A/N: Yippee, another chapter done! Once again, HUGE thanks for your reviews! I don't think I even have to mention how much they mean to me. If you won't manage to make my ego grow, no one can. (grins)

Before letting you know what happens next, there's one more thing. (As always…) There are two flashbacks in this chapter, and I'd like to note that the second one takes place right after the first one. (Just thought I should mention so you won't get confused or anything.)

Oh, and remember that if you ever feel like asking something concerning this fic, I won't bite. (Just felt like mentioning.)

Okay, I suppose it's 'bout time to go on. Hope you like this chappy.

CHAPTER 10: Lost?

/ After being thrown into his cold, smelly cell and finding out what had happened to Spencer and Ian, Tala tried furiously to figure out a way to get out of the place, though he knew that it was practically impossible. First of all, the place was even harder to escape than prison, and secondly, he was still rather badly injured from the handling Boris had given him before he ended up into the hospital and after he'd been taken back into the Abbey. Besides, he couldn't leave without Kai, Bryan and Dara, and when even escaping alone was impossible…

He was ripped out of his thoughts when the door suddenly opened, and one of Voltaire's men was stood by the doorway. " Since Master Voltaire is busy, I was assigned to carry out his punishment for you", the man informed him.

Tala snorted. " Oh joy…", he muttered and forced his badly throbbing body up, steeling himself for what was to come. " Bring it on, then. There's no reason to wait any longer."

As the handling begun, he suddenly wished he hadn't pushed the man's buttons. Kick, so hard that the man was obviously using full force, met his ribs, and he coughed, unable to stop himself, as pain flooded through him after a sickening sound of ribs breaking. He tried to stand tall with all his might, but eventually sunk to his knees anyway as his legs went very weak all of a sudden. Another kick, this time aimed at his head, and as he fell to all fours blood seeped from his face and mouth to the filthy, dusty floor. The dizziness and pain made it almost impossible to stay conscious, but he did it anyway. He couldn't collapse, not there.

He was only allowed to compose himself for few brief moments before he was dragged back up again, held by his collars. The man lifted him so that their noses almost touched, he could smell the man's bad breath that made it even harder to stay awake. " You know, that wasn't a part of the punishment, but everyone deserves some pleasure, wouldn't you say?" He was thrown back to the floor, so hard that his old wounds were torn open, and he couldn't suppress a yelp. " This, brat, was the punishment." Turning his head slowly, he saw the man holding a gun, aiming at him. His breath caught into his throat as he saw the man's fingers squeeze the trigger tighter, tighter… /

Beep… Beep… Beep…

Eyes opened slightly as the sound reached his ears, everything hazy and disoriented in his view. It appeared that he was laying in a bed, hooked on tubes and machines.

Where was he? For how long had he been here? Could the place be a hospital? But how…?

As the view gradually begun to get clearer, he tried to make his memory work for him once again. He could tell that something bad had happened, something terrible. Had someone died? There'd been a gunshot, or no, two of them. Who'd gotten hit?

A huge wave of pain suddenly went through his arm and head, making him groan and squeeze his eyes tightly shut.

" Hey, are you awake?"

The voice was familiar. He'd heard it before. He let out a whimper as another attack of pain shot through him.

/ Out of blue, just before the gun was fired, a scream pierced the heavy silence. " NO!" Echo of the gunshot was left lingering in the walls as someone tackled the man down.

From his shock and dizziness Tala didn't notice the flying bullet on time, and let out a yelp of surprise and pain as it scratched his arm, leaving a deep, nasty wound. " AH!"

For some moments he sat paralyzed, fighting against the darkness that tried to engulf him. As thoughts finally begun to clear out, he lifted his blurry gaze, and gasped at the view. The man slowly got up, hissing, and turned his furious glare to the obviously outraged boy that had tackled him down. Tala blinked in daze. " Bryan?"

" How the hell did you get out of your cell?" the man growled, by then up, and punched Bryan before the boy could even guess it coming.

Despite the pain the punch must've caused, Bryan laughed haughtily. " You guys are too careless with your keys." Bryan showed the keys he was holding. " Seem familiar? You dropped them while beating up my friend."

Tala gasped as the man's kick made Bryan fly down to the floor. The boy slide a long way before bouncing into a wall. Growling, the man pulled out a long knife, approaching the couching, barely conscious boy. " Voltaire didn't tell me to finish up you too, but since you're all going to die tonight anyway, it doesn't matter."

It wasn't until then Tala's still disordered brain begun to work properly.

I have to do something!

Looking around, head still spinning, he suddenly spotted the gun the man had never remembered to pick up. Unable to stand up because of his wooziness, Tala crawled to the weapon and graphed it, unsteadily pointing at the man with it.

This is it, Bryan thought as the man lifted his knife, ready to plunge it into him. " This is what you get for defying your superiors, brat", the man hissed.

All of a sudden there was a sound of gunshot, and the man who'd before seemed confident and arrogant got a shocked expression upon his face. The man tried to speak, but instead his eyes closed and he fell forward, landing onto equally shocked Bryan's feet. The boy could easily see the blood that poured out of the gunshot-wound on the man's head.

Seeing the man fall, Tala couldn't defy the darkness and weakness anymore. The gun fell from his grasp and, giving an exhausted sigh, he let his eyes slide shut and begun to fall – but instead of hard floor, he landed onto something soft. " Hey, don't pass out on me!" Bryan's voice that sounded jumbled in his ears said. The boy's hands shook him, first gently, then firmly. " Hey, open your eyes! Tala, stay awake!"

Even though it took all his strength, Tala inched his heavy eyelids, meeting Bryan's face that seemed alarmingly blurry to him. " Bry…", he managed. " Go…"

The boy shook his head vehemently. " I'm not leaving you, not after you just saved my butt." Bryan cursed loudly and colorfully as the piercing, high-pitched alarm-sound seemed to fill the entire building. " Fuck, that idiot managed to call for help…" Determined look in his eyes, Bryan – though he was on the edge of collapsing himself – wrapped his other arm firmly around Tala, helping the boy up. " C'mon, we have to move it – now." /

" Tala, talk to me! Are you alright?" the same voice spoke again.

The word, tough it was so simple, required strength Tala barely had. " B – Bryan…?"

He heard steps, and after a small second the boy sat onto the chair beside his bed. " Yeah, it's me." He could feel Bryan's worried gaze studying him. " You alright?"

Had he not lacked the strength, Tala would've laughed. No, he wasn't alright. Actually, he'd never been that un-alright in his entire life. He inched his eyelids, licking his lips that felt as dry as sandpaper. " Hurts…"

Bryan nodded, relaxing just a little. " Yeah, it's only understandable. You were given quite a handling before we got out of there." Looking into his pained eyes, Bryan offered a weak fake-smile. " But everything's alright. We're safe now."

Tala winced in pain as he got up into a sitting position. Suddenly, a whole new rush of memories made his eyes widen and, ignoring the pain, he looked around with panicked eyes. " Kai… Dara… Where are they?" Despite the worry and pain, he was pleased to find that his voice was finally beginning to work properly. " We… we tried to find them…" He looked at Bryan, straight into eyes. " Did we?"

" We tried our hardest, but…" Bryan's gulp made a tight knot squeeze around his chest. " I don't know where they are." It was obvious that the boy wasn't telling the whole truth.

Tala squinted his eyes. " Bryan, what happened to them? Tell me", he demanded with as much firmness as he could muster in his condition.

Bryan looked at him, eyes filled with unshed tears. " Oh God, Tala… I wish I wouldn't have to tell you this…."

After few moments, a feral, almost inhuman cry echoed through the hallways of the hospital.

Despite the fact that he'd spent for pretty much all his life surrounded by it, Ray had never particularly liked snow. It was cold, unforgiving, reminded him of death in much too many ways to his liking. And at that brake of new day, the city was filled with snow. Streets were covered with thick layers of it, and sky poured it on the city, deciding that there wasn't enough. To Ray, it seemed that mother nature was mocking him.

Giving a deep sigh, Ray ripped his gaze off the weather, shifting it to Kai's blade, squeezed into his hand. The first few days since Kai's disappearance, it had been almost too hot to be touched. Now, it felt almost cold in his hand. No matter how little he liked the idea, Ray couldn't help thinking if the loss of warmth meant that they were losing Kai too.

" Ray?" a tired voice ripped him out of his thoughts. " It's only six in the morning. What are you doing up?" Alissa, who'd became very close to him after Kai's disappearance, walked up to him, wrapping her arms tenderly around his waist.

" Thinking", he replied her question, hid Kai's blade into his pocket and looked out of the window once again, almost hoping that it hadn't been snowing anymore, but the white flakes seemed to fall even harder. His eyes slashed with sadness.

" It's not your fault, Ray", Alissa told him gently, pressing her forehead against his back. " I know how much you blame yourself, and I can't let you do that anymore. The only one who can be blamed here is Voltaire."

Ray let his tired eyes slip shut, allowing the girl's soothing warmth and words calm him. It took for a long time before he spoke. " What if we'll never get him back?"

" We will." Alissa sounded stern and confident, her grip on him tightened. " Don't lose your faith, Ray, not now of all times. We will save him and bring him back. Bring them all back."

Ray felt very guilty all of sudden as he heard the hidden hint of pain in Alissa's voice. In his self-pity he'd completely forgotten that there were other people suffering besides him. Tala was Alissa's brother, Kai Nadja's, and Nadja obviously cared a lot about Tala as well. And the rest of the gang was sick of worry for Kai, hurting just like he was. Damnit! How could he have been so insensitive, he, who was considered as the most empathetic member of the team?

He was just about to tell Alissa he was sorry when a shrill scream of terror cut him short. Whirling around, he met Alissa's eyes and they both sighed, recognizing the voice.

" Nadja", Alissa whispered.

" I'll go", he stated softly, heading towards the room Nadja was sleeping in. After all, he was pretty much the only member of the gang who could approach Nadja after her nightmares without immediate danger of getting seriously injured.

Tyson, Max and Kenny, who'd also been woken up by the scream, poked their head out of their shared room to see what the fuss was about. All three seemed tired, as the gang had (once again) stayed up until almost three the night before, trying to come up with some kind of a plan, find a place they hadn't been looking for the Abbey yet.

" It's the same old one", he told the trio. " Go back to sleep, I'll take care of her."

Not even intending to protest, they did as ordered, and after a soft knock Ray slid the door of Nadja's room open, peaking in. With the heavy curtains pulled to hide the window, it was too dark to see pretty much anything, but his sensitive cat's-eyes noticed the dark, visibly shivering form on the bed. Heart-breaking, muffled sobs reached his ears.

" Nad?" he called gently. " You alright?"

She wouldn't reply, but didn't tell him to go away either, so he carefully stepped in and, closing the door behind him, walked up to the bed, sitting beside her. He never touched her, as she'd made perfectly clear that she hated touching just as much as her brother. They simply sat in silence for a long moment, he giving her silent support and she crying out the pain her nightmare had caused.

" Feeling any better?" he finally asked, just like almost every night since Voltaire had taken Kai.

" Eventually." The reply was the same as always, told him that he'd done all he could. " Thanks."

" No problem." He got up and headed towards the door, knowing that there was nothing more he could do for the girl. " Try to get some more sleep, 'k? It's only six in the morning."

" I will."

They both knew that she wasn't going to close her eyes anymore.

Without another word he left, letting the girl who'd gone through far too much lately try and deal with her anguish.

As he emerged the room and closed the door, he froze when he saw gloomy Mr. Dickinson standing in the lounge-room. The rest of the team (including Alissa) was sitting on the couch, all having fearful looks upon their faces.

He could just barely form words, but spoke anyhow. " What's going on?"

Mr. Dickinson seemed even more sad than before. " Ray, I think you should sit down. I afraid I have some bad news."

His body working mechanically, Ray obeyed and sat on the crowded couch, his thoughts racing much faster than he could process them. What was going on? Had something bad came out? Was Kai…?

" What's going on?" Tyson asked tensely as soon as Ray had taken a seat.

Mr. Dickinson gulped, seeming like he was about to break into tears, which made the mood in the room tense immensely. " This will be on the news and papers, but… I think it's the best if I tell you myself. Something… horrible happened last night." He had to pause to compose himself. " I afraid there is no reason to look for the Abbey any longer." With trembling hands he took out three pictures, representing ruins of a huge, completely burned down building. Some tears escaped the old man's eyes. " I'm so sorry, but… that's all there's left."

TBC.

A/N: Oh… shit! (as I fail to find a better word) What's going to happen? Are Kai and Dara still alive?

Don't forget to review. Please? (gives huge puppy-dog eyes)