"Kane, oh, Kane."

A soft singsong voice pulled at the edge of the man's consciousness. "Kane, you can't sleep forever. Come back to us, Kane."

The voice calling to him wasn't the only thing he was becoming aware of. Without his will, his arms were being lifted. Two pairs of hands wrapped around his forearms and held them still. Course rope wrapped around one wrist. After a moment, the rope was tied around the other wrist. Both sets of hands let go, yet his hands were still kept in the air.

Another hand patted his face. "How long will you keep us waiting, Kane? Did my boys play too hard with you?"

Finally, Kane's eyes pried open. He had to blink again before his mind would wrap around what he saw. At first, his eyes shot down. He saw Luke Harper lurking over him. The wide eyed watcher's head tilted as he studied him. A measure of rope was wrapped in his hand. Further to the side, Bray's sheep-masked follower.

Memories flashed in Kane's mind. The Inferno Match. Bray Wyatt. His followers interfering.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, demon." The man himself speaks.

Kane's head jerked to look at the self-fashioned preacher. Bray Wyatt perched over him, balancing his weight on the balls of his feet as he smiled down.

Rage flared inside Kane's chest. His jaw clenched as his lips pulled back in a snarl. Strength pulling from deep inside, Kane rose to glare at Bray Wyatt with all his fury. "Bray Wyatt, you-"

A foot on his back stopped and he hit the ground with a pained shout.

"I find myself wondering, Kane," Bray Wyatt mused as the smile still pulled on his features, "what use is a bear like you whose lost the teeth that made him such a fierce monster in the past that made oh so many people quake in their shoes. But then it hit me. The circus. Ain't that right, boys? To make all the little boys and girls laugh."

Kane's hands clenched into fists as he strained against the rope holding him captive. "Why," he managed to grind out from between his teeth, "am I here?"

Bray laughed. "Now isn't that the big question, Kane? Why are any of us here? All of us need to find our paths in life. Dear, sweet Sister Abigail has helped the three of us find our paths. But you, Kane? Whatever path, whatever future that was before you is lost." With a chuckle, he stood up. His feet unable to stay still as he spoke. "With a life such as yours, you only had one path before you. You were unloved, unwanted, used, and discarded by everyone around you. Not even your brother—the oh-so-magnificent Undertaker—has come to help you."

The bearded man stepped over to Erick Rowan. "Now Erick here's been mistreated through his life. But Erick," he said as his hand reached up and pulled the masked face down to touch their foreheads, "Erick's found a greater purpose in life. He's found a family. He's been shown the way." He released Erick's head and turned. The smile on his face as cold as his stare.

"And you?"

"You have no one and no purpose. You've bitten every hand that came your way, because the world has hurt and twisted you. Turned you into the way you are. Maybe, maybe at one time Abigail could have saved you," he said. "She could have freed you from your pain and maybe you would have had a chance at a life filled with loneliness and rejection. But not anymore, Kane. You turned a long, long time ago and even she can't save those who won't step forward."

Rage burned and seethed inside Kane. He squirmed, only for Luke Harper's foot to press even more firmly down on his back. It was hard to breath.

"Stay."

Kane's jaw clenched in anger. He pulled at the ropes, but only succeeded in rubbing his arms raw. "Why," he demanded in a furious snarl, "have you brought me here? Just to preach at me? If you were the path to Heaven, I'd gladly go to Hell. Anything before playing a puppet to you!"

"But you play the puppet so well, Kane!" Bray Wyatt crowed. "You did it to perfection with your dear old daddy—oh, do excuse me, bless his soul." The words were as sincere as the smile on his face. "Then again, as good as your daddy was at training a monster, he never did quite good enough, did he? Not only did he fail at keeping you under his control, you failed as a monster. Let you get soft and weak. It's just as well he died when he did. He wouldn't have to see you as this pitiful thing at our feet."

A shout ripped from Kane's throat as he gave another push. The anger boiling inside him enough to push Luke Harper from his back.

However, the rope kept firm, stopping him from reaching the patriarch. He only succeeded in rising to his knees.

Bray Wyatt laughed, the sound of it setting fire to Kane's nerves. His hand lashed out and grabbed a fistful of hair—both Kane's own and the strands woven for the mask.

"A fearsome roar, but the bear still has no teeth. But I want you to take a good look around you, Kane."

While holding Kane's hair, Bray Wyatt stepped to the side so Kane would have a better look of the room. A simple, dark, and dusty basement. There was a single lightbulb hanging from the middle of the ceiling to illuminate the room, but the only current light was coming from the open door.

"I heard about your little anger management sessions, Kane. That whole "hug it out" movement? Cute. Just precious. Just like the circus bear you are. But there was something I heard about that caught my attention," Bray Wyatt explained. The fingers wrapped in Kane's hair tugged on it again to make sure he was getting a good eye full of the room. "I wonder, just how similar is this room to the one that you got locked up in as a boy, Kane?"

The lips of devil's favorite demon drew into a tight and thin line.

"Were we close? I do so hope we were. But, considering the lack of details, well, we had to make do. Oh, and one last thing."

Kane heard little metallic clicks and, with each click, felt the mask loosen from his face. Dread dropped in his gut like a lead ball and his eyes opened wide. However, with his hands tied and Bray Wyatt's other hand in his hair, he was powerless. A cool, musty air hit his skin. The hand in his hair released its hold. He sagged down. Old memories hidden away bubbled up to the surface of his mind.

"Whatever role this mask plays for you, I think you and it need to spend a little time apart during your stay down here." Bray Wyatt stepped away, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan following along behind him. Before he reached the door, he stopped and looked back. "But I don't want you to think of me as some sort of unfeeling monster, Kane. I'll leave it right here for you." The mask hit the ground with a plop. "Now, Erick, Luke, let's leave the demon alone to his thoughts. I'm sure he has a lot to think about."

The door closed.

In his rib cage, Kane's heart thumped. His pulse rang loud in his ears. Each breath he drew was short and shallow. His mind pulled up all the memories he'd kept locked away. In a futile effort to stop remembering, his eyes shut tight. His large body sank down to the ground and his fingers curled until his knuckles were white and he could feel his nails pressing into his skin.

In this moment, the demon became nothing more than the terrified little boy.