The Yaoguai: Part Two (rough draft)

When Sun Bao was little, he used to love ghost stories. His grandmother would oblige his desire for the gruesome and tell him all matter of horrible tales. His parents absolutely hated it, but Sun loved his grandmother, and his grandmother loved him.

“Before your grandfather and I came here, we used to live in a small house in the middle of the forest. We used to see all sorts of things there. Your grandfather would go out to chop wood and he had to be careful of the Yaoguai that would sniff around the home.”

“The Yaoguai were monsters, right, Grandma?” Sun would ask, always eager to hear her description of the creatures.

His grandmother would smile. “Oh yes, dreadful things. Always trying to get into the house. But your grandfather was strong and knew how to handle them. Some tried to make deals with your grandfather, since he was such a strong and honorable man. They would offer him things; power, money, luck, whatever they could think of, all so they could ensnare your grandfather.”

“For what purpose?” Sun asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

“To corrupt and spread their power,” his grandmother whispered. “Most humans can’t see the Yaoguai, so all they can do is sort of annoy or frighten them. But when a human can see a Yaoguai, then that mean that human has a special power. If the Yaoguai can make a bond with that human, then they can inflict their influence onto the world.”

“But grandpa never did, did he?” Sun asked with worry.

His grandmother smiled and stroked the top of his head. “Never, little Sun. Your grandfather was wise. Which is why I am telling you now. You never know if you have that power until you actually see something. So be careful. If you seen something, try to react like they are not there, or they will never leave you alone.”

Sun kept his grandmother’s words close to heart while he was young, but as he grew and matured, he took the stories as fairy tales. He soon forgot his grandmother’s warnings, so when he was faced with a Yaoguai, he said this instead:

“Who are you?” Sun asked as he shakily took back his camera. “What are you?”

“Is that really the question you want to ask when I am standing right here?” They scoffed, tilting their head to the side. The pincers on either side of their jowls clicked then rubbed together. Behind them, the mouth was black and filled with sharp, yellowed teeth.

“What are you?” They say with high pitched mockery. “I am a thing with feelings, alright? After I saved your life, you would think you would be more grateful.”

Sun clutched tightly to his camera. “Down in that chamber-” His voice drifted off as he remembered falling. There had been roses scattered all about him, and then a wall full of strange objects he couldn’t make out in the darkness. 

The Yaoguai laid their hand upon their chest. “Wasn’t it lucky you fell down into my crypt? Imagine if the old bitch had found you like that? She’s really been itching to get her hands on you, hasn’t she?” They snort as they laughed.

“Fei?” Sun then scowled. “Does she know you’re down there?”

The Yaoguai rolled their eyes. “Does she ever. If she even knew I was up here with you, she’d have your head under the axe next.”

Sun’s frown continued to deepen the more the Yaoguai spoke. “I don’t get it.”

“I am not surprised. Fei isn’t exactly the informative type.” They sneered. “She likes her little secrets.” They said in a high pitched mocking voice. They shook their head and looked about the room. Under their robes, something buzzed loudly. 

“Am I dreaming?” Sun held his head in his hands. 

“If you were, would you be dreaming this?” The Yaoguai snorted. “No. No. You’re awake, you silly boy.” They picked up the book Mari and Sun had written together from the dresser. A wicked scowl crossed their face and they chucked the book across the room.

“Sun Qiangwei, or is it Sun Bao? Which do you prefer?”

Sun stood up from the bed and stepped away. The figure before him was tall with a curve to their spine that had them hunch over. Their white hair fell down before their strange face, while two long antennae jutted from the top of their skull.

For a moment, Sun’s grandmother’s words came back to him. He remembered her stories about his grandfather in the woods, and how the Yaoguai tried to make deals with him. 

“I think you should get out of here, whoever you are.” He pointed to the door. “Maybe I’m dreaming. Maybe you’re a figment of my imagination. Lord knows I’ve seen a lot of ugly things as of late, but nothing like you.”

“You live with Fei, she’s much worse than me. But then again, there is nothing like me.” They gave a flourish of their hands. Something buzzed again under their robes.

“But who are you?” Sun snapped. “I do not plan to make any sort of deals with a Yaoguai! I am no fool. I have a lot to be haunted about, but not by you.”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down there, friend.” They stepped closer. “I am here to offer you a chance to take back what has been lost from you.”

Sun’s breath shuddered as he pictured Mari. He could then hear his grandmother whispering in his ear. “Don’t makes deals with Yaoguai. That is what they want.”

“You can’t possibly give that back to me. You are either lying or looking for something.” He then shook his head. “Or both.”

They extended their hand to Sun. “I can’t exactly bring ‘her’ back, of course. But I can help you so you can see her again. I can also give you the power to take care of this ghastly family of yours.”

“The Qiangwei’s?” Sun whispered. “But who are you?” He was growing frustrated with the lack of answers. Over the last months, he had received few or none at all. No one would tell him the exact accident that took Mari’s life. No one would tell him why he had to stay in the Wild Rose. No one would tell him why he had to keep on living while his Mari could not. He wanted to lash out, to destroy something. He wanted to burn that rose garden down to the ground and ruin the soil.

“I am Zhanglang,” they said calmly. “And the Qiangwei family is my enemy as well.” Their black lips curl up over their sharp, angled teeth. “They keep me trapped here, contained. All I need is a little help from you.”

Sun glared at Zhanglang, wanting them gone and banished from his presence. “I have no help to give, you got it? I will thank you for saving my life, but perhaps I didn’t want to be saved. Now get out!”

Zhanglang just smiled. “Then why were you running back to the hotel?”

Sun ignored them.

“Why were you racing back towards the hotel? Back to where help could be given? Did you really want to die, Sun? Because those are not the actions of a man who longs to die.”

Sun remained silent as he continued to try and ignore Zhanglang. 

“Pretend you don’t notice me, that’s fine. But I am here, and I exist! And I know how badly you want to make that pain go away.” They approach Sun, standing tall over him. “This hotel and the people in it, they all are against you, and you can feel it. Can’t you?” They touched the top of Sun’s head.

Sun jerked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“A hotel full of rooms and yet there are no guests?” Zhanglang asks. “What is really going on here? Did your beloved ever tell you?” They look down again into Sun’s eyes. “She never allows you into the dining hall, does she? She barely lets you off the grounds at all.”

Sun shook his head. “How do you know all this?”

“Because she has done it before, and she will do it again as long as she possibly can. That Fei is not what you think she is. You need to protect yourself, Sun.” Zhanglang offered their hand to him. “Let me be that guardian and, together, you and I can destroy this family, once and for all.”

Sun hesitantly looked at Zhanglang’s hairy palm. He then glanced back into their golden eyes. What would it hurt? He thought. Whatever they are, whoever they are, perhaps Zhanglang could help quell the pain that was growing deep in Sun’s heart. He started to lift his hand. 

The headless woman ran into the room, but Sun didn’t react to her presence, he couldn’t see her, but she saw everything. She saw Zhanglang’s hand offered and Sun lifting his own to take it. She screamed in horror and Zhanglang ripped his hand back, causing Sun to step away from him again.

The headless woman lunged towards Zhanglang. “I told you to stay away from him!” She screamed as she took hold of him. “You are going back where you belong!”

Zhanglang jerked forward, and to Sun, it was as if they were starting to fall over. Zhanglang shook the headless woman off but she clawed at him again. She grabbed hold, squeezing tight around his wrist.

“You will go back to the chambers where you belong!” She shrieked like a banshee.

“I’ll be back! You can’t stop me! I’ll get my way!” Zhanglang laughed as they started to be pulled under by the headless woman. They sunk into the floors like they were quicksand. They grinned towards Sun. “Don’t trust a Qiangwei, Sun! Don’t trust a single one!” He was pulled under, vanishing from the room all together.

Sun sat back down on the bed and clutched his head between his hands.

The headless woman cautiously approached. She touched the top of his head, then sat down beside him as her hand smoothed down his back.

“I’m so sorry I have to leave you alone here, Sun,” she whispered to him. “I’m so sorry you’re trapped here when you feel so broken.” She placed her hand over his. “I wish you could see me right now, so that you could understand.”

A shiver went down Sun’s back and he got up from the bed so he could go into the bathroom. The headless woman followed after him, watching him from the doorway as he splashed water upon his face. 

“I never wanted you to come here. I thought I could keep you safe.” She clutched her hands over her chest. 

“Mari,” Sun’s voice croaked.

She looked up in alarm, stretching out her hands towards Sun. He just looked in the mirror with the same dour expression as always. “I’m sorry I have so much hate in my heart, Mari.”

Mari dropped her hands and held them back to her chest. “It’s ok, Sun.”

Sun gripped onto the sides of the sink and dropped his head. “I want this pain to go away. I don’t want this hate anymore.” Tears began to stream from his eyes. “I just want to live with you again. I can’t stand it anymore.”

Mari stood beside him, placing her palm against the mirror so it left an imprint. As Sun raised his head, he saw the hand print on the mirror. He placed his hand beside it, trying to see if it was his own. But the print could fit into his palm, the same way Mari’s hand would. 

He splashed water onto the mirror and stormed away from it. 

Mari then wished she had a head upon her shoulders so she could weep for the man she loved. 

As Sun went to go get something to eat from the kitchen, he crossed Fei and Bo in the hallway. They were both standing there, facing one another, but both turned in sync as Sun approached. Sun froze, he’d always had this irrational fear of his mother-in-law, especially now when he was in such a vulnerable state. He hated her, needed her, and it was chewing him up inside.

“Sun,” Fei finally said after a long moment of silence. “James told me you finally came back. What happened to you?”

Sun kept his hand tucked to his side. It was still partially swollen from the wasp sting. “I fell asleep in the garden, that’s all.”

Her sharp eyes narrowed upon him before she looked away from him again. “You need to be careful. Dangerous things lurk out there in the garden.”

Sun’s breath went cold in his chest. “I see.” He remembered the chamber he fell into, it had been full of roses in all matters of decay. He quickly left, trying to escape Fei and Bo’s unblinking eyes.

“Wait, Sun.” Fei called after him. 

Sun froze in his tracks and turned around again. “Yes?”

“I mean it. Stay out of the garden. There is nothing for you there, and I have noticed some of my roses have been bruised. If that was you, don’t you think Mari would be so disappointed in you?”

That cold, awful chill poured down Sun’s spine. He shook his head. “She would,” his voiced cracked.

“Good. Then stay out.” Fei turned back to her brother and the two vanished around the corner.

Over the next few days, Sun kept track of the family’s whereabouts. He figured out their schedules, their routines, and when he thought he had it down, he decided to wander the hotel. He took his camera with him, wandering to the rooms. He started by taking pictures of the doors, before he tested to see if he could open them. Each one was locked, but there were no occupants in the hotel.

He studied the pictures of the doors, finding that the photographs looked different from what he saw with his own eyes. He had not been trusting his eyes since Mari passed, but his camera showed him everything clearly. In the photos, the doors looked old, the wood had dents and water damage, the numbers were sometimes missing or rusted. It was like when he saw the hotel the first time with Mari.

Sun eventually figured out that James kept a skeleton key that unlocked every single door of the hotel. He kept it under the front desk in a lockbox. Every couple of days he would leave the front desk for hours as he dealt with things elsewhere in the building. Sometimes it was maintenance in the basement, other times he was assisting his mother with something. But it always took him time, so it allowed Sun to have time to take the key.

He was able to break the lock on the box and he snapped photos from behind the desk. He then made a pressing of the key so he could duplicate it later.

“What are you doing, Sun?”

Sun looked up, terrified he had been found out, when he saw Zhanglang sitting in the lobby.

“You’re back.” Sun was relieved yet terrified all at the same time. “What for?”

Zhanglang extended their arms out. “Where else could I possibly go?” They looked up at Sun with a grin. “Besides, you need me, you just don’t know it yet. What are you doing, Sun?”

Sun shook his head. “I’m looking for something.”

“Well, then! Look no further!” Zhanglang stood from their seat and approached Sun. “I have everything you’re looking for, and more.”

“I can’t trust you. I can’t trust anything. For all I know, I am losing my mind and you’re part of this horrible spiral.” He gnashed his teeth together. “I would prefer you leave me be.”

Zhanglang looked down at the key. “What are you hoping to find, Sun? Answers? Problems? Are you looking for an excuse?” They placed their hand under Sun’s chin. “I can give you comfort, I can make it safe for you again.”

Sun looked up into Zhanglang’s eyes. “How can I believe you?”

Zhanglang gently caressed Sun’s cheeks. “What have you got to lose, Sun?” They mockingly and dramatically waved their hands all over. “All this? Only an arsonist would want this place, don’t you think?

A scream rang out through the entire lobby, but Sun didn’t hear it. When Zhanglang grew still, he pulled away and placed the key back into the box. Zhanglang turned to see Mari floating down from the glass windows above. 

Zhanglang sighed and rolled his eyes. “Excuse me, for a moment. Keep going about your business.” He stepped away from the front desk. Mari landed before him on the red carpet, her fists clenched as she angrily threw herself at him. She pushed him down to the ground, fighting him as he dissolved back into the earth again.

As Sun rose from behind the counter, he saw that Zhanglang was gone. He looked around, tucking the imprint of the key away. “Any more of this nonsense and I’m really going to fall off the deep end.”

That evening, Sun made a key from the imprint. In the afternoon when he knew Fei and Bo would be gone, while James remained at the front desk, he went to the floor below him. There, he took the key to test on the doors. He took a deep breath as he slid the key into the lock, and slowly, he twisted. The lock turned and squeaked, and the door opened up.

Inside, the room was empty. There was a bed against the wall that was made and looked untouched. There was a couple of art prints hanging on the wall, as well as a wardrobe. All in all, it looked like a sparse hotel room. Sun took a picture and what he saw in the lens caused him to run from the room. He slammed the door shut, locking it tight again before bolting back up to his room upstairs.

He locked himself in his room next and sat there at the door while he hugged his knees. The room looked normal, but the camera showed a scene that was far from normal. There were things all over the room, climbing on the walls, clawing at the ground. Their bodies were raw and bloody as if they had no skin. They left bloody tracks and smudges everywhere they went. Their mouths were wide open, gaping things, dripping blood, puss, and spittle as they screamed. 

Was that in all the rooms, Sun thought. Was that what the hotel was? He shuddered in fear as he cowered there in the doorway. It had been just one room, but the hotel had dozens of them. Who knows what else was lurking behind each door? Were there worse things? Oh god, Sun hoped there wasn’t anything worse than that.

He looked back at the files on his camera. Once again, the photos he had taken were completely black. But looking through the lens, he had seen that gruesome, awful display. Each black file had slight shadows to them, hidden images within the void that showed the room he remembered. 

Sun decided, if this was lurking in the hotel, if Fei was hiding all this, then he wanted to leave. He packed what few things he had left to his name when there was a knock at his door.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“It’s me, Sun,” Fei said from the other side. “Let me in, please, I need to have a talk with you.” Her stern yet emotionless voice sent shivers down his spine. 

He stuck his bag into the closet to hide it then let Fei into his room. She walked in, her posture stiff and arms held about her waist. She looked about the room, already suspicious of her son in law. She turned to cast her sharp eyes upon him.

“James said he heard doors slamming earlier.” She walked further into the room, pulling back the curtains on the windows to look outside. “What were you doing?”

Sun’s insides were like writhing snakes. They twisted and knotted then pressed into his throat, threatening to come out with fangs exposed. 

“What makes you think it was me?” Sun asked.

Fei doesn’t look away from the window. “Come now, Sun. We both know the answer. So stop being a child and just come out and say it.”

Sun remained quiet.

Fei sighed heavily. “I grow more and more worried about you each day, Sun. I have you here because I want to take care of you. Because Mari would want me to take care of you.” She stroked the curtain in her hand and Sun slowly lifted his camera to look at her through the lens. Everything was the same, except for her hand. Her nails were long and black, while her skin appeared ashen and extremely tight against the bone, showing every nook and cranny of her hand. 

“Mari would want me to have what I want,” Sun said calmly as he lowered his camera back down. “Fei, I appreciate what you have done for me,” he lied. “But I want to go home. I want to see my sister and my father.”

Fei tilted her chin up. “They are not your blood like we are, Sun.”

Sun heard something move behind him in the hallway. He turned to look but saw nothing there, although the wall across from the door looked wet. 

Sun furrowed his brow. “But...neither are you.”

Fei turned, her stare as cold as ice. “As soon as you married my daughter, you became our blood. You are Qiangwei deep into your bones, Sun.” Her fingers curled into the curtains. “You belong with us more than you ever belonged anywhere else.”

Sun’s blood was pounding through his veins ferociously. He could hear it humming in his ears and tingle in his fingertips. He slowly took a breath, careful that it didn’t make a sound. It felt to him like his entire chest was rattling. The more Fei’s cold, dark stare penetrated him, the more it felt as if his bones might come loose at any moment.

“You are Qiangwei! You are family!” Fei snarled at him.

There was a rumbling again behind him and something scampered into the room, going around Sun’s feet to Fei. Sun’s screams caught in his throat as he felt nauseous and sick all at once. The cowering creature on the floor that clutched to Fei’s ankles looked like it had once been human. Its hair was matted in places then bald in the next. The long chunks went down over a face that was long and narrow with bulging black eyes. Their back was hunched with a bulbous mass across the shoulders. 

Fei placed her hand upon their head. “This is your cousin, Bai.”

Bai looked at Sun then buried their face into Fei’s skirts.

Sun couldn’t talk, he couldn’t breathe, he just watched. 

Fei walked over to him, with Bai following close behind her, holding onto the hem of her skirts. “Unpack that bag, Sun.” She placed her hand on his arm. “Get dressed and join your family for dinner.”

Bai started shrieking with laughter, excited for dinner. 

Sun’s breath rasped as it came from his throat.

Fei’s eyes slid up to Sun while her fingers coiled ever more tightly around his arm. “In the dining hall. Do not be late.”

Fei left the room, closing the door silently behind her. 

Sun looked through the lens of his camera again, seeing that the curtains were shredded where Fei had been touching them. He lowered his camera again, setting it aside as he took his bag from his closet. 

He set the bag on his bed and looked inside at the few belongings he had to his name. He had never been invited to dinner before. He had always gone to get food for himself or it had been delivered to him. He had been warned not to go to the dining room by Fei before. So why now?

“I can go with you,” the voice whispered in his ear.

Sun closed his eyes as Zhanglang wrapped their hairy arms around him. The embrace felt warm and strong. He leaned back into Zhanglang’s chest as his pincers grazed against his ear. 

“Let me be your dinner guest.” Zhanglang caressed down Sun’s chest. “I will show you the truth without your camera lense.” 

Sun kept his eyes closed, feeling only the warm embrace he longed for. Zhangland’s spindly hands rubbed down his chest and back up, coiling around his chin and cheek to turn his head. 

“How can I trust you?” Sun repeated.

“It’s me or Fei,” Zhanglang snarled. “Make your choice, Sun.”

Sun wanted to make that pain go away, and being with Fei only made it more palpable. He took hold of Zhanglang’s wrists. “Please-” He whispered. “Help me.”

“No!” Mari’s voice echoed through the room. “Stop it!”

Zhanglang forced her back with a grin. “He belongs to me now, and you and those roses no longer have any hold of me.”