Hybrid Theory Ch. 02

"Well, now I know what this area is like, even though I have no idea how far it is from any place of relevance or importance; like the fucking front office!"

Gabe then squatted down on the section of fence he was standing on, resting his elbows on his knees, with his arms outstretched. Even though it was just a flimsy wire fence, it neither bent nor buckled under his weight. Next thing, he buried his face in his palms, before tightly gripping his scalp with his fingers.

'Arrrgh, shit! This is the worst possible start to my champagne lifestyle! I was supposed to get here, become popular, and then roll around campus, going from party to party with bitches on each arm, sipping on expensive alcohol like champagne, and living the good life!' (This was Gabe's definition of the champagne lifestyle; drinking champagne.)

As Gabe continued conversing with himself, all of a sudden he saw a group of four people walking towards the park. Three of them were males of above average height, standing at around 6'1 each. The person in the middle of the group was too short and hidden for Gabe to be able to tell their gender, but the person was short, about 5'5, with medium length black hair that was covering most of his or her face. The park was quite large, so they were entering it from an entrance which was rather far from where Gabe was, so they didn't notice him. They were walking in a peculiar formation, in which the short person was sandwiched between two of the three taller guys, with each of them having slung and arm over the shorter person's shoulders. The third of the tall guys was walking in front of them, looking about as he led them towards the entrance of the park.

"Wow, there are actually people moving around here... Oh wait!"

In his surprise at people actually being around there, he completely forgot that he could go and ask these people for directions to the office. Gabe was just about to jump off the fence when he saw the guy who seemed to be leading the little group suddenly turn around, and punch the short person right in the gut, causing them to fall to their knees, double over and clutch their stomach. The other two then started raining in kicks, to the person's head, ribs, chest, anything that was exposed and could be kicked, was. Eventually, the person was down on their side, and the two guys focused their kicks to the kidneys, stomach and face of the short person. They carried on with their assault, until the leader gave a hand signal to get them to stop. He then gave another signal, and each of the goons stuck a hand in an underarm and hoisted the short person up, holding them up as his/her feet dangled off the floor. Their face appeared to be bleeding, and blood was leaking and dripping from gashes on their forehead and out of their nose. The leader then slowly started pacing back and forth in front of the short person, before slapping then hard on the cheek, and action which caused blood to go flying out from the short person's mouth. After a few seconds, the leader slapped the short person's other cheek, and alternated between cheeks for a bit before finally stopping with the slapping. He then leaned his face in close and started talking.

"Now, there is something you need to understand here Trash; YOU are NOT tallowed to even BREATHE the same air as Andrade's chosen! Even if you weren't the low class Trash that you are, you still wouldn't be able to, because once a King has chosen who he wishes to be his, and the chosen accepts the only way to split them up is to challenge the King for him or her. You are not only one of the unrecognized Trash in the eyes of the Methuselah, YOU challenging Vampire King of this college is inconceivable, because you're weak and pathetic."

The leader's eyes suddenly opened wider as he saw something he didn't like. He then spat in the short person's face, with a look of disgust on his face.

"You know, I should destroy your eyes just for looking at me like that, you—"

Next thing, the leader just flipped. He grabbed the short person's neck and flung them over and smashed them into the ground. He then grabbed him/her by their head and jumped up in the air before throwing them straight into a concrete bench, with the short person's head on the edge of the bench. He then landed with his foot on the person's head, and it went through the bench, with the head underfoot and smashed it into the paving the bench was situated on. He then started stomping on their head repeatedly.

"YOU LOW CLASS, IMITATION PIECE OF TRASH! HOW DARE YOU?! HOW DARE YOU SOIL MY SHOES WITH YOUR BLOOD, YOU MOTHERFUCKING CUNT! BITCH! TRASH! IMPOSTER!"

With each insult, he stomped on the short person's head until they appeared to lose consciousness, as their body went limp. The leader; panting and still enraged, pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood off his hands and threw it on the short person. He then scoffed and sorted out his hair, before smoothing his clothes and giving the signal and walking off, with the two goons in tow. Gabe just squatted on the fence completely in shock at what he had just witnessed, considering how random it seemed. After what seemed to be an age, Gabe saw how the body still wasn't moving.

He looked around to see if anyone was coming to try and help this person, but no one was around, so Gabe jumped off of the fence, and glided through the air before landing right next to the body and squatting like he did on the fence. He looked carefully, and saw that the body appeared to be that of a man, but there was hair covering his face. Gabe brushed the hair away, to find that the dude was actually attractive. He appeared to be of oriental descent, and had slightly feminine features, but all in all, an attractive man. Gabe then felt a chill go down his spine as he was admitting to himself that he found another man attractive, and that freaked him the fuck out. Gabe noticed that the guy was breathing, so at least he wasn't dead. Then he started poking the guy's arm.

"Ooooooi! Are you still alive? Are you going to wake up any time soon?"

When there was no reply, Gabe tried again, poking harder this time.

"Oooooooooooi! The guys who fucked you up are gone! Wake up!"

Still no reply and Gabe was beginning to get impatient.

"Look here mother fucker, if you're waiting on mouth to mouth, then—"

Gabe noticed the guy's face flinch ever so slightly.

'This motherfucker is just playing possum!'

Gabe then suddenly got an idea, and a really sly and disturbing smile brandished his face, as he laughed quietly to himself. He then spoke with a louder voice than before.

"Well, I guess I've got no choice then, CPR and mouth to mouth it is! But wait; what if this beautiful and handsome guy is already too far gone for CPR?! I guess I'll have to skip straight to..." Gabe started leaning in closer"...mouth to mouth"

As Gabe got closer to the guy's face, he noticed how his face was visibly screwing up and sweating. He also noticed that not only was this guy stiff and rigid, but his fists were clenched and actually hovering above the ground as the shook. This made Gabe grin and then he blew on his lips while leaned closer.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!" Gabe said, as his lips were just centimeters from the guy's.

Next thing, the guy's eyes shot open, and he rolled away from Gabe, before shooting up onto all fours, and barking at Gabe.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa; what on EARTH are you doing!!" He said this with a really squeaky, high pitched voice, while pointing at Gabe.

Gabe just smiled slyly, and licked his lips.

"I was trying to resuscitate you! You out cold, and after trying everything I could, all that was left was for me to perform mouth to mouth."

"What do you mean 'after trying everything I could'? All you did was poke me a couple of times, and then you tried to molest me!"

Gabe then gave a positively shocked expression, placing his hand on his chest.

"How could you even say such a thing?!" Gabe said in an incredulous tone of voice "I was doing this to help! I was truly concerned, but I see that means nothing to you!" Gabe then draped his forearm across his forehead and started some fake sobbing.

"Oh please! I can see right through your fake sobs!"

Gabe then peeped at the guy from behind his hand; grinning that sly grin of his, which made the guy flinch from worry.

"Just like I saw through your false unconsciousness."

The guy just stood there, having been caught out. Just then, the guy remembered why he had played possum in the first place; this guy was a vampire. He then grimaced, as it as rather difficult for him to breathe; he suspected that he had a few broken ribs. Gabe then stood up, and walked over to him; and when he got close, he squatted again, as this guy was still on all fours. He brought his hands up, which made the guy kind of cower slightly. Gabe noticed this, but carried on until his hands were on his cheeks.

"W-what are you..."

The warm, tingly sensation which was spreading through cheeks and eventually his entire head was both soothing and nice. He looked down with his eyes, and saw that Gabe's hands were glowing brightly. He felt all the wounds on his face tingling and closing and after a short while, Gabe's hands stopped glowing, and he removed them from the guy's cheeks.

"Okay, I'm going to need you to get up off all fours, and go lie down on that bench your head just went through."

The short guy was hesitant, and didn't move at first, but Gabe gave him a warm and reassuring smile, which made him listen. He was still slightly confused as to how Gabe had healed the wounds on his face, but decided not to question it just yet. He got up and as he did, his head suddenly started spinning and his knees buckled. Gabe caught him, and helped him regain his footing. He looked up appreciatively at him.

"Thank you."

Gabe nodded and led him over to the bench, before laying him down across it. He then noticed and started paying attention to his clothes, and besides them being covered in his own blood, they were of exquisite make. The material was like nothing Gabe had ever felt or seen (which wasn't saying much, as he hadn't felt or seen a large variety of clothes in his lifetime). They also seemed to be of an Eastern, Oriental kind of design, and even though they were plain black, they still looked good. Gabe then started unfastening the buttons when he felt small hands on his wrists. He then looked down and saw the pretty man giving him a look that was practically begging him not to undo the buttons. Gabe didn't understand why he couldn't, but common sense overrode his ignorance, and he chose not to question it. After gently feeling around, Gabe made a mental note of the guy wincing every time he touched his ribs.

"Okay, now I need you to just relax okay? I haven't treated injuries like this before, so I think it's going to take quite a bit of concentration."

Gabe then closed his eyes and took a deep breath before his hands started glowing bright gold again. The short guy was tense at first, but he eventually started relaxing more, as the feeling of Gabe healing him was nice and soothing. He could almost feel his ribs slowly coming together and healing, while the aches and pains around his kidneys and the rest of his torso started to disappear as his the bruises started healing as well. His breathing also started to go back to normal. After about ten minutes, he felt as though he was at about 100%, and he himself opened his eyes to look at Gabe. What he saw, he wasn't expecting; Gabe's face was completely drenched in sweat, and his brow was furrowed in deep concentration. His lips were pursed together, and he was breathing out of his nose. What really got him though, was how he saw what looked to be a golden ring; resembling a halo, floating above Gabe's head. It also seemed to be gelatinous, and the energy that made it was wavy and almost ethereal in appearance. He was only able to see this for about a second though, as Gabe suddenly opened his eyes and exhaled quickly and with force. The halo disappeared, and Gabe started huffing and puffing as though he had just run a marathon. The sweat started dripping off of his face, and fell backwards onto his ass, while supporting himself with his arms.

"Holy shit; fuck I'm tired! I've never had to concentrate so hard and heal injuries of that scale before!"

The short guy then sat up and swung his feet off of the bench, resting them on the ground. He looked over at Gabe in concern, as Gabe's cheeks looked slightly sunken and drained. After a few moments of silence, which were only filled with the sound of Gabe's heavy breathing, he got up and approached Gabe.

"Uhm, excuse me; are you oka—"

"Don't even talk to me you bastard!!" Gabe barked at him, which made him flinch and jump back a bit. Gabe then set up straight, buried his face in him palms and began to sob.

"My first day on campus has been completely RUINED!! I was supposed to be fighting off the thousands of bitches that would be swarming me, while feeling up the two on each arm and sipping on champagne!"

''Ch-chmpagne'? 'Thousands of bitches'? What's wrong with this guy?'

Gabe then suddenly pointed at him, and started barking again.

"But then YOU just HAD to get yourself fucked up, causing me to heal you! First all those people laughed at me, and now I've spent a lot of energy healing a short pretty person, who just happens to be a MAN!!"

Gabe started sobbing again, and the short guy was confused, as he didn't know whether it was possible to console this weirdo.

After fairly short session of Gabe sobbing, he eventually rubbed his eyes with his forearm, and then looked towards the short pretty boy, who was still looking rather confused.

"So what's your name man?"

"My name Mu Yin Li; what about yourself?"

"Name's Gabriel, but you can call me Gabe. It's a pleasure to meet you Mu." Gabe gave a small nod and a slight smile, before sighing and standing up with slight difficulty, prompting Mu to lend him a hand.

"Thanks man; I'm not really used to using energy from that side of my genes, so the fact that I used it twice in one day, and that the second time around, I used so much of it, I'm kind of knackered. Just give me about half and hour, and I'll be fine though."

Mu helped Gabe onto the bench, where they both sat down, and Gabe, having placed his bag on his lap now, leant all the way back onto the seatback of the bench, slouching and hanging both arms over the back of it. He looked over towards Mu, who was sitting very conservatively, with both hands in his lap, and wasn't making eye contact with Gabe.

"So tell me Dave, why the fuck did those guys beat the bejeezers out of you, and why didn't you even attempt to fight back?"

Mu just looked at him with a slightly confused expression on his face.

'Did Gabe just call me Dave?'

"Uhm, well as to why they beat me up; I cannot say. As to why I didn't fight back, well; that's because I'm a Werebat."

Just as Mu said that, he grimaced, and was punching himself on the inside.

'Shit! I just told a vampire that I'm a Werebat! Now he's going to start—"

"So what?" Gabe said in a bullish tone.

"Uhm, e-excuse me?" Mu asked, with a shocked voice and facial expression; eyes almost bulging completely out of his sockets.

"So what? Does being a Werebat take away your ability to defend yourself when people attack you? I mean seriously dude, we are currently sitting on a bench which is slightly shorter on one end, because your head went through it. There are little bits of concrete which are covered in your blood next to your feet right now, and all that might have been avoided if you had at least tried to throw a punch—"

"Don't you think that I wanted to fight back?!"

Mu looked at Gabe with a look of desperation, anger, frustration and sadness in his eyes, and it was a look that pierced through Gabe's heart.

"Well then why didn't you?"

"I already told you, it's because I'm a Werebat!"

"And I already told you; 'So what'!"

Mu just stared at Gabe with a look of confusion on his face again.

"Are you messing with me, or do you really not know the significance, or rather, INsignificance in my being a Werebat?"

"I seriously don't know John. I was born and raised in the country, and my grandparents limited my personal interactions with people to just them, so all I know about the world, I learned from TV and the internet. The thing is though; I had no interest in learning about things of actual importance. All I did was use the internet for porn, and... anyway, I don't know why your being a Werebat is such a bad thing, and is a free pass for others to beat on you, and use you as a punching bag."

'Wow, this guy actually seems as though he is being sincere; he's actually ignorant to the way things work in this city. Wait a minute, did he just call me John?!'

A few moments passed where they both sat in silence, and the only things which could be heard were ambient sounds. Eventually, Mu spoke.

"Being a Werebat is viewed as a very bad thing by vampires in this country. They believe us to be inferior, barbaric, and they call us 'mere imitations of bats', whereas they are 'the evolution of bats'. Werebats have little, to no rights in the eyes of vampires and thus, have no rights in general, as many vampires occupy positions of power, with one such example being TFK. We are usually treated like dirt, and are expected to be thankful for it. Vampires often have their way us; with many Werebats often being servants, or butlers, or maids, or slaves, or sex slaves. We're barely even considered as sapiens, and don't even have a King here on campus, like every other Were. I did something which the current Vampire King didn't approve of, and you can see what that did for me. If I fought back, then every single vampire on this campus would have been trying to kill me as they would have received the green light to take me out, and I can't die just yet, not until I've found a way to free.... Never mind."

Gabe looked at Mu with a deep sadness written all over his features, shaking his head.

"Damn man, that's absolute bullshit! Isn't there anything anyone can do?"

"No Gabe, there's nothing anyone can do. I'm pretty sure that those who have tried are no longer with us."

Gabe saw the sense of hopelessness on Mu's face and didn't like it.

"Well, you know something Mu, you were wrong about every vampire on campus trying to kill you, because this one..." Gabe then placed his hand on Mu's shoulder and squeezed. "...has already exhausted himself trying to mend you, so turning around and breaking you wouldn't make sense." Gabe then flashed his trademark smile, which warmed Mu's heart and brought him to the verge of tears.

"T-thank you Gabe. Hey, you called me by my name..."

"You're welcome; and of course I did, I've been doing so the entire time. Anyway Phillip I need your help; I need to get to the main office so I can check in and get my dorm room key, but not only don't I know where the office is, I don't even know where I currently am; you willing to help?"

Mu rolled his eyes and giggled slightly before nodding his consent. About a second later, he felt a slap go across his cheek, almost sending him flying off the bench. He brought his hands up to his cheek, and held it, before looking at Gabe with a hurt expression on his face.

"G-Gabe, what was THAT for?!"

"Quiet! Your pretty, feminine face, and cute giggle made me swoon and my heart skip a beat; I had to stop that shit asap! Don't EVER do that near me again! Good Lord, I'm swooning over guys now to make this day worse! Now get up; I got to get to the office before I closes, or I'm going to be sleeping on the street tonight."

Mu's eyes bulged for a second, before he burst out laughing for the first time since meeting Gabe, and that made Gabe smile at him, and laugh with him. With that, Gabe stood up off the bench, placed his bag on his back again and started stretching; his energy seemed to have almost completely replenished itself. He offered Mu a hand to help him up, which Mu accepted. They then started exiting the park, as they made their way towards the road with Mu leading, and Gabe following closely behind him. They were walking at a slightly slowish pace, mostly because Gabe hadn't fully recovered as yet, but was getting there.