Under The Moonlight

Chapter 20

tw: panic attack, flashbacks

Cassey watched the man turn and walk away without complaining. It shocked them at first. Yes, Mei had been intimidating, which was out of character, but he had just- done it? Listened to her?

Then it hit them. Of course! Mei was a vampire! Which meant that the urban legend that vampires had hypnotic powers was true! It had been actually pretty badass, for Mei, her being so shy and reserved and easily scared to step up like that. Made Cassey proud.

"Mei, that was so-" Cassey turned to look at their girlfriend, containing a gasp when they saw her, "... Mei?"

The vampire was pale. Not her normal pale; Mei was already pale. No, it was worse, much paler, paper white. Her eyes where wide open, dark tears forming in them, starting to fall down. Her whole body was shacking, trembling, but the girl herself looked paralyzed, not taking her eyes from the spot the man had been before. The only part of her face that had some color was her mouth, which Cassey noticed had a thread of blood coming out of.

"Holy shit Mei, are you alright!?" Cassey asked, bending down a bit to be at her same height. Was this because of the hypnotism? They've seen it happen before, mostly in TV and shows, but it never showed this effect....

Mei didn't look at them, the fear in her eyes made it seem like she was in another place, a place far, far away. A place of nightmares.

She took her hands to her head and shook it, mumbling something under her breath, something Cassey couldn't decipher.

"Mei, it's- it's fine. I'm here..." Cassey said, in the most calming and reassuring voice they could, placing their hand on Mei's shoulder.

Big mistake.

That triggered something. Cassey didn't think it was possible, but Mei's eyes widened up, becoming the size of plates. She flinched, giving a few steps back, tripping over herself and falling to the ground. Her mumbles and whispers became louder, and now Cassey was able to understand them.

"Please- please don't hurt me- please- please- please-"

Fuck. Alright. Um... this is weird. This is bad. This is very bad, isn't it? Yes. Yup.

So, how to help... Cassey had been with Haze when ze got anxiety attacks before, they've helped Mei once before, but that was over a phone call, this was much different. Cassey wasn't sure what this was exactly, but it was bad.

Alright. Getting Mei to feel save was the first step. Mei didn't like people that much, a lot of people were staring, so that was probably bad... Cassey turned to face the observers.

"Oi, there's nothing to watch here!" They exclaimed, gesturing with their hands for people to go away, "Just by looking y'all ain't gonna make the situation better!"

Some of the people stopped, shook their heads, continued walking. Others blushed and rushed away. A few stayed. Cassey groaned. Well, they've tried.

Back to Mei.

Their girlfriend where on the ground, thick tears forming in her eyes, streaming down, still mumbling her pleading words. It broke Cassey's heart to see her like this, so scared, without knowing how to help her.

"Mei... Mei, can you hear me?" they asked, bending down to the floor.

No response, but Mei did lift her head up. That was a start.

"Mei, it's me, Cas, Cassey. You're save, ok?" Mei shook her head, "no one's going to hurt you, I promise."

"They- they are. They are going to. The pipe, he got- No, please, I didn't mean to!" Mei got her hands in front of her face, hiding it back.

"No, Mei, don't worry. I'm here, no one's gonna hurt you, I'll protect you. Uh-" Cas digged in their memory.  Alex once taught them about this, some way to calm down, to help, ummm... come on, they've researched about it after the phone call situation! "Ah! Mei, look at me. Please," Mei looked up, "Tell me... tell me 5 things you can see, please."

"I- uh-" Mei looked around, confused, blinking a lot, "I- You, um, the- the floor?" Mei's head wandered up and down, "Hand, jacket... You?"

"You... you already said 'me' before, but fair enough. Now, four things you can touch."

"Floor, clothes... me, and- me? I- I'm not touching more stuff, sorry, I can't-"

"Ey, it's fine, you're doing great," Cassey reassured, "Come on, tell me three things you can hear."

"You, your voice... people, the cars, the noise, my breathing, the-"

"that's it, you already said more than three things, Mei. We're almost done, I think... Two things you can smell."

"Nothing?" Mei sniffed, brushing the tears off with her sleeve, "Gas? From cars? And coffee, I think..."

"Great. Now, finally, tell me one thing you can taste."

"Blood."

Well that's concerning...

"Well done, Mei. Now, tell me. Where are you?"

"I'm... I'm on the floor. Of a street. Here."

"Yes, well done. Can I touch you?"

"... yes."

Cassey placed their hand on Mei's, she squeezed it tightly, looking down and brushing the remaining tears with her sleeve, which now had a nasty black-ish color on the wet parts.

"Come on, you got this. Can you stand, or would you want to stay here in the floor for a bit longer?"

"I'm- I'm fine. I'm alright, I can stand," Mei said, brushing the hair off her face.

Cas stood first, so they could help Mei up, offering her their hand to give her support. Mei held the hand and pulled so the inertia would help her up. Mei hid her face on Cassey, hugging them close. Cas returned the hug, embracing their girlfriend tightly, hoping this'll comfort her.

"I'm sorry," Mei whispered.

"What for?" Cassey asked. It was a very stupid and obvious question. Mei looked up at them.

"For getting like this and causing a scene. I thought I had it over control and moved on already, but- I was wrong. I'm so sorry, this was supposed to be a nice date, I'm sorry."

"Hey, hey, it's fine, I promise. I'm not sure what was that about, but it's obvious you have a lot going on. I wanna be there to help and support you, ok? You don't have to be ashamed over anything. Alright?"

"No. it's not. It's not alright. I'm sorry, I can't- I have to be alone. I have to be alone. I can't with this now. Sorry. Goodbye," Mei turned and started running away.

"Mei, come back-" Cassey yelled, following her. But the girl was small and fast, more than you'd imagine. Soon, Cas lost her in the moving crowd.

They looked back at the spot it had all happened. The flower bouquet was on the floor, forgotten. Cas walked back, picking it up from the ground. It didn't look that destroyed, the flowers still in place, no one had stepped on it... Maybe they could bring it home? Take care of it? Keep it save until the next time they saw Mei?

There was no use on calling her. After the first five times, it became obvious there'll be no answer. It'll be better to just head back to work. There was no use of waiting for someone who wouldn't come back. This date had been a disaster. Maybe Cassey should've decided to go on it as a surprise on the first place, nothing of this would've happened.