Wild Creatures

Chapter 115

CW: Blood mentioned, beware and please skip if this bothers you.

Everything was red. Wei Ying looked around wildly, searching, searching, looking for someone ...

He was dizzy, hungry and nauseous, nothing made sense anymore, and where the fuck was Lan Zhan? Wei Ying had to keep him safe, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Images flashed before him, and he saw his grandfather's face, he saw his mother and father, hands outstretched towards him, he saw Wen Qing and Wen Ning, covered in blood, ghastly ghouls chasing him down, and then he saw Wen Zhong, mangled and beaten, but still not dead.

They were back in that terrible shower room, sprayed with blood, and when Wei Ying looked down at his hands, they were covered in the red liquid, growing ever thicker, sticky and viscous.

He was cold and scared, the shadows on the walls creeping him out, stretching, writhing to catch him, their sharp talons in a death grip towards him, blood dripping from their fingertips...

Wei Ying was so tired, there was no way out and then something grabbed him and he screamed.

"WEI YING!"

Lan Zhan was lying next to Wei Ying, who had fallen asleep after his crying jag. He had been exhausted and when Lan Zhan began humming to him, the lullaby that his mother had taught him, Wei Ying settled into a deeper sleep.

But some minutes ago, his heartbeat had changed and like the drumbeaters of old on ships setting sail, it got faster and faster.

Lan Zhan switched on the bedside light, wanting to make sure Wei Ying was alright, but he was covered in sweat, restless and little whimpers left his mouth. Behind his eyelids, his eyes moved frantically, and for a second, Lan Zhan didn't know what to do. He held Wei Ying's arms down and that's when he screamed, a piercing sound that lanced through Lan Zhan like a spear.

Wei Ying's beautiful eyes opened then, unseeing and wild, like a feral beast pierced with darts.

"WEI YING!" He doesn't mean to shout, but he's afraid anything less than that won't get through to him, past the dreadful panic on his face, the awful fear in his terrified eyes.

Wei Ying stops thrashing around, and his vision clears as he blinks slowly, coming back to himself. He's exhausted, out of breath and dazed, unsure of where he is until he sees Lan Zhan hovering over him. With a cry, his arms wrap around Lan Zhan's neck in the tightest hold, his trembling body pressed up as close as he can to the anchor of safety that Lan Zhan has become to him.

"Hush now," Lan Zhan soothes, his fear mirroring the man in his arms.

Wei Ying whimpers, and something breaks in Lan Zhan's chest. His arms are already around Wei Ying, but he shifts them to a sitting position, pulling the blanket around their shoulders so that they're cocooned in a fluffy igloo of comforting softness.

Lan Zhan reaches for the glass of water on the bedside cabinet and makes Wei Ying take small sips, and when he's done, Lan Zhan brings him back into his embrace.

"Bad dream?"

"Yeah..."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The shudder that ripples through Wei Ying's body is enough of an answer.

"You do not need to." Lan Zhan tells him, his voice but a whisper in the stillness of the night.

Wei Ying rests his cheek against the soft cotton of Lan Zhan's t-shirt, closing his eyes. As his breathing evens out, he thinks that it is okay. This is all that is required of him, he can just be here, lying against Lan Zhan and feeling safe.