I'm A Prayer For Your Loneliness
Chapter 1; And Death Climbs Up The Steps One By One

Kuai Liang groaned, pushing himself off the floor. His arms gave out under him and he fell face down into a puddle. Spitting out a mouthful of disgusting dirty water, he chose instead to shove himself hard enough to flip over onto his back. He gave a pained moan, and stared up at the night sky and edges of the rooftops, trying to remember what happened.

He had an exam coming up in about a week, and had decided a late night study session at the college library would be a good idea. It was about 1am when he finally left, or rather, the tired librarian who just wanted to go home for the night kicked him out. Given how late it was, he wanted to get home as quickly as possible, so had taken a shortcut down the alley he was currently lying in. And then?

Then someone grabbed him from behind. He must have hit his head or something, because he didn’t really remember much after that. Someone attacked him, then he woke up in pain on the floor.

I was mugged.

He slipped his hand down his jacket, reaching into his pocket in the hopes of checking for his wallet and keys, the only things he’d had with him other than a notebook in his bag. To his surprise, both items were still in place. He pulled out his wallet, even more shocked to find the $10 cash and his debit card were still inside. Oh great, I got mugged by the world’s worst mugger.

Curiously, he grabbed his book bag, pulling it up to him and flicking it open. His notebook was thankfully still in place, and weirdly he was more relieved at that than he was about his money. His money and bank card could be replaced, those notes had taken him all fucking night, and he was not about to redo them.

He pushed himself to at the very least sit up. His body protested the action at every turn, but Kuai finally managed to get himself up straight. What now? He hadn’t brought his phone with him, so he couldn’t call anyone, not that he knew who to call. Not the police, they were infamously awful in this part of town. Certainly not Bi-Han, big brother would absolutely lose his mind and never let Kuai Liang leave his sight again.

His only real option was to limp home, clean himself up and hope the damage wasn’t too bad.

He supposed the good thing about getting jumped in this particular alley was he wasn’t too far from the apartment. He struggled to stand, but after crawling towards a large dumpster and using it to haul himself off the floor with a lot of effort, he managed to get onto his feet. He was unsteady, but remained upright. He chanced a step, still holding onto the bin, and when that went okay, he tried a second, and another. Eventually he was limping down the alley, clinging to the walls for stability, and making it back onto the sidewalk.

He went as quickly as he could manage, which wasn’t very fast. Every so often he would need to stop and lean against a wall or fence when the pain got too bad or he felt out of breath. Managing to finally get to the apartment building’s front door and slipping inside, he was confronted with the knowledge he had a couple of flights of stairs to get up now. The thought made him want to cry, but he had no other choice. He struggled, holding onto the railings like his life depended on them, but eventually he got to the 2nd floor. As he finally reached his apartment, a wave of relief washed over him.

The second he shut the door behind him, he threw his bag to the floor, followed by his jacket. He didn’t bother turning the light on, and stumbled through the dark towards the bathroom. He wasn’t exactly quiet, but that didn’t matter too much. Bi-Han would still be at work, so he had no fear of his brother finding him like this.

When he entered the bathroom, he finally turned the light on, shutting the door behind himself. He began slipping his clothes off, and went over to their full size mirror in the corner to assess the damage.

He looked a mess, but thankfully it was mostly bruising across his torso and a few scrapes. All easy enough to hide from Bi-Han. The only real problem was a few bruises on his neck and a nasty gash on the side of his forehead. He gingerly reached the gash, it looked like it had bled quite a bit, but hopefully once he’d gotten rid of the blood, it wouldn’t look that bad. He could always bullshit that he accidentally walked into a door or something. Bi-Han would probably believe that. Maybe?

As for the neck bruises? Well, he could possibly wear a scarf or turtle neck for a couple of days. The more he looked at it however, the more he realised one side of the bruising was darker than the others, and it looked like there was blood. He stepped a little closer to the mirror and moved himself to one side to get a clearer view. He gasped when he realised what he was looking at.

A bite mark.

A fucking bite mark!

Someone had just fucking assaulted him, and then bitten him!

“Oh god! Gross!” He loudly complained, grimacing both at the sight and the thought at a stranger deciding to have a nibble on his neck. Looking even closer, he realised it seemed to get worse the more he looked at it. The teeth had clearly dug in deep, the wound raw and still bleeding slightly. “Shit, am I going to have to go to the doctors about this?”

He really didn’t want to. He was on Bi-Han’s insurance and he would flip his shit when he got his bill for the month. At the same time, this could be really bad right? With how deep the wound was, it could potentially get infected if he wasn’t careful. Not to mention he was fairly sure there were more than a few diseases that could be transferred via saliva.

“Okay, okay. Calm down.” He rubbed his forehead. “I’ll take a shower, get cleaned up, and sleep on it. If I feel bad tomorrow, I’ll go to the doctors. Otherwise I’ll just keep it clean and hope it clears up on its own.”

That seemed like the best plan. He was sure it was probably just some weirdo, and he didn’t have to worry too much. When he managed to get to the shower, he didn’t really do much more than clean himself up, and let the warm water soothe his aching body. It felt good, but he didn’t want to stay standing up longer than he had to at this point. Soon he was out, drying himself off and making his way to his bedroom. He didn’t even bother turning the light on again, just threw on some sweatpants and a tank top, and let himself flop down onto his bed.

His sleep was anything but restful, nightmares of the attack plaguing his mind.

Things had mostly been fine after he got up in the morning.

He managed to hide the majority of his injuries from Bi-Han, the only one he couldn’t was the gash on his forehead. Surprisingly Bi-Han had accepted his excuse of walking into a door fairly easily, even calling him an idiot for it. Aside from that, he hadn’t really had any issues, except a few aches and pains.

Well. There were two other things, but he was certain they were unrelated.

For some reason, he’d felt extremely itchy all day. Initially he thought it was just his injuries healing, but when he examined the area, there were red rashes over his skin. Even stranger the itching seemed to go away when he kept out of the sun. So… Some sort of weird skin rash? An atypical presentation of Sunburn? He wasn’t sure but he tried to stay in the shade as much as possible after putting the connection together.

The other issue was he was hungry. Which didn’t sound too unusual, but it was impossibly so. He had eaten, and eaten, and eaten, but nothing seemed to fill him up. He’d eaten so much he almost threw up, and even then, he still wanted to eat more. It was really strange. He wasn’t experiencing lightheadedness or any other symptoms, so clearly he wasn’t actually as hungry as he felt.

He’d mostly managed to put it to the back of his mind for the majority of the day. He’d been to college, attended his lectures and even ran a few errands that Bi-Han had texted him about. He felt fine, considering how brutal the night before was.

Now, he was sitting at the breakfast bar in their kitchen, partially watching Bi-Han cook dinner for the both of them on the other side. He had some homework to do, but it wasn’t anything too hard. He could probably get it done before Bi-Han was finished with cooking.

“So, how was college?” Bi-Han absentmindedly asked while cutting up a carrot.

“It was alright,” Kuai replied with a shrug, not really sure what to talk about. “I have an exam coming up next week, so it’s just a lot of cramming at the moment.”

Bi-Han hummed, and then seconds later sucked his breath between his teeth like he was hurt. When Kuai looked up, he could see him holding his hand and grimacing.

“Are you okay?” Kuai put his homework down and clambered over the bar toward his brother.

“Yeah, I just nicked my finger with the knife.” That sounded about right. Bi-Han might have been older, but he was a bit of a disaster when he was in the kitchen.

Bi-Han held up his finger, and there was a small trickle of blood seeping out of the cut. A minor injury at worst. Yet Kuai couldn’t stop staring at it. Something about the crimson red hypnotised him, his breath hitching and mouth watering and all that was going through his mind was how hungry he was.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Bi-Han asked, but Kuai didn’t really comprehend it. Bi-Han reached a hand forward to try and place it on Kuai’s shoulder.

Kuai grabbed Bi-Han’s wrist before he could touch him, and he lurched forward. His mind was blank aside from some fucked up chant of hungry. Aiming for Bi-Han’s jugular, his jaw unhinged as he attempted to sink his teeth into his brother's neck.

Bi-Han’s movements were swift, grabbing the back of Kuai’s neck and wrestling him away. Nothing would stop Kuai however, he was ravenous, and Bi-Han’s blood looked so tasty. He attempted to attack again, only for Bi-han to side step, sweeping his leg and kicking at the back of Kuai’s knees as he did. Kuai fell backwards, groaning as his head collided with the wooden floor. Suddenly, there was a pressure on his chest, and he began to claw at his brother, who was using his entire weight to keep Kuai pinned to the floor.

A hand grabbed his wrist, and seconds later there was a sharp pain in his palm.

His head snapped over, finding the same knife Bi-Han had been using minutes ago, stabbed straight through his hand and into the floor below, keeping it trapped.

Kuai hiccuped. Bi-Han stabbed me!

It was like all control suddenly returned to him after being controlled by an outside force. He looked towards his brother, still sitting over Kuai’s chest and panting to catch his breath. Bi-Han had stabbed him, but only because Kuai had attacked him first. But why? Why did I attack Bi-Han? All he remembered was seeing the blood and that hunger he’d felt all day took over.

He sobbed, “what’s happening to me?”

Bi-Han stared at him, before reaching for the neckline of Kuai’s sweater. He pulled it down, revealing the bite mark from the day before. Hissing loudly, Bi-Han’s heavy breathing only worsened, baring his teeth in anger.

“When did this happen?” He demanded, and Kuai whimpered at the harsh tone. “Kuai Liang, when did this happen?”

“Last night,” he admitted quietly, wanting nothing more than to curl up into a ball. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

Bi-Han made a frustrated sound, screwing his face up. He took hold of the knife, before roughly yanking it out of Kuai’s hand, causing him to howl at the action. Before he could ask what was going on, he felt Bi-Han grab his shirt and pull him to his feet. He quickly realised he was being dragged across the room, towards the door.

“Wh-Where are we going?” Kuai held his bleeding hand to his chest. Most likely the hospital right? Clearly something was wrong with Kuai, and maybe a doctor could help.

“We’re going to cash in a favour,” Bi-Han mumbled miserably, before opening the door and pushing Kuai out of the apartment.

There was no other explanation, just Bi-Han silently and firmly guiding Kuai down to his car.

The silence was suffocating.

Bi-Han had not spoken a word since they’d left the apartment, and Kuai had lost track of how long they’d been in the car. Kuai’s mind was reeling. He couldn’t comprehend what had happened to lead them to this point. Attacking his own brother? Why had he even done that? He looked down at his bleeding hand. He was lucky Bi-Han had only done that, rather than outright slit his throat.

“Bi-han,” he whispered, screwing his eyes shut and not wanting to see his brother’s face right now. He couldn’t handle the disappointment Bi-Han no doubt felt. “I’m sorry.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Bi-han muttered, sounding like he was trying his best to be reassuring but falling just a bit flat. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Kuai was silent, but eventually replied “I didn’t think it was that bad.”

“Have you noticed anything else since it happened?” Bi-Han sounded like he knew something Kuai didn’t. Opening his eyes again, he could see his brother had a focused look on his face, his hands gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly.

“I- I don’t know?” Kuai thought back to the rash and hunger. Could they be related? “I’ve had a rash since it happened. And I feel so hungry, but nothing I eat seems to help.”

“Does the rash come when you’ve been in direct sunlight?” Bi-Han asked, and it cemented in Kuai’s mind that he knew what was happening.

“Yes.” He tried to gauge his brother’s reaction, but there was none. “What-“

“We’re here.” Bi-Han slammed his foot on the brake and Kuai was thankful he’d put his seatbelt on as it stopped him from being thrown forward and into the dashboard.

Before Kuai could question anything, Bi-Han was throwing open the door and getting out of the car. Kuai scrambled to the door handle, pushing it open and following suit. When he looked around, he found they were in front of a very ornate looking mansion in the middle of the forest. Kuai had seen it from a distance before when he explored as a teenager, but he’d never been close enough to realise just how big it was.

He felt Bi-Han grab his arm, pulling him along to the front door. Slamming down the large knocker, Kuai flinched at the bangs. Seconds later, the door opened, and a man peered out at them, narrowing his eyes at Bi-Han.

“I need to talk to Lord Hasashi,” Bi-Han announced, actually pushing his way past the man.

Kuai was dragged into the house, even as the man tried to object to the intrusion. Bi-Han didn’t care however, and strangely seemed to know where he was going. Eventually they walked into a room, where a tall man wearing a yellow waistcoat was standing and talking to another man.

The man in the waist coat looked displeased by the interruption as he questioned “what do you want Bi-Han?”

“I need your help,” Bi-Han replied, stopping a short gap from the man. Kuai could feel the grip on his arm tighten.

“I don’t see why I should, if you’re going to be rude about it,” the man dismissed, waving a hand as he did. “You know I don’t appreciate surprise visits. Especially surprise visits where you barge in like you own the place.”

“You owe me, remember?” Bi-Han’s fingers dug into Kuai’s arm painfully, pushing down exactly on one of the bruises. “I turn a blind eye to your little operation here, and you assist me as I request.”

The man regarded this for a couple of seconds, before rolling his eyes. “Fine. What do you require help with?”

“This is my brother, Kuai Liang.” Bi-Han pushed Kuai forward ever so slightly. “This is Lord Hanzo Hasashi,” Bi-Han told Kuai, finally letting go of him. “Show him your neck.”

Kuai didn’t understand what was happening, and Hanzo’s gaze was suffocating. Still, with his non-injured hand, he reached for the neckline of his sweater and pulled it down slightly. Somehow, Hanzo’s face immediately softened.

“Sit down,” he gently instructed, gesturing to a couch behind him. Kuai went and perched on the edge, as Hanzo sat beside him, hands immediately going to Kuai’s neck to examine the bite. “When and how did this happen?”

Kuai’s eyes flicked to Bi-Han, who nodded to encourage him to speak.

“Last night.” Kuai winced as a finger pressed down against the wound. “I don’t… really remember how. Someone attacked me from behind, and I think I passed out.”

Hanzo’s eyes flicked over to Bi-Han, “has he fed?”

“He tried to, but was not successful.” Bi-Han rubbed the front of his neck, where Kuai had attempted to bite into him.

“Go get a blood pack,” Hanzo ordered to the man he’d previously been talking to, who bowed at the request and walked away. Hanzo returned his attention towards Kuai again, eyes looking down at his bloody hand. “Did that happen last night too?”

“No. Before we came.” Kuai lowered his head in shame, he still couldn’t believe what had happened. “I tried to hurt Bi-Han, and he stabbed me.”

“What happened before you attacked him?” Hanzo asked, now reaching to bring Kuai’s hand to have a closer look. “Was he bleeding, by any chance?”

“He cut his finger.” Pain blossomed through his hand as Hanzo’s fingers explored the wound. Kuai jumped and pulled his hand away. “I- I don’t know what happened, all I could think when I saw the blood was how hungry I was.”

Hanzo looked at him sympathetically, but before he could say anything the other man had returned, a blood pack in his hand. Kuai wasn’t sure what they were going to do with it. Hanzo took it off him, cracking it open before holding it out to Kuai Liang. His mouth salivated at the thought of it, but he didn’t go to take it.

Hanzo sighed, shuffling forward slightly. He placed the opening of the pack into Kuai’s open mouth, before squeezing it. Blood surged into Kuai’s mouth, causing him to gasp. While some part of his mind screamed that this was wrong, he could not deny how good the blood tasted as it coated his tongue. He began to suck at the pack, eager to get more of that sweet liquid into his mouth. The more he swallowed, the more he realised that hunger he’d felt all day was beginning to fade.

Eventually, there was no blood left, Kuai having drank every drop he was offered. As the pack was pulled out of his mouth, the horror at what he’d done hit him. He threw his hands over his mouth, nausea bubbling in his stomach.

“W-What is wrong with me?” He cried, looking between Bi-Han and Hanzo, desperate for some sort of answer to why this was happening to him. “Am I diseased? Am I going to die?”

Hanzo made a pained sound, reaching to grab Kuai’s hands.

“Oh, Kuai Liang. I’m so sorry, but… You are already dead.”

A cold washed over Kuai. “What do you mean?”

“The person who attacked you was a vampire,” Hanzo explained and Kuai almost did a double take. He was far too old to believe things like vampires existed. And yet, somehow, that would explain so much of what was happening to him. “And during their attack, they killed and turned you.”

“You mean I’m a-“ Kuai trailed off, remembering Bi-Han’s reaction to everything. He turned to look at his brother. “D-Did you know?”

“Father tried to keep this life away from you.” Bi-Han cleared his throat, looking down at the floor to avoid eye contact. “We come from a long line of vampire hunters, but neither Father or I wanted that life for you.” Bi-Han gestured to Hanzo. “Lord Hasashi is a vampire lord, but as he tries to be ethical about his feeding, using blood donors rather than hunting, we allowed him and his brood to stay in the area.”

Kuai’s head was spinning, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“What was it you wanted from me, Bi-Han?” Hanzo suddenly asked, squeezing Kuai’s hands slightly. “Because I doubt you came all this way just to feed him.”

“I need you to keep him safe.” Bi-Han stepped forward, taking Kuai’s face in his hands. “I know how dangerous this world is for vampires. I don’t want him to live in fear.” He pushed their foreheads together. “He did not deserve this.”

“We rarely do,” Hanzo agreed, thumb stroking along Kuai’s knuckles. Kuai felt his heart race at such an intimate gesture from a stranger.

“And… I need to find out who did this.” Bi-Han pulled away, but did not let go of Kuai’s face. “I need your help to find the son of a bitch who sired him.”

“The thought occurs that this could have been a targeted attack.” Hanzo placed a hand on his chin, looking deep in thought. “You have likely made enough enemies in your time as a hunter. Ones who would not hesitate to use your brother as leverage against you.”

“That does not narrow it down by much,” Bi-Han mumbled, letting go of Kuai and walking away. “But until I can figure it out, I need you to keep an eye on him.”

“Wait,” Kuai finally chimed in. He still couldn’t believe what was going on, and maybe he was focusing on the wrong things but he couldn’t help but see a problem. “What about college? If I suddenly stop going, it’s going to seem suspicious. And I have exams coming up!”

The last part likely seemed petty to both of the other men in the room, but it was important to Kuai. He’d been studying so hard, he didn’t want that work to go to waste.

“We’ll help you call in for an extension based on ill health,” Hanzo assured him. “Just until we find your sire. But even when you return, you will have to take night classes.”

“That rash you mentioned,” Bi-Han took over, turning back to Kuai Liang. “That is how the sun sensitivity starts. Eventually it’ll get to a point where being in the sun will outright burn your skin. It won’t kill you, but it will be extremely painful.”

“I will also need to teach you how to curb your hunger.” Hanzo pushed himself to stand and went to join Bi-Han’s side. “Otherwise whenever you see even so much as the smallest amount of blood, you will go into attack mode.”

Kuai grimaced at that. He was very lucky he hadn’t hurt Bi-Han earlier, he hated the idea that he could hurt anyone else, even accidentally. He looked between the two men, feeling guilty and pathetic regarding his situation.

“I’m never going to live a normal life again, am I?”

The question lingered in the air, causing Kuai to bow his head in shame. He should have never gone to the library. He definitely should not have gone down the alley. He’d ruined his own life in seconds with a few stupid decisions.

“Kuai Liang, listen to me,” Bi-Han’s voice called to him. A pair of hands brought his face up again. “This was not your fault. I should have known that eventually you’d have been in danger. Father should have taught you how to defend yourself. I should have taught you to defend yourself.” Bi-Han’s face screwed up like he was in pain. “We failed you.”

“Don’t say that,” Kuai whispered, hating how devastated his voice sounded. “You didn’t…”

“I will find who did this to you,” Bi-Han firmly declared. “I will find them, and I will make them pay. They will never harm you again. No one will.”

“Bi-Han…” His brother pulled away once again.

“You should look into your recent jobs,” Hanzo told Bi-Han, patting his shoulder a couple of times. “It might help us thin out the suspect list.” He then turned to Kuai and held out a hand. “Let’s fix up your hand, and then I can make up a room for you, Kuai Liang.”

Kuai nodded, taking Hanzo’s hand and allowing himself to be pulled until he was standing.

He made eye contact with Bi-Han one last time as his brother said, “I will be back soon.”

“Bye big brother.” Kuai waved him goodbye, before turning to follow Hanzo further into the house.

“Well, this is a frustrating turn of events.”

Shang Tsung watched in the vision as Lord Hasashi sat Kuai Liang down on a bed, cleaning and tending to the wound in his hand. He was being so gentle with the younger vampire. Shang Tsung scowled like there was poison in his mouth. That should have been him tending to Kuai Liang, not Hasashi. He didn’t like to think he was a jealous person, but something about this situation was proving him wrong.

“I suppose we know how Hasashi has avoided being hunted for so long now,” Quan Chi chimed up, waving his hand and making the vision disappear. “And I did say we should have accounted for Bi-Han potentially having allies.”

Shang Tsung shot him a glare. Given how ruthless Bi-Han was, how much of a lone wolf he was even amongst other hunters, he had no reason to think he’d have anyone to turn to. He’d hoped that desperation would have led Bi-Han to seek out assistance, at which point the deadly alliance would have swooped in to assist. To help poor confused Kuai Liang acclimate to being a vampire.

If he’d known this would be the result, he’d have never left the brat in the alley.

He needed a new plan, one that would swing things back around to their favour. The search for Kuai Liang’s sire would no doubt eventually lead back to them. He needed to find a way to intercept before the connection could be made. Misdirect the investigation in a way that would bring both brothers to heel. Preferably one that would eliminate the threat Hanzo Hasashi presented also.

An idea came to his mind.

He chuckled to himself, the plan forming might be difficult to pull off, but if they were successful? Then he’d have both brothers exactly where he wanted them.

“What’s so funny?” Quan Chi questioned, raising an eyebrow as Shang Tsung’s laughter got louder.

“Oh, just a thought that it’d be such a shame if after putting so much trust in Hanzo, that it turned out that he was Kuai Liang’s sire.” He intently watched Quan Chi’s face, hoping he’d understand his meaning. Thankfully, it did not take long for the other vampire to begin smirking back.

“Ah. Well. If that were the case…” Quan Chi waved his hand again, conjuring a new vision. One that showed Kuai Liang being attacked in the alley by none other than Lord Hasashi himself. “It would surely be our duty as concerned bystanders to inform Bi-Han of such a betrayal?”

Shang Tsung lent forward, watching as the vision of Hasashi sunk his teeth into Kuai Liang’s neck. He licked his fangs, memories of blood rushing into his mouth surfacing, how cold Kuai’s skin got as the life was drained from his body. In the vision, Kuai’s eyes rolled back, body going limp before Hasashi threw him to the floor.

Even knowing it was nothing but a lie, it was a very convincing deception indeed.

“And with a vision such as this, who is he to deny it as truth?”

Both men burst into triumphant laughter. Actually, this worked out better than it would have otherwise. They’d get both Kuai Liang and Bi-Han’s trust, just as initially intended, while taking out the region's most powerful vampire lord in the process.

Shang Tsung loved when a plan came together.

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