FIGHTER

Prologue

Blood glistened off the wall of a stone room. Cold and dank, a single wooden pole stood at the center of the room. A rat scurried across the room as the door flung open and a young boy, one who had barely even seen 11 years, was dragged into the room. The boy struggled against his captives as the terrified screams of another child rang from down the hall. Blood was dripping down his face from a gash above his right eye which was swollen shut. Bruises and cuts showed through his ripped, black pants and long white lines could be seen marring his shirtless back.

"Kai! Please help please don't leave me alone! Please don't do this" the voice begged of his captors. The sobs continued down the hall as the young boy continued to try and free his arms from the tight grasp of the two men holding his arms as a third gripped his neck and shoulders from behind.

"Would you get a grip on him for God's sake, he's only 10!" A tall man barked from behind the four in the doorway. His figure silhouetted from the dim light in the corridor. He stood at a height of 6"2. His pale skin accented by his slicked back, black hair pulled into a pony tail in the back. His green eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the room. This was the man responsible for those horrible cries.

"Please I just want to go home" the voice continued to sob, echoing down the corridors. "I just want to see my mom again please. Please just let me go home." The thick tears in the voice tore at the young boy as he once again renewed his struggles with new vigor but even he knew it was useless at this point.

"You're responsible for this Kai. If you had just listened and beaten him down then this wouldn't be happening right now. Always remember that he died because of your defiance" the man in the doorway growled as the others finally managed to shove him to his knees facing the pole. His hands were yanked up to two manacles fastened to the pole so that his arms stretched upwards and the manacles constricted to the point they drew blood from around his wrists. The three men then quickly walked out of the room before they too were punished for struggling to restrain a pre-teen.

"You know you deserve this Kai. Can you still hear his cries? If not for you that child would have been in the medical ward recovering right now. He may have lost the use of this arm had you followed through with the Kimura correctly but no, you wanted to spare him that pain. Your mercy is your downfall!" he angrily spat as he walked to the far wall where a long black whip hung. "You need to quickly learn to follow orders and rid yourself of all emotion." The whip coiled to the ground as he held it.

"But then we wouldn't get this time together now would we" the man stated as he came to kneel down by the boy and stroke his hair. The boy tensed, hating the feeling of the man near him, knowing what was going to be coming next. The boy glared at the man but said nothing.

"I guess you do get one comfort from this, you get what you wanted." The man yanked the boys hair back, "That child will no longer be in pain."

Suddenly, a loud scream of terror was heard down the hall before the stifling sound of a gunshot followed by the harsh crack of a whip hitting flesh.