Wild Creatures

Chapter 100

13.20 pm Sunday

Wei Ying can't think.

His grandmother has been stabbed, and he can't think.

He's only half aware of Lan Zhan taking the phone out of his cold, stiff fingers with one hand, while his other arm pulls Wei Ying into his body as if he could shield him from this.

"Wei Ying!" Lan Zhan sounds urgent, and his tone manages to snap Wei Ying out of his stupor.

"Where is she?" He's trembling and all he wants to do is lean into Lan Zhan for comfort, but he also knows that he has to reach Baoshan Sanren right now.

"Where we left her. Be strong." Lan Zhan bends a little, so his beautiful golden eyes can stare directly into silver ones, wet with grief. "Let's go and find out how she is." He encourages, his tone is warning him already, not to jump to conclusions.

One nod, and they're off.

Wei Ying yells for Wen Qing to come with them, because she's the only doctor he still trusts, not knowing Doctor Afida that well, yet.

All he can feel is the jarring sensations of his feet hitting the concrete steps in the stairwell, flight after flight, having long left Wen Qing far behind them. His blood is thundering in his ears, heartbeat so loud, he thinks it's going to burst out of his chest.

Lan Zhan is holding his hand as they fly down the steps, guiding him, giving him much needed strength as he battles the whispers in his head, that he's going to lose his grandmother, that they're already too late, that she's going to leave him, like his parents left him.

His throat closes over and the sob chokes him, leaving his mouth and tearing through his insides.

He can't do this.

Feet like lead, Wei Ying stops outside the last door.

Crossing past this last hurdle will make it real.

On this side of that door his grandmother is still alive, hale hearty, kicking ass.

But on the other side? He just doesn't know for sure, yet.

Lan Zhan knew it, and could sense how he was feeling.

Grief and fear were the worst, tainting Wei Ying's blood with something distasteful and wrong. He hated it, hated Wei Ying feeling so helpless, when it was he who had single handedly overcome so many vampires and only with his help, had they managed to win, to emerge victorious from that last fight, not to mention the others.

He turns to Wei Ying then, wrapping him in the safe security of his arms where nothing can touch him. He feels Wei Ying so tense, like a bow string wound up so tightly, it's in danger of snapping.

"I...that's my grandmother." A wealth of sorrow echoes in the words that Wei Ying doesn't say.

"Mn."

"I've only just found her, Lan Zhan...I-I don't want to lose her." Another sob catches in his throat.

"Mn." Lan Zhan agrees, and then is surprised.

He's grown to respect and admire her, the strongest woman he has ever met, and then is it such a surprise that she's related to Wei Ying? He actually likes her, a lot.

"So do I." Wei Ying is trying hard not to cry. "I really like her."

"We have to be strong. Mo XuanYu only told us what he could see from the security cameras. She might be alright." His calm, no nonsense voice wore away at the denial in Wei Ying's mind.

Lan Zhan was right.

Waiting here, not going to her, wouldn't change a thing.

Wei Ying takes a deep breath, clutching Lan Zhan's hand in his tightly like a lifeline.