[6] RUNNING IN THE MOONLIGHT // hu tao + xiao
ʜᴜ ᴛᴀᴏ + xɪᴀᴏ ; ᴍᴏᴅᴇʀɴ.ᴀᴜ
ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ ʙʏ ᴄʜxꜱɪɴɢᴘᴀʀᴀᴅɪꜱᴇ
＊ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ˗ˏˋ. ☾ .ˊˎ˗ ˚ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ＊
masterlist , ao3 link , wattpad link
＊ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ˗ˏˋ. ☾ .ˊˎ˗ ˚ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ＊
Chapter 6 - Ghost Hunting?
THE RELIEVING SHRILL OF THE bell signals to Hu Tao that her last class is finally over. She sighs in relief and stretches, turning her head to survey her fellow classmates. Xingqiu, Chongyun, and Xiangling meet each other’s eyes at the same time, and immediately begin discussing their soon-to-be plans for the evening.
“Where are we meeting again?” Xiangling looks between the two blue-haired boys.
“We will be investigating the abandoned Wuwang hospital,” Chongyun begins, cracking his knuckles and straightening in his chair. The group sighs, knowing that a long lecture about demonic entities is coming next. “Wuwang district is practically abandoned now, with many of the buildings having been neglected by their last owners and now remaining untouched.”
“So, do you need us to bring salt, candles, incense, and a Ouijia board, ghostbuster boy?” Hu Tao laughs.
“Hey!” he snaps, “The work of an exorcist is no joke.”
“I think you mean, ‘wannabe exorcist’.”
“Say it again,” He clenches his fists, “I’m actually gonna kick your-”
“Hu Tao,” Xingqiu interrupts, “don’t you frequent that part of town? I’m sure you know the place like the back of your hand.”
The boy has developed an impressive habit of cutting off Hu Tao and Chongyun’s… aggressive comments towards one another. Personally, he doesn’t care one way or another whether someone speaks with crudeness, but when the pair are at each other’s throats, he usually feels obligated to separate them (sometimes physically).
“That I do, Xingqiu. Oh look, I’m a poet and I already know it.”
“For the last time,” Chongyun rubs his temples, “kindly shut your mouth.”
Xingqiu smiles, secretly stifling a laugh, “Then we won’t have to worry about getting lost if you’re our guide.”
“What a relief!” Xiangling exclaims. “I’d hate to get shot by some gang member– or worse! Get tetanus from a rusty nail…”
Everyone shoots her a very skeptical glance.
“Xiangling, I don’t think that’s worse…”
“Whatever!” she happily leaps up from the table and grabs her bag. “Let’s get out of here before we’re locked in overnight.”
＊ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ˗ˏˋ. ☾ .ˊˎ˗ ˚ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ＊
Xiao counts the cracked tiles lining the streets of Wuwang district. His ambers study every indent and every stain, the ghost town surrounding him only being another helpless distraction from the thoughts eating up his mind. Not a single street light is even dimly lighting the area, since the electricity had been cut off from the place long ago, leaving everything in darkness.
The only time anyone ever hears about Wuwang district is when the news is reporting on the many drug deals and gang busts that go down in the ruins of the old buildings. These activities occur especially at night. Xiao knows It’s dangerous, but he doesn’t care.
A huge looming building reaches his view, and he recognizes it as one of the largest abandoned hospitals in the city. It wouldn’t hurt to explore it, right? He has nothing better to do.
Drawing closer to the massive compound, his golds suddenly notice four shadows hurry around the side of the building. They struggle to open the door before hurrying inside and disappearing. His heartbeat quickens. Something is screaming at him to turn back, but he is determined to explore the possibilities. Besides, Xiao could defend himself if anything bad were to happen. He’s gotten into enough fights to say that he’s “experienced.”
Getting into a gang fight and winning would be pretty interesting. So, what’s the harm?
＊ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ˗ˏˋ. ☾ .ˊˎ˗ ˚ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ＊
Hu Tao pushes open the door to another dilapidated hospital room, shining her flashlight in to see nothing but broken ceiling tiles, an empty bed with an ominous stain, and mounds of dust.
”How boring…” she thinks to herself, “There isn’t even a random crackhead hunched in the corner spouting Latin.”
“Find anything?” Xingqiu calls from down the hall.
“Yeah, nothing. Just like the last forty we checked.”
“I’m going to look for the others,” Xingqiu told her again, his voice quickly fading into the distance.
She shuts the door with a sigh and turns to explore the next hallway. They had been exploring the place for almost an hour by now, but she couldn’t be sure. All she knew is that there probably wouldn’t be anything worth finding anyways, seeing as they’ve gone this far without running into any trouble.
Minutes pass of aimless roaming. It takes a while before Hu Tao finally gives up and decides to look for her friends, abandoning whatever room she had been digging around in. All seems well until a sudden bang resounds from somewhere not too far away. Hu Tao freezes at the sound.
”That better be a ghost…”
She creeps towards the source of the noise, which seemed to have come from one of the rooms at the end of the hall, and is soon pulling open the decayed door with caution, heartbeat racing at the possibilities of whatever lay inside. She shines her flashlight into the little room, appearing to be another sickroom.
“Come out, come out wherever you are, ghosty…” she mutters while scanning her flashlight across the room. A sudden gust of wind makes Hu Tao whirl around, and a shriek escapes her mouth as her eyes land on a daunting figure in front of her. Then she realizes those familiar golden eyes.
“Xiao?!” she yelps, “EXCUSE ME, WHAT THE FU-”
“Do you really have to scream?” He groans, rubbing his ears in exasperation.
“Well, you did scare the life out of me.”
He raises his eyebrows in suspicion at her. “What are you doing in here?”
“I could ask you the same question!”
“I saw a group of people run in and came to investigate thinking you were some gang members.”
“Yeah, that was probably me and my friends. We do look a little suspicious, after all,” she grins. “But probably not as suspicious as you do, emo looking headass.”
Xiao stares at her for a moment with an utterly unamused expression before turning and walking away. “I’m going home.”
“Wait! I was joking! Don’t leave me to the demons!” she cries, nearly tripping over herself as she runs after him.
＊ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ˗ˏˋ. ☾ .ˊˎ˗ ˚ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ＊
“Xiao, I thought you said you knew where to go?”
“Then why did we just walk in a circle for the fourth time?”
Though the pair are both ready to go home at this point, doing so isn’t proving to be as easy as they expected. Not only is the hospital as difficult to navigate as a maze, but with Hu Tao’s phone being dead and Xiao’s only having one percent left, they’re as good as stranded. So, they’re left to hunt down Xingqiu and his gang before the sun comes up, or before an angry spirit (or homeless guy) kills them. Whichever comes first.
“Has anybody ever told you that you talk too much?” Xiao complains as they walk down yet another desolate hallway.
“Well then, I don’t blame them.”
She points the flashlight in his eyes to retaliate.
“Ow! for Archons’ sake, give me that,” he attempts to wrestle the tool out of her grip, all while she laughs hysterically at his struggling.
After a few more minutes of bantering and aimless wandering, they finally make it to what appears to be a stairwell.
“Let’s go! We’re making progress!” Hu Tao cheers. Xiao rolls his eyes and steps forward.
“Hey! Ladies first,” she jokes as she nudges him out of the way and begins descending. But something about this feels terribly wrong. Xiao looks around feverishly, trying to find any threats that may harm Hu Tao. He reaches forward to hold her back.
“Wait, hold on, something’s not-” But he’s a moment too late. A sickening crash tears through the building as a gaping hole replaces the space that Hu Tao had been standing moments before. He can’t even hear the sound of his own yells over the clattering of drywall and metal railing hitting the floor below, however far down that may be.
Xiao darts to the opening, not even bothering to care about the stability of it all at this point, shining his flashlight down in search of his companion. Dust is still falling from the disruption and piling on the heaps of junk below. Fortunately, the drop doesn’t appear to be more than a story deep. Yet the brunette is nowhere to be seen.
She must be buried underneath it all.
He doesn’t even think. Xiao drops down, barely being able to land without injuring himself, and begins digging relentlessly at the mound in front of him.
“Hu Tao! Where are you? Can you hear me?”
No, no, no, no, no. This can’t be happening. He has to find her. He has to. She’s got to be somewhere in there. There’s no way she died from that. If she’s gone, how would he ever forgive himsel-
The moment her voice reaches his ears, he instinctively whirls around, eyes landing on a slightly bruised but very much alive Hu Tao smiling at him as if it’s no big deal. All of the fear in his body dissolves into a euphoria of relief. She’s alright.
“You idiot,” he says, trying to sound unphased, but the crack in his voice gives away his true emotions. Hu Tao begins to speak, growing concerned at his clearly shaken-up state, but quickly stops once she feels his hands gently press against her cheeks. “What the hell was that for?” he scolds as he examines the cuts littering her face.
“I’m fine,” she waves her hand at him with a reassuring smile. “You don’t have to worry.”
“You could’ve been killed,” he replies with a sternness in his voice that is different from the usual irritated angst he so often emanates. Now, he’s genuinely worried for her. The look in his eyes floods Hu Tao with guilt.
“I’m sorry…” she murmurs. Xiao looks at her with those sharp golden eyes, an almost shocking level of care in them.
“It’s fine,” he lets out a sigh. “I’m just glad you aren’t dead.”
“You can let go of my face now.”
Xiao’s eyes widen, and he recoils as if being electrocuted. Hu Tao laughs again and she lightly punches him in the shoulder, the atmosphere returning back to normal. Her rubies meet his golds again, a new emotion flickering in them that he cannot read.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” He asks her, averting his gaze to the floor. She waits for a moment before answering, thoughtfully pondering her next choice of words.
“…I just appreciate that you care about me so much,” She smiles at him.
He looks at her with skepticism, “I’m just being a decent human being.”
“Oh, come on! You and I both know it’s more than that…”
“I’m sure you already know what I mean…”
They fall silent again, each caught up in their own thoughts. Xiao’s mind keeps drifting back to those words she had spoken so carelessly: “it’s more than that.” He closes his eyes. This girl is going to be the death of him.
“Come on,” Hu Tao begins again, breaking the silence and linking arms with him, “Let’s get out of here.”
And thus, they make their way through the new level of the hospital (though their means of arriving there were rather unorthodox) and eventually find their way back onto the streets and to their homes.
＊ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ˗ˏˋ. ☾ .ˊˎ˗ ˚ * •̩̩͙ ✩ •̩̩͙ * ˚ ＊
She pushes the front door shut as silently as possible. The house is quiet, unnervingly quiet, just as it always is. In retrospect, it would have been safer to climb through her window instead of using the main entrance, since that method would have produced less noise. Hu Tao slowly creeps across the hallway to the staircase, stepping as lightly as she can as to not alert the members of her household.
She’s only halfway there when a sudden click echoes through the room.
The girl’s blood freezes. She knows that sound all too well.
Hu Tao slowly turns to meet the eyes of the head servant. The woman clicks her shoe on the ground once again in impatience.
Hu Tao greets her coldly. “Hello.”
“And what were you doing out this late?” the servant demands.
“I was just looking for a glass of water to grab a drink.”
The brunette stands in silence. She knows she can’t lie her way out of this one. No matter how convincing she sounds, none of what she said would be believed.
“Well? Are you going to say something? Or do I have to weed an answer out of you?” The woman antagonizes her with a venomous tone. This is the woman who has tormented her from the day she was hired by the brunette’s grandfather to work there.
“You can’t do shit.” The girl’s eyes bore into the woman’s, pure hatred shining through them.
“Don’t you dare take that tone with me,” she suddenly seethes, taking fast strides towards the girl. She forcefully grabs her face, nails biting into Hu Tao’s skin as she lowers her eyes to be right in front of the girl’s ruby orbs.
“Tell me where you were,” she snarls.
“Y-you’re insane,” Hu Tao’s words are tangled with shock and anger so intense that she’s shaking. She tries to pry the woman’s hands away, but yelps as she feels her skin being dug into harder.
Her cheeks sting with the pressure, and tears are beginning to well up in her eyes. Not just from the pain, no. But from anger. Hu Tao suddenly grabs the woman’s wrists and shoves them down, squeezing them threateningly with all of the strength in her body.
She expects the woman to become livid, shove her back, maybe even hit her. But instead, she laughs.
“You think you can fight back against me? Go on, hit me, then. That’ll just prove to your grandfather that I was right. You’re a violent, unruly mess of a child – truly unfit to claim any of his inheritance.”
Hu Tao’s breath hitches in her throat. It’s taking all of her willpower not to twist the woman’s arms in a knot. She can feel herself shaking, the rage pulsing through her, her eyes boring holes through the woman in front of her. Her crimson eyes are on fire.
“You’re wrong,” Hu Tao says through gritted teeth, “You may have fooled grandpa, but you’ll never fool me. I know what you’re trying to do, and I promise you, it won’t work. I’m going to bring you down, even if I have to take you with me.” She forcefully releases the hold on the taller woman’s wrists and backs away towards the stairs. “Now stay the hell away from me.”
Hu Tao disappears up the steps, not wasting a minute to escape the hate-filled glare glued to the back of her head. She quietly shoves her door shut, making sure to lock it just in case.
Whatever that psychotic woman is planning on telling her grandfather tomorrow, she can deal with in the morning. Hu Tao lets out a sigh, sliding to the floor from exhaustion.
This is probably going to bite her in the ass in the future.
