Monster

Chapter 20.1 - Panic

Feng Yeran melted and solidified in the mottled, dark gold dream.

He heard cheerful laughter.

"Yeran, come here." A familiar, gentle voice.

He saw his mother, in a dark dress, snow-white embroidered gloves and a bow-tie sunhat, sitting on a stool and waving to him. His father, in a dark grey suit, was sitting beside her and said to him, "Silly child, what are you waiting for? We're going to take a photo!"

Feng Boran and Chen Xuan stood behind their elders. Chen Xuan was holding a puppy and smoothing its fur. Feng Boran's face didn't have the disdain it once had but was gentle and friendly.

Feng Yeran walked towards them step by step on the soft grass, his nose sour. There were small snow-white flowers dotting the green vegetation, golden sunlight, gentle birdsong and warm wind.

He stood beside Feng Boran, and Feng Boran put his arm around him. "Brother, smile, but don't blink."

His hand gently covered his mother's shoulder, and she turned back to smile, taking his hand warmly.

"Cheese-" the photographer said.

Everyone faced the camera and shouted "cheese" together.

A fragrant spring breeze came.

His mother dissolved into black fragments and faded away with the wind.

Before he could react, he heard gunshots and screams.

Black blood splattered on his body and Feng Boran fell to the ground. Then, there was Chen Xuan, terrified, screaming, like a frightened bird, but still falling into the pool of blood in the end.

Feng Mu stood up trembling and pointed at Feng Yeran, his eyes which were filled with fear and anger slowly widening, and then he slid to the ground.

Feng Yeran gasped loudly in the pool of blood, shaking all over.

An ice-cold man embraced him from behind, like a cold-blooded animal. The gun in the man's hand fell to the lawn with a soft dull thud, white smoke billowing from its muzzle.

The man's breath spread in his ear, as scalding as the muzzle of the gun, with a gentle smile.

"Don't be afraid, Ye'er. You still have me."

...

From time to time, Feng Yeran would wake up from his nightmares, and every time he woke up, he'd find Feng Hua holding him tightly. However, he no longer felt at ease, but was afraid.

He got up and wandered around the room. His mind was in turmoil.

...

Early in the morning, at the dining table.

Feng Yeran was silent for a long time before he said, "Feng Hua, for the time being, you should go back and stay at the institute."

Feng Hua suddenly lifted his head. "Why?? Are you driving me away?"

"No."

"Then why?" Feng Hua stood up and his eyes turned red. "You're going to have me locked into that small room again? Like locking up an animal-"

"No! No, Feng Hua!" Feng Yeran looked up at him, a thick blackness under his eyes. "There's a house near the institute. I applied for it for you before, and now it's ready to be lived in, so you can live there for the time being. It's spacious, in a nice environment, with a clock tower and a park around. It's really a great place..."

"Will you live there with me?"

"You're old enough to live alone."

"I'm not going! I only want to live with you! And, Ye'er, you think I don't know? Is there any difference between being locked up in a small room and being imprisoned in a house? My every word and action would be monitored every day. I would take a lot of medicine and be treated like a mouse... Okay, I don't mind that, but by that time, even seeing you would become difficult!"