Chapter 1 - meeting with strangers
Once upon a day, nestled amongst the sprawling campuses of a bustling American city, stood a small, ivy-covered cottage. Within its cozy walls lived three best friends, inseparable since childhood: Ri, Ash, and Shu. They were bright young women, all pursuing their PhDs, their days filled with books and lectures, their nights with laughter and shared dreams.
One evening, as the city lights began to twinkle, Ri made her way home from the library. The clock had struck ten, and a chill hung in the air. As she crossed a deserted intersection, a car suddenly careened around the corner, its headlights blinding her, the screech of tires filling her ears. Ri braced for impact, but it never came. Instead, a blur of motion, impossibly fast, swept her from harm's way.
She found herself standing on the curb, heart pounding, the image of the car swirling in her vision. And then, she saw him. A young man breathtakingly handsome, with eyes like polished obsidian and hair the color of midnight, stood before her. He had moved with the speed of a startled leopard, a speed that defied human capability.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice a low, melodic hum.
Ri, still reeling from the near-miss and the impossible speed, could only manage a shaky, "Yes, I think so."
The young man gave her a nod, a fleeting smile that seemed to ignite a thousand tiny sparks, and then, he was gone. He vanished as if he had never been there at all, leaving behind no trace but the lingering scent of something wild and earthy.
When Ri finally stumbled through the door of their cottage, Ash and Shu were waiting, their faces etched with worry. "Ri, what happened? You're so late!" exclaimed Ash, her brow furrowed.
As Ri recounted the bizarre events of the evening, the girls listened, their eyes growing wider with each detail. The car, the impossible speed, the handsome stranger who vanished into thin air… It sounded like something plucked from the pages of a fairy tale.
"A man like a leopard?" Shu whispered, her fingers nervously twisting a strand of her hair. "That's… that's impossible."
They spoke late into the night, debating the incident, the impossible speed, the stranger, their imaginations running wild, the mundane world of academia seeming suddenly thin and brittle.
The aroma of burnt toast hung heavy in the air as Ash stumbled into the kitchen, blinking sleep from her eyes. The usual morning chaos of their shared house was a welcome, familiar comfort. But today, something was different. Glancing out the window while pouring herself coffee, she froze. Right across the street, where the old, dilapidated Thompson house had stood for years, was a gleaming, newly renovated structure. And on its pristine porch, three men sat chatting, their laughter echoing lightly in the morning stillness.
"Guys," Ash mumbled, her voice thick with sleep, "we have new neighbour's."
Shu, a whirlwind of dark hair and sharp angles, joined her at the window, followed by Ri, her gentle presence a calming contrast to Shu's fiery energy.
"Oh," Shu said flatly, observing the new occupants with a critical eye. "They're… conventionally attractive, I suppose." The three men were indeed strikingly handsome. One with dark, almost raven-like hair and eyes, another with a sly, foxy smile, and the third with a gentle, ethereal beauty. "But trust me, Ash, don't get too excited. I have absolutely no interest in welcoming them with cookies and false smiles."
Ri, ever the optimist, tilted her head. "They seem nice, though. Maybe we should at least say hello."
"Absolutely not," Shu declared, grabbing a piece of toast. "We keep to ourselves. That's the rule"
Little did they know, those handsome faces hid secrets darker than the shadows of the midnight hour. Raven, with his intense gaze and sharp wit, was no ordinary man. He was a creature of the night, a vampire, his existence spanning centuries. Jihu, whose smile held a playful glint, was a nine-tailed fox, a mystical being capable of illusions and enchantments. And Fang Lang, with his gentle aura and radiant smile, was a fairy, his lineage stretching back to the very beginnings of the earth. They were not human, though they walked among them, their true nature masked within the shell of humanity.
The conversation about their new neighbours continued over breakfast, punctuated by Shu's dismissive snorts and Ri's tentative attempts at optimism. Suddenly, Ri's voice broke through the chatter, a hint of awe in its tone.
"Actually," she said, her eyes wide, "you know last night… something strange happened. I was almost hit by a car, and one of them… one of the new neighbours, I think… he grabbed me out of the way just in time."
A silence descended upon the kitchen. Shu's eyes narrowed. "He just happened to be there? Convenient, don't you think? This is exactly why I hate neighbours now!. He's a stalker, Ri! He waited for you!" She slammed her fist on the table, her anger rising. "That's it. I'm going to go over there and kick his butt."
Ri, alarmed by Shu's sudden outburst, grabbed her arm. "Shu, no! You can't just go over there and attack him! He saved me."
"He might not be so innocent, Ri!" Shu stubbornly insisted, still fuming, but R and Ash managed to calm her down. The girls then decided to go back to their room, each lost in their thoughts.
The next day, the girls returned home exhausted after a long day of classes. After a few minutes of rest, the doorbell rang, its sound slicing through the quiet of the house. Shu, despite her earlier protests, was the first to reach the door. Her eyes widened, a flicker of surprise in their depths as she found Fang Lang on the porch, a welcoming smile illuminating his face.
"Hello," he said, his voice a melodic whisper. "I'm Fang. We're having a small get-together tonight as a housewarming, we wanted to invite you all as our new neighbours."
Shu's initial instinct was to refuse. She crossed her arms over her chest, her suspicious gaze fixed on Fang. "Why are you here? What's your profession? Why did you buy that house? Where are you from?" she asked, her tone edged with suspicion.
Ash, who had joined them at the door, quickly noticed that Shu was behaving like a police investigator, not a normal neighbour. Fang, surprisingly, didn't seem fazed by her interrogation. He answered honestly, his gaze sincere.
"We're all here because we wanted to carve our own paths, away from our families," Fang explained. "We wanted to build something of our own. I run a café, Jihu has a film production company, and Raven handles export-import business."
Ri , who had also come to the door now, felt a knot of unease in her stomach. The situation felt… off somehow. She sensed that Shu's interrogation was pushing things too far. Deciding to take control, she stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on Shu's arm. "That sounds lovely, Fang. We'd be delighted to come."
Shu shot her a bewildered look, but Ri just smiled and squeezed her arm.
"Great," Fang said, his smile widening, "We'll see you tonight then." He turned and walked back towards his house, leaving the girls staring after him.
"Ri! Why did you do that? After I told you what I thought!" Shu fumed, her patience wearing thin.
"I know, Shu," Ri said quietly, "but we can't be rude. We need to be careful and observe them first, I think something is going on with them. Anyway, let's just try to have a good time tonight, okay?"