Light Against Shadows

Chapter 30

Once home, Yunlan had showered quickly before going to the station. The new pendant weighted on his skin, reminding him of the man that gave it to him, his pale face, his bruised arm, his loving eyes.

I have a lot inside me, he had said, as if that made it alright. Thinking of his bruised arm, Yunlan wondered how many times he had tried before finally managing to fill the blood vial.

He didn't know how to feel about it. Had he known what it was from the start, would he have kept it or would he have rejected the idea that Wei's blood could save his life?

If Wei had kept it a secret, he had probably believed the latter. Wei had known that he didn't truly believe him, but had wanted to help him nonetheless.

Yunlan sighed, he didn't like to feel confused. He knew very well that he hadn't had the strength to push the man off. It wasn't reasonable and his mind had troubles accepting it, but somehow Wei had saved him, he was sure of it and that was all that mattered.

Stay with me, Wei had said, pleading. He shouldn't have to beg, though. Recalling how Wei had stared at him in a loving way, Yunlan knew he should be the one to beg him to stay with him, not the other way around.

By the time he reached the police station though, he set everything else aside and focused on his job. Ling was already in front of his computer, and Yunlan approached his desk immediately, without as much as a greeting.

"How is it going? Did you find someone else?"

Ling jumped on his seat. "Zhao, did you really need to sneak up on me like that?"

Yunlan grunted and pointed at the screen. Ling shot him a look of annoyance. "Yeah, well, I did not find anyone else yet, I don't even know where I should search, it's not easy you know, it's like a needle in a haystack, how can I find them all by myself, if you think I can just push a button and quickly search any angle of the city you have watched too many damn movies!"

"You done ranting?" Yunlan asked when he stopped talking.

Ling's shoulders sagged. "I'm done, but I meant every word of it."

"How much help would you need?"

Ling considered his question. "For a job well done, at least two computers in every department should run this program at all times. It's not clear to me why these people should disappear from their homes and then walk around aimlessly until they end up in a hospital, but if you're right and that's what they are doing, we need to check every camera footage at all times. Every department must be involved."

"Alright, let's go tell the chief."

Ling gave him a half-surprised, half-worried look and followed him. Because of this, after having respectfully knocked on the chief's office door, they found themselves discussing the matter with their old, intimidating boss.

"This is your case, Zhao. How is it possible that so many people go missing and you can find them only after they fall like ripe fruits, what is going on here?"

The chief was in a bad moon, not surprisingly given the amount of bad publicity this case was earning the police force. By now all departments were involved, people had started missing everywhere, but Zhao was the only one convinced that the cases were all linked, so he felt a certain amount of pressure on his shoulders. Zhao cleared his throat, unsure of what he could say to explain it to him. For obvious reasons, he decided that Wei's explanation was not the best choice.

"The ones we found have yet to wake up so we don't really know the details, sir, but it looks like something or someone is forcing them to flee their homes and... move constantly to who knows where. The first man was found far away from where he went missing, so we all need to widen the search."

The chief put both hands on his waist. "Care to explain to me what happened yesterday?"

"Yesterday, sir?"

"Your neck, Zhao. What the hell happened to your neck!"

Yunlan's hand moved there instinctively, he had almost forgotten it still bore the signs of when he was almost strangled to death. He didn't feel any pain, thanks to whatever Wei did to him, but the signs on his skin were still there.

"Right, my neck. I think we should also warn the other departments that these people could... become violent if stopped."

He thought of what could have happened, had he not had Wei's pendant with him, and added, "Since I have first-hand experience in this case, I suggest they report to us if they find a missing person, so I can handle it."

The chief eyed him suspiciously. "What are you not telling me?"

Yunlan shifted uncomfortably and for a few seconds nobody said a word, until the chief turned to Ling with questions on what the other departments should have to do.

Yunlan sighed in relief. Apparently the chief had decided to give him a break and accept to involve the other departments to work together on this case.

He let Ling explain all the technical stuff feeling very much relieved when the chief agreed to it. A little less relieved when later the chief informed them that they had to be present at the meeting he had arranged to explain the case. The day turned into a really boring one for him, when he had to be diplomatic, and repeat the same vague explanation over and over. He particularly stressed on the detail that something or someone was forcing these people to move away and even fight back, so they had to be careful approaching them, and if possible they had to call him.

It was such an exhausting day for him that as he got home he crashed on the couch and closed his eyes. He didn't need to open them for his fingers to find the remote control and switch the tv set on. He laid there for a while, barely registering that some kind of documentary seemed to be on at the moment, simply letting the quiet voice soothe his mind, until it didn't feel as heavy as before.

He put his phone to recharge and went to grab himself something to drink. There was only water or beer, so he grabbed a bottle of the latter and opened it. The cold liquid was refreshing, and he moved back to the couch.

He switched the channels until he landed on a movie he had seen for the first time a few years before. It had begun already, but he knew he had only missed a boring introduction of the main characters and the way they kept bumping into each other despite living in a big city such as New York.

It was rather annoying that he could never find a character he could relate to. They were always either too perfect or too stupid, not to mention that they were always a man and a woman.

He gulped more beer, thinking of Wei. Would their story work in a movie? How would it end between them, with an emotionally dramatic scene where male-lead number one cries over the dead body of his lover thinking of all the lost time and what they could have had, or with a big happy ending, with fireworks and people clapping all around them?

Yunlan laughed at something that happened on the screen, where the ever so perfectly dressed female lead, with her perfect hair and perfectly manicured hands was complaining about her hard life.

No, romance movies were never realistic. He didn't want to be in a movie or have one of those silly relationships with their absurd endings. Either happy or sad, they were always wrong. He didn't want fireworks and sure as hell he didn't want to be surrounded by people watching and clapping for no reason, he wanted a person who could understand him for who he was without drama or tears.

He switched the tv off and laid his head back, closing his eyes, thinking of Wei in the comfortable silence of his own home, falling into a dreamless sleep.