"Nika. Nika! NIKA!!" Kai's voice ripped Nika through the darkness and she slowly opened her eyes. Everything was all fuzzy.
"Shto?"(1) she asked, accidentally slipping back into her native tongue.
"Feeling a little out of it are we?" Kai chuckled, keeping to the Russian speech. "You've been out cold for almost an hour."
Nika blinked a few times and then realized what was going on. Her hands were tied together and strung up on a support bean high above her head. The rope that tied her hands was cruelly tight and it cut into her skin. Kai was in the same position...only there was blood trickling down his arms.
"You're bleeding." she stated bluntly.
"Yeah, and I can't feel my hands anymore either, but whatever. The good news is that I think I can break out of this soon. I just need a little more time."
Just then however, the door to the room the two teenagers were in opened and four large men stepped in.
Kai squinted as the door was held open for another man. "What the hell is going on??" he thought as the man entered. Kai quickly memorized all he could about him. If he got out of this alive, he wanted to know who to go after. The man was small, only about 5'4". Compared to the other men in the room, this guy was a shrimp. There wasn't a whole lot else Kai could gather in his current position. The light was coming from behind the man, so Kai couldn't make out any of his features. "What is he doing?? He's just standing there…looking at us."
Finally the man spoke. "Keep the girl alive. You can kill the boy." And with that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
Kai tensed as soon as the four large men came towards him. This was going to be tricky.
"STOP!!" Nika screamed so loudly that the men stopped walking towards Kai and instead, turned to look at her. "Why are you going after him?? He hasn't done anything to you!"
"Collateral damage." one of the men responded. "He got in our way, so now he dies. It's very simple." With that, he turned back to Kai. "Sorry kid."
"Don't be sorry till it's over…and don't call me kid." Kai growled.
Just as the first man reached him, Kai pulled up on the rope and slammed both his feet into the mans chest, hurling him back into one of his friends.
"That buys me, what? like 10 seconds before all four of them are on top of me…great!" Kai again griped the rope and quickly pulled himself up, kicking the man in front of him and barley missing the vicious kick aimed at his own knee.
What happened next was totally unpreventable. Before Kai could lower himself down, the support beam snapped and he came down on his back …HARD. For a moment he couldn't even move. All he could do was lie there, gasping for breath.
"KAI!! MOVE…NOW!!" Nika's desperate scream launched Kai into action. He rolled to the side as quickly as possible and swung his legs around, tripping the man that had been running at him. Kai jumped to his feet and immediately got into a fighting position; center of gravity low and feet in a spread stance.
"Play time…"
The fight that followed didn't last long. Even though the men Kai was up against were bigger and stronger than him, he was faster and smarter. Not even 15 minutes into the fight all four men were bound and gagged.
Still panting, Kai walked over to Nika and untied her. During the fight, Nika had her eyes closed. Now she slowly opened them as she started to rub her wrists.
"Come on. We gotta get outta here fast." Kai said as he turned towards the door.
Nika gasped when Kai turned around. His shirt was torn and his back was covered in blood. "You're hurt! Kai, your back…it's all bloody!"
"Yeah, so? Come on already. I don't feel like fighting anyone again."
"But your back…"
"I'll take care of it when we get out of here! Now let's move!!" Kai snapped.
Despite the fact that he was injured, Kai moved quickly. They were out of the building they were being held captive in, in about 20 minutes. As soon as they were a safe distance away, Nika turned to go back to the Hotel.
"We're not going back to the Hotel." Kai said as he sat down on the ground.
"Why not? You need to get your back cleaned and I need to notify the authorities about what happened."
"Look, if you want to go get yourself killed, be my guest. I'm not going back to the Hotel till later. Whoever is after us will expect that we'd be heading back there, so I'm not going." Kai leaned back on his elbows. "Well, are you just gonna stand there?
Nika frowned. "No." She sat down opposite Kai. "Can I at least look at your back for you?"
"No. It's-"
"Fine?" Nika interrupted. "Hmm…Now where have I heard that before?"
"Shut up."
"Well I never…! Someone's in a grumpy mood."
"What part of 'shut up' didn't you understand? I'll be happy to explain to you whatever it is you don't get. Now, if you do understand…then just do it!" Kai rolled onto his side and closed his eyes.
Nika had a smirk on her face when she leaned in towards Kai. "Ya know something? You're kinda cute when you're mad."
Kai sat up in a flash. "Don't make me regret saving you." he snapped.
Nika laughed. "I'm just trying to get you to lighten up a bit. Oh and by the way, I'm gonna look at your back anyway."
Before Kai could protest, Nika had moved around to his back and gently peeled back the torn section of his shirt. Nika gave a small gasp when she saw the cut on his back.
"Oh my…! Kai you seriously need to get this cleaned out! There are pieces of wood imbedded in the cut!"
Kai shrugged away from her. "Unless you feel like trying clean it yourself, I suggest you leave off and worry about something else!"
"Hey! You don't have to get so snippy about it! I'm only trying to help!"
"Well, maybe if you did what I said, we wouldn't be having this discussion and I wouldn't be getting "snippy" about it!"
"Or, you could just learn to appreciate people who care when someone is hurt!"
Kai stood up. "Why don't you just stop trying to tell people how to live their lives!? I can take care of myself!"
"Damnit Kai! I don't know what the hell made you the way you are, but something's gotta give! So snap out of whatever funk you're in and start acting like a civilized person!" Nika stopped and glared at Kai.
Kai glared back at her for a long while before taking a step towards her. Leaning down, he looked her straight in the eyes. "You're right. You have NO idea why I am the way I am. So until you do, you would be wise to stop telling me how to act. I am touched by your concern, but when you've been through hell, a little cut on the back means almost nothing. We clear?"
Nika gulped. "Yes."
Kai straightened up. "Good, now we can go back to relaxing for a bit."
Kai sat back down and an awkward silence followed. After a while, Kai spoke.
"I think you owe me an explanation."
Nika looked at him. "What?"
"I mean, lets face it; you have enemies that want you...out of the picture. I've saved you twice now and I still have no idea what I'm up against."
"Oh, yeah…umm…well I…" Nika fumbled over the words. She was obviously uncomfortable with the question.
Kai cocked his head to the side smirked. "Nevermind. We should actually get moving. If I left a blood trail, those guys might try to track us."
"Oh right…o.k." Nika stood up and walked over to Kai. "You want me to stop the bleeding before we go?"
Kai turned and looked at her. "And what, pray tell, are you gonna use to do that??"
About ten minutes later, Kai wouldn't even look at the girl before him. Her shirt was now securely fastened to his back. Nika had torn her shirt into strips and used them to make a bandage.
"There! All better! At least for now." Nika giggled. "You can look at me Kai; it's only a bathing suit top."
Kai glanced at her. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say. Can we go now?"
"Yup, just as soon as you look at me and say thanks."
Kai felt his face getting red. "Oh for crying out loud! I can't believe her!" He looked up at Nika and smirked a little. "I never meant to take advantage of you."
"Huh? What are you talking about??"
"Well, I literally took the shirt off you back, so…"
Now it was Nika's turn to blush. "Oh, uh…"
"Thanks. Now let's get outa here."
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(1) "Shto?" Is Russian for "What?" Da, I know a little Russia! lol I can say a few things, but I have one heck of a time writing it, so don't expect much. lol
Now…Please review and let me know if ya like. I know it's been ages since I worked on this story, and for that I am really sorry. But I'm back now! So…talk to me peeps!