Lin only brought three things: phone, wallet, and headphones. Not to mention her sweater and moisturizer–life would suck without moisturizer. The rain had already stopped, but she also brought her umbrella in case. That and pepper spray.

  Nevermind, Lin brought multiple things: phone, wallet, headphones, sweater, moisturizer, and an umbrella. But that’s beside the point.

  “Best China Food” was probably the best Chinese food that Lin had ever eaten–and she was as Chinese as fortune cookies. After someone disregarded the generic name, or remembered that many Chinese immigrants weren’t linguistically creative with a second language, they would find themselves to some of the best seasoned shit that had ever touched the west coast.

  “Your order ready! Come pick up!”

  Also some of the worst customer service.

  “Wo cao! I say we in middle of cooking! You want eat so bad, eat your arm!”

  Lin didn’t mind though. The worse the customer service, the better the food. But she didn’t even have to worry; she was a longtime favorite of the restaurant owner.

  The automatic doorbell rang as Lin walked inside. “Hey Mrs. Zhong.”

  “Huang Lin! Ni hao! Ni chi le ma?”

  “I’m doing good, and I’m actually here for Katie’s food.”

  “Aiya, stupid Katie. She know we busy at this time. It will take while.”

  Lin noticed the pile of orders taped along the wall–Mrs. Zhong really wasn’t kidding about the business. It would take about half-an-hour, by Lin’s best estimate. “Katie really should’ve ordered ahead,” Lin grumbled.

  She sat at one of the tables, where she also found a little boy doing math homework. “Yep, this place never changes,” Lin thought to herself. She got out her phone and scrolled around.

  “Here are top three ways to start your medical career.”

  “Why it’s not safe to drink tap water.”

  “Get free wifi anywhere you go!”

  Then she got an email:

  Subject: Notice: Overdue Tuition Payment

  Dear Lin Huang,

  We hope this message finds you well. Our records indicate that your tuition payment for the Spring 2024 semester is now past due.

  Outstanding Balance: $10,000

  Due Date: January 14, 2024

  Failure to resolve this balance may result in a hold on your student account, preventing access to course registration, transcripts, and other university services. Continued non-payment may lead to additional late fees or referral to a collections agency.

  Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.

  That was when Lin put down her phone. “Fuck…” she grumbled. “I owe ten-thousand dollars to classes that I’m failing.” She opened her wallet. All she had was a ten, her driver’s license, and her depressed student ID.

  She shoved her wallet back in her pocket. Lin didn’t want to keep thinking about it. She turned her headphones up a little louder. Paying attention to lyrics was better than paying attention to payments.

  I’m all out of hope

  One more bad break could bring a fall

  When I’m far from home

  Don’t call me on the phone to tell me you’re alone

  “Eyes Without a Face” was Lin’s go-to, though she couldn’t say if she listened to any other Billy Idol song. Still, it was good enough for sitting back, closing eyes, and imagining a life without so many problems.

  Now I close my eyes

  And I wonder why I don’t despise

  Now all I can do

  Is love what was once so alive and new

  Then a hand tapped her on the shoulder, and Lin jolted awake. “Huh? What?” She looked to find a tall man in a black hoodie: Vincent. “Mei nu. Fuwuyuan zai jiao ni.”

  “Huh?”

  “You don’t know Chinese.”

  “N-No, sorry. I wasn’t very good at studying it as a kid. And I–”

  “They have your order on the counter.”

  Vincent sat himself down. The conversation was already over. A red-faced Lin could only play it off by walking over to grab her order. Even Mrs. Zhong noticed the pure awkwardness. “Huang Lin, who is the handsome man? Do you know him?”

  Lin didn’t even answer as she went for the door.

  “Okay! Goodbye! Have good day!”

  Lin hurried away, and didn’t look back. Tears just kept falling from her eyes, even though she didn’t know why. “Why does everything just fucking come at once! Why can’t I get a break!” she screamed. “And why the fuck was Vincent at the restaurant at the one time I’m not dressed up!”

  Then it started to rain again. The universe’s way to say, “Fuck you too, buddy.” Lin wasn’t even in the mood to stomp the ground. She just leaned forward and tried speed walking her way home.

  Lin turned the corner to find a hooded man behind her. She wasn’t alone. “Is this guy following me?” Rather than turn left–her usual way of getting home–she turned right. Lin hoped he would go straight on.

  He also turned right. Lin had to run.

  The man went into a complete sprint as he followed after her. Lin’s heart beat like crazy as she ran through the rainy night. She even dropped her food; survival came first. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

  She slipped in the rain for just a split second. Long enough for the man to grab her arm and throw her to the wall. “Let me have the power! Please!” the man begged. “Do this, and I will give you anything you’ve ever wished for!”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “What the hell? Get away from me!” Lin screamed. She kicked him back, but he shrugged it off.

  “I know what power the talisman has! You are the sole conduit for the perfection of yin. So allow me to become the perfection of yang!” the man begged. “All I need is one kiss. Please!”

  “I’m not fucking kissing you!” Lin said. She tried another kick, but he grabbed her leg and tackled her to the ground. His breath smelled like cat piss mixed with alleyway booze. Whatever this guy smoked, it made him less like a human and more like a zombie. “No way in hell!”

  Lin grabbed her pepper spray and spewed it into his face. She sprayed the whole can, while the man shut his eyes and repeatedly coughed. To her horror, his grip didn’t change.

  She watched his eyes open bloodshot red. He must’ve been on some chemical-grade shit to shake it off. “Just let it happen.” He jabbed his lips over, but she kept pushing his head away. “Get off of me! Please!”

  Then someone kicked him off. Lin was still on the ground as she watched a stranger in a black hoodie square off against the maniac. “Who the hell are you! Why are you stopping me from ultimate power!” The stranger said nothing. The only communication would be a fight.

  “I’ll kill you first!”

  The maniac charged with a complete haymaker. The stranger dodged, and returned a hook to the ribs. To no one’s surprise, the junkie looked unphased. Maybe he’d feel it after the high. “Fuck you!”

  The stranger blocked an overhand and returned an uppercut to the chest. Then he pushed a haphazard kick and returned an elbow to the chin. Finally, when the maniac threw the ugliest punch, the stranger grabbed the arm and threw him over the shoulder.

  Result: the maniac was finally knocked out on the ground, the stranger was unscathed, and Lin was safe.

  “The restaurant owner told me to follow you,” the stranger said. “I guess she was right.” He pulled down his hoodie and revealed his classic eye-bagged face. “American cities are pretty dangerous.”

  “V-Vincent?”

  “Yeah. How do you know my name?”

  That question shot an arrow into Lin’s chest. She had spent every single class trying to get an eye from him, only to find that he didn’t recognize her in the slightest. “My name’s Lin. We–uhh–share a class together. Asian history, right?”

  “Hm. Okay. Can’t say I paid attention in class, since I already studied that stuff as a kid, so I’m sorry I didn’t notice you,” Vincent said. “Now then. Do you need me to call the police, or do you just want me to walk you home?”

  “No need to call the cops. I’ll just head on–”

  She tripped and fell into his arms. Call it LooneyToons, by how stupid it all worked. Lin closed her eyes as she felt the fabric of his wet hoodie. Even though her senses stopped, the rain just kept on falling. “Excuse me, are you alright?”

  Lin couldn’t really answer. Her talisman began to lightly glow. All reasoning just went out the window as her talisman seemed to take over. When her eyes turned into a gentle jade, her mind had lost control. “You really wouldn’t believe me, but I really have to kiss you.”

  “What?”

  Lin couldn’t back down. Maybe she accidentally inhaled a fume from the maniac’s breath, because she was going all out. “We have to kiss. I don’t care how much it costs, but we really have to kiss.”

  Vincent scoffed, “You don’t need to waste your money. Do you have a disease? Because I can’t see why you’d be so desperate, unless you have some incurable case of something.”

  “No. I just really like you,” Lin said. Her body was no longer hers, but the talisman’s. Without a further word, she pushed her body into his, and shoved her lips into his. The talisman glowed brighter for every kiss that she gave him. Vincent didn’t push, nor did he resist. It was the surprise that petrified him.

  The rain suddenly stopped. Lin’s jade eyes slowly returned to their natural color, just as she started touching his body. There was a hard object, and it wasn’t because Vincent was excited to see her.

  “Is that a gun?”

  Lin’s necklace started vibrating like some kind of machine. She reached into her sweatshirt to find that the yin-yang talisman was glowing. “Oh. Um. Is this some kind of bluetooth thing?”

  Vincent was equally confused as he looked around. “You did something. I don’t know what you did, but you did something.” He looked at the maniac on the ground. His body was shaking. He started to mutter something, as he started levitating from the concrete floor.

  ?im-jang tsyi dzyi ji ts??.

  ?i-kj?i tsyi ma, tsjang kjia mj?i-kjai ?? l?i.

  thun bju hwet tsyia, tang t?ju t??n-h?a.

  Sharp appendages went out from split his back, making him look less like a man and more like a spider. One of them shot right out and scratched Lin on the right cheek.

  “Ow!” both Vincent and Lin yelled. The same scratch appeared on both of their faces. Even though the monster didn’t even touch Vincent, it still appeared just as it did on Lin’s face. Same scratch. Same angle. Same pain.

  “You did something, and you’re going to tell me,” Vincent said. “But let’s leave that to a later conversation.” He threw off his hoodie to reveal a tight shirt, and a pistol holstered around his chest. “So you really do have a gun?” Lin said.

  Vincent didn’t answer as he drew his pistol and blasted at the creature’s legs. The gunshots were close enough to temporarily turn Lin deaf, but the bullets didn’t make much of an effect on the monster–other than a few holes. But it at least slowed him down.

  “Let’s go!” Vincent yelled. He grabbed Lin by the hand and ran to the nearest car.

  “The door’s locked!”

  “Move!” Vincent said. He shot out both windows, set off the car alarm, then punched out the window to unlock the car. “Get in!”

  They jumped inside, and Vincent quickly hotwired the car to turn it on. “Thank god for old cars.” An appendage stabbed into the back of the car, which caused Lin to scream in panic. “Fuck! Fuck! It’s right there!”

  Vincent floored it. The car sped forward as the demon dragged from behind. His body scraped against the road like a sag of meat, but he remained undeterred. His bloody arms started climbing up the appendage like a gory rope. It made Lin vomit.

  “Did you just throw up?”

  “Yeah, I threw up! I don’t know what the hell is going on!”

  “Well make sure you don’t vomit on the windows. I need to see–”

  A man jumped right on the car with eyes that screamed crazy. “Lin! I want you! Please let me stay with you! I love you!” Vincent had to steer left to throw him off. His body plopped off without another motion. One less admirer to deal with.

  “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

  “So do you!” Lin yelled. “How are you so calm?”

  “Would you want me to panic instead?”

  An appendage stabbed through the rear window. “Take the wheel!” Vincent yelled. Lin held the steering wheel, while Vincent fired his pistol at the disgusting limb. After five shots, the appendage was finally cut. The demon quickly latched a tentacle to the back of the car–he wasn’t shaken off just yet.

  “I got the wheel.” Vincent returned to steering as he swerved around the traffic. “We’re gonna stay out of downtown. Do me a favor and map out the nearest gas station.”

  “Gas station? Shouldn’t I call the police?” she asked.

  “No. Not with my record.”

  “Your what!”

  He drifted the car to the left, and Lin stopped asking questions. She quickly typed it into her phone and said, “Straight for half a mile, then turn right!” Vincent nodded, and kept driving.

  They sped through the city, while dodging as much traffic as they could. Cars would scrape by, while the monster’s body flung into random buildings. “Hold onto the door.” Vincent finally did the fateful right turn, and spun the car into an uncontrollable drift.

  The monster was flung into one of the gas pumps, and the car’s rear charged right into him. The beast struggled and screamed while its tentacles flailed around for a body to eat. “Get out!” Vincent yelled.

  The two of them ran out of the car, just as the gas station workers ran out of the gas station. They saw the flinging beast and ran off. “What the hell is that! I’m not paid enough for this magic shit!”

  Vincent pushed Lin away and yelled, “Keep moving! Go!” She didn’t question it, as she ran as fast as she could. Meanwhile, Vincent grabbed one of the pumps–dodged the appendages flying around him–and sprayed the fluid all over the beast. He ran a dozen feet away, even when one of the limbs scratched him in the leg. When he was far enough away, he pulled out his pistol.

  “Qu si le.” He fired his pistol, and started the fire.

  The beast cried a symphony-worth of pain, while the gasoline fire spread throughout the pumps. It mustered all of its strength to push the car away. It stood covered in flames, and ready to chase after the two. But that wouldn’t happen.

  The gas station exploded. Flames flew around, though everyone was ways away from the overt danger. Even Lin was blocks away with a pumping heart, and a fleeting adrenaline. “Oh my god. Is this real?”

  A hand tapped her shoulder, and she jumped back. “Fuck!” It was just Vincent. He had that faint smell of gasoline mixed with iron, yet he still wore that straight face. “I’m tired. Let’s get out of here,” he muttered. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”