Chapter 3 You should have long been dead!

Back at home, mother jumped to her feet from the sofa out of shock at the sight of me: "what's going on?! What took you so long? Oh my god! Where does all this blood come from?!" I threw myself into her arms and burst into tears. "Mom...Did he come for me again? I went to school this morning and found that piece of jade pendant in my backpack again...Do you know? Someone committed suicide, right after I threw that pendant into the river; and he died in my face, blood spattered all over me...Mom, I'm so scared..."

Mother cried out as well: "It is my Karma...What sin did I commit in my life to marry into the Fan Family......
And why had I born a girl...”

At that moment, I knew my mother had collapsed inside. She had always looked strong to me, and I had only seen her cry once before, and that was when she had taken me and escaped from the village four years ago.
In fact, she knew in her heart that she had long been firmly convinced of the Fan Family's practice of ‘underworld marriage’, which had been carried out for generations as a girl was born, but she was unwilling to accept the reality.

For the next few days, mom didn't let me go to school. She just wanted me to stay home, stay under her nose so that she could rest assured that I would be safe.

Aaron's death was on the news, with reports going viral on the Internet that some college candidates had committed suicide as the date of the college entrance examination was approaching, and parents were appealed not to put too much pressure on their children. It was amusing to me that only I knew Aaron did not want to die, he even begged me to save him...while it was circulated that he took his own life.

No one could have foretold his own death, but Aaron did; and I thought, at that time, is was his lame jokes.

At night, lying on the bed and looking emptily at the ceiling, I dared not to turn off the light; the terror would always crawl in with the darkness.

Although I had bathed long ago and had changed my blood-covered clothes, the smell the blood was still vividly there.
In the trance, a cold sneer broke the silence of the night.

I sat up in terror and looked at every corner of the room; no one, or more precisely, nothing was to be seen...

Suddenly, I felt a chill behind me, and a pair of slender hands embraced me from behind.
My body was tightly entangled, unable to move, the ice-cold hands running on my body; I recognized the hands with the Jasper Ring; it was the same guy at that night four years ago with his left thumb wearing the exact jasper ring.

Next room, mom screamed out hysterically, "Why didn't you tell me what dirty shit your family had gotten into before I married you?! Why my Rae have to suffer like this! If anything happened to her, I am never done with you, with your family!”

Father had never lost his temper, neither this time: "Becky, it is getting late, keep you voice down, you are waking up our daughter.We'll talk about it tomorrow..."

How desperate I was for my parents to get into my room and save me now, but the yearning in my heart was not answered; being held in his cold embrace, I collapsed with him onto the mattress.

"My darling Rae Fan...My wife..."

Cold and dead voice echoed in my ears; tears welling in my eyes, I begged for his mercy hysterically within my heart, but not a sound was uttered from my throat; his hand reached into my pajamas: "Four years not see, you have grown up..."

If his hand had not now been upon my breasts, I should certainly not have associated his solemnity with indecency.

I raised my head trying to make out his appearance; it was my right, at least? if I was going to be raped again by him;
I expected him to be either fierce-looking or simply ugly, deformed, after all, he was not even a human being...

What I saw was a scarlet mask of evil spirit, which sent a chill down my spine.
He knocked between my eyebrows with his finger. "Are you so curious about my appearance? Not afraid anymore?"

I closed my eyes, quickly regretting my silly attempts to find out what was behind that mask; his voice sounded good but what about that face? Was it green? Did he have large fangs like a vampire? I wished I was unconscious or dead now! Then again, his voice was really attractive, magnetic and pleasant to hear.

No, no, no, no, what was I thinking? I did not want to tangle with a ghost. As long as I survived tonight, I would find whoever could help, the Taoist priest or monk, I would get rid of him forever; I promised!

I made up my mind. All I could hope was that the night would soon be over. Ghosts did not walk in the daytime; even the children in our village knew that.

His hands smoothly took off my nightgown. The light in the room flickered and went out. I felt a buzz in my brain and my breathing became ragged and rapid. His hand slid into my belly, then down to the most sensitive area- there, caressing my softness through my white lace. It was as if I were in that night again four years ago. I wished it were a dream, but it was different from any other dream I had...

His touch slowly turned into rubbing but still very gentle; a stream of warmth surged and rampaged within my body; my whole body sang with the sweet agony and made me feel extremely embarrassed. Still in my puberty, it was so hard to resist such strong sensation; besides,he had triumphed over me four years ago; I felt more of pain that night. He was the one who first forced me to eat the forbidden fruit when I was still 14.

He had been missing for four years, what’s the surprise visit for? So that he could raped me after my four years growth? Got to say that four years had, indeed, grown me into a well-developed woman with large and firm breasts, slim waist and raised buttocks; my usual baggy, loose and outdated clothes had hidden my womanhood so well that some boys in my class had called me a peasant from small village. Some said that I was actually a slut even though I had always left them in the cold facing their flirt.

Would this guy come all the way here from the underworld for me just because I had fully grown?
The underworld should also have all sort of pretty lady ghosts? Why me, a living person.

While my thought was wandering wild, I felt his fingers poking into my secret area. I was not used to the feeling. It was not too painful, but it was strange.
Suddenly I felt as if I could move my body and make a sound in my throat. I grabbed his wrist and whispered, almost begging, "Don't...I am a living person, so stop bugging me, and go back to where you belong..."

His eyes behind the mask stared at me coldly. "A living person?
You should have died a long time ago. Were it not for me, you would have long been dead?
You are my wife, life or death; here or back in the underground world, you are with me."

I was startled. What did he mean by his words?
What did he mean I should have been dead already?
Was he here to take me to the underworld with him?!