Disclaimer- I don't own Beyblade or any of the beyblade characters. However all OCs are owned by me and are not to be stolen (though I know nobody has that intention)


Fortunately the Luinwe mansion wasn't very far from the Prestifilippo's, and after running for about ten minutes, too shaken to stop, they found themselves pushing open the large gates at the end of the drive. They didn't stop running until they were deep into the house, and even then they were reluctant to relax. Raisa threw her gloves down on to the coffee table and, having caught her breath, retreated back to the hallway.

The Georgian style mansion was probably smaller than one of the wings of the Hiwatari home, but what it lacked in size it made up for in elegance. It seemed almost every wall, every carpet, every item of furniture was cream or white. It was the sort of place that makes a clean person feel filthy. It would show every speck of dust if there was any around, and hide every shadow when the sun was shining. It looked more like a museum than a family home, but then again Voltaire's mansion could easily be mistaken for a public building. In fact, a family could probably live in one of the wings for a week without either one of them noticing.

'Filipp' Raisa addressed the butler who was standing by the door. 'Filipp, my parents, where are they?'

The butler hesitated for a few moments, as though trying to decide what to say. Finally, he stuttered 'Y-…your parents made a telephone call 2 hours ago, asking that their things be packed and ready. They arrived half an hour ago and evacuated, with their luggage.'

Raisa gaped at him, wide-eyed, utterly perplexed. She checked herself quickly and cleared her throat. 'When will they be returning?'

'They did not say.' She started to walk away, aghast, when the warning tone in his voice made her freeze. 'Mademoiselle! …I suggest that you leave too.'

Raisa turned slowly to face him. 'Is that so Filipp? And what gives you this trepidation?'

'I could not say, mademoiselle, but Madame Luinwe would never want anything bad to happen to you,' he paused. 'especially after tonight.'

Without another word, Raisa stormed into the next room, where Tala had made himself comfortable on the large white chaise longue. Kai remained standing, leaning casually against the white mantelpiece. Her lips were pressed tightly together and her eyes were wide, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. They were all on high alert, waiting for any slight piece of information about what might have just happened.

'What is it?' asked Tala, as soon as she had entered.

Raisa sat down beside him, no longer graceful, but frustrated and shaking slightly. She blinked a few times before answering. 'They called for their luggage.'

'What?' Kai had opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at the two of them.

'My parents, they called, two hours ago.' There was a pause as she blinked some more. Finally, she lost patience and rose from the chaise longue, beginning to pace around the room. 'They know something…' her voice was reaching panic now. 'They know something, and they won't tell me!'

The moment was cut off by the ringing of the telephone. Raisa almost jumped and crossed the room, beating the butler to it. She waved him away and picked up the receiver. 'Hello?'

At once, she looked somewhat relieved. 'Marcus…' Kai lifted his head again. 'I'm glad you're okay…I'm fine…at my parent's house…'

Tala rubbed his head, loosening the top buttons of his shirt with the other hand. He prayed that nobody had been killed. While Raisa spoke, he glanced over towards Kai, who looked as though he was trying to piece together a puzzle in his mind. He had moved from the mantle to the cream-coloured arm chair, and sat resting his head in his hand. He looked almost as troubled as Raisa did, but neither of them had any idea. Neither of them knew the reason for all of this. But Tala knew. Though how Mr and Mrs Luinwe had figured it out, he had no idea. The one thing he was certain of, was that they would be easily traced. If his suspicions were correct, they would probably have already been followed. He hated this moment in limbo, silently waiting for something that only he knew was coming.

As soon as Raisa was off the phone, he voiced his opinion. 'We should get out of here.'

But she shook her head. 'Whoever those men were, their mission did not concern us. We should be safe here.' She began to walk towards the door, turning over her shoulder to ask 'Can I get a drink for either of you?'

Tala was unable to find a way to express his concern without explaining everything. In a minor state of terror, he shook his head. Kai also declined the offer, and Raisa left the room.

'Kai, we have to leave.' began Tala, as soon as she was out of ear-shot. 'They would have followed us, we are all in danger here!'

Kai nodded solemnly. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but from the fright in Tala's voice, he trusted that the red-head knew what he was talking about. They had a reason to be worried, and needed to leave immediately.

But at that moment the two boys heard the sound of high-heeled shoes, clip-clopping hurriedly along the clean marble floor. Raisa appeared in the door-way, now looking as petrified as Tala felt. She was shaking from head to toe, her eyes still wide as the white porcelain saucers. Kai and Tala were on their feet in a second.

'They're here!' Raisa's alarm came out as a hoarse whisper. 'They're here, they've come for us!' She made wild indications with her hand towards the back door. 'Run! Out the back way! Go, we have to leave!'

She turned on her heel and charged back down the empty corridor. For now all was quiet, almost too quiet. She found her butler, standing by the front door, doing his duty. She began to run, the sound of her shoes on the marble disturbing the silence. 'Filipp!'

Kai and Tala had not moved. Tala stayed put while Kai began to charge after her. 'Filipp! A cab, call a cab! Have him collect us two blocks down! Then get out! Get everyone out of here!'

Filipp carried out his orders, reaching for the telephone with shaky hands, while Kai reached Raisa and they charged back in the other direction. The house was still in silence, besides the sound of hurried footsteps. Raisa pulled off her shoes and threw them aside as the three of them began to run to the back rooms of the house.

'This way!' They reached the large glass doors at the back of the house, only to find that they wouldn't open. Nor would any other door they tried. All doors leading from the outside to the inside of the house had been locked.

The silence was suddenly broken. The three of them stood, rooted to the spot in fear, as they heard the distant sound of breaking glass.

'They're here.' It was Tala's faint whisper this time. The other two remained frozen, but Kai had recovered. Seizing one of the satin footstalls, he threw it directly at the glass. The back door shattered as the sound of distant footsteps were heard at the front of the house.

'Come on!' He practically threw Tala through the small hole in the shattered glass. But Raisa hesitated. 'Move!' He grabbed her by the arm and pushed her through, following right behind her. As he kicked more glass to break his way through, he heard a very strange and foreboding sound, and saw out of the corner of his eye, before taking off as fast as he could, an unmistakable red glare.

They had reached the end of the garden, hopefully unseen, and had only to wait under cover until the damage was done. Kai was not completely certain about what he had seen and heard, but the yell that came from behind him was his first clue that he wasn't wrong. The second clue was the loud lashing and cackling of the flames. He looked up at Tala, who was looking straight past him, eyes wide and mouth open. Kai spun around, in time to take hold of Raisa to stop her from running back towards her blazing house. She fought against him but his grip was strong.

Suddenly, Tala gasped. Kai looked up to see a man standing by the pool-side. Another ran towards him with something in his hand. He held it up, and Kai recognised it to be one of the shoes Raisa had thrown aside when they had fled. The two men conversed for a few minutes. Being quite far from them, Kai could not make out what they were saying. Finally, the man who had been waiting called over several others; they all appeared to be leaving. Having found the shoe, they must have assumed the 3 of them were dead. Before he knew what he was doing, Kai took off after them. Tala called 'Stop!' after him, but it didn't help. By the time Kai reached the drive, he only saw the tail lights of a black car pull out of the drive and out of sight, leaving the damage they had created behind.

Tala and Raisa caught up with him and, assuming the coast was now clear, thought it was best to run while they still had the chance. By the time the loud sirens of the fire department were heard, they were out of sight. Being as vigilant as possible, they ran without words, without hesitation, until they reached the waiting taxi cab.

They piled into the back. 'The Hiwatari Mansion.' Raisa demanded, leaning forwards to address the driver. When there was a small hesitation, she exclaimed 'Go!' in a state of panic.

The cab drove down the road they had just been running from. 'Well damn, would you look at that…' The cab driver seemed positively awe-struck at the scene.

The crisp white house was still coated with the red glow of the blazing fire, as flames lashed out through every window and every door. The large drive was littered with fire trucks, as the fire fighters tried to control the raging inferno. He slowed down the cab to get a better look, and Raisa started to quietly moan.

'Can we keep it moving please?' Tala demanded, quite rudely. 'We're in a hurry.'

They arrived back at the Hiwatari mansion and entered into the right wing without disturbance. The three of them stood in the large hall for a few seconds, no doubt one of them trying to piece together the puzzle, the other wondering when the questions would start flying. But none came; on the contrary, he almost went unnoticed. Kai approached Raisa and took her firmly by the arms. 'Go to bed. Don't call anybody and don't leave the house.' He glanced over at Tala, and then back at her. 'We will talk about this tomorrow.'

Raisa obeyed without objection. Nodding her head to both boys, she slowly made her way to the staircase. Kai then began to walk back in the other direction, saying over his shoulder 'You go to bed too, Tala.'


(A/N) Gosh, this one was really short. One more to go and I've achieved my goal for spring break :)