After lunch on Wednesday afternoon, Lan Zhan drove Wei Ying to Wen Qing and Wen Ning's home for their meeting.

The Wen Siblings lived on a street one block away from the hospital where Wen Qing worked in the mornings, and it was conveniently situated a few streets away from the local market.

It was in a better part of town, definitely much safer than where Wei Ying’s apartment building was, but not as nice or affluent as where the Lan Manor was located.

Lan Zhan wasn't sure what to expect. Given Wen Qing's job and her personality, he thought she would be living in a space age type, modern flat or apartment complex. However, nothing could have prepared him for the reality of her home.

It was a beautiful little cottage, nestled away behind some well placed windbreaker trees. It was a cute place.

And it didn't suit her at all.

It had a lovely small garden in the front, currently housing purple asters and multicoloured chrysanthemums, a few scarlet autumn crocuses, and sedum plants. Yellow carnations and the late flowering pink and magenta dahlias nodded their bulbous heads in their direction, as they walked past the shade of the heavily laden pear tree, its fruit just shy of being ripe.

Wei Ying noticed Lan Zhan looking around and squeezed their hands.

"Does Wei Ying come here often?" He asked, fixing him with his golden gaze, so intense and caring.

On the way here, Wei Ying had been increasingly fidgety in the car, his blood smelling more and more sour. Lan Zhan could understand that; knowing loved ones made mistakes, especially when they were life-jeopardising ones, and still trying to reconcile that with being able to forgive them was a huge ask.

This meeting was so important to them, moreso for Wei Ying because depending on what Wen Qing and Wen Ning said, it would dictate which way their relationship went forward. Wei Ying deserved answers, and Wen Qing was responsible for giving them to him, no matter how much Wei Ying didn't want to be here. One way or another, he was going to have to reevaluate what Wen Qing and Wen Ning meant to him.

Lan Zhan knew that if it ever came down to a choice between his children and the Wen Siblings, he would always and without fail pick the children. He could only hope that Wen Qing had a good excuse for not saying anything when she had the chance; afterall, anyone could cover up anything with could've, should've, would've.

But, that didn't make it right.

Wen Qing would have to take responsibility for her actions today.

And if Wen Ning expected to stay friends with Wei Ying, then he better have a great excuse, too.

Wei Ying was shaking his head.

"I never had the time to visit," he replies, wistfully. "I barely had the time for A-Yuan, let alone coming here for bants…I've only ever been here maybe three or four times, in total." He sighs, and then sniffs at the air appreciatively. "Wen Ning sure looks after his garden, though."

That made sense to Lan Zhan.

From what he could tell of the quiet, hulking man, he was gentle and a simple person, ready to stand up for those he cared about. A lot more going on inside him than what people gave him credit for, so it was a pleasant surprise to know that this was his garden. It suited him, way more than the image of Wen Qing being the gardener of the two. Try as he might, Lan Zhan could not force his mind to see that particular image.

Wei Ying pressed the bell on their front door and a series of chimes rang out, muffled behind the wood. They heard footsteps running towards them and then, the door opened.

Immediately they were warmed by the temperature inside the home colliding with the chilly autumn breeze as they came face to face with Wen Ning, his gentle smile in direct contrast to his size and strength.

Wei Ying shivered as the cold gust snatched at him, and then he was being pulled inside the warmth that felt like a comforting blanket.

Someone had been baking.

Wei Ying beamed at his adopted brother, thinking that this smell was much better than even the flowers outside.

"JieJie's just coming," Wen Ning says, shyly. "Let's wait in the living room."

Wei Ying could tell he was nervous, which meant Wen Qing must have told him something about why they were here, and what was going on.

Their living room was cosy without being cluttered, decorated in a pale sage green with white, kind of clinical with a botanical feel to it. They had a feature wall painted in fern leaves against a white background, and that was the focal point for whatever came next in the way of furniture and curtains.

A small television was suspended on the opposite wall, next to an oak bookcase filled with a mix of medical books and gardening advice, reflecting the people who had made this place their home.

Wen Qing came in then, carrying a tray of teacups, a teapot, and a plate of sugar cookies.

She sat down on the double seated sofa adjacent to where Wen Ning had placed himself in between her and Wei Ying, who was sitting next to Lan Zhan on the other double seat.

Wen Ning couldn't have chosen a more neutral place.

He passed out the tea and cookies, helping his sister and smiling kindly at their guests.

Wei Ying only accepted because it gave his hands something to do; he and Lan Zhan had already eaten not even an hour ago, and he wasn't at all hungry. But the tea smelled fantastic, so he took a sip.

It gave him time to observe Wen Qing.

She definitely looked nervous, and he couldn't blame her. They had come here specifically to get answers from her, and Wei Ying knew that if their positions were swapped, he too, would be supremely uncomfortable that he'd royally fucked up.

For a few minutes, everyone was quiet, not looking at anyone else.

Lan Zhan could smell how much Wei Ying was affected by this meeting, how anxious he was and how much he just wanted to get this over with. But for all his wishes to speed this along, Lan Zhan wanted to get behind the real reason for the caginess with which Wen Qing had approached this whole debacle.

"So…" her voice peters off, unsure how to continue.

"So…?" Wei Ying unconsciously mimics her.

"I owe you an apology. A big one, and really, to both of you." Wen Qing's hands are trembling as she picks up her cup to sip from it. It rattles in her shaky grip with the saucer.

"My grandmother wants an explanation," Wei Ying tells her, trying not to sound accusing.

Lan Zhan agreed. An apology was only as good as the sincerity that accompanied it, and while he was still on the fence about accepting hers, that was by the by, missing the whole point. Instead, he wanted to know how exactly Wen Qing had managed to involve Wei Ying and their children.

"I told you part of it before, on Sunday." Wen Qing looks outside of their window, her eyes unseeing. "Our Uncle really was playing our safety off against us," she gestures towards herself and her baby brother. "We fell into his trap and it was all over for both of us. I had to do what he made me, simply because otherwise he threatened me with hurting A-Ning. But things really went downhill on Thursday night."

"What happened?" Wei Ying gives up nibbling on a cookie. He's far too invested not to be paying her a hundred percent of his attention.

"I was working on test results and inputting the data on my laptop. It's a secure area, inside the labs, and we don't allow anyone to enter or leave at the risk of cross-contamination, so I thought everything would be alright. But the lab right next door to where I was working, had its alarms set off, and as the person who would have to explain to Wen Rouhan what had happened, I rushed to see what was going on, and if I could help them in any way.

"When I finished sorting out that mess, because it wasn't anything major, I returned to find my laptop closed, which was odd because I was in the middle of adding the test results. But nothing else seemed out of place and the other technicians seemed normal, so I didn't think anything of it. But then I overheard one of the lab workers asking her female colleague what Wen Chao had wanted when he'd dropped by earlier, and then I knew."

"But why did you sync your phone to your laptop?" Lan Zhan asked her.

"I had to! My uncle was demanding to a fault, even if I was at my other job, even if I was smack bang in an emergency, he expected answers, results as soon as they came in, and it made my life a whole lot easier to be able to have the information he wanted to hand. I couldn't exactly walk around with my laptop all the time," she wiped another tear away.

"So when did you know they had cloned your devices?" Wei Ying asked her. Everything she was saying made sense. Again, he put himself in her position and he could immediately see how it was easier to just turn on her phone and be so much more efficient.

"Saturday night. Literally when I was calling you both," she answered straight away. "But Wang Lingjiao overheard me trying to get in touch, because I was leaving messages and texting, anything to get through to you. Suddenly, Wen Chao was there, and they took my phone, and I was escorted down to the dungeons. It was hours and hours later that Lan WangJi turned up there."

"I hope now that you're in charge, you'll make sure all electronic devices are password protected. Stricter security, maybe face recognition?" Wei Ying tells her.

"Absolutely! Doctor Afida is helping me make severe changes, all steps in the right direction," she replies eagerly. "We're going to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again."

"But JieJie, what about the other thing? The Elixir of Life? Wen Zhong told Lan Zhan that they needed JingYi for that, and you must know, I can't let anything happen to my kids!" Wei Ying leans forward, hellbent on pressing this agenda. "If anyone else finds out about his heritage, or the Elixir itself, it will cause just as many problems again. We can't let anyone know that JingYi's surname is Wen."

"Oh, I agree!" She sympathised immediately. "You have my word. We've been categorising all those afflicted with the tests that my uncle was doing, and that's been tough work. We've had to shut down our headquarters since Sunday, to limit damage control while we sort that part out, but as soon as I'm able to, I'm going to destroy all mention of the Elixir. If no one knows about it, then both A-Yuan and JingYi will be safe." Wen Qing promises.

"So you know we're coming with my grandmother on Friday? For the meeting with the Network of Vampires." Wei Ying tells her. "Would it be possible to take back everything that belonged to my grandfather? My grandmother misses him something terrible…it would be nice for her to reconnect through something that belonged to him anyway." He knows Wen Qing is astute enough to hear the silent accusation of theft by the Wens, of his grandfather's things.

"Of course, of course!" Wen Qing allows her too serious mouth to smile a little.

Good.

"I knew about Wen Rouhan being your uncle," Wei Ying adds, "but I never knew about your other uncle, Wen Zhong. Was there a reason why you never said anything about him?"

"I was honestly doing my best to keep you out of that side of my life. I swear!" Wen Qing turns back from looking outside. "I wouldn't lie to you."

Wei Ying searches her face, looking for any sign that she wasn't telling the truth.

But as far as he can tell, she is being as transparent as she can be.

"Wen Rouhan was as power hungry as they come, and I knew the day would arrive when his fragile hold over their secret lives would break, when his experiments would come to light in the worst possible way. That's why I'm hoping that your grandmother will be able to help us on Friday night. When we talk to the rest of the vampires." Wen Qing's frown deepens.

"So I have two questions for you." Wei Ying squeezes Lan Zhan’s hand, an answer to reassure his wordless question. He's been conscious of Lan Zhan’s concern ever since they both got in the car to come here.

"Okay, go ahead." Wen Qing looks apprehensive because she doesn't know what he wants to ask her. But she wants to help, and wants Wei Ying to know that from now on, there are going to be no secrets between them.

"First question, what exactly do you want my grandmother to help you with? And secondly, why did you try to convince me that Lan Zhan being bitten was some kind of practical joke by would-be goths pretending to be vampires? When you were actively working with them? I mean, I get the whole secrecy thing, but there's no point in closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, so to speak. Lan Zhan was living proof that vampires exist, so why try to deny it?" Wei Ying doesn't even blink. "You didn't bat an eye at the sight of his venom, either. I couldn’t put my finger on what was bothering me about that, when it happened."

He's not trying to trip her up, or catch her out. These questions, especially the second one, had been bugging him since the beginning of all this.

"That's easy," she gives him a tentative smile. "For the first question, I believe that no matter what happens, we should keep what happened at Wen Laboratories a secret, simply because, by exposing the truth and telling the masses about vampires, nothing other than widespread panic will be achieved. That's one thing. Second question: I was really hoping that he would disappear into the night, and you would no longer be troubled by the stranger."

"But Lan Zhan ended up staying." Wei Ying murmurs, pensively.

Lan Zhan squeezes his hand again.

Wei Ying thinks about how life altering it was, that chance meeting in an alley. Like a bolt of lightning striking a random tree and causing a wildfire, finding Lan Zhan changed his whole life. He was able to find his grandmother, and reconnect to his parents indirectly.

"Ahuh, he ended up staying. But honestly? I'm glad he did," she says, sincerely.

Her soft voice brings him out of his thoughts.

"So am I." Wei Ying can't explain why this entire visit is unsettling to him.

He should be relieved, he should be happy that this entire episode has come to an end, in a manner of speaking.

But something feels odd, as if his body won't allow him to sit back and relax, at least, not until the meeting with the vampires is over and done with. Until then, he reconciles with himself that his underlying stress will not simply go away.

Wei Ying’s phone vibrates loudly in his pocket, the alarm muffled under the layers of his clothing.

"That's A-Yuan and JingYi's time," he says, pulling Lan Zhan up. "Sorry to cut this short." He looks apologetically at both Wen Qing and Wen Ning.

Wen Qing surprises him by coming around the coffee table and hugging him warmly. Wei Ying is always amazed at how small she is, such a tiny thing with such a powerful personality packed into a much smaller container. Like one of those fake cans of peanuts which, when opened by the unsuspecting person, because a plastic springed snake jumps out instead.

It's automatic, when his arms come around her slight frame to hug her back. Wei Ying wonders if the way things panned out, and how Wen Qing responded to them, whether that has changed their relationship or not. And if so, is it for the better? Or not?

He can't tell.

Lan Zhan seems to want to leave too, and that makes Wei Ying feel better. He pulls Wen Ning into a quick hug, before they leave, and then they're on their way to school.

The drive is quiet.

Lan Zhan doesn't want to intrude on Wei Ying’s thoughts, because it's clear that he's deeply engrossed in them, working something out in his head. So he focuses on the road ahead and the feel of Wei Ying's hand in his, as the minutes go by.

***************

Freshly showered at night, Lan Zhan finds Wei Ying sitting cross-legged on their bed, with his mother's faded red book in front of him.

The children are asleep already, and the house, as big as it is, is quiet.

Lan Zhan wonders at the strangeness of this, his own body normally fast asleep by this time. Before, when he was still a human.

Without fail, Lan Zhan would go to sleep by nine at night, not waking up until five in the morning. Eight hours of sleeping.

Now that he didn't have to sleep, he had time.

Eight extra hours to do whatever he wanted now.

Eight extra hours to lie down next to Wei Ying and hear him breathing, to savour that wonderful fragrance that only seemed to deepen at night. Eight extra hours to hold him close, to know that Wei Ying was safe, and in his arms.

To think about how lucky they were, that they had found each other, in this sea of people, an ocean of strangers. And the miracle that they clicked so well together.

Eight extra hours to appreciate that they survived.

That weekend of hell was one that could not be forgotten, but at least they could be happy that they were through it, that they had not only survived it, but were thriving because of it.

Lan Zhan goes to sit next to Wei Ying, and smiles back when he does that, too.

"Hi," he says shyly, hiding his face in Lan Zhan’s shoulder.

"Hi." Lan Zhan tilts his head and kisses Wei Ying’s hair.

"Why do you do that?" Wei Ying wonders aloud, and then blushes even more because he hadn't meant to.

"Because I can," Lan Zhan does it again. "Because I want to." Another kiss. "Because I cannot help myself when Wei Ying is near." A third kiss for good measure.

He hadn't meant to be so honest, either. The words slipping out of his mouth felt right, and he didn't regret them.

Once upon a time, to Lan Zhan life had been something transient, short… unaccommodating. A slip of time that did not allow for lies and falsehoods, because why waste time lying when you could be honest instead, and live more fully? Lan Zhan found that now, even when time became inconsequential, he could not change.

He was still the same person as he was before the change, and there was something comforting about that.

In the world of romance and love, one he never thought he would be part of, he was only too aware of how the storms of misunderstandings and unfaithfulness made relationships crash on the rocks of Fate, doomed to sink because they had been held aloft on the waters of illusion and lies.

But now that Lan Zhan had had a taste of how wonderful life could be with the one he loved with every single atom of his being, he would never risk it.

All of his love, all of his desires and trust were right here, with his Wei Ying.

He would always want only him.

"Me, too." Wei Ying replies.

Lan Zhan was sure he hadn't spoken out loud. But Wei Ying is still speaking.

"I was hoping you would come." He gestures towards the old red book in front of him.

Lan Zhan climbs onto the bed and leans back against the head board before lifting Wei Ying onto his lap.

"This is much better." Lan Zhan doesn't have to say anything else for Wei Ying to understand, and agree.

Sitting like this, surrounded by the lovely fragrance of sandalwood, Wei Ying feels anchored.

Strengthened.

With Lan Zhan’s arms around him, he picks up the book and opens it at the second page.

Dearest A-Ying,

Suddenly, the pages in this book seem too few, and all of my thoughts too long, too complicated to write down. There's so much I want to say to you, and time is my enemy.

Although I know we are to part, and every time I think about it, I want to rail at the Gods for taking me away from you, but the worst part is not knowing when it's going to happen. Your father and I could walk away from you at any time, it can be for the silliest reason like going to throw the trash outside, and it might be the last time we see you.

My mind is running around in circles, trying to figure out a way we can avoid this, even if I know how futile it would be. My visions are rarely wrong, or inaccurate.

So I'm going to try and divide up my thoughts so I can lie to people and tell them I'm organised. I probably won't be able to stick to any subject matter for long, because if you're anything like me, you probably already know how that works.

Chaos, thy name is Cangse Sanren…

Anyway, I'm trying to make this easier for you.

I look at your smiling, beautiful face, your lovely starlight eyes as you laugh whenever you can, and I hope that part never changes. I cannot even entertain the idea of walking away from you.

The heartbreak is soul shattering.

Some days, I just want to lie down on the ground and not move. Give up, because what's the point? Why bother doing anything when everything will hurt? And if it's this bad for me, then what about you?

I just want to hold you in my arms and protect you from the world.

I know, it's going to be hard for you. I wish I could be there for you, when you fall for the first time, just to be able to pick you up again and kiss your pain away. No one can beat a mother's love for her child, and I want you to know, I love you ever so deeply.

Sometimes, I think that love will be there even when I am no more, after my body has returned to the elements. I hope you can feel through these pages and these words, how much I love you.

It burns so bright, so fiercely for you. A torch to burn away anything that would hurt you.

Your father is in a worse state than I am. He clings onto the hope that I am wrong, that we won't leave you, and I wish, oh, how I wish it were so!

I want to be so wrong.

Look at me, how far I drifted away from what I wanted to say.

My point at the beginning, was to tell you that I'm writing you letters that might come in useful to you, to tell you what you need even if the mouth that wants to say the words has gone from your life.

I want you, my beautiful baby boy, to read them whenever you want me, to read them whenever you need me. It's the only thing I can think of to make this better. Any way I can ease your suffering.

I hope one day, you can forgive us for not being there with you.

Your loving mother,

Mama.

Wei Ying can feel the love, the hurt of his parents' passing, making the words swim in front of his eyes.

Lan Zhan puts the book safely to one side and holds him while he cries.

He wishes he could make this easier for Wei Ying.

To feel his body trembling through the force of his emotions is gut-wrenching and heart breaking, and everything in between. It's not fair, none of this is.

But at the same time, Lan Zhan knows without a doubt that Wei Ying would prefer this over not knowing his parents like this, over thinking that his parents didn't love him.

He knows it's going to be hard to read his mother's words and come out on the other side, unchanged and unaffected. Perhaps this is a rite of passage, a path that must be walked upon to heal the scars of the past.

Whatever happens, Lan Zhan intends to stay by his side.

They will be together, and they will be stronger for it.

**********

A/N

Dear Lovely Readers,

I didn't mean to make this a sad one! Maybe it's inevitable though, because whenever Wei Ying reads something from his mother, it is bound to be emotional.

One day, I'm gonna write a story where everyone is alive, for sure!

In the meantime, here's some chocolate 🍫 🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫 and I hope I can make the other letters happier.

Charlie