remember well he hurt his head pretty bad and it was bleeding. But surprisingly he felt not a single tinge of pain anywhere. Even there was not a scratch on his head.
Was it a dream, he wondered. 
Or was he hallucinating?
His friends always said he had a knack for imagining impossible things. Was it true ? 
No. He was sure this wasn't any dream. He looked around again, the room was not only majestic but gave a gothic feel. He shivered, there was an uneasy yet familiar feeling he could not shake off. 
He felt strange but also like he belonged here, but why ? He couldn't fathom this weird sensation of fear and longing at the same time. 
Xio Zhan took a deep breath to calm his overwrought nerves and waited for someone to come. He had a lot of questions, but mostly he was eager to see his saviour. 
********
It must have been hours when Zhan woke up and realised he had slept off before trying his best not to.
*******
"So Lan Yibo is doing the same thing again? He won't listen, would he? It's time for me to go and take things in my own hands. I am tired of this game. Let's turn things quick so fate can take its Course. " she smiled a domineering smile to the man sitting beside her as her companion acknowledged her declaration with a nod .
********
Zhan was sitting curled up in the bed , snuggled under the red blanket. He looked like a shivering kitten on that huge bed. The tall-ceiling room set with  antique furniture smelt of an old world charm. The room was thrown into darkness and Xio Zhan's  face illuminated in the glow of the fire burning in the fireplace. But his umber eyes were fixed over a large portrait that hung just above the mantelpiece.