The walls are erected from age old thick stone, uneven but tightly packed together with cement. And complete with fire torches ensconced upon the rough surface with metal brackets and holders.
That mediaeval sight is in complete and direct contrast to the modern glass walls separating different labs with state-of-the-art technology, and the few people dressed in white lab coats and eye-protection gear with face masks.
A young woman spots them leaving the safety of the elevator and murmurs something to a colleague, who nods and takes over what she was doing. She strides to the glass door separating them, punches in a number and as the door opens, she throws off her lab coat and tosses it into a corner. Her safety goggles follow, and then she steps outside, right into Wei Ying's personal space.
Now, he gets a chance to really look at her.
She looks like his mother, that is Wei Ying's first thought.
Silver eyes, so much like his own, are staring back at him, and she is doing the same as he is, studying him in return. The arched brows so elegantly shaped over her lovely, sharply intelligent eyes, the curve of her cheek, and Wei Ying can see his mother's lips in her smile. There are minor differences, and Wei Ying can tell, this isn't his mother.
"Who are you?" Wei Ying breathes out at last, blinking away tears. He has no idea why he's so emotional right now.
She steps even closer and with a single finger, she lifts the locket out from under his shirt.
"May I?"
There's a strength in her voice which suggests that, by asking, she's extending a courtesy. That she didn't need to ask, but she did out of choice.
Wei Ying takes the locket off from around his neck and hands it to her.
"Follow."
Wei Ying's feet obey even before his brain has a chance to catch up.
They walk past many closed off labs with glass walls, and then they come to an area that seems definitely more comfortable looking and less clinical. There are black leather sofas arranged in a semicircle around a crest on the floor.
Wei Ying gasps and the lady looks back at him, and then as she follows his gaze, she smiles sadly. Sword Guy is following them as she leads them past a pair of double oak doors.
They bear the coat of arms on the other side of his locket.
There are no doubts in his mind now that this place, that lady and himself, are deeply connected.
"Wait!" Wei Ying suddenly says, feeling braver by the minute.
Both Sword Guy and the lady stop, just as she is about to turn the lights on.
"What is it?" She asks him curiously.
"I need my partner."
"No. This place isn't a hotel where anyone can come and go." She's frowning now.
Wei Ying thinks she could look scary if she wanted to.
"No, please, you don't understand. He's gonna go batshit crazy if he doesn't find me! I don't want him to do anything rash, like provoking people he shouldn't be. The only reason I came here was because that guy," Wei Ying glowers at Sword Guy, "said we were in danger. Lan Zhan should be here."
"What's he going to do? Storm Wen Laboratories?" Sword Guy scoffs.
But when Wei Ying goes pale, swaying on his feet, the lady barks out orders, while steadying him, as Sword Guy straightens up, alarmed.
"Where is Lan WangJi now?"
Sword Guy has stopped smiling and is taking her question seriously. He taps on his earpiece.
"Update? I see." His eyes are questioning as he states, "Nie Residence." To the lady.
The lady whips out her phone and hands it to Sword Guy. "Get him on the line now."
Sword Guy messes around on his phone, typing something and obviously waiting for a response.
The lady is getting more and more impatient, as her foot starts tapping on the floor. Seconds later, her phone is being handed back, and she puts it on speaker.
"Huaisang."
"Huaisang, is Lan Zhan there?" Wei Ying can't help himself, he has to say something.
"Wei Ying!" That's definitely Lan Zhan.
Wei Ying sinks to the floor in relief.
"Are you alright?" Lan Zhan sounds so worried.
"I'm sorry, I should have waited for you. I'll explain when you get here." Wei Ying replies, but his voice cracks with emotion.
"I'm sending someone to get you." The lady tells him. "He's wearing a white suit and he'll be driving a white Mercedes. He'll be there in...?" She looks expectantly at Sword Guy.
"Twenty minutes max." Sword Guy pipes up.
"Don't kill him. I'm rather fond of Xiao XingChen." The lady says, ending the phone call.
Wei Ying heard Lan Zhan trying to say something but she had cut him off. The lady turned to Xiao XingChen.
"Hurry."
Well, at least she and Lan Zhan had that in common, an economy of words and the ones they did use, were abrupt and to the point.
Xiao XingChen nods and whistles the tune that was playing in the car as he leaves, twirling the car keys around his pinkie finger.
"What is that melody? I feel like I've heard it before." Wei Ying asks her, as she finally turns on the light in the room.
It's actually an office, albeit a comfy looking one.
A real fire burns in a stone fireplace, guarded by a metal screen. There is a pile of cut logs in a metal case next to it, and a poker leans against that.
Two huge desks are on either end of the room, and the lady walks to the one on the left.
"Do you drink?" She asks him, taking out a decanter and two glasses made from crystal.
"Omg, yes! What have you got?" Wei Ying thinks that's the best thing to happen all day. "I don't keep any booze at home because of the kids, plus being a parent means I have to set an example."
She actually rolled her eyes.
"This is old stuff, but I figured we can because we're celebrating." She looks far too happy as she pours the clear liquid into the glasses. "It's called Emperor's Smile." She hands a glass to Wei Ying.
"What are we celebrating?" Wei Ying asks, taking a sip and humming in appreciation.
"The reunion of a grandmother and her grandson."
Unfortunately, Wei Ying had taken another sip by then, and it all spewed out accidentally, at her words.
************
Lan Zhan had all but manhandled Huaisang onto his chair in front of his computer, standing over him in an unintentionally domineering pose. Stress and anger were rolling off him in waves of uncertainty, and making Huaisang's fingers mistype accidentally.
They watched the clip on one tab while Huaisang opened another to check the address of these cameras.
"Just so you know, what we're doing isn't, strictly speaking, legal," he says, while his fingers are a blur on the keyboard.
"I don't care." Lan Zhan wanted to find Wei Ying, like, yesterday.
If Huaisang thought he was going to put him off by saying that, then he had another thing coming.
"As long as we're on the same page."
"On that note, do you have the blueprints for the Wen laboratories?" Lan Zhan's best guess is that they're somehow involved. He wants to cover all his bases, just in case.
"I might have." Huaisang hedges coyly. "Is that where you think he is?"
"I don't know. But so far, they're looking like the most certain culprits."
Neither speak as Huaisang locates another camera belonging to a random business, illegally accessing their security link and playing their CCTV footage. They manage to trace both Wei Ying and the guy dressed in white all the way to the white car.
When it drives off, Huaisang lets out a noise of disgruntled annoyance.
Lan Zhan starts to pace, listening to the other man's fingers on the plastic keys, the sound only causing him more agitation.
Where the hell was Wei Ying?
He wasn't going to allow himself to drown in panic. No, right now, anger was the only thing to make him feel better. Maybe he should get a tracker for Wei Ying, especially if he was a target for unsavoury scum.
He pulls out his phone and starts to research possible items and decides on jewellery being the next best thing to actually implanting something under Wei Ying's skin. Just the thought of Wei Ying being hurt in any way was enough to make him growl at his phone.
He could sense Huaisang throwing cautious looks his way, but he didn't care.
He wanted Wei Ying safe, but what good was that if he didn't even know where Wei Ying was? The frustration of that, plus Wei Ying's reckless behaviour in going with some stranger ... that was what was killing Lan Zhan inside.
Why?
This question hurt the most.
Out of everyone, Wei Ying knew the most about how dangerous it was on the streets, especially in downtown Denver. He knew about vampires. He knew they were already searching for Mr Lan, JingYi's father, and possibly, Mrs Lan, JingYi's mother.
He had read F4keSt0ries' message about how the vampires were looking for "someone", and yet, the next thing they know, Wei Ying is trusting some random guy in a white suit, going god knows where -
The shrill ringing of Huaisang's phone upsets his thinking, and instincts make Lan Zhan stand right next to the computer whizz, listening to the conversation.
There's no need for Huaisang to put it on speaker, because Lan Zhan can hear just fine.
His knees buckle at hearing Wei Ying's voice, the relief flooding his system like a tidal wave.
"Are you alright?" Lan Zhan says urgently, needing to know that above everything else.
"I'm sorry, I should have waited for you. I'll explain when you get here." Wei Ying replies, but his voice cracks.
"I'm sending someone to get you." Some woman says loudly. "He's wearing a white suit and he'll be driving a white Mercedes. He'll be there in...?"
"Twenty minutes max." A man's voice replies.
"Don't kill him. I'm rather fond of Xiao XingChen." The lady says, ending the phone call.
The dial tone is harsh, cutting into his words as Lan Zhan demanded where Wei Ying is.
Huaisang ends the call, looking up at him.
"Do you want someone to come with you?"
"No." Lan Zhan pinches the bridge of his nose. "But it's kind of you to offer."
"Oh, I didn't mean me." Huaisang chuckles at that. "Either one of our brothers would step up if we asked."
For the second time today, Huaisang has earned his respect in a most unexpected way.
"You can keep your phone on, and I'll be able to track you." Huaisang carries on with his ability to constantly surprise Lan Zhan.
"I want to buy something like that for Wei Ying." Lan Zhan admits, shocking himself. But if there's anyone he could talk to about something like this, it's Huaisang.
The man seems to be particularly proficient at underhanded things, and Lan Zhan thinks or hopes rather, that his moral compass is pointing towards good. But he needs Huaisang and now isn't a good time to question his motives for helping.
"Well, then..." Huaisang reels off a list of websites that Lan Zhan didn't even know about.
He's not going to ask how, or why Huaisang knows about them.
"If I had the choice and the chance, I'd want to keep my family safe." Huaisang says suddenly, after giving him tips on what would work. "And that includes anyone my brother cares about." He gives Lan Zhan a meaningful look.
"Thank you." Lan Zhan tells him sincerely.
It's one less worry if he knows XiChen is being looked after too, however silently.
"Just tell him the new bracelet Da-Ge gave him looks nice." Huaisang winks at him.
The rumble of a powerful sports car outside, prevents any further conversation.
"Remember, your phone." Huaisang tells him, as he walks towards the door.
Lan Zhan holds it up, showing him the screen before tucking it into his pocket. And then he goes outside.
He doesn't know what he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't this.
The car is ... breathtakingly beautiful.
Sleek and fast (Lan Zhan doesn't need to see it in action to know this, and he wishes he could show JingYi), but he was half hoping that Wei Ying would be inside it.
He's still disappointed by the fact that Wei Ying isn't sitting inside.
The White Guy, Xiao XingChen, as the lady had referred to him, is silent as they pull away from the curb.
But it's the music playing on the speaker system that holds all of Lan Zhan's attention.
It touches him deeply, all the lost, forgotten parts of him, taking him back to a time when he was only four or five years old. A mysterious, beautiful woman, another child laying next to him, and falling asleep to this soft melody.
And with a start, he realises that his own memory of this tune is a little distorted. His child's mind had only retained a small part of it, and his adult brain had filled in the gaps as he saw fit. But his version was nowhere near as beautiful as this.
He closed his eyes and let the music take him away, secure in the fact that Huaisang was already tracking him.
For some people, it was a sight. Seeing something that might have meant a great deal to them in the past. For others, it was a certain smell, which could transport them back to the very beginning, the first time they had experienced it, and the rest of their memories contained in that bubble of time.
For Lan Zhan, it was hearing this lost sound, the notes as familiar as his own name.
How could he have forgotten this part of himself?
It simultaneously soothed his fears and made him feel as if everything would be okay.
He only opens his eyes when the car's momentum stills, and he realises that he's missed the ride here. One quick check lets him know that his phone is still on, so Huaisang will know exactly where they are.
He gets out of the vehicle, glancing at the other foreign cars on display as they pass them to the elevator. His steps are quick, eager to know that Wei Ying is okay.
He will see him soon.
Until then, he can keep from hurting this man who had the audacity to take Wei Ying away from him. The anger returns and it's all Lan Zhan can do to hold it back, clenching his fists with effort.
And then, as he extends his awareness, he realises with a start, that he's inside a small, confined space with another vampire.
Xiao XingChen glances at his tight fists, seeing Lan Zhan recognising what he is in that exact moment, and he smirks.
***************
Wei Ying wasn't drunk...not on one glass of that heavenly blend of alcohol and fruit juice...because that's what wine was, right? He giggled to himself, thinking about the comedy aspect of slurping it down with a straw like a slurpee.
His grandmother simply shot him an amused look.
They hadn't done much talking, just more drinking.
Out of all the things he imagined he would do, if he ever met anyone who was part of his family, a drinking challenge certainly wasn't one of them.
Maybe chatting about relatives, and finding out that there were other people he was connected to, instead of being a lonely orphan, was one of them. Reminiscing about mutual members of their family was another.
Wei Ying would like to be part of a large family, he decides.
And he and Lan Zhan were making a good start on that, with A-Yuan and A-Yi, he thought with satisfaction.
Suddenly, he stands up, sensing more than knowing that Lan Zhan is here.
Wei Ying stands up and starts moving towards the door but it keeps shifting, and when it opens, it's not where it's supposed to be, and he sways dangerously. And then, strong, familiar arms envelope him in a warm, safe embrace. The soft, welcome scent of sandalwood hugs all of Wei Ying, and he smiles dopily back at Lan Zhan.
Lan Zhan takes one look at his unfocused gaze and gives the lady a hard glare.
"What have you done to him?"