Light Against Shadows

Chapter 9

Yunlan's arm was circling Wei's back to grip his shoulder and steady him.
The only light was that provided by the cops behind them, following closely.

They were walking ahead when he suddenly felt a cold rush of air pass through his arm. He shivered and noticed that Wei was freezing and his face didn't look too good.

He brought him closer to his body to give him some warmth.

They kept walking outside the borders of the park for a long while then Wei took a sudden turn to the left and walked along a dark street and towards a part of the city where nobody ever ventured until they reached an area that looked like an abandoned construction site.

There were many places were a small child could have trapped himself, there was a small building, a deep hole in the ground and even a rusty old metallic tower.

Wei had no idea what that place was, but his steps slowed down. A sudden chill made them both shiver.

"Damn this wind, it's freezing cold here," Yunlan complained.

The other cops had joined them now but only one dared to speak. "What wind? The air is so still there's barely enough to breathe."

Yunlan let go of Wei's shoulders to start a quarrel but he stopped himself when he realised that he wasn't actually cold anymore and there wasn't any wind at all.

"So, what now? You think the kid fell into the well? Should we call Lassie to check?" Chu spoke again.

Yunlan rolled his eyes and ordered some men to bring their lights closer to try and see at the bottom.

Wei ignored them as if they weren't even there and moved further along towards the metallic scaffold-like construction.
There was a staircase at its bottom and Wei climbed up. Every ten steps there was a landing and Wei stopped to call Yang's name.

He tried to raise his voice as hard as he could but it still came out lower than his normal tone. He called three times trying to focus his vision before going up to the next landing. He had to access every last bit of strength in him, exhausted as he was, but he couldn't rest until he found him. He called again, and this time his eyes detected a movement.

He wanted to get near him but that old place didn't feel robust enough to sustain his weight, so he stayed with his feet on the stairs and talked to the child.

"Are you little Yang? I was looking for you."

A pair of scared eyes turned to him. "Who are you?"

"My name is Wei and I was very worried about you. Are you alright? How did you get here?"

"I'm tired," the kid murmured. "I don't know, I was playing then I got so cold, I didn't want to come here."

"Then why did you?" Wei asked before remembering that he was dealing with a child. "It's dangerous, your mom was so worried, you shouldn't play here."

"I didn't want to, my legs moved but I couldn't stop, I tried to." He started sobbing. "Mom will be angry with me, she said I had to stay where she can see me, she can't see me here."

"She will be relieved that you're safe, we will explain to her that it wasn't your fault." Wei had no idea how to explain what happened to her mother, nor he wished to try, but he wanted to get him out of there and reassure him it would be alright.

"You believe me?" Yang suddenly asked between sobs. "I really didn't want to disobey, and then I was too scared to go back, it's so high here!"

Wei wondered if the Shadow let him go because he was tired or if there was another reason. "Can you tell me if you tried to climb more steps?"

"My legs kept moving, but I wasn't going anywhere, so I woke up and sat here to rest."

Wei considered this. To be able to sit on the landing the child probably climbed the three or four steps that were now covered by his body, so he looked up; to reach the next landing would have been too difficult for him because there were two steps missing. A grownup man could make it, but for a child it was impossible.

Did the Shadow leave him because he was no more useful? What was going on?

Wei heard a commotion, people were shouting, it seemed Yunlan finally noticed where he was. Wei smiled.

Little Yang hid his head between his knees. "I want to go home," he whined.

"Don't worry, my friends will help you and you'll be home in no time, ok?" It had been so long since he had used the word 'friends' for actual human beings, but he did it to reassure the child that he needn't fear all those people that would inevitably gravitate around him in a few moments.

"We'll go down together ok? Can you come closer to me? I can help you."

The child got to his feet and walked to him, he looked scared but when he was close enough he wrapped his arms around Wei's neck. Wei patted his back gently then grabbed him tight. "Hold on to me, don't let go."

Yang's arms helt tight around his neck, conforted by being hugged back, and they slowly descended until they reached low enough for a policeman to get hold of the child.

An ambulance had already been called, as well as his parents, but it would be a few minutes before they got there.

As Wei got back down and the child was safely out of his arms, he gave in to the tiredness and lean his back againt the staircase, utterly exhausted.
Yunlan was at his side in a moment, shouting for the others to take care of Yang while he took Wei home.

Wei slumped onto him and let Yunlan carry him away.
He didn't even know where they were going. He murmured, "Don't worry, I'm... I'm okay... you found him, thank you..."

Yunlan held strongly onto his arms to help him walk. "You found him, so thank you."

Wei smiled but he was too worn out to say anything more. He got helped inside a car, then a few minutes later he was helped out of it and into a house.
'No steps', Wei's brain wondered. 'I live on the third floor, how come there are no steps here?'

Yunlan brought him to his house and put him on the bed to rest, before leaving him to go set the couch for himself.