Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 204: You Can See Me?

Chapter 204: You Can See Me?

"We can’t leave yet," said a man I never met. I watched as he approached Bai Long Qiang. He had a machete-type knife strapped to his waist and a giant backpack on his back. "We are missing the sheets."

"Look, Zhong Yong Zheng, you are a good guy, and I really don’t have a problem with you. But there is no way I am hanging around to look for 500-count sheets or whatever the fuck they are called," argued Bai Long Qiang, keeping his voice down.

I looked the newcomer up and down, completely agreeing with my man. The sick feeling in my gut was increasing with every passing second, and I knew it was only a matter of time before shit hit the fan.

"I get it. I really do. But you are new here and don’t quite know how it works. If we don’t get everything off of that list, it was like we failed our mission. That means our houses get put up for sale, and we are kicked down to the slums until we manage to work our way back up again. It also means that no guild will take us on since there will be a failure on our record. Without those sheets, we are fucked. All of us."

"Why do you put up with that?!?" demanded Ye Yao Zu as he walked up to the two men. "It doesn’t make sense."

"Does it have to? Wu Bai Hee has a firm grip on our balls, and we haven’t even met her in person," grumbled yet another new guy. "I mean, if you are going to fuck me up the ass, at least bring lube."

"Graphic," grunted Fan Teng Fei, and I had to agree with the man. I really didn’t need that picture in my head.

"But accurate."

"So, where do we find these sheets then?" sighed Cheng Bo Jing, adjusting his gun in front of his body.

"Your guess is as good as mine. The Princess Teams are going door to door looking for them, but without the packages telling us exactly what is in them, we have no idea either," grunted the second stranger.

A shiver rose up from behind me, and I could feel the eyes of multiple someones on the back of my neck. Spinning around, I searched the streets around me, trying to figure out where the feeling was coming from.

It was like we were being stalked... but how could the guys not sense it?

"Guys?" I called out, but of course, they didn’t hear me. "Fan Teng Fei!" I screamed, standing right in front of his face, waving my hands frantically. "You have to get out of here. Fuck the sheets. We’ll leave City A as soon as you get back. This isn’t worth it! Something is coming for you! You have to leave now!"

But still, the man didn’t so much as flinch.

Fuck.

The scene in front of me suddenly shifted, and I watched the guys walking down a highway. There was nothing around them, no signs letting me know where they were or in what direction they were going in. I needed that information to tell them where not to go.

But... nothing.

A highway like every other. Abandoned cars pushed onto the shoulder of the road. There were a few bright green signs in the distance, but someone had sprayed black paint all over them, tagging them, so I couldn’t tell what anything said.

On the other side of the pavement, forests grew unchecked, their branches reaching toward the center like stick-thin arms trying to grab anything that came close.

There were more than just my men walking down the road. I could see the outlines of them around, but there was nothing distinguishing about them. It was like Bai Long Qiang, and the guys walked in the light while the others were nothing more than shadows.

The conversations were muted. Their mouths moved as their lips formed words and smiles, but I couldn’t hear a thing.

But I could feel.

I could feel the darkness, the stomach churning hunger of the creatures hiding in the woods, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

I felt the pounding in their heads as their ears rang, the sounds around them distorted like they were standing underwater. But everything inside of the creatures hummed with the need to feed. With the need to consume everything around them.

One creature was clearer than the others; I could see the plans and strategies inside of his head as he planned out the ambush.

And that was what this was... an ambush.

My men were walking to their deaths, and nothing I could do or say would stop it.

"No!!!" I screamed, bolting up out of the bed. The room was dark, but I knew where I was. The smell of the familiar soothed my tense nerves.

But it didn’t last for long.

Looking around the master bedroom in Bin An Sha’s condo, I couldn’t see a single one of my men.

Fearing I was too late, I scrambled out of bed, not caring when the sheets wrapped around my legs, sending me sprawling to the floor. Crawling out of the mess, I gripped the hardwood floors with my nails, trying to pull myself closer to the door.

I didn’t feel the pain when my nails bent backward or even broke. Nothing registered in my head other than the fact that I was too late; the guys were gone.

"No!!" I screamed again, my fists pounding on the floor as the sheets continued to tramp me. Spinning around, I ripped them off of me.

"Wang Tian Mu! Wang Tian Mu! Firefly!!! Look at me!" yelled a voice behind me, but I couldn’t stop to concentrate. I needed my legs free. I needed to get to the guys. I needed—

"We can give you anything that you need. You just have to calm down and talk to us," came a new voice, this one right beside me.

My head twisted to the side as I took in the new voice.

"Ye Yao Zu?" I asked slowly, each word forming individually instead of all together.

"Yeah, Little Fox. It’s me," he said, his voice low and soft. He reached up a hand to cup my cheek, pausing only for a second when I flinched. "It’s me," he repeated, staring straight into my eyes.

"You can see me?" I whimpered as my voice broke.

"Yes, Little Fox, I can see you," he assured me. I could feel the heat from his hands on each side of my face and it leaned into it.

"And you can touch me?"

"Oh, Little Fox, I can touch you," he whispered, leaning forward so his lips hovered just over mine.