Cruel Fates

Chapter 1: Dream a little dream

He is standing in a forest. That is complete with blue sky and cotton candy cloud. The smell of earth and grass permeates the air. He can hear laughter, cruel and mocking laughter coming from the cave that he is standing in front of. He can hear voices coming from inside.

"Son of a whore. That is what he is."

"I bet the Sect Leader Nie has already fucked him."

"I bet it was good solid fuck that has whoreson limping."

"Maybe that's why he was limping."

"Maybe we can convince the Sect Leader Nie to let us have some fun with the whoreson."

His beloved mother is not a prostitute. He covers his ears and squats down. Then he hears footsteps behind him. He gets up and turns around to see who it is. Someone grabs him by the neck, slowly but painfully trying to squeeze the life out of him. 

 He is trying to dislodge the hand that has him in a chokehold. His vision wavering from the lack of air. Through his dimming vision, he recognizes the person that is choking him to death.

"Hua…Hua…Huaisang why."

"You know why. My brother loved you. He took you in. He is the reason you even have a place to stay. The reason you have clothes on your back, food in your belly is because of him."

The look that Nie Huaisang gives him is full of hate and pure rage. Nie Huaisang uses not one hand, but two to squeeze the life out of him. His eyes are psychotic and cold. His smile is twisted and cruel. He can tell Nie Huaisang is enjoying it immensely, enjoying the fact he is dying. 

He woke up to a blinding light and golden canopy that was draped in canary yellow. He stumbles over to the basin and splashes cold water on his face. He looked up and saw a stranger in the mirror. Wait, that not a stranger. He barely recognizes himself in the mirror. With his hair long, the sides braided and twisted into a top knot. There is a vermilion mark right where his third eye is. And that is the most prominent feature. 

Through the mirror, he saw Nie Minjue. His husband of 8 years stood behind him. He walks over and wraps his arms around his husband's waist. With a content sigh, he laid his head on his husband's broad chest. His husband did not hug him like he usually does or gives him a kiss on the forehead. Instead, Mingjue pushes him away like he is a pest. He reaches out for his husband. His husband grabs his left wrist and gives it a painful squeeze as a warning. With his other, he tries to free his wrist. But his husband's grasp is like a steel clamp.

"Mingjue, what's wrong? You are hurting me."

Nie Mingjue caresses the vermilion mark on his forehead. He stops trying to free his wrist from the painful hold. When he feels the caress, he looks up instead. His husband's face is unreadable. But his eyes are an ocean of sorrow and excruciating pain. 

"This damn red dot is more important than what you already have in Qinghe."

He denied that with the shake of his head. His happiest memory is when he is in Qinghe. Despite being treated less than human. Even went the stray that wanders in having more humane treatment. He reaches up and touches his beloved face. Suddenly everything changes instead of standing in the luxurious and opulence room he is standing in the fields of peony. His eyes widen in horror as he realizes he is holding the head of his husband. He is staring into Nie Mingjue's lifeless eyes that are crying a river of tears. His husband's hair is in disarray after coming loose from his top knot that is usually braided. His long hair is soaked in blood from his severed neck. 

He looked down and saw his headless body lying in a field of white peony that is soaked and splatter in blood. He takes a closer look at the area he is standing in. He sees nothing but trees with crooked branches devoid of leaves. With a steady growing dread and to his immense shock. The tree turns out to be a corpse with a stake going through its body, starting from the groin coming out through its mouth. With a horrified scream, the swing he saw earlier turns out to be a person that has been lynched.

He is standing in fields that have corpses spread out all over the area. The ground is soaked in their blood. He heard a sound coming from the severed head that is his hands. He looked down and dropped his head in shock when it's started speaking. 

"Meng Yao, why."

Meng Yao jerks awake from his sleep with a soundless scream. His knuckles are white from the death grip he has on his quilt. He slowly lets the quilt go. He holds his neck and vividly remembers how suffocating the chokehold is. He remembers the smell of peony mix with the scent of iron. He feels nauseous just at the thought of all those corpses lying in the peony field. A wave of nausea swept over him like an ocean wave. He runs to the bathroom and throws up.

Meng Yao felt like a sea cucumber that had eviscerated his guts at the enemy. He has been dry heaving from all the vomiting. His throat sore from all the crying, a nose that is so congested he can hardly breathe. His hair felt like it had super glue to his neck and face. Too weak to even push his hair back. The only thing he can do is lay there like an overcooked noodle.

He doesn't know how much more he can take. Every night is different from the last one. Some nights he has a peaceful rest. Some nights are like tonight. A night like this is more prolonged and crueler. He spends more time on the floor lying on the porcelain bowl. Then sleeping beside his husband. He is going to rest his eyes a bit. Then he is going to change and then crawl back into bed. Hopefully, to a dreamless sleep.

Nie Mingjue reaches over for his husband in mid-sleep. He realized the sheet next to him is cool. Then he heard retching coming from the bathroom. 

'Another nightmare. I wonder how bad this one is.'

When he reached the bathroom. He saw his husband resting his head on the arm that is on the toilet. A-Yao ashen face worried him the most. He took a moist towel and gently cleans the sweat off his face. 

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A young man with shoulder-length hair walked up to a cafe called Safe Heaven's. The bell jingled when the young man pushed the door open and entered the cafes. He looked around and did not see Da Sao. 

"Xiao Mei, did Da Sao come in today?"

"Lao Ban is in the back. I think Lao Ban has another nightmare. Lao Ban broke 2 cups. Make the order wrong. Give the right order to the wrong customers."

The young men nodded and headed toward the break room. He wonders if Da Sao had another nightmare the night before. Maybe what his brother is going to do is the best. His brother got married 8 yrs ago, not once did he have a chance to spend it with his husband. Too much overtime and a long weekend where his brother spends it fighting to keep the company where it belongs. In the Nie family, not in the hands of greedy shareholders and distant relatives.

"Huaisang, give this to Lao Ban. It's ginger and honey tea. It's good for nausea."

"Nausea?"

"Lao Ban says he throws up. So I figure he must be feeling queasy.  Also, your friends are in the bunny room."

"Thanks, Xiao Mei."

Huaisang walk passed the bunny room. He can hear the ruckus that is coming from inside. He will join them after checking on Da Sao. He hopes Da Ge plan works out. Because Da Sao has been patient. Also, it is about time they start a family.

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credit goes to GoddessofDragons221 for beta read