Chapitre 31: Chong Wumei
(This story contains mature themes including violence, sexual themes and plain unpleasantness. You have been warned.)
(This 'chapter' is not a chapter. It's the story written under one post cos I don't want to open a new novel and think about too much. Also, some parts have been redacted. Please use your own imagination to fill in the holes.)
(This story was born from a dream. Some parts may not make perfect sense. Therefore, while it is a serious story, there's no need to take it seriously. I'm not.)
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She couldn't quite pinpoint the moment reality ended and the nightmare began. Perhaps it had started the moment she and her friends had all arrived at their weekend's camping lodge. Perhaps it was the moment they had begun driving. Perhaps it had only started the moment the sun had set.
Wumei wasn't sure. She only knew she was stuck in this frightening place that made no sense and could no longer wake up or return to the world she had once known. How had she gone from the multi-storey lodge she and her uni classmates had rented to be drifting about in this architecturally confused derelict building that was at once a pirate ship, a mashup of multiple buildings jammed together and yet was a space ship with no pilot?
Parts of the building were flooded. The external environment was not survivable according to the inhabitants of this derelict. Food, water and other resources were extremely precious. Lives were cheap and the strong ruled.
Wumei didn't know where her classmates were nor what had happened to them. Not since she was betrayed by them and her hiding place exposed. Ever since she had been taken away by the man that his followers called their king and referred to as 'Sire', she had been forced to tremblingly remain by the violent man's side.
Right now, the man was using her as his footrest while he enjoyed a quiet moment, reading a tattered novel. The novel had been treated as a treasure by Sire's underlings and they had pulled it out of her bag to offer to him with great reverence. Wumei recognised it as the novel one of her female classmates had forced her to borrow from them at the beginning of the trip despite Wumei's protests that it wasn't her genre. She had flushed in embarrassment when the title had been read out:
'The pirate and his slave: good morning, little rabbit'.
Honestly, it was a trash novel about a forced relationship and Wumei did not understand why her classmate had insisted she read it. In fact, the others in the car had forced her to read it out loud to them during the long car ride, making ribald jokes at the lewd and descriptive sections, and enjoying how Wumei had squirmed with embarrassment. It had contained more erotica than story, in Wumei's opinion.
"Wumei, you're too straightlaced," her classmate had chuckled. "You need to loosen up more, see the world and get more experience. You're such a prude."
That was when Wumei had begun to regret accepting her classmates' offer of a weekend getaway. She had thought it would be a good opportunity to get to know them better. After all, she was an introvert that didn't hang out with them much except for study sessions in the library. The class all seemed to get along with each other pretty well and so had often dragged her along to social events after class - or at least, they had tried to. They included her no matter how much she might protest that she didn't have time.
Everything they did was new to Wumei who had grown up in a relatively traditional and protected environment. The way they dressed, talked and the rowdy way in which they allowed all their emotions to hang outside for the whole world to see. These blatant displays of affection or hatred, as well as their very liberal ways of thinking had shocked the reserved Wumei.
It was a completely different culture and way of thinking. A completely different way of living. One she didn't understand and didn't know if she wanted to. It was nice of them and she appreciated their thoughts, but at the same time, she felt very apprehensive about it all.
Wumei had stiffened when the male classmate by her side in the car had draped an arm around her shoulders. While she had been reading, he had been leaning closer and closer to her. When she had stopped or paused, he had pointed to the next word for her and sounded it out for her with an exaggerated drawl that had made the others in the car laugh. When she had stammered through the bawdy descriptions, he had touched the same places on her as mentioned in the narrative, making her squirm with discomfort, shrinking away from him until she discovered she was in the arms of the male classmate sitting on her other side.
Impatiently, the female classmate in the front passenger seat had snatched the novel to continue reading out loud, while the two boys in the backseat had taken advantage of her. They acted out parts of the narrative on her, making Wumei want to breakdown and cry.
"Sheesh, you're such a spoilsport," the female classmate in the front seat had huffed when Wumei really had begun crying. The novel had been thrown in her face and the two boys had let her go.
"Guys, don't be so mean," their designated driver had shaken his head while looking at her through the rearview mirror. "The weekend's barely started and you've already made her cry. We want everyone to have a good time this weekend. Don't ruin it for her."
Wumei ruminated on the memory while Sire shifted his sitting posture, uncrossed and then re-crossed his legs in the other direction. He rested them back down on her back, turned the page and glanced down at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the page in front of him.
It was strange, Wumei frowned to herself. These memories felt like a distant dream or a time from long ago when she was sure it had only been a few days. She couldn't even remember the names of any of her classmates anymore. All she could remember now were people with blank names and faces. Vague shapes and impressions.
The two boys hadn't completely kept their hands to themselves for the rest of the trip. They had leaned on her, slept on her shoulder, surreptitiously squeezed her assets and whispered threats in her ear if she let those in the front seat notice what they were doing. It had been with great relief when they had arrived at the camping place and Wumei had tumbled out of the car.
After grabbing her bag from the car boot, she had immediately distanced herself from those boys.
They had left her alone to wander after the girls who had come in other cars or vans. The boys had gathered in a group, while the boys who had sat with her in the backseat had pointed at her from in the midst of the group. She had felt their hot eyes on her.
"Alright, everyone, we've registered with the office. We've got the whole lodge to ourselves. Thank the dude here later. He's paid for all of us. Make sure you all pay him back. Go bag your bunks," the handsome class leader with gold rimmed glasses had returned from the office with the flamboyant rich man of their class. The class leader had waved his hand at the rich boy and everyone had shouted their thanks as they raced away, shoving, shouting and screaming.
Wumei had watched the rich boy race after them, leaving her and the class leader staring at each other. Not knowing what else to do or say, Wumei had lowered her head to follow the crowd when the class leader had come over and draped an arm over her shoulders.
She stiffened up.
"Relax," the class leader had patted her shoulder and then her cheek. "Smile a little. It's ok. I heard about what happened in the car. I'll give the others a telling off and nobody will tease you like that again. Ok? You don't have to be so scared. Everyone wants to be friends with you and get to know you better, so you should try to open up a bit. They were just messing with you. Don't hold it against them. If you don't like anyone touching you, you need to say so, and we'll respect your boundaries. Don't be afraid to speak your mind. Ok?"
"Ok," Wumei had nodded, taking his word for it. "Then if you don't mind, would you please get your arm off me? It's heavy."
Taken aback, a strange expression had flitted across the class leader's face and then he had laughed. Taking his arm back, he had helped Wumei to carry her bag instead.
"Come on, Wumei," he had shaken his head in a helpless manner, still chuckling to himself. "Let's go find out what bunks are still free."
Although Wumei hadn't quite understood what he had been laughing or shaking his head about, she had followed him into the building. Glancing at the bright light reflecting off the river behind the lodge building, she perked up. The water seemed inviting.
Wrapped in her memories, Wumei didn't notice Sire glance down at her again. He licked his lips and stroked her head a few times, before continuing to read. Wumei didn't notice at all. One of his men had entered the room, but Sire had flicked his eyes and the man had left again as quietly as he had come.
Many of her classmates had chosen to make mixed gender rooms, with the boys sectioning off a corner for the girls to safely change in using the spare mattresses off the pile of spares in the storage room. They all seemed busy and excited, making beds or taking their things out to change into bathing suits. It seemed they were planning to go and play in the river.
Some of the boys stripped in plain view, not caring who saw them. The room doors were wide open and Wumei quickly turned her head away, blushing while the class leader told them to have more respect and at least close the door before getting changed. He hugged Wumei's face to his chest and she didn't resist while he scolded the other boys who cheered and laughed.
"Did you get a good look, Wumei?" one boy hooted. "I'll let you have a closer look if you want. Just give the word and I'll even let you have a ride."
"Idiot!" a girl's voice had shrieked and there had been the sound of someone yelping in pain while being hit. "I thought I was your girlfriend!"
The class leader had closed the door on all the noise in that room and led her away, gradually letting her go. He reached out to stroke her head but Wumei dodged away.
"Thank you," Wumei told him solemnly, patting her still hot cheeks.
"It's what I should do," the class leader had sighed, looking at his outstretched hand and then at her and then retracting his hand.
"Dude, you're finally here," one of the boys rushed out of a dormitory room further down the corridor. "I saved a bunk for you."
The boy dragged the class leader away and the class leader could only toss Wumei's bag back into her arms while he was pulled away.
"Wumei, sorry. You'll need to find a bed yourself," he called just before another boy appeared to help drag the class leader into their room.
Wumei looked up and down the empty corridor, noting from the noise that all the rooms on this floor seemed to contain boys. Taking care not to look into any of the rooms in case she saw more boys changing into bathers in plain sight, she rushed toward the staircase at the end of the corridor and then climbed them in the dim light.
Sure enough, the sounds of girls came from most of the rooms on this floor and all of the room doors were closed. There was only one room that sounded like it was a mixed gender room. Wumei hesitated, wondering what she should do. If the boys were planning to go swimming, the girls were probably going too. Which meant that they were all likely to be getting changed at the moment. She didn't want to open the door and scare anybody.
A room door opened and the girl who had sat in the front passenger seat of the same car as Wumei stuck her head out to shout down the corridor.
"Teens! Five minutes! It took five minutes!"
"What?" a muffled voice wailed from another room. "Who puts on makeup in five minutes?"
Then the girl noticed Wumei standing there.
"What are you doing there?" she shook her head at Wumei with eye rolling exasperation. "Can't find a room? There's a spare bunk in here. Come in. We're all getting changed to go out."
Then, seeing Wumei still hesitating, the girl looked both ways in the corridor to check for people. She darted out wearing only a bra and underwear, and dragged Wumei into the room.
"That bunk's yours," she pointed to an upper bunk by the door out to Wumei and closed the door. "Hurry up and change. No one's going to wait for you."
Sire turned the page and lifted his eyebrows at the graphic details printed there. He rubbed his nose and stared down at his footstool for a long moment. Then he cleared his throat.
Wumei came back to the present with a start and lifted her head to fearfully look up at the man sitting above her. His well defined and bulging muscles showed through the torn material of his clothes. Even though she wasn't interested in relationships, she had to admit that he was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen.
Even though he was so good looking, she seldom looked at him. He had a volatile temper and other people had been killed just for looking at him wrong or speaking at the wrong time. Wumei preferred it if he didn't notice her and just treated her like a part of the furniture. She'd live longer that way.
"You've read this?" he locked eyes with her and she hurriedly looked down in case he got angry.
Wumei shook her head, feeling herself blush. It really wasn't a good novel to be caught with. What sort of a person did he think she was now? A closet perv?
"Why did you have it on you then?" Sire demanded with a confused frown. "Do you know what's in here?"
"My classmate wanted me to read it," Wumei stammered, staring at the floor and wishing she could dig a hole to hide.
"Why?" the man took his heavy legs off Wumei's back and he pulled her up to sit on his lap.
Wumei grew stiff and didn't dare to move at this. Sire had never sat her on his lap before. In fact, she'd never seen him bring any woman into the throne room where she now lived as his pet. Only the pirate king's subordinates ever came in here.
"Why?" Sire repeated, lifting her chin. "Look at me and tell me why your friend wanted you to read it."
"She said I was too ignorant of the ways of the world and stupid. She wanted to expose me to more things," Wumei tried not to stammer, but she couldn't help herself. The passages she had read in the car were still the opening passages of the book and it hadn't gotten really down and dirty yet. Even so, the information it had provided had already been too much for her. The man's intense eyes bored into hers and she couldn't maintain the eye contact.
She could feel her entire body beginning to burn with embarrassment at the thought of what the novel contained. Her ears felt like they might burst into flame at any moment.
"Do you want me to do anything mentioned in the book to you?" Sire asked with a smirk, obviously enjoying the way she had unconsciously begun to squirm in his lap.
"No!" Wumei gasped, feeling his hot hand slide down to her lower back and then up under her shirt, making her shudder. She wanted to push his hand away but didn't dare. "Not at all, Sire."
"Do you want me to teach you the things in this book?" Sire leaned in close to Wumei's face and she tried to turn her head away. The fingers gripping her chin cupped her cheek. "Little White Rabbit," Sire whispered in her ear, "although I gave you the option of choosing to be my pet or my woman, I don't think I'd mind doing it with a pet like you. You've never been with a man before, have you? From your reactions, you must still be a virgin. You probably haven't even had a boyfriend before, right? I can't help but want to do the same things the hunter did to the little white rabbit he caught in the story. I think you'd enjoy it. And if not, you can learn."
Wumei shivered with fear, at once feeling both hot and cold. The large man's smile deepened and he hugged her tight to his body. One hand held her head possessively, while the other roamed her torso underneath her shirt.
"Initially, I was thinking of marrying you to my other pet so that I could watch the two of you become intimate for amusement. He has done some good work and I wanted to reward him. However, this storybook has given me some excellent ideas and you, unlike the other women, won't make any extra demands on me if I play with you. Mmm," he nodded to himself and rested his chin on the top of her head, while Wumei felt something growing hard beneath her shivering backside. "I think we might just try it. What do you think, pet?"
Wumei was too terrified at what her owner was suggesting to answer him. From what she knew of the story, that hunter had teased and forced the woman he had caught in the woods, treating her both kindly and meanly until she had surrendered and then fallen in love with him. If that wasn't Stockholm's, Wumei didn't know what was. She did not want to fall into that kind of relationship.
When Sire saw she'd been scared speechless, he gently lifted her chin to capture her lips with his. He started gentle and shallow, gradually reaching deeper when he saw that his docile pet had fallen into a daze. He plumbed the depths of her mouth with his tongue and his eyes crinkled when he felt her initial resistance melt into surrender.
As he kissed her, he reached under her skirt to the bare skin beneath, finding that each stroke he made along her inner thighs made her shudder in his arms. Gently, he fondled her, allowing her to get used to his touch and when her stiff body began to relax somewhat, he reached deeper.
"Since it's going to be your first time," he told her, "I have to make sure you're well prepared. I don't want to hurt or damage you. And since I also promised you to my other pet and I'm a man of my word, I'll call your new husband in to join us. You can get married to him this evening with my blessing."
Wumei gasped for breath, feeling dizzy, confused and wanting to refuse her owner but not daring to do anything to make him angry. The last person Sire had been angry with had been torn apart by Sire's bare hands. Just remembering it brought the scenes and feelings of that day back to the forefront of her mind. Hot blood had spattered on her. The walls and doors had been painted red while Sire had licked his lips, laughing.
"Don't be afraid," Sire told her, stroking her gently and waking her from the memory. "I'll make sure you enjoy it."
Wumei pushed at the hand beneath her skirt that was drawing circles around her private area, trying to stop him from playing with the electric button that he had found there. He ignored her hands as if they weren't there.
"Good girl," Sire kissed her, while he played with her. "Don't try to stop me. As my little white rabbit, how can I let you go after you brought me such an interesting book? You should experience the story with your whole body since you haven't read it. I'll let you feel and enjoy it all."
His large and hot fingers made her nether areas throb. Wumei gasped at how his fingers began to slide with less friction, bringing a different sort of feeling. And then his fingers began to intrude and stretch her little by little. Even so, Wumei still wriggled and cried with discomfort. All her attention was on what Sire was doing to her, such that she barely noticed when another person entered the throne room.
"Yangwei, my pet, meet your new wife. I'll hold her steady and you can take her virgin back hole."
Wumei just wanted this shameful torture to end and began to plead with her master to stop and let her go. But then new firm hands gripped her backside, spreading open her butt cheeks. She shrieked and flinched away, but Sire held her firmly, wriggling his big fingers inside to remind her that she was a fish that had already been caught on a hook. There was no escape.
"Make sure you're properly lubricated," Sire's voice rumbled through his chest, hugging Wumei to him. "If you hurt her or tear her, I'll tear you a new hole."
Before Wumei could finish comprehending what Sire had just said, [redacted] made her gape and forget to breathe for a moment. While she was still trying to come to grips with it all, Sire's fingers retreated and she was [redacted]. There was a sharp tearing pain that brought tears to her eyes. Wumei cried out in pain and struggled but was firmly held down.
"Good girl," a large hand wiped the cold sweat from her face. "I'm told the first time is the worst for most women. It has to be done quickly, so that it can be over sooner. Here, wrap your legs around my waist. Don't cry. Good girl. Too deep? That's not deep. We're not moving anymore. You just relax there for a moment and get used to it, ok? I promise it'll get better soon. Yangwei, you may start moving first. Feel free to come inside her."
Wumei felt her organs being shifted around and something new and strange being stirred up. She felt too full and overstimulated. She couldn't focus on anything. Every time she tried, something new would happen or something would move, giving her a rushing shock. Although she didn't want to make noises, she couldn't help it.
Wumei rapidly lost track of time. Her entire body was aching and she could barely keep her eyes open. She was too tired to move. She felt dirty and disgusting, but strangely calm and satiated at the same time. What that said about her character, she didn't know. Didn't want to know.
Could someone save her?
"She's your wife now, Yangwei. You are married to her back end. Her other holes are mine. Go and wash my little white rabbit clean and then bring her back to rest," Sire said in an unusually gentle voice. "Take good care of her."
Wumei felt herself being washed in warm water with a soft cloth. What luxury. Clean water was a rare commodity in this place and so to waste it by using it to bathe with was a big deal. Unfortunately, fatigue wouldn't allow her to open her eyes. Wumei could only allow the man washing her to continue taking care of her.
"Don't be afraid," a warm, mellow voice whispered in her ear when she was lifted out of the water to be towelled dry. "Sire and I will take good care of you. We won't hurt you. I'll be very good to you, little wife."
Wumei drifted in her dreams for a long time. She dreamed again of how the giant crocodile that had appeared in the river had invaded the lodge along with the flash flood. There had been screaming, horror and confusion. In the chaos and receding waters, Wumei had hidden with her bag between the spare mattresses stacked in the storeroom. The storeroom, while being on the first floor, had miraculously remained relatively dry. Perhaps it had been the rubber edging around the door. Curling up in between the spare mattresses, she had built imaginary invisible barriers between her and all the outside danger, wishing her imagination would become reality.
The huge crocodile had pawed at and nudged the mattresses, but not found her, before leaving with a stinky snort to find the more interesting people running and screaming outside in the corridor. It had been too big to turn around inside the room and could only back out the way it had come in. That was when the whole building had jolted, sending the clawing reptile sliding down the corridor, while Wumei remained safe in her hiding place, protected by the foam mattresses above and below her.
Sire's men had invaded in the midst of all the screaming and tilting. People screamed from outside the storeroom that they were no longer in the lodge by the river, the world was ending and they were all going to die, drifting in space. They screamed of barbarian raiders with machetes. The building had rocked to and fro without rhythm, landing with a jarring crash and yet more screams. Wumei heard how her classmates pushed each other out and betrayed those still in hiding to the intruders. Almost all of them surrendered in selfish panic.
"Is this everybody?" Sire's voice had repeated when yet another person was dragged shrieking out of their hiding place.
"Wumei! There's still Wumei," someone had shouted. "I saw her go into the storage room earlier before the crocodile arrived."
"Then she's probably dead and been eaten," someone else had scoffed.
Wumei had heard the storage room door slam open and she froze, not even daring to tremble, in case she was noticed. She heard the sound of the mattresses being pierced and slashed. Thankfully it was at the other end of the mattresses and not near her.
"Easy there," Sire's voice had said. "These are all premium goods now. Don't damage them. Bring them all back home. We could do with new beds."
The mattresses had been peeled away from above her one by one. Wumei had only been able to hug herself and shiver every time she felt another layer being removed. It was as if Sire had known she was there and was playing with her.
Finally, the last mattress above her had been removed, despite Wumei's best efforts to hold it in place. Sire's face had loomed close with a pleased and pleasant smile.
"Hello there, little thing," he had said, watching her bury her head in her arms with panic and signalling his men not to move first. "Excuse us, while we plunder your hiding place from you."
Sire had picked her up and held her curled up body in his strong arms, while the rest of the mattresses were taken away. He patted her as if he was comforting a child.
"Wumei! That's Wumei. She's still alive!"
"It's a miracle she survived the crocodile. It was chasing her after it ate..."
"Sir, you can have her. She's one of the prettiest of all the girls in our class and is the most docile and obedient," the class leader's voice had said. "If we give her to you, will you spare the rest of us? We'll follow you and won't make a fuss. Don't hurt or kill us. Please?"
Large hands had stroked her back and Wumei had been carried away by the big man.
"Lock them up for now," Sire had said, his voice seeming to be amused. "I'll keep the little thing first and see whether she is worth me keeping as my woman, a pet or a slave. Maybe I'll do something new and give her a choice."
Wumei opened her eyes in the present and uncurled herself slightly to discover she was on Sire's bed. She grimaced with pain and swallowed her groans. Every movement caused every part of her body ached. The hand stroking her back stopped and she was hugged tight. Feeling the Sire's rising excitement, Wumei panicked.
"Little White Rabbit, you've finally woken up," Sire stroked her cheek. "Good girl. The doctor said that you'd been overstimulated and were exhausted. Why are you so delicate? Now that you've woken up, you should be ready for more soon, hmm?"
Wumei flushed and emphatically shook her head, trying to hide her head under the blanket. Unfortunately, she was forcefully rolled onto her back and straightened out.
"The blushing bride should greet her husband as well, shouldn't she?" Sire pulled her hands away from her face and pinned them down. He turned her head to face the side of the bed. "See. That's your husband, Yangwei. He's another pet I picked up not too long ago. He's my favourite pet. He fights well, guards me and does whatever I say. He's very clever and resourceful. He was very rebellious at the beginning but he finally accepted his position after I helped him take revenge against the enemies he came with. How do you like him?"
Wumei looked at the handsome warrior who stood with a bare chest and wore nothing but a torn pair of shorts. He was as handsome as Sire, but with a smaller frame and less bulk. He also looked younger.
"I chose a good husband for you, didn't I?" Sire praised himself, kissing Wumei's cheek. "What do you think of your wife, Yangwei?"
"Very good, Sire," Yangwei replied, looking at Wumei with a gentle gaze.
"What do you think of my choice for you?" Sire asked, getting off Wumei and helping her sit up.
Wumei grimaced in pain and tried to cover herself up with her hands. Where were her clothes? Couldn't they give her clothes back? Even if she wasn't fully covered, at least let all her important parts be covered.
"No need to be embarrassed," Sire nibbled the edge of her ear, making her shiver. "We've already seen everything. You look lovely the way you are."
Wumei looked down at her body that was covered in red and blue marks and wished she could hide. How was this 'lovely'?
"Take your wife, Yangwei, and bring her to your kennel. Show me how much you love your new wife. Make sure to use enough lubricant."
Wumei was pushed into the warrior's arms. He tried to help her up, but the moment Wumei tried to walk, her legs gave way beneath her. Sire chuckled.
Yangwei picked her up and carried her over to what looked like a large sized dog house with a chain at the door. He draped her over the roof of the house and carefully placed her hands where she could hold onto something. Wumei tried to turn away and escape, but she was met with Sire's sturdy body blocking the way.
"Be a good girl. Let's unlock another position today, Little White Rabbit," Sire smirked, catching her and forcing her back into position. "Since you don't seem to only want Yangwei to dote on you, you must be looking for me to help. Right?"
Who wanted Sire to help? Her body was still sore and she hadn't recovered yet. She didn't want his help. She really didn't.
"We need to teach the naughty little rabbit to do as it's told."
Wumei could only helplessly cry out while she was bent over the roof of the kennel and spanked until she danced in pain. And then, she cried out again, when [redacted].
"Good girl," Sire stroked her head while Yangwei slowly [redacted]. "Relax and enjoy it. This is your husband showing you how much he cares. You need to give in and respond. Enjoy it. If Yangwei didn't like you, he wouldn't be so careful and gentle. I tried giving him other women before, but he hammered them until they begged me to send them back to the whorehouse. See how he kisses your ears and nibbles them to apologise for scaring you? He's never done that for any other woman before. He must really like you, pet."
When Yangwei was done, Wumei felt him release his hold on her. Liquid dropped down her legs. Her weak legs gave way so that she slowly slid toward the ground. Sire pinned her in place and hoisted her into a higher position than before so that her toes barely scraped the ground. The top of the kennel dug into her midriff. Sire stroked her body, before sliding his hands around her waist to find a good grip.
"My turn," he told her. "Be good. You're going to love this."
Lifting her hips, [redacted]. She scrabbled at the top of the kennel, wanting to escape. Sire was too big.
"You're still not warmed up enough? Seriously, why are so small? Little White Rabbit, you're really tight. You need to relax and loosen up," Sire coaxed, kissing her. Slowly at first. So slowly that it had made Wumei moan. Which, of course, had only encouraged him.
[Redacted]
She woke up and passed out again more than once. Sire seemed to have been unsatisfied. [Redacted]. Both men seemed to be having a competition.
It was two days later before Wumei woke up to hear the doctor berating the men for overindulging and not thinking of her weaker physique. As if to apologise, Wumei was sat on Sire's knee while Yangwei fed her. It was only dry food and water, but in this place, it was already a meal fit for a king. When she could walk again, Yangwei brought her for a walk through Sire's private rooms and let her feed the caged pigeons with crumbs.
The men teased her, but didn't go further. They seemed to enjoy watching her squirm and writhe beneath their hands. The two enjoyed provoking her [redacted].
Once they had conditioned her body to [redacted], they began to train her stamina. She had to [redacted]. [Redacted]
[Redacted]
Yangwei mostly watched or did what Sire told him to. It was very seldom that he acted on his own desires.
Unless Sire asked Yangwei to speak, the man wouldn't utter a word. Rarely would he say one or two words to Wumei. If he did, it was to apologise, reassure or give one word explanations. Sometimes, he would bring Wumei to an empty gym where he and Sire would exercise and then spar against each other. They tried to teach Wumei, but didn't always have time to follow up with what they taught her. So Wumei didn't learn much except to lift weights.
Once, they left Wumei lifting weights in the gym, forgetting about her until some of Sire's subordinate's had found her crushed and exhausted by a barbell she could no longer lift. If Yangwei hadn't returned to come looking for her, those subordinates would have taken advantage of her vulnerable position. To teach them a lesson, Sire had Yangwei put a knife in Wumei's hand. Sire had held the men down and Yangwei had guided her hand to castrate each of them. Yangwei had then pulled out the sacs of each man and stuffed it in their mouths, forcing the crying men to swallow.
Wumei had been sick for days after that and Sire had lamented her weakness. At least, Wumei thought it was days.
There was no way to track or tell time in the huge, floating derelict. All times were based on Wumei's guesswork. Sometimes she wondered though, whether she had always lived here under Sire's shadow and been dependent upon the volatile man's mercy and grace. He had never been angry with her specifically, but Wumei always worried what would happen the day he did lose patience with her.
Soon, the doctor gave the all clear. Sire hadn't been able to hold himself back and it was only a week later when Wumei was too sick or sore to move or open her eyes again.
A fever had raged for several days and she heard the doctor scolding Sire for abusing her. Already irritable, Sire had knocked the doctor out of the throne room with a punch and two kicks. Sire had kissed her and then left her in his bedroom. Wumei was left with Yangwei to care for her. He didn't talk much, but he treated her kindly and helped rub ointment into her sore parts. At night, if he returned, Sire would call Yangwei to rest and Sire would hug her to sleep in the big bed.
Although she wasn't sure, Wumei guessed it was a week before she was able to wake up and move around again. Sire didn't dare to indulge himself in her anymore. In a sulky mood, he would order Yangwei to do things in his stead, giving Yangwei full permission to [redacted]. Sire would watch gloomily from the side, [redacted].
Sire gave directions for Yangwei to try all sorts of positions and referenced the tattered erotic novel. He'd have them act out scenes from the novel and even write new scenes for them to play out.
That was when they had free time, and free time grew increasingly scarce as time went on. Wumei picked up a few mutters of 'unrest', 'rebels' and 'upstarts with a saviour complex' here and there. More and more often, she returned to her old roles as a footstool or coffee table, allowing her mind and imagination to wander. Whenever she went out or even went to the toilet, Yangwei was tasked with keeping her company and guarding her. He even followed her into the toilet, although he always turned his back until she was done with her business.
Often, Sire would send Yangwei out on errands, while Wumei was left behind in the throne room to serve water or be Sire's cat. Sire had fallen into the habit of stroking her head or back while he was thinking, even during meetings. When Yangwei returned, more often than not, he would be covered in wounds and injuries. Not only him but many of Sire's elites.
On occasion, Sire would leave Yangwei behind to recover from his injuries and he would go out to fight. When they returned, the men would sit around the throne room bandaging each other's wounds. They were seldom in a good mood, even if they had won a skirmish.
"Little White Rabbit," Sire called her one day and sat her on his lap while Yangwei looked on without expression. "The position of the king here is not stable. There will always come a time when a younger fellow will become rebellious, cause trouble and then challenge me for the throne. Usually, I won't care or be bothered with those upstarts, however, this time, I have underestimated my opponent. He and his followers are crafty and learn far faster than any other new upstarts before him. I will admit that he would make a good king and take care of our territory well if he wins, so I don't have to worry about everyone if I lose. As king, the most important thing is to care for the people and ensure they can live peacefully with enough food and water to survive. I may not win the next battle. I wanted you to be aware and prepare yourself. The only people I'm truly concerned about are you and Yangwei. If Yangwei and I both die, you will have no protector, but everybody knows that Yangwei is mine. If I lose, the next king will surely kill Yangwei. Yangwei deserves more but I can't give him his freedom, because without me to watch his back, he'll be targeted. What do I do? You'll help me look after him when I'm gone, right?"
Wumei frowned. Why was Sire telling her this? Was he expecting to fight a losing battle where both he and Yangwei would be killed? If they died, would the next king kill her as well? Or would he want to continue to keep her as his little pet? Or would he use and abuse her like many of the other women until she died?
"You probably don't know why I decided to keep you by my side," Sire sighed. "You caught my eye. Like a frightened little wild animal, you were. I've found keeping you very relaxing. You let me stroke you and treat you like a little cat. You don't resist. You don't demand or expect anything from me. Even when you're scared, you still don't change your attitude. You know your boundaries. You relieve my stress. If I don't win against this challenger, please don't forget me, ok? I'll do my best to keep you safe and negotiate for your safety. From tomorrow onwards, stay in the room behind the throne room. There's food, water and whatever you need in there. When the room is opened again, you will know who is the winner. I'll ask them to take care of you for me. If not then, then someone else who will be able to take care of you will come."
The next day, Wumei was locked in the small room behind the throne. Yangwei and Sire left her with a kiss on her forehead after they had been intimate with her for the last time.
In the room, Wumei sat and did mental arithmetic. She revised the almost forgotten coursework that was useless to her now. She practised the exercises that Sire and Yangwei had insisted that she learn. Not feeling very hungry, she nibbled on the food and sipped at the water. Food and water had to be rationed. Who knew how long she would be trapped in this room for?
The toilet was a big litter box with a lid, but even so, after a while, it made the room begin to stink. There was nothing Wumei could do about it.
She examined the room in detail, trying to see if she could find another way out. A hidden panel. An escape tunnel. All she found was a worn out wooden logo carved into the wall that she couldn't make out, with four digits she assumed might be the year or some sort of serial number. It was a pity she couldn't make out what the numbers were. There was, however, a word she could read.
'Caleuche'.
Wumei hadn't heard the word before, neither did she know what it meant. It seemed like a name. Maybe the name of a ship.
But how could she be in a ship? Unless the ship had arrived here in a similar way to how the lodge had years ago and gotten stuck in this hodgepodge derelict of multiple buildings and various types of construction. Modern, industrial, ancient and multicultural. There were all types of styles here. The confused building was a wreck no sensible architect would ever Frankenstein together even in a drunken rage.
The mystery did give her food for thought when she thought of ghost ships and ghost buildings that were said to reappear and disappear in the real world. Sometimes with people, sometimes without. Sometimes with dead bodies or skeletons, and sometimes with a crew or people calling for help. It made sense and yet it didn't. It gave her the heebie-jeebies and at the same time helped to soothe the fear that she might be forever locked up on this room until she starved to death.
The first two days weren't too bad. When she was bored, Wumei just went to sleep. It was the third day where she couldn't sleep anymore and where she was beginning to feel like she might be he only person left in the world. All sorts of panicked thoughts and imaginations assaulted her mind.
Maybe she'd be forgotten in this room. The electricity would flicker and die first. Then the candles and oil lamps would run out one by one. Her food and water would diminish and she would starve to death if she didn't die of dehydration first or kill herself because she had suddenly gotten claustrophobia and gone mad. Wumei tried all sorts of mind distracting techniques, but she couldn't stay focussed.
The walls were closing in and every sound seemed amplified. The shadows were full of menacing monsters. Creepy crawly insects seemed to be coming out of the woodwork, marching toward her. The walls creaked as if they were about to implode on her. Air seemed to hiss out the gaps between the wooden planks of the room, leaving her gasping for air.
Suddenly, the lock rattled. Someone was here. It had to be a monster or Sire's enemy here to kill her. Wrapped in her blanket, Wumei huddled under a table and stared at the door with vigilance. For some reason, the room had returned to normal.
The door was finally unlocked and thrown open. A nose wrinkled in disgust. A pair of sharp eyes swept the room in momentary confusion before finding her hidden under the table. The man knelt down to allow them to see each other better. Wumei looked at the unfamiliar man, clenching the edges of her blanket in her fists.
"Wumei. It's me."
The familiar voice jolted Wumei into bumping her head on the underside of the table.
"Look at you. Still as clumsy as ever," the man chuckled and Wumei blinked at him in confusion, trying to find a bit of familiarity in the unfamiliar figure. Seeing her puzzlement, the man fished out a broken pair of gold rimmed glasses and put them on. "There. Is that better? Recognise me now?"
Wumei raised her eyebrows, finally recognising her now well muscled class leader. She gaped. What was he doing here?
"Come on. Come out. We've found a way home. I've killed the dungeon boss and opened the way back for us. I came to find you and bring you back with everybody."
Wumei hesitated. The class leader's voice from when he had sold her to Sire echoed in her mind again. What if he was going to sell her again?
"We can't stay here long," the class leader said. "If the other inhabitants find us, they'll crown me the new 'Sire' and watch us closely to keep us from escaping. Come on. We have to go."
After another moment's hesitation, Wumei took the class leader's hand and allowed him to bring her back to where all her classmates were gathered together. They all cheered and a few hugged her as if happy to see her. Wumei didn't see why they would be glad to see her. They were the ones who had sold her in the first place. Perhaps their consciences had been pricking at them all this time. Rather than feel relieved or happy to be reunited with her classmates, Wumei felt lost and confused.
"If it wasn't for your sacrifice and you keeping the previous Sire busy, he would have noticed us sooner," someone thumped Wumei on the back.
"I guess being a vixen is a good thing in the right circumstances," a bitter girl grumbled.
"We're so glad you're alive. We've been so worried that you might have died like so many of the others."
"Come on! Let's go! We have to hurry."
"Ssssh! Keep your voices down, you idiots. Move quietly or somebody will notice. If they sound the alarm, they'll stop us from going back if they don't run ahead of us and overload the wormhole."
Wormhole? Wumei raised an eyebrow.
The crowd of students brought Wumei with them into the flooded section of the derelict. The stronger boys led the way, helping their weaker classmates through the mossy, soaked and slippery debris.
"Don't make any big splashes," the class leader hissed. "Don't attract the crocodiles."
There were signs of recent fighting. Dead bodies and bloody water to one side made Wumei grimace and look away with fear. At the same time, she couldn't help but search for two familiar figures.
In the water, to one side, Wumei recognised Yangwei's body slumped against some debris. She didn't see Sire's body anywhere. Breaking free of her classmates, Wumei checked his body. He was still breathing, but Wumei could see that he was bleeding out. She tore a piece of cloth to tie up the wound and hopefully stop the bleeding. Despite the grumbles of her classmates, they allowed Wumei to bring Yangwei along, helping her to support the injured man.
"He's one of the enemy," the class leader frowned at Wumei. "One of Sire's lapdogs. He led many of the attacks against us."
"He was kind to me," Wumei retorted. "I think he was stranded here too. Not that much longer before us."
"Alright," the class leader raised his hands, "but he's on the verge of death. He might not survive."
"Please," Wumei said, struggling under Yangwei's weight.
"Fine," the class leader shrugged, taking her place and pushing her away, so that he and another male classmate supported Yangwei's weight, "but if he suddenly attacks us, you're on your own."
"He won't attack," Wumei said stubbornly, following them.
"Huh," the class leader snorted with a scowl. He didn't drop Yangwei though. "Honestly, I don't know why I'm listening to you and bringing him with us."
"Because once in a while, you're nice?"
"What on earth is that meant to mean?" someone smothered a laugh. "He's always nice."
"Except for when he's selling you or sacrificing you for the greater good," Wumei muttered.
"Hey," the class leader frowned at her. "I'm sorry, ok? I had to do something or all of us would have been killed."
Wumei turned her head aside.
"I know," she mumbled.
"I came back for you. I didn't leave you behind," the class leader pointed out.
"Yes," Wumei nodded. "Thank you."
"Good," the class leader gave Wumei a long, hard look.
"Don't be ungrateful," one of the other classmates elbowed Wumei, but she only nodded, continuing forward with her head down. "At least you survived and we rescued you. Don't forget that."
"Sire told you where I was," Wumei glanced at the class leader. "He asked you to bring me back."
There was a long silence.
"Yes," the class leader sighed. "He did. That guy really fell in love with you. You're really lucky that he did, you know?"
"If you think so," Wumei said.
"I really hate people like you," one of the girls blurted out. "You always have something to say and complain about behind people's backs. You're never happy or grateful when people try to help you out the goodness of their heart. You had a good and easy life living with the king of the dump while we had to struggle to survive. We had to sell our bodies and work our butts off, while you could happily eat and drink everyday. We had to struggle to survive everyday, while you lived a good life with the king. People like you act all pitiful to gain sympathy and then drain all the people around you. You're just a blood sucking leech. We should have left you behind."
"What do you know?" Wumei gritted her teeth, feeling the words strike sharply in her chest. "Were you there? How do you know -"
"That's enough, Wumei," the class leader cut her off. "Everyone had their difficulties. No one had it easy. We all know that. Don't get angry and fight now. Not when we're almost home."
"But..."
"I said, that's enough," the class leader cut Wumei off again, this time, he glared at her. "Unless you want me to dump this guy and leave you behind?"
"Life was probably so good that she doesn't want to go back," someone deep in the crowd snickered. "She had people at her beck and call, a handsome king who doted on her and probably gave her the most pleasure she's ever felt in her life. Why would she want to go back to being an invisible rat who scurries in the shadows like the rest of us? Real life must be catching up with her."
"Even if things weren't that great," someone else muttered, "she probably deserved everything that happened to her."
"Ignore her. Ungrateful people like her that don't know how to appreciate friendship don't deserve our time and attention," another voice said. "We'll just take it that we never knew her and that all our efforts were fed to a bitch of a dog."
Wumei silently followed the class leader with her head down. Every now and then, she felt little bits of debris being thrown at her from different directions.
What had she said? She hadn't said anything wrong, but they had all decided to gang up against her. She wasn't being ungrateful. In fact, she was thankful that they had remembered her and had rescued her. She was happy that they had decided to bring her back home with them. She just didn't like how the class leader had justified selling her out without asking her.
They seemed to belittle her and had taken her as a tool for their use, but demeaned the fact that she had her own feelings. Why should she have been grateful that she'd been sold? She would have preferred to stay with them, but they didn't seem to see her as one of them. Couldn't she express her dissatisfaction with being sacrificed? Was she supposed to just take it all silently?
It was an ethical issue really. One that had her feeling confused, and now, even more alienated from her classmates. They all obviously had their own opinions of her and must have imagined and discussed how she was doing a lot. To the point they believed more in what they agreed must be the truth than what she who knew the truth said.
She couldn't say that they were right. Neither could she say that they were completely wrong. What could she do? Anything she said could easily be taken the wrong way. In the end, Wumei determined that it would be safest for her to keep silent.
They waded through the dirty cold water until the floor seemed to fall away into a black hole beneath the water surface. A few classmates were taken aback.
"Through here," the class leader nodded at the deep, dark hole. "Once we go through here, we should turn up back in the river behind the lodge. Wumei, you hold your man for a moment. I'll take a few people to go ahead to help you guys out the river when we come out the other end. Those who want to come, dive deep and swim fast. Don't panic and don't give up. You have to swim until you see the light on the other side. If you don't want to come, then feel free to stay here. I can only say that the wormhole will close in less than ten minutes, so make up your minds now."
"Thank you."
The words were on the tip of Wumei's tongue but by the time they came out, they were drowned out by the splashing of the students diving into the hole.
Wumei's classmates dove in, one after another. Those who could barely swim were held between two good swimmers. A few students glanced at Wumei without expression before diving down. Nobody offered to help her with Yangwei.
Soon, she was the last one left. In the distance, Wumei heard the shouting of people following their trail. They shouted and screamed at attacking crocodiles. Taking a deep breath, Wumei renewed her grip on Yangwei, tying his wrists around her neck with another strip of cloth off the bottom of her shirt. Looking around, Wumei sent her mental thanks and goodbye to Sire. With one more deep breath, she dove into the water, swimming down into the darkness.
The water grew colder and the water pressure increased. Wumei was running out of breath. She wasn't sure whether she was swimming downwards or upwards anymore. It felt like the world had flipped around her, making her feel dizzy, nauseous and confused.
There was a glimmer of light. That must be where she had to go. Somebody suddenly grabbed a hold of her arm, causing her to lose her grip on Yangwei. Wumei was hauled spluttering to the surface of the river and her teeth chattered with the cold despite the bright sunlight. Her classmates were all dragging themselves through the water and sprawling on the riverbank, catching their breaths.
The place where the camping lodge had been was gone. In its place was some rubble and overgrown weeds.
"Come on, Wumei. You're the last one," the class leader said, helping another classmate drag Yangwei's unconscious body to the riverbank. Wumei tripped and fell, but was helped back upright.
"Thanks," Wumei gasped.
Then she joined her classmates on the river bank to catch her breath. They laughed and revelled in their freedom. Wumei watched with joy bubbling quietly in her heart.
"Home! We're home!"
"I can't believe we managed to make it back."
"I never thought I'd ever want to go home so much."
"I never thought we'd make it back. I thought we were going to die there like the others."
"Thank God for our almighty class leader. Without him, even less of us would be making it back."
People laughed and cried and wept.
Wumei checked on Yangwei only to find he wasn't breathing. She immediately turned him on his side and opened his mouth to let the water there come out. The she rolled him back onto his back and began CPR.
Seeing how hard she was working to keep him alive, the class leader shook his head and took over when he saw her slowing down and struggling to continue. With the class leader's input, other classmates decided to help assist in the rescue attempt. Even if Yangwei had been an enemy. A life was a life, after all.
In the distance, surprised shouts came to see what all the noise was. The class leader got up to explain and emergency services were called, while Wumei doggedly continued to perform CPR. Her other classmates who had been helping sat back, shaking their heads.
"Give up, Wumei. He's gone," people told her and tried to stop her.
"He's not. He's not dead yet," Wumei insisted, checking carefully. She suddenly noticed a very shallow rise and fall of Yangwei's chest. "Look. He's breathing. He's breathing again."
Wumei turned him on his side into the recovery position, where Yangwei vomited without waking up. After making sure he was still alive and breathing, Wumei fell back onto her backside with fatigue. She stared numbly at the man. Even she wasn't entirely sure why she had brought him along. She had only strongly felt that she couldn't leave him behind.
About half an hour later, several emergency vehicles arrived. The police and several ambulances parked and came over to find out what was going on. The class leader stood out to give a brief account of their escape and pointed at Yangwei and Wumei.
"You should check on those two first. We don't know the man. He was one of our enemies, but Wumei insisted on bringing him along when she saw that he wasn't dead. The guy wasn't breathing for a bit. We performed CPR for a few minutes before he started breathing again. He's probably the most critically injured. I'm not too sure about Wumei. She hasn't been with us, but I found her locked up alone in a room with very little food or water left. She may have been in there for a few days or more. Possibly even a week, given how long we were fighting for. She doesn't seem herself or look well."
Yangwei was the first one carried into the ambulance after the paramedics performed a brief check. Nobody stopped Wumei when she climbed in after him. The paramedics tried to ask her questions, but Wumei was hit with a wave of fatigue. She couldn't answer them because her body had suddenly become very heavy.
She woke up in a hospital bed, hearing hospital sounds and smelling hospital smells. It made her wrinkle her nose. What did it remind her of again? Of a sad, painful memory. Something that had happened long ago. What was it again?
"Wumei," said a voice from the other side of her bed. "Your name is Wumei, right?"
Wumei slowly turned her head to see a nurse looking at a chart by her bedside. She slowly nodded her head, wondering if she was dreaming. The memory she had been trying to remember suddenly came back to her.
"My grandmother died in a hospital," she said, looking around the room. "I hate hospitals."
The nurse blinked at her in surprise and slight confusion.
"I never thought I'd be happy to see the inside of a hospital," Wumei concluded. "I'm not dreaming, right?"
"No, you're not dreaming," the nurse suddenly smiled. It was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. "You're safe here. Nobody can hurt you again."
Wumei took a deep breath in.
It was over? Really over? The nightmare had ended?
Then she remembered Yangwei.
"What about Yangwei?" she suddenly sat up and asked. "Is he ok? I came with him in the ambulance."
"Yangwei? Is that his name?" the nurse asked.
"No," Wumei shook her head, struggling to get out of bed, but the nurse stopped her. "It's what Sire called him. I don't think it's his real name. Is he alive?"
"He's alive," the nurse reassured her. "He had a bit of a rough time from blood loss and his wounds. He's also got a chest infection, but the doctors think he'll be alright. When you're feeling better, you can go visit him. But not right now. Right now, since you're awake, there's a few things we need to chat about first. You also need to take things easy and not get too worked up. It won't be good for the baby."
"Baby?" Wumei, who had just flopped back onto the bed in relief, sat bolt upright with fright. "What baby?"
"Your baby," the nurse said. "You're pregnant. Didn't you know? It's been nearly two months now."
Suddenly Wumei's stomach heaved, sending the nurse hurrying for a vomit bag. The vomit bag reached Wumei just in time. Wumei threw up what little liquid was in her stomach and then continued to dry heave until she passed out.
Seeing her open her eyes, the nurse patted her chest with a big sigh of relief.
"Don't make any big moves," she warned Wumei. "We've just put a needle in," she pointed at the line connected to an IV bag. "I'm sorry. I thought you might have already known. I didn't expect you to have such a huge reaction."
"I'm really pregnant?" Wumei rubbed her face. If she was pregnant, it could be Sire's or Yangwei's. Wumei wasn't sure how to feel about that. "This isn't another bad dream?"
"I'm afraid not, dear," nurse made a sad face. "I'm sorry to have broken the news to you in that way. How are you feeling? Do you need a break? I can come back to have a chat with you later if you want. It's just that the police will be coming around soon to talk to you later as well."
"Police?" Wumei rubbed her face again. "Oh. Oh, ok. Ask me your questions then."
She was pregnant with Sire's baby. Or Yangwei's baby. What was she going to do? She didn't want the memory of Sire, but since he was dead and gone, perhaps it would be good going to keep this memory of that overbearing tyrant. After all, he had been relatively nice to her compared to some other people. Or had he? Wumei felt confused. He had and he hadn't. What was wrong with her?
In a daze, she answered the nurse's questions, ate her lunch and answered the police when they arrived later to ask her some questions. She recounted the events that she could remember and what had happened to her. Somehow, it all felt very distant. Perfunctory. She wasn't sure how well she was answering the questions, because the police had sometimes asked her the same question more than twice.
"Did her blood tests come back with any evidence of drugs?" the police asked the nurse outside the curtain surrounding her bed. "Is she very unwell?"
"No," the nurse replied. "Just malnutrition, dehydration and an unstable pregnancy. I think she's still in a bit of shock. The doctors are a bit confused about some of her results, so we want to keep her under observation and make sure of things before we let her go. She only just discovered that she's pregnant after she woke up today and had a big reaction to it."
"A few of her other classmates are also pregnant," the police said. "We're still missing the accounts for a few of the lost students that had gone with them. Except for the unknown man, Wumei was the last to be questioned. We hoped she'd be able to shed more light on things. A pity. Of the eighty-something students who left, less than half have returned. We'll come and visit again some other time when she's hopefully feeling better. Please keep an eye on her mental health. All the students appear to be going through a hard time."
The voices dropped and Wumei strained to listen.
"...her family... news... yet?"
"No," the nurse replied and led the police out, saying more things that Wumei didn't manage to catch.
Her family? Something had happened to her family? Or were the police asking if her family had been given the news that she was back yet?
When the nurse returned some time later, she found Wumei worrying the edge of the blanket in her hands.
"Wumei, would you like to go to the toilet and have a shower? Wumei. What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"
Wumei took some time to form the words in her mouth.
"My - my family?" she managed to blurt out after a moment.
"Your family?" the nurse hesitated and then looked askance while she spoke. "Oh. Your family - your family have been contacted. We left them a message. I'm sure we'll be hearing from them soon or that they're on their way."
Wumei looked hard at the nurse.
"Anyway, would you like to go to the toilet and have a shower? I'll keep you company. I won't watch. I'll just stand outside the door just in case."
Wumei silently looked at the nurse a little longer.
"Alright," she said in a tight voice. "Someone will tell me what's happened to my family later, right?"
"Right," the nurse agreed with a nervous flutter of her hands. "But not today. You've had enough shock for one day."
"It's bad news then," Wumei said in a gloomy voice. "Thanks for letting me know."
"You know, it might be best for the police to tell you," the nurse ventured, helping Wumei up out of bed and pushing the IV pole along. "I don't know any details."
Wumei came to a stand still and shuddered for a moment.
"It's very bad news then," Wumei took a few deep breaths. "They're not all dead, are they?"
"Let's - let's use the toilet and have a shower first," the nurse jumped and gestured.
Wumei saw beads of sweat gathering on the nurse's nose.
"Alright. Let's do that," Wumei agreed, continuing to walk to the bathroom. Afterwards, she went back to sleep. It felt like she hadn't slept for years.
Her dreams were full of entanglements and panic. Shadows closed in around her as if to try and suffocate her. Yangwei fought his way through the shadows, beating them back and then holding her in his arms.
"You're ok. You're ok," he chanted in her ear. "I'm here. You're ok."
Wumei grabbed hold of Yangwei and refused to let him go. When she woke up, she found that she and Yangwei were huddled together in the bed.
"You're ok," Yangwei told her when he felt her move and open her eyes. "You're ok."
"You're ok too?" Wumei asked him with concern, hearing the wheeze and rattle in his chest. He looked so pale.
"I'm ok," he reassured her with a little smile. "I'll live."
"Good," Wumei sighed and closed her eyes to go back to sleep. "You'll stay here?"
"Yes," Yangwei agreed. "Don't be scared. I'm here."
"I'm pregnant. I don't know if it's yours or Sire's," Wumei opened her eyes to stare at Yangwei with concern.
Would he be happy? Would he be angry? Would he reject the baby? Reject her?
"Pregnant? We're having a baby?" Yangwei asked in a repressed voice.
"Will you be angry if it's Sire's?" Wumei asked tentatively.
"Doesn't matter. We belonged to Sire before. Now you belong to me. I belong to you. Don't be scared. I'll take care of you," Yangwei kissed her cheek and a smile spread across his face. "It'd be a miracle if it's mine. Even if it's not, it's still mine. Sire's gone. He wouldn't mind either."
"Miracle if it's yours? You mean..." Wumei rubbed her nose and glanced down at Yangwei.
Yangwei hugged her tight and looked at the ceiling.
"Sire called me Yangwei for two reasons. One, because I... am impotent. Or almost impotent. Two, because he wanted to show off his strength. He changed the tones of my name depending on what he wanted from me."
"I noticed that," Wumei yawned. "It was confusing. What's your real name?"
"Yang. Wei Yang. The 'yang' for sunshine," Yangwei wrote his name in Wumei's hand. No, she should call him Yang now. Maybe even Yangyang. Hmm. Yes. She liked the sound of that. Yangyang. The sun. Sunshine.
"Wait," Wumei stiffened a moment. "Are you the Wei Yang who disappeared last year while on a yacht with your friends? What happened?"
"My 'friends' tried to kill me. Or at least cripple me. My fiance and best friend ganged up with my other friends while we were out at sea. We happened to meet a ghost ship and they dragged me aboard to explore and ambushed me. The next thing we knew, we'd been taken captive by Sire's men and were no longer in the real world. I was already half dead and almost crippled. My ex hadn't held back. Sire saved me, patched me up and... anyway, my friends won't be coming back."
Wumei hugged Yangyang again.
"You've got me now," she said.
"I've got you now," Yangyang agreed.
"My surname is Chong," Wumei told him. "I'm Chong Wumei."
"Wumei," Yangyang called her softly.
"Yangyang," Wumei replied, making Yangyang laugh.
"Little White Rabbit," Yangyang whispered in her ear and Wumei blushed all the way to the tips of her ears. "Go back to sleep. I'll keep watch."
The next thing she knew, the doctors and nurses were scolding Yangyang for disappearing without informing them. The police were there to question him and wanting to take him back to his room, but Yangyang refused. Wumei gripped hold of his clothes tightly.
"I'm staying here to keep her company," Yangyang stuck his chin out. "We can talk here. Wumei won't mind."
Wumei nodded agreement.
After some, no, a lot of discussion, the police agreed. Then Yangwei, no, Yangyang's parents arrived, and there was a big, kerfuffling rush of noise and confusion. Wumei clung to Yangyang, not knowing what to do or how to react to so many people talking with so many different emotions in the room. Yangyang patted her to reassure her, but Wumei felt like the world was crashing down on her. It was too much to take in.
"Wumei?" she heard Yangyang's concerned voice call her and his hand pat her cheek. "Wumei? What's wrong?"
"Call the doctor or a nurse," she heard a woman's voice call. "The girl's fainted."
Wumei struggled to open her eyes but they felt heavy. From the confines of the darkness, she could only listen to Yangwei, no, Yangyang's parents talk to him.
"Marry her? Are you sure, son?" said Mr Wei with a doubtful voice.
"She's pregnant with my baby," Yangyang said in a steady tone. "She's already my wife. We got married over there. I have to take responsibility for her."
"It's good that you're being responsible, but..." Mr Wei's voice trailed off.
"But we don't know if a relationship born in such a difficult situation will last. From what you told us, you were matched by that man. Neither of you gave consent. You were both forced into this situation. Are you sure she wants to be with you?" Mrs Wei finished what Mr Wei had not.
"Even if she doesn't want to be with me, I'll still support her and provide her everything she and the baby needs financially or in whatever capacity she needs. If she decides she doesn't want the baby, I'll keep it," Yangwei said. "We can ask her when she wakes up."
"Son, we don't know whether she'll be able to keep the baby. Her health is unstable and once she learns about what happened to her family, her body may reject the baby altogether," Mrs Wei said.
Wumei felt herself stiffen up. Something bad had really happened to her whole family.
"Then don't let her know," Yangwei insisted with an iron tone in his voice. "This may be the only chance for the two of you to have a grandchild and my only chance to have a child. Wumei will give birth to a healthy baby for me. She won't let me down, no matter how she feels."
"This may not be something you can control just by saying it," Mr Wei told Yangyang and it sounded like he patted his shoulder. "We would love to be grandparents, but there are somethings best left to fate. Even though your brother is gone, and you may not be able to have children in the future, there is still a small chance that you can get her pregnant again. You've already done it once before."
Yangyang was silent.
"The baby might not actually be mine," he said in a low voice. "It might actually be Brother's."
Brother? Wumei was stunned. Didn't that mean Sire was Yangwei's brother?
"You - you found your brother? He was with you?"
"I believe so."
"Then where is he now? How is he? Why didn't he come back with you?"
"Brother... he sacrificed himself so that the two of us could come back."
Wumei felt a gentle hand stroking her head and she wanted to tremble. Only she couldn't. She was still trying to get over the shock. Sire was Yangwei's brother? Biological brother?
"He never acknowledged me as his brother," Yangyang said, continuing to stroke Wumei's head, "but if I could recognize him, I'm sure he recognized me. In any case, he protected me and kept me safe. He even gave me the girl he liked so that I wouldn't be lonely. When he saw that I might never have children, he tried to give me one. He told me once that he'd been there for too long. Once you've been there as long as him, there's no returning to the real world. You become bound to that place. Someone has to die to open the door to return and he allowed Wumei's friends to kill him, so that there would be a chance that I'd escape with Wumei when her classmates took her back. Brother planned so far ahead for me."
"Dead? He's dead?"
"I would be too, if Wumei hadn't insisted on bringing me back and refusing to give up on me when I nearly died."
Wumei felt a drop of water fall on her face.
Mrs Wei gave a broken wail and Wumei heard Mr Wei sniffling. From the drops of water raining on her face, Wumei guessed that Yangyang was crying too.
So Sire really had been his brother. What a big brother.
Then Wumei paused.
Wait. Hadn't Sire called Yangwei his pet?
This didn't make sense. Unless in doing so, he'd protected Yangwei from other people and given himself the leeway to give Yangwei more attention. Maybe?
Wasn't bedding her at the same time as Yangwei kind of like doing him at the same time? Eww. Disgusting.
Now it wasn't just confusing but gut wrenchingly disgusting as well. Wumei's brain started to hurt just thinking... and ugh...
Wumei's stomach heaved and she threw up. Again. And again. She felt exhausted and her entire body prickled with discomfort, but she was still throwing up. Throwing up as if her body wanted to reject all her organs.
Sounds drifted back in through Wumei's ears and slowly, slowly sorted themselves out into information she could process. The voices sounded muffled and distant. So far away.
"Poor girl," said a female voice. "She's been through so much, come back, struggling with her pregnancy and unwell... what is she going to do when she finds out that her entire family died because she went missing?"
Wumei felt her heart thud once in her chest for a moment. The one thud was so hard, it hurt.
"I know, right?" said a lower female voice. "Imagine. Her father had a heart attack at work when he heard she'd gone missing and was rushed off to the hospital. Then her mother and brother rushed to the hospital to see him, only to get into a fatal car accident and not make it out of surgery. When her father heard about that, he had another heart attack and died. There don't seem to be any other relatives and the family's friends had to pool together to pay for all the funerals."
Wumei's chest felt stuffy and tight. She couldn't breathe. It felt like her heart had stopped.
"I heard her boyfriend's family, you know the one that she rescued and brought back and has just gone into ICU, that they're helping her sort out all the rest of her family's property and inheritance and so on. They're rich and have connections and well, she did save her boyfriend's life twice bringing him back and then not giving up on him when he nearly died. It's good of them to help her in this way."
Yangyang was in ICU? He was so sick? Was he ok?
"Do you know how her boyfriend is doing?"
"I heard that he'll be fine. He should be coming back out of ICU and going to a HDU for observation within the next two days or so."
"That's good. It's probably a good thing she's been unconscious these last few days. It'll give her body time to rest and heal. Hopefully the baby will stabilize and..."
"Are you girls done with the obs yet?" a sharp voice barked. "There's other work that needs to be done. The medications aren't going to do themselves, you know."
"We're coming," the two chatting women's voices chorused.
Something was slipped on Wumei's finger and wrapped around her arm. There was a clicking tongue.
"That's strange. What's wrong with the sats monitor? It's not showing a pulse rate."
The cuff around her arm inflated tightly and then the pressure was slowly released with the hissing of gas.
"The blood pressure monitor is showing errors too. What's going on?"
The thing on Wumei's finger was moved to another finger, while the cuff on her arm was released, firmly strapped on and then inflated again.
Wumei felt sleepy. Just very sleepy.
"Her skin's all cold. Feel it."
"Wait. She's - she's not breathing. Her lips are going pale. Hit the button. Call a Code Blue."
"What's going on?" demanded the sharp voice.
"We can't get a pulse. She's not breathing. There's either no blood pressure or it's very low. Call a Code Blue. Quick!"
"Calling."
Moments later, an announcement echoed from the loudspeakers.
"Code Blue. North 5 West 4. Code Blue. North 5 West 4. Repeat. Code Blue. North 5 West 4."
There was the sound of rushing feet and a rattling trolley. There was the wind of multiple people entering the room and then there were many voices crowding the small space around her bed. With so many people, Wumei wanted to retreat.
She was so tired. Too tired. A little sleep would be good. She felt her consciousness starting to fade away and melt amidst the heat of the commotion.
Her body jolted, irritating her. What did they wake her up for? She was just going to take a little nap. Why were there so many people in here trying to wake her up?
Her body jolted again and Wumei frowned. It was too uncomfortable. What were these people doing,? It was so annoying.
Wumei opened her bleary eyes and grunted, wanting to snap at all these people crowding around her, pinching or rubbing or talking in very fast voices. She caught a quick snapshot glimpse of people's faces breaking into a smile when she saw them. But her eyes refused to stay open. They slowly slid back shut, bringing her into the dark with them.
Yangyang was hugging her in the bed when she woke up. Wumei felt as if she had run a marathon and then been hit by a truck. Turning her head, she looked at the sleeping man who now looked like a defenceless boy by her side. She stroked her still flat tummy and wondered what she should do with her life from now on.
"Wumei," said the tired and creaky voice of Mrs Wei from the visitor's chair by the bed. "You gave us all a huge fright. Xun'er almost went back into ICU after hearing about you. He insisted he get a shared room with you so that you can sleep together. How are you feeling?"
"Tired," Wumei croaked. "Very tired."
"Rest some more then," Mrs Wei told Wumei with a kind, if fatigued smile. "We'll keep watch for you. Xun'er is doing better. Don't worry about him."
"The baby," Wumei started.
"The baby isn't too stable at the moment, which is why you need to rest more. If anything happens, your life is still more important. We won't hold it against you if you lose the baby. Xun'er needs you too."
"Xun'er is Yangwei - Yangyang?"
"Yes," Mrs Wei's smile broadened. "He never told you his pet name at home? Well, now you know. You call him Yangyang, huh? His father will be amused."
Wumei's eyelids felt heavy and drooped down.
"Xun'er's father used to call him Yangyang, until one day Xun'er got angry, saying it was too childish a name," Mrs Wei giggled.
Wumei began to drift off again and she felt Mrs Wei tuck her in.
"Sleep more if you're tired. Don't worry. We've got you.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
Tonukurio
Tonukurio So... uh, I'll finish the story like this. Use your imagination as to what will happen next. Traumatic stories are extremely tiring to write. I get too immersed in them while writing.
Anyway, if you want me to continue this story, just drop me a comment. Otherwise, I think I'll leave it where it looks like Wumei will have hope, everything is sorted and she doesn't know that the government is going to call on the class leader and Yangyang to open the door to go back with them and explore.