...Yeah. I'm back. I was just...busy and was not able to update though I was reading other people's stories.

AN: This chapter is a tribute and a very late birthday gift for one of my oldest friends here, Eza. Sorry, girl, you know why I was not able to update it.

You know what the funny thing is? It is a birthday gift for you but I am posting it around my own birthday. XD

DISCLAIMER: Oh god. I really really hate this part. I do not own Beyblade but I have three of them in my toy box. Happy now?

HEALING CHAPTER 4

The hot spray of water always helped him in calming his frayed nerves after a hard day at work. He closed his eyes in bliss and let a small sigh escape his lips, as the almost scalding water ran down his lithe body turning his pale skin into a slightly red hue.

He slowly opened his eyes, keeping them half lidded with his spiky hair plastered on his handsome face as he reached for the tap and turned the hot water to freezing cold. He shivered in delight and stood there for a few minutes before turning the tap off and quickly stepping out of the shower, and wrapping a clean and thick white towel around his waist and walked out of the pristine bathroom in languid grace.

Kai elegantly walked across his king sized room and stepped into his walk-in closet. He paused for a few minutes to let his body calm down from the sudden change of temperature it had experienced in the shower and picked up a clean pair of grey sweatpants. Putting them on, he calmly walked out of the closet and went to his bed.

He picked up the laptop that was kept on the night table and sat down on the soft mattress, one of his legs dangling from the bed. He picked a piece of strawberry from the plate that was kept on the night table beside where his laptop was and placed it between his lip and munched on it heartily. Strawberries were his absolute favourites.

He perked up slightly, when he heard some rustling near the curtains of the room and turned to look at the source of noise. He smiled, his mahogany eyes softening and shining slightly when he saw a small munchkin step out of the curtains. It mewed softly and padded across the room on its tiny white paws and stopped near Kai's foot, looking at him with bright blue eyes.

"Hello, Muffin." Kai said softly and picked up the little creature in his hands and placed it on his lap. Muffin tilted its head and peered at Kai curiously. Kai shook his head at the bundle of cuteness and placed his hands on its head and scratched behind its ear and chuckled at the purring sound it emitted.

The tiny kitten was presented as a birthday gift to him by his girlfriend this year. He was pleasantly surprised when he had opened the box given by Smita to find a really cute ginger and white coloured kitten sleeping peacefully with a baby blue blanket wrapped around it. It had been Tala's suggestion to name it 'Muffin'. When asked the reason behind the name, he had shrugged nonchalantly and said that it reminded him of his favourite muffins, leading to Ian making a joke that Kai better keep a watch on the kitten if he did not want Tala to mistake it for an actual muffin and 'accidentally' eat it, which made Tala hit him with a bat on his head... Such pleasant memories.

He looked at the munchkin fondly as it played with his thumb, thinking of it as a mouse. He frowned as he suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Smita earlier today. He knew as soon as she had answered him that she was lying. The teen was as bad at lying as he himself was. Though, he was good at picking up if someone is hiding something from him. Which is what he picked up that Smita was doing.

This is the first time that the frank girl had lied. To him. He did not understand why she would conceal something from him. She had never done that before, even if she had done something really stupid that would cause him problems. So he concluded that it was somewhat serious issue that she is not able to talk to him. But what?

He snapped out of his musings when Muffin started to lick his thumb, all the while looking at him with sparkling blue eyes that were filled with innocence and life. He lifted an eyebrow as he looked at the fascinating being closely. It was trying to tell something to him.

"You know, I think you are right. Maybe I am just over thinking such trivial issue. I should..." The kitten emitted a cute noise and lightly swatted Kai's hand that it was licking. "...Play with you?" Muffin gave a loud mew and Kai chuckled before picking it up. He nuzzled his nose against the kitten's and then lay down, placing the adorable being on his bare chest. Muffin snuggled up to him and looked at Kai questioningly.

"I'm tired right now. I will play with you tomorrow, okay? Let's get some sleep." Kai mumbled, pulling the sheets over them both, laptop forgotten on the side and closed his eyes.

'I must be being just paranoid.'

*With Spencer and Smita*

The butler looked at the people in the living room uneasily as the atmosphere was so thick that it could be cut with a butcher's knife. He quietly put the tea tray on the glass table and quickly went out of the room, feeling nauseous.

Smita kept looking at her hands placed on her lap, her profile rigid. She sneaked a glance at the other two occupants of the room and saw Miguel looking at Spencer as if he were an alien and Spencer, like herself, was finding his lap very interesting. When she felt someone looking at her, she again turned her head downwards, not wanting to look at the confused blonde male in the eyes. The 'confused blonde male' had had enough.

"Okay, now tell me what is actually going on here."

"..."

"..."

"...Seriously? Oh come on!"

"..."

"..."

"...If you do not start explaining right now, I am going to call Kai and tell him I have found Spencer."

Miguel stifled a laugh when both of their head snapped up; eyes wide and they started talking at the same time. He waited for a few moments for them to calm down but they did not seem to stop rambling incoherently. He sighed and shouted at them to shut up. When Smita and Spencer quietened down, he asked them his questions.

"Okay, first tell me where Spencer had been for these last few months."

Smita looked at Spencer. He noticed her enquiring gaze and sighed. "After my fight with Kai, I went to Paris, to continue...my love life. I finally got bored of this life and decided to settle down in my hometown in Serbia. That's when I started feeling under the weather and went to Moscow to get medical checkups. And after I found out I have AIDS, I went to the hotel to kill myself."

Miguel's eyes widened in horror. "You mean you have AIDS?! And you tried to kill yourself?!" Spencer winced as he started screaming at him for taking such an extreme step and not taking care of himself and going around fucking every person he found. Who knew Miguel of all people would have a nervous breakdown? He had expected Smita to take the news badly and Miguel calmly. Not the other way around.

Smita ignored Miguel and frowned. There is something wrong in the details Spencer gave. Something is missing. Smita was positive he was hiding something. Why Spencer was in Paris?

She looked up when Miguel had finally calmed down. He was still seething and looking at his face, it was clear that he didn't expect Spencer to do such a thing. He saw him as a respectable and responsible young man who would never do such rash things.

"I did not expect this from you, Spencer. You should have listened to Kai when he was talking you out of it." Spencer looked down, feeling ashamed of himself. The atmosphere again turned tense. Miguel's eyes softened when he saw the miserable and guilty expression on the older man's face. Good thing was that he had realised his mistake, even if it took a long time and it was too late anyways. But still.

Not liking the nauseous feel of the room, he asked his next question. "Okay, so what are you doing with Smita right now? Did she find you or you came to her for help?"

"I found him, actually. He was half dead by then. I was the one who took him to hospital." Smita answered this question. Miguel nodded satisfied with the answer. He was about to continue enquiring when Smita beat him to it.

"Hey, what exactly are you doing here? Kai did not tell me you are staying here too." The blonde haired man blinked, a little bit surprised that she did not know why he was here. I mean, isn't it obvious?

"It is my company that Kai has hired to complete the renovation of the mansion."

Silence. Both of their jaws dropped open when they heard that. Miguel's company? That means...

"You are an interior home decor designer?!" Smita gasped. Miguel shrugged, picking up a cup of tea from the tray and taking a sip of the rejuvenating drink. "Indeed I am."

Smita and Spencer shared a shocked look and stared at him again. He sure looked professional in his smart deep blue suit and white shirt, sitting and sipping on his tea elegantly. Mathilda should be happy that such a great guy like him is after her. Speaking of which...

"Any progress with Mat, yet?" Smita asked with a cheesy grin.

And that entire professional demeanour went out the living room window. Miguel's eyes widened and he choked on his tea, spluttering indignantly and trying to get anything into his lungs. Spencer rolled his eyes, amused and went to thump the other male on his back to stop him from choking on his tea. After a few more moments, he calmed down and gave Spencer a grateful look and the female an annoyed one.

"Seriously, are you trying to kill me?" Asked Miguel to Smita who grinned again and waved her hand nonchalantly. "Well, I think I got my answers. Not much progress then." Miguel just looked away, blushing and muttered something under his breath that suspiciously sounded like 'would have killed this punk if Kai is not her boyfriend'. His eyes sparkled suddenly and he smirked evilly.

"So...have you done it?" He asked lowly, leisurely leaning towards the person he asked that subject. The brunette blinked, confused and suddenly aware of the closeness between them. She cleared her throat awkwardly as the blonde started to lean in even closer. Spencer shook his head at the scene.

"I have done what?" She asked sceptically, quirking an eyebrow at the older male, leaning back to put some distance between them. The two of them were on one long couch while Spencer was on the other side, settled in the smaller sofa. Not realising how much she had tilted her body back, she fell back on the couch, flat on her back. She blinked again and her eyes widened, Miguel's face only an inch away from hers, his body on top of her figure.

"Done the things which adults do, seeing as you turned eighteen a few months ago?" Spencer sighed when he heard that question from Miguel. He was surely not hanging out with Tala, was he?

Smita frowned until she finally caught the meaning of those words. "Wh-What?!" She stuttered and roughly pushed Miguel away, sitting up and staring at him with eyes the size of saucer as he fell down the couch, on the carpet. Miguel lay sprawled on the carpet, trying to get his bearings back, as the force by which he was pushed back was not he had expected. He shook his head, ignoring Spencer's amused chuckles and sat up again. "Hey! What the heck was that for?!"

Smita snorted, once again composed and looked away. "You are not going to ask me anything like that ever again or I am seriously going to pound you into the next millennium." Spencer stifled his laughter behind his hands, looking at younger two, amused by their antics. Smita noticed this let a small smile grace her lips. This was the first time in such a long while that Spencer had laughed genuinely. And boy, that made her relieved seeing him back to normal.

Miguel noticed this too and beamed slightly. He kept up his act. "But you do know it is important to lose virginity once you become an adult, right? It is necessary to have a healthy sex life!" He flailed his arms around, trying to get the seriousness of the situation around the naive girl's thick head. Smita's eyebrow twitched, one sign that should be taken as an initiative to stop. But Miguel was meeting her for the first time, oblivious to the dangerous side of the younger teen. "Oh really? And what would happen if I don't have sex until I am twenty five or something?"

Miguel feigned a gasp and said, "You and Kai would become impotent!" Spencer burst out laughing at that but Smita did not seem to share the same sentiments. As soon as the crazy blonde had said that, she lunged at him, making him fall back again on the carpet and wrapped her hands around his neck to throttle him. Miguel truly gasped this time, looking like a fish out of the water as his oxygen supply was cut off. He managed to turn his head towards the only other male in the room and looked at him pleadingly.

Spencer rolled his eyes skywards and stood up. Falling back into his role of peacemaker, he walked towards the wrestling duo and wrapped his bulky arms under the angry teen's arms and hauled her up. Before she could try to hit him with her elbows, he quickly released her before wrapping his arms around her waist pinning her arms at her sides. "Let me go, Spence! I want to eliminate that distorted blonde!" She growled, struggling against the hold Spencer had on her and making him look at her peculiarly at the choice of words she had just used. He grunted, finding that keeping her still was more difficult that he had initially thought.

Realizing he would not let her up anytime soon, she sighed and slumped again him, all the while glaring at Miguel who was looking at her apprehensively. "Can I ask you something?" he said, gingerly rubbing his neck, knowing bruises would be there by morning. Damn, for someone her size, she sure has some great strength.

Finally after simmering down, she looked at Spencer silently asking him to release her as she is not going to kill the blue eyed male anymore. Spencer shrugged and did what he was asked to do and sat down on the couch behind him. Smita tilted her head, silently probing Miguel to go on. "What do you do for a living other than being-" He shut up when he felt two pairs of eyes glare at him dangerously. He chuckled awkwardly muttering that he only meant the first part.

"I am a psychiatrist." Smita shrugged, turning to look at the maid who had entered the room right at that moment. The maid bowed slightly and told them that the dinner is ready. The brunette nodded and said that they were coming in a few minutes.

Miguel gaped. This girl? A psychiatrist? No way. "You can close your mouth, Miguel. It's not that hard to imagine me sitting at a mental hospital, dealing with mental patients." Miguel shut his mouth and kept staring at her owlishly. She sighed and moved out of the room walking away.

Spencer looked at the other male and went up to him. Waving a hand in front of his face, he smirked when he jumped slightly, caught off guard. Miguel flickered and then looked at him strangely. Spencer chuckled and told him, "You know, even I was also surprised when I first learnt that she is a psychiatrist. I mean, this kind of job is not something we would see someone like her take up. She is just...I don't know...she just doesn't fit this, like, at all. Right?"

Miguel stared at him, calculating. He then said, "Well, now that you have said it, I think it does fit her. She has what it takes to be a psychiatrist. She is caring, understanding, knows what to expect from different people, knows how to react in any situation and seems to be composed...well most of the time. Everyone snaps at some point of their lives...That jogged my memory, remind me to never mess with her again."

Spencer gave a sharp cackle at that. "Gladly." He said.

Right at that moment, Smita re-entered the room and looked at them annoyed. "Hey! Do you want to eat or not?"

Spencer and Miguel shared a look and suddenly ran past her. She whipped around and gazed at them bewildered, not able to understand what had happened right now. She heard Miguel shout.

"Hah! Beat ya, sucker!'

"Aww, man!"

*A couple of hours later*

Smita suppressed a yawn, settled on the sofa beside Spencer, who looked as bored as herself. They were watching an old classic Dracula movie, in which a Dracula was at that moment trying to lure a female victim to a dark alleyway to drink her blood. Archetypal. While she and Spencer were bored out of their minds, Miguel was trembling like a leaf, chewing on his nails nervously and slowly telling the unhearing woman to stay away from that handsome Dracula. It was amusing to see Miguel, the usually calm and collected man, acting like a piece of meat thrown to the wolves. It was entertaining but now, they were getting bored to tears.

She glanced at the clock and saw it was almost half past eleven. Better go to sleep now. She stood up, making Miguel jump slightly at the sudden movement and stretched her arms above her head. She turned to the men in the room, announcing that she was going to bed when she noticed Spencer looking alert about something.

"Spence? What's wrong?"

The person in question seemed to ignore the query as he favoured staring out the living room window, into the nightly darkness. He swore he saw someone moving out there...

He shook his head slightly, clearing it of the weird thoughts, deciding that he was just tired and was hallucinating. He looked at his female companion, noticing that she was looking at her worriedly. He gave her a reassuring look, telling her silently that it was nothing. She relaxed and nodded.

"I am going to sleep now, too." Spencer also stood up looking at them both, bidding them goodnights though Miguel did not respond seeing that he was engrossed in the movie. "Don't remember to take your meds." Smita said, yawning and went out of the room. As she was going up the stairs, she suddenly froze.

Spencer who had been following her, as his room was beside hers, looked at her enquiringly. She turned around and looked at him sheepishly. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I...kind of forgot my luggage at the hotel." She grinned slightly, a hand rubbing the back of her neck. Spencer sighed and shook his head. "Let's go to sleep for now. You can go get it tomorrow."

Smita seemed to contemplate that and nodded a few seconds later. They continued up the stairs when they were interrupted by a shriek of terror.

"Guys! You can't leave me like this! That Dracula will drink my precious blood!"

They both shared a look and the same notion.

He is impossible.

*In the morning*

Smita woke up with a start when she heard someone enter her room. She relaxed when she saw it was Miguel but tensed again when she noticed that he looked anxious. She sat up straight on her bed and looked at him blearily. Rubbing her eyes, she asked him sleepily, "Miguel, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

Miguel walked up to the side of her bed and whispered restlessly, "I heard some noises downstairs. I have inkling that they are the same people who had broken in earlier."

Smita blinked. "They? How do you know there was more than one person?"

"You really think that so much destruction could be done by a single person in a single night?"

She frowned and nodded. "Point."

Miguel looked at her seriously, "What do you think we should do. Confront them or go behind their backs and ambush them?" Smita thought for a few moments and said, "I don't think we would be able to find them now."

Miguel furrowed his brows, not able to understand what she was implying. Smita huffed, feeling grumpy as her sleep was disrupted at, she glanced at the alarm clock on the night table, 4 am in the morning. "When did you hear them?"

He blinked and said, "About an hour ago. I did not know what to do, so I stayed in my room. When I heard that there was no more movement down there, I sneaked in here." When Smita opened her mouth to speak again, Miguel continued quickly. "And no, I did not see anyone out there."

"See? That means they are gone. They have probably done what they came here to do."

"And why do you seem so unfazed by this?"

Smita narrowed her eyes, smirking slightly. Miguel gulped, she looked terrifying at the moment. "Because, if they came here, it has to have a meaning. I know that they were not here to cause more obliteration. They were here to give us a message."

He looked at her wonderingly. While he was thinking of his own next move, she had already deciphered their enemies' moves, making it easier for them. He nodded, understanding the situation. He looked on as she stepped out of the bed and went towards the door. She turned around and said, "What are you waiting for? Let's go."

Miguel hurriedly followed her out of the room. They quietly walked down the hall, on their guards, warily eying their surroundings. They cautiously descended the stairs and stood at the grand foyer. Smita looked at him gravely.

"You check out the kitchen and the guest rooms and I will take a look in the living rooms." Miguel hummed and turned left while she twisted towards right. She looked around the foyer while walking, searching for anything that was out of place and turned her head straight only when she reached the living room. The same living room they had been in the last night.

As she was about to step into the room, she noticed something chary. Something was hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room. It was something big, but other than that, she was not able to make out anything else as the lights of the room were out.

She frowned when a nasty stench hit her nose full force. Confused, she made sure to never stray her eyes from the bulk and grabbed around the wall blindly for the switch. When she finally found it and switched it on, she realised that it was the biggest mistake of her life.

Her eyes widened at the horrible sight and she grabbed at the wall behind her, losing the feeling in her legs as they buckled from the knees from disbelief. She fell down on the carpet, breathing loudly and heavily. Tears pricked her eyes when she finally found her voice.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

THE END

Finally! The end of chapter four! Sorry it took sooo much time. MS Word kept glitching like a Pokemon rom hack. *Sighs* Who knew MS Word could glitch? And does anyone here play Pokemon roms?

Anyways, how was the chapter? Reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome and appreciated.

And thank you to previous reviewers:

unaisa memon

Wanderer's Cynefin (I finally learnt the spellings of your name and ACTUALLY got used to it. XD)

Cutetyhil (Get well soon, sis. :D)

Julia Fernandez Hiwatari

Fantasy Sword

The-next-you-know-who

Ezabella (I hope you like this chapter! The first part was truly dedicated for you to drool on Kai. XD)

I love you all! I really really love you!

Bye Bye and Namaste!