Ray's POV
Everyone piled into the large hotel room Mr. Dickenson had rented, the table was covered with different foods. Banners lined the room, music was thumping in the corner and I smiled as Tyson and Max made a dash for the food.
At about 11pm, Mr. Dickenson left, along with Judy, Bruce and Grandpa Granger. Leaving us teens to continue partying.
"Where's Kai?" I heard Tyson shout over the thumping music, which Tala had turned up almost as soon as we saw the adults car pull away.
Tyson ran over and turned the music down although it was still quite loud "Where's Kai?" Everyone looked around the room stupidly
"Well he obviously isn't in here!" I snapped, just as the door opened, said youngest teen staggered in, half empty bottle of vodka in hand.
He raised his hand with the bottle in it and looked at the floor before swaying in time with the music and then taking a long swig from the bottle.
"Kai!" Emily burst out seeing him stumble slightly just from standing still.
He looked up with unfocused eyes – like he had so many times before – only this was self-inflicted. He grinned, only Kai was very unlike any other drunk I had EVER seen. Most people got clumsy, made a prat of themselves (I knew this from the time Kevin got drunk back at the old village, before I left) yet Kai, just got more confident, a LOT more confident
"Kai are you ok?" Max stepped forward Kai looked up with a grin and a stumble, Tala wrapped his arm around Kai's waste to stop the younger teen from hurting himself
"Fine" he drawled while chuckling and taking another swig from the bottle of black label vodka which was covered in Russian writing – I don't know much about Vodka, but I DO know that Russian stuff is strong.
Kai chuckled slightly and continued to drink the alcohol like water, for a moment his face was VERY close to Tala's, however the red-head guided him to a chair and Kai sighed tiredly, he looked pale and like he was going to throw up.
He held his head and covered his ears, which Tala took as his sign to turn off the thumping music, we all sat around watching Kai take the odd sip from the bottle.
He sighed and leant back in his chair, he tightly screwed the lid back onto the almost empty bottle of alcohol, before looking up at the ceiling. The bottle slipped from his grip, but landed on the soft carpet with a thump. He hiccupped quietly and chuckled at himself.
Tala grabbed the bottle before Kai could even notice he wasn't holding it, the youngest teen looked at his hand then the floor before looking up at Tala with a grin "Give it back Tala" he almost purred, I gulped, seeing a drastic mood swing coming from Kai
Tala shook his head and gripped the bottle tighter behind his back "You've had enough"
"Now" Kai growled standing up, but stumbling forward a few steps, into Tala who had jumped up to stop his younger friend from hurting himself. The bottle lay forgotten on the sofa.
"Time for sleep I think" Robert looked worriedly at Kai who was trying to grab the bottle from Tala, who had picked it up and held it above his head, being taller than Kai, he had the upper hand.
Johnny laughed evilly and stood up, Kai, sensing the movement turned around to face the taller Scotsman.
"What?" Kai asked angrily
"Can't handle your drink??" Johnny smirked taking the bottle from Tala, Kai slumped back in his chair, paler than before, his blue tattoos contrasting sharply with his skin.
He looked up at the laughing Johnny before suddenly running and stumbling to the bathroom. Tala looked at me before chuckling and following to help him.
After almost half an hour, Tala came out of the bathroom carrying a sleeping Kai in his arms
"Where can I leave him?" Tala asked, Robert pointed to the bedroom and Tala left Kai there for the night
XXX
I woke up quite late in the morning; Kai was slumped on the table, a steaming coffee in front of him. He dashed into the bathroom and returned a few minutes later, pale and shaky. Tala sighed and pushed Kai's coffee closer to the youngest teen. The slate-haired teen slowly drank his coffee gratefully and I sat at the table.
Breakfast was quiet; Kai spent most of the time holding his head, Johnny spent a lot of the time chuckling to himself, although we could all hear – I noticed Kai's expression going from one of "I have a hangover" to "Will you shut the fuck up?"
"Will you shut up?!" Kai growled looking up suddenly, before grabbing his head in pain and then growling in the back of his throat.
The room fell completely silent, until Tala spoke "How much did you drink Kai?"
The slate-haired teen looked up slowly, and shrugged before slowly standing up to return to the bathroom.
Tala sighed
Max looked around before speaking "It's been such a long time since Kai was happy" Emily looked over at everyone before very carefully wording her sentence
"Maybe Kai's had enough of blading?"
"Or the team" Johnny snorted
"I never thought of that!" Max replied alarmed "do you really think he would give up blading though??"
"Well, it does SEEM he has had enough of blading, or indeed being a bladebreaker. Yet, I don't see Kai as the type to hang around if this is the case" Lee stepped forward
"Maybe he doesn't want to hurt us, so he's going to stick around for as long as he can??"
"Or drink himself into oblivion" Johnny chuckled
"I never thought I'd see the day Kai was drunk!" Tyson laughed
"The last time I saw him drunk was when he was about 8" Tala sighed and dropped his head on the table with a thud "He's always been good at handling alcohol, I dread to think how much he drank yesterday to get into that state"
Just as Tala finished Kai re-entered the room and the conversation ended
Kai grabbed his coffee and drank it quickly, then started up the coffee machine again. He poured himself a black coffee, and drank it straight, no milk, no sugar. As he poured another coffee, I noticed his hands were shaking. He sat at the table and placed his hands flat on the table, but he looked to be shivering
"You look cold Kai" I stated carefully "You should go put a jacket on"
Kai nodded and got up, before returning with a black jacket on over his usual clothes.
He drank his coffee slowly while we began to make arrangements for the day
"We could go to the cinema?!" Max suggested, 'yes's' and 'no's' filled the room
The room fell silent, and a quite tapping filled the room, the heavens opened and ran began to fall, and fall
"Ok, so we can't go out" Tyson sighed "What do you wanna do instead?"
Tala again dropped his head on the table with a thud "This is going to be a long day" was his muffled response Kai looked other with a small smile, he then took another large mouthful of coffee.
Everyone began to move about the house, doing anything to keep themselves from going mad, a few select people were in the living room, some in the bedrooms, Mariah and Emily were having a chat in the kitchen.
And, Kai. Was sat staring out of the window, longing to leave for a while. He never did well around people, and by now he would have been out for at least a few hours. His eyes were fixed on one spot outside and I sighed wishing he would talk to us like he was our friend.
"You ok Kai?" Max asked from the sofa
Kai tore his eyes from the outside world for a few minutes
He looked at Max before tilting his head slightly – a nod.
He got up and wandered off to another room
"There's definitely something not right there" Emily stated as she and Mariah walked back into the living room
"He's been so down recently, maybe he's depressed?" Max suggested
"Maybe, or maybe he's just being a git" Johnny supplied with a smug smile
"I'm worried" Tyson countered "Kai's always been anti-social, but he's been a LOT worse recently"
"Maybe he really has had enough of the team?" I asked, the idea of Kai wanting to quit had been niggling away in the back of my mind for so long and I couldn't help myself but to voice my concerns
"Well, if he has then he would have probably gone by now" Tala answered, which comforted me a little "I've tried talking to him" he continued "He won't explain to me what's bothering him"
"He owes us all an explanation" Johnny snorted
"Yeah" Emily added
"Give him a bit more time!" Tala snapped "Sorry" he was quick to apologize
"It must be difficult for you as well Tala" Robert looked over at the red-head sympathetically Tala sighed
"He never talks to me anymore" Tala sighed dejectedly "I'm worried about him"
"Just remember guys, this is Kai we're talking about, he's never been the most social person in the world" Max said optimistically
"Yeah" Tyson looked at the window where Kai had previously been sat. "He'll be fine – after all he is the 'though guy'" Tyson smirked as Johnny snorted
"I'd like to see you try and win a fight against him!" I defended hearing Tala growl in annoyance
"I could win a fight against Kai with my hands tied behind my back!" Johnny laughed taking a gulp of water
"Go on then" Tala growled "You give it a go, what flowers would you like at your funeral?" he growled angrily
"pfft" Johnny snorted chucking a glass of water over the red head and sitting on the sofa
Tala jumped up fuming – but Bryan held him back
"Go get changed" Was all the teen said before letting him go and sitting back down
Tala walked off into the bedroom to get changed.
"That was so out of order Johnny" Max scowled
Tala came back in a few minutes later in a fresh set of clothes "He's sleeping" He sat down next to Bryan
"Kai?? Sleeping?!" Tyson mocked
"Yeah, out like a light" Tala sighed and looked up at the ceiling
"But, it's only lunch-time!" Max stated astonished
"Yeah, I might ring Mr. Dickenson" Tyson sat up straight and walked over to the hotel-phone
"Mr. Dickenson??" he said a moment later
"Yeah – we need to talk to you about Kai, can you come to our hotel for a while??"
There was a pause as Mr. Dickenson spoke
"Thanks Mr. Dickenson" Tyson said putting the phone down
"He'll be here soon" He turned to face us all, as the bedroom door opened and Kai walked through to the kitchen, still sleepy and slightly unbalanced, fully dressed in crumpled clothes – his hair all over the place. He walked back through minutes later with a glass of water in hand, wandered back into the bedroom and quietly closed the door
I glanced worriedly over at Tala who just looked at the door, then quickly over at me.
15 odd minutes later Mr. Dickenson turned up
"Something is wrong with Kai?" Mr. Dickenson said as soon as he walked in
"Very wrong" Tyson replied, "See" He led Mr. Dickenson over to the bedroom, pushed open the door, Kai was fast asleep
"I'm afraid I don't understand" Mr. Dickenson scratched his head
"Kai NEVER sleeps during the day AND night!" Tyson waved his arms about dramatically and spoke loudly – yet Kai didn't stir
"I understand, but maybe he's just worn out after his match" Mr. Dickenson reasoned
"Kai never gets tired after a single battle!!!" Tyson argued "There's something wrong – I'm telling you!"
Tyson pulled the door shut and sat on the sofa, Max moved over to make space for Mr. Dickenson to sit as well.
"Even if there is, as you say, something wrong with Kai. There isn't anything I can do about it, unless Kai directly tells me, or it seriously affects his health, which it doesn't look like it is at the moment" Mr. Dickenson stated
"What id he's depressed?" Max asked carefully
"Depressed?!" Mr. Dickenson spluttered as if the thought had never crossed his mind, it has crossed mine many, and I'm sure everyone else's.
"Well, yeah" Emily said "He does seem like he's depressed"
"Don't be ridiculous!!" Mr. Dickenson spluttered again
"We're not!" Tala growled "Or are you too blind to see that something's wrong?!"
"I understand Tala" Mr. Dickenson tried to stay calm, yet his voice did rise slightly
"Well then help us figure out what's wrong!" Tala sighed defeated as Mr. Dickenson looked over to the bedroom door.
An awkward silence fell upon the room, I shifted uncomfortably, thankfully Kai left the room and soon everyone was occupied with watching him. He pulled a black leather jacket on along with some gloves, pulled on some boots and sighed.
He had sorted himself out and headed over to the door, Tala was about to stop him, but Mr. Dickenson held up his hand and we let Kai leave.
"Try and get back into a routine" Mr. Dickenson began "Maybe if you do that Kai will become a bit more responsive"
"Right, then we start training tomorrow!" Tala stated, clearly worried for his boyfriend. (A/n: Yes, you read it correctly. But nothing detailed)
XXX
Mr. Dickenson left after an hour or so, and at almost 10:30pm Kai finally returned
"Good!" I smiled as he walked in "We're starting training tomorrow" Kai tilted his head in silent question "It's about time we got back to work" I smiled as Kai tilted his head even more and blinked
He opened his mouth, but said nothing and sat down next to the older red-head who smiled slightly
"What time?" The bluenette spoke quietly
"don't know" I replied, "What time do you think Tala?" I asked the older teen
"9??" I looked around to various nods and yes's
"Right" The youngest teen sighed and headed off to the bedroom, Tala glanced awkwardly at his back before following.
"He's not getting any better" Tyson sighed
"Let's see what he's like in the morning" Max got up and soon we were all asleep, except for me, I can't get it out of my head. Something is seriously wrong, and I have to know what!
XXX
I woke up early, at 6:30am, along with everyone else.
A loud crash had woken us all, from none other than Kai, who had dropped a glass of water, his hands were shaking violently and I worried. Tala pulled himself up to guide Kai to a chair while I cleared up the broken glass
"You ok buddy?" Tyson asked Kai looked up with dull eyes and nodded
Tyson glanced over at Max who shrugged and watched Kai sympathetically
"You're shaking Kai" Emily stated
"I know!" Kai snapped back not looking at the girl
"KAI!" Robert scolded; he was strongly against being disrespectful to women
Kai glared up at Robert – without his usual intense crimson eyes, it was all the creepier
"Come on you two!" Mariah stepped in, Kai dropped his eyes back down to the table, and Robert muttered some form of an apology
"Now, Kai, you need to calm down" She looked at the youngest teen
Kai glared upwards at her but said nothing
"I'm going to train" he stated slamming his shaking hands on the table
He got up quickly and left us all stunned
"Leave him" Tala sat down in the seat Kai had previously sat in as I chucked the broken glass in the bin
I looked out the window and could see Kai walk across the street and into the woods to train
"Breakfast??" Tyson asked sheepishly, I sighed
"Fine" I got up and began to make breakfast for the group, but toast and jams were the limit today
"Cheers Ray!" Tyson began to cram toast into his mouth, I cringed at his pig-like eating and tried my best to eat my breakfast
"Shall we head out to check he's ok?" I looked around the room
"Nah" Johnny snorted, Tala glared over at him "He's a big boy now, let him handle himself"
"He's only 15!" Tala snarled "The youngest person here!"
Johnny looked taken aback but nevertheless spoke confidently "Like I said, he can handle himself"
"You just don't care, do you?!" Mariah glared at him
"Not really, he's a stubborn git, I couldn't care less what happens to him" Johnny growled, Tala narrowed his eyes at the red-head
"He's not stubborn, he just doesn't open up easily" I defended our captain
"Stubborn" Johnny smirked as Tala growled louder
"Lets go!" Max hurriedly stated narrowly avoiding Johnny getting a severe beating
We all left the hotel – including the Scotsman, and headed into the woods to search for Kai
XXX
"My feet hurt" Tyson whined "It's been ages, I'm hungry! Can't we stop for a bit?" He continued
"Tyson, it's been fifteen minutes, you ate twenty minutes ago and no we cannot stop for a break" Tala snapped
"Dranzer!" I heard a distant call
"That's gotta be Kai" Tyson took off at a run, soon we were all shooting along the path startling nearby walkers and other young bladers. We came skidding/crashing around a corner and Kai came into view.
He leant heavily against a tree as we came into his view, he sighed and gently rubbed a nasty dark bluey/puerpley/blacky bruise on his arm with a pained expression
As Tyson managed to get us all noticed, he looked up and was instantly the untouchable leader he used to be
"Kai?" Tyson asked quietly
"What?!" he snapped in reply, Tyson flinched slightly at the coldness of Kai's voice but nevertheless pressed on
"What's wrong with your arm?" he asked, tilting his head to the bruise
"Nothing" Kai snarled
"Clearly not" Johnny smirked
"And who asked you?!" Kai growled, Johnny looked momentarily shocked, but then just laughed, which only made Kai angrier
"Was there a REASON to you being here?" he directed at the entire group
"We're worried about you!" Tala blurted out suddenly, Kai's expression suddenly changed from anger to shock – his eyes widened and his mouth was slightly open
"Why?" he asked quietly
"Because you're not yourself at the moment" Emily looked over at Kai sadly, hoping he would give us an honest answer
"You're being even more stubborn than usual, you're being even more anti-social, you have an even shorter temper than usual, hard as it may be to believe" Johnny rambled on, Kai growled loudly at Johnny, who shut up immediately
"I'm fine, or do I need to spell it out for you?" Kai snapped
"Go on then!" Tala snarled back losing his temper with his partner
"I don't NEED this Tala!" He growled and stepped forward, Tala doing the same till they were face to…well shoulders, because Kai was shorter, but still
"JUST.LEAVE. ME. ALONE" Kai growled
"And if I don't?" Tala snapped at the younger boy
"You do my head in!" Kai grabbed his hair, and without warning Tala gave him a hard shove and turned away
Tala's POV
I gave Kai a shove and turned to walk away, however everyone's shocked faces made me turn back around
I saw Kai fall backwards, as if in slow motion, he collided with the floor painfully, his head almost bounced, he let out a small cry of pain and I dashed forward.
I picked him up and leant him on my arms holding up his head which started to bleed over my hands and sleeves
"I'm sorry!" I repeated over and over
Kai opened his eyes slightly and smiled
"It's ok" he whispered with a small grin
He slowly pushed himself up, with my help and we decided to head back to the hotel.
The trip back was a lot longer than it was to find Kai, he walked the entire way refusing help, occasionally he stumbled over his own feet; the back of his hair was almost black where the blood was changing the blue colour darker.
"Maybe we should take you to get your head checked over? Kai" Oliver asked, Kai didn't turn around, but shook his head
Enrique glanced over at Oliver and shrugged, soon we found ourselves in the hotel again, and Kai was once again shut up in the bedroom, not wishing to talk to any of us
"He's SO annoying" Tyson grumbled as he lay on his back on the sofa
"Yes, Tyson, you've said about eight times now" Emily sighed agitatedly
"But it's TRUE!" he whined
Emily just sighed in response. The bedroom door opened moments later and Kai wandered out, he had cleaned up his head, but looked very pale and I began to worry that more damage was done than I had originally thought
He leant against the wall and looked out the window without saying a word.
"So….." Max began "Are we still training?" he looked around. I shook my head seeing no-one else respond
Tyson sighed loudly "Well I'm not gunna mope round all day!" He sat up "Maxie – you wanna go to the arcade?" Max nodded and soon almost everyone headed to the arcade, leaving me and Kai behind
Kai wordlessly sat next to me
"You ready to tell me what's wrong now?" I asked
Kai looked over at me with wide eyes "I have no idea" he whispered, his breathing hitched for a second before speeding up
"Huh?" I tilted my head in question
"I have no idea!" He cried, his eyes widening
"Calm down" I put my hand on his shoulder, but it just made him worse
"I'm scared Tala!" he choked a cry
"Try to calm down Kai!" I tried to keep Kai from injuring himself further
"What do you mean you have no idea?" I asked carefully
"I know, I KNOW there's something very wrong, but I have no idea what!" he panicked "I feel like I SHOULD know, but I don't, I can't work it out and I can't stop it!" he pulled his knees up onto the sofa and wrapped his arms around them "I should know what's wrong" he cried into his jeans
I wrapped my arms around him as he began to shake
"What's happening to me?" he whispered so I only just heard him.
"I just don't know" I replied sadly
Chapter 2 done. YAY! Although lot's of my old readers/reviewers aren't reading/reviewing lol.
Please read and review! It makes me write more!!!
'Till next time
xflightofthephoenix
