Chapter 4

Everything was black. Killua was running. Pumping his legs one step at a time as he sprinted away from his pursuer as fast as he could. He forgot what all he was running from, he just knew that he needed to get away. He wasn't running anywhere specific, just away.

The pursuer was on his heels, a cold hand reached out and grabbed Killua by his collar. It picked him up as he flailed around, attempting to punch and kick the one holding him. Killua slowly rotated around until he could see his captor.

Long black hair and black holes for eyes greeted him.

"You have no choice Kil. Come home."

"No! I want to choose my own path!" Killua shouted and kicked Illumi in the stomach. When he did it was almost as if Illumi was made of smoke because his foot encountered nothing.

"Fine, you know what you have to do if you don't want to come home." Illumi said in a monotone voice. "I'll do it for you." Illumi released Killua and he fell to the ground. Killua tried to run but when he got up and began to move he was just running in place. Like he was trying to jog up an escalator that was going down.

Illumi grabbed Killua's wrists and began to gouge into them with one of his needles, leaving long red gash marks on his arms.

"No! I promised I wouldn't! No!" Killua shouted as blood ran down his wrists at an alarming rate. Illumi held his arms out so that he couldn't stop the bleeding. "No!" He shouted over and over, his voice getting weaker and weaker. "Please… Someone…"


"Killua, wake up!" Gon said leaning over him and shaking him persistently. Killua woke with a start, sitting up and smashing his head against Gon's own.

"Ow!" Gon shouted and rubbed his forehead. Killua seemed oblivious to it as he tried to calm his erratic heartbeat. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. He quickly wiped the wetness from his eyes.

"What was that?" He said quietly to himself, but Gon heard and answered.

"You must have been dreaming something awful, because you were practically yelling out 'No' and then when you said 'please, someone' I tried to wake you up."

"Dreaming?" Killua asked, puzzled.

"Yeah." Gon said cheerfully. Killua still looked confused, as if Gon had tried to explain quantum physics in one word. "You know, when you see pictures in your mind as you sleep. Usually it's about your hopes or desires. Or your fears, but that's called a nightmare. You've never had a dream before?"

"No. I haven't had any need for dreams. But what I had was no dream."

"Oh, a nightmare then." Gon said a lot more seriously. Killua suddenly decided that he was done talking and attempted to stand. He easily rose up and walked over to the stream. He didn't walk like someone who had been on the verge of death just yesterday. He sank down next to the stream and splashed cold water all over his face, attempting to fully wake up. Gon went over next to him and got a drink from the stream.

"Sometimes it helps to talk about it." He said.

"I don't need any help with it." Killua answered stubbornly. Gon looked at him with a sad smile for a moment.

"Okay." He said quietly. He didn't want Killua to feel forced into something. He had been really worried when he woke up to the rising sun and loud shouts of protest. He hoped that Killua would be able to get better soon.

Gon left him there next to the stream with his thoughts and packed his blanket (That had ended up dangerously close to the smoldering coals of the fire when Killua woke up) and fishing pole into his yellow bag. He stomped out the last of the embers so that it wouldn't cause a forest fire if a strong wind happened to gather it up and put it in the surrounding brush. Turning to back to the stream to ask Killua a question he stopped suddenly.

Where Killua had been one minute ago there was an empty space. Where did he go? His heart rate increased slowly as his panic rose. Did Illumi find him and take him back? Did he go somewhere to break his promise? What if-

"Gon." Killua said from behind him, startling Gon out of his thoughts.

"Killua! Where did you go?" He said, a bit louder than necessary.

"Mother nature called." He said squatting down and poking at some of the ashes with a long stick.

"What did she say?" Gon inquired. Killua looked him in the eye and his expression seemed to ask if he was serious. He was.

"I had to pee, Gon." Killua stated.

"Oh! Why didn't you just say that, Killua?" Gon said curiously. Killua just sighed.

"Are we going?"

"Yep." Gon said cheerfully and began to walk to the stream. Killua followed behind him.

"So where are we going?" Killua asked.

"I don't know." Gon said confidently.

"Don't know?!" Killua jogged up to be in front of Gon. "What do you mean you don't-?"

Killua suddenly fell silent. He scanned the woods and listened intently. Gon, who is usually slow to get the message, followed suit and smelled the air.

Something was off.

Every sound of scurrying forest animals and singing birds stopped. Nature was silent. Like it was holding its breath.

"Illumi." Killua whispered. He looked to Gon. "Run."

Together they sprinted into the foliage on a narrow deer trail. They hid their presences and as they did so they hoped that they had not been found. The further they got the closer the dark presence came. Killua was in a frenzied panic as he pumped his legs as fast as he could. This was too much like his dream. The only difference was that Gon was running beside him, just as quickly.

They ran deeper into the forest. The trees began to thicken, thorn bushes became frequent as they clutched onto the two boys' clothes. They paid them no mind though, they were fully focused on the task of escaping. The sunlight that had previously been streaming through the trees dimmed and sight was suddenly a less reliable sense. But they didn't falter, they continued on with their endless sprint.

Killua couldn't help but be impressed with Gon. He had been keeping up with Killua this whole time, not wavering even once. Who was this boy? He was special, that was for sure. With his strong opinions and simple-mindedness. But he was also kind with strength on a level near Killua's own.

They suddenly broke through the foliage and found themselves back in the abandoned city where it all started. How they got back here, they didn't know, but they would take the opportunity they were given. They sprinted into the nearest stable building. They ran up a few flights of stairs and prayed that they had not been seen.

Gon walked down a dark hall and opened a cracked and faded door into a small square room. The room was just as cracked and faded as the door. The floor boards squealed and the walls were full of rat holes. A small window had been place high up on the wall, practically touching the ceiling. It gave the room a prison feel. Killua followed in behind him and shut the door silently.

He walked a few steps further to investigate the small area. It was about ten paces from wall to wall. The room was completely vacant and featureless other than the window. Gon had walked to the other side of the room and bent over a bit to catch his breath.

"Gon-" Killua had begun, voice at a whisper. Gon snapped his head up to see what he needed but his words caught in his throat.

Killua was suddenly a foot or so off of the ground, hanging in midair dangling by the collar of his shirt.

"I found you Kil," said a lifeless voice. "It's time to go home."

Killua was choking on his panic. This was just like the dream. He was going to die. He was going to die.

Killua tried to spit out a sentence, a word, a syllable. Nothing. It was as if his mind had frozen. He was stuck in Illumi's grasp. He would have kicked at him, had he been facing the correct way. Even then though, what if his foot just went straight through him like in the dream? Would that mean that there wasn't even a chance that he would survive?

Before he could think any further a shout pierced his sharp ears.

"Let Killua go!" Gon shouted as he charged at Illumi. Illumi looked to him uninterested and unconcerned as he covered the short space. What Gon didn't know was that Illumi had a set of needles resting in the hand that was not holding his dangling brother in the air. Once Gon got closer he planned to jab them into different pressure points to make his slave.

That was the plan at least. Once he jumped Illumi would carry out his plan.

But Gon didn't jump at Illumi. He didn't even attack Illumi. He instead took a turn at the last second and tackled Killua out of his emotionless brother's clutches.

He and Killua landed in a pile at the other wall. They untangled themselves as quickly as they could and stood to face the menacing figure staring at his empty hand. He looked over to Gon with colorless black eyes.

"This matter does not concern you. I am taking Killua back." He then reached out to where Killua stood. He cringed away from the long pale fingers and Gon took a protective side-step in front of him.

"Killua is my friend so it does concern me." Gon said boldly. Illumi lowered his hand.

"Killua has no use for friends. One of you would just end up being betrayed in the end."

"No." Gon said, his determined gaze never faltering. Killua watched the exchange with a mix of fear, fascination, and surprise. Gon, who he had met literally yesterday, is already considering Killua his friend. Going as far as to risk his life to keep him away from his family. This kind of behavior has been foreign to Killua for all sixteen years of his life and he had no words for it. Gon would be his first friend, and if he stayed here much longer, probably his last.

"Well then I will just have to kill you," Illumi said and switched half of his needles to his other hand.

"No!" Killua said and pulled Gon behind him. If Illumi was going to use his needles he was prepared to kill. He wouldn't be able to kill his little brother though. Hopefully. "Leave us alone." Killua said in a voice more confident than he felt.

"I don't think that will be possible Kil-"

Buzz.

A phone sounded from the long haired assassin's pocket. He immediately dug it out and answered it before it had the chance to ring a second time.

"Yes?" He said with absolutely no emotion. A loud voice could be heard over the speaker, the words too blurred to understand from where Killua stood. Illumi slowly moved the phone about a foot away from his ear so that he would still have a small amount of his hearing when he was done with the call. Gon moved to stand beside Killua as Illumi listened… inattentively? It was a bit hard to tell exactly what he was thinking with his mask like face.

"Alright." He said and hung up when the voice finally stopped speaking. "I don't have time to play this game. Next time though Kil." And with that he left the room.

Silence.

Killua sank to the floor and began rocking back and forth. His nerves had been keeping him standing, but now that they had relaxed he couldn't find a reason to stand. If anything he was even more scared than before. Illumi would be back to get him at some point in the future. He didn't know when or how, but it would happen.

"Killua!" Gon said and crouched down beside him. Killua had his knees tucked up to his chest and his face was hidden under his arms that were over his head and around his knees. He was in shock. Everything had gone to hell. He just wanted to curl up in a ball in disappear. So long as he didn't want to die Gon would be happy though.

"Killua, are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Gon questioned. Killua didn't answer, he just rocked back and forth. Back and forth. Gon was afraid. He was afraid that Killua was hurt. He was afraid that Killua wasn't going to be able to break free of the depression he had fallen into. Gon would just have to pull him out.

Gon wrapped his arms around Killua's own and rested his chin on Killua's elbow. Killua stopped rocking and froze.

"I think you're okay." Gon said. "Just really scared."

Killua listened intently and let out a deep breath he hadn't realized had been trapped in his lungs. With it, a quiet sob escaped too. It took a lot to scare Killua. And it took a hell of a lot more to make his so scared that he cried. He didn't think that he had gotten to that point until the adrenaline wore off. He had felt broken. Then Gon's arms had wrapped around him, almost as if holding him together. Silent tears made their way down Killua's cheeks as Gon whispered soothingly to Killua.

"When I would get scared, or sad, my aunt Mito would hold me like this. It always made me feel better. Do you feel better?" Gon asked.

"Y-Yes." Killua said as he got a hold of himself. He pulled his head out of his arms and Gon released him. He didn't want Gon's arms to unravel from his own but he let them go as cold air glided over the ghost prints where they had been. He wiped his eyes dry and rested his chin on his knees and his arms around his legs. "Thank you." He said quietly.

"Your welcome. Everyone needs a hug every once in a while."

"No. For defending me."

"Hey, that's what friends are for."

Killua just looked at him blankly for a second.

"You are my first friend you know." He told Gon.

"You're my first friend my age," Gon said. "Where I come from there was only one other person my age. We never really talked either. Mostly it was just me and Mito."

"Your Aunt Mito sounds really cool." Killua said. He wished he had a family member who actually cared about him like Mito does about Gon.

"Yeah, I miss her a lot," Gon said. An idea suddenly dawned on him. "I know where we can go!" He said, a bright smile on his face. He waited for Killua to respond.

"Where?" Killua asked, humoring him.

"Whale Island!"


Hey everyone! Thank you for the reviews! It means a lot! Lets get to 20 total this time, then I'll update. I know I'm so cruel :P ;)

Also I love when people give me suggestions, but sometimes they suggest what I already had in mind and I feel like I'm stealing ideas. If you have suggestion feel free to PM me and we can chat! I've got a great story line set up and I can't wait to finally get it out. (Thanks for reading) Luv ya! ;)