Chapter 10

The Ugly Truth

"Now tell me. What happened that bloody night? Why did you say I was trying to kill you?" Zane turns to a fidgeting Lloyd.

"Well…you didn't exactly try to kill us, in particular. You attempted to kill everything living," Lloyd responds.

"How?"

Jay leaves the two and hobbles to Emily, whispering, "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" she asks.

"To check on Kai. He should have been here by now."

"Okay. Be careful."

Kai backs up against the wall, barely able to hold the katana from the pain in his right arm, sliced down to his shoulder and thinly pierced skin above his ribcage. Something hisses in the darkness, foul carnivore breath blowing in the fire ninja's face. The shadow is not the shape of a serpent, yet it does seem strange. Kai drops his sword as something hard smacks into his mid-section, and something cold and sharp wraps around his throat, biting into his flesh, squeezing the breath of him.

Kai reaches his hands out, touching scales as well as something slimy moving on his hand, sliding up his bleeding arm. It hisses with pleasure as it tastes his blood and the slimy thing moves under the red sleeve, into the fresh wound. A cold object pierces his shoulder and the slimy thing (Kai supposes is a tongue) inserts itself into the flesh.

"Tasssste it. Hisss blood issss delciousssss," the shadow hisses

Several more tongues find their way into the wound, licking the blood as Kai struggles to get away, screaming as his abdomen is then punctured and the slimy, thin tongues move to there. The fire ninja's knees give way and he drops to his hands and knees, but he is forced back up, pinned against the wall.

"Let go of me!" Kai demands, but the creatures ignore him. I hope this works. He pukes pale liquid on the tongues and they release him.

He drops face down and the creatures hiss sharply, "Thissssss thing is sssssick! We cannot drink hissssssssss blood or something may happen to ussss!"

A slightly softer voice says, "No it'ssss not ssssssick! It isssss like that becaussssse of that woman'ssss body. It'ssssss ssssso ssssskinny it musssst be sssstarving to death."

"Well then let'sssss finish him off now!" the first voice responds, making Kai's heart sink as they lift him back up against the wall.

"Kai? Are you there?" a muffled female voice calls him from somewhere outside.

"I'm in here!" the fire ninja shouts, but his feeble voice dies down, while the creature glowers over him, digging its claws downwards on Kai's chest. He screams.

"What do you mean?" Zane questions him.

"I woke up to find you bending over me, with a…" Lloyd trails off, his green eyes widening at the mention of the matter.

8:30 P.M. –Night of Zane's Attack

Lloyd opens his eyes, smiling weakly at Zane, who stoops over him, also smiling. "Are you feeling any better?" the green ninja asks.

"I'm much better. Thank you for your concern. How about you?"

"Better, but those stitches hurt a lot, and they still do," Lloyd responds, shifting uncomfortably, and groans softly.

"Don't move around or else your stitches will burst; I have found a way to get rid of the pain, permanently," Zane tells him.

"Really?" Lloyd's eyes light up, "How?"

"By doing this," Zane instantly snaps his arms out and wraps his hands around the boy's throat.

"Zane!" Lloyd chokes, "W-what are you...doing? Emily! Emily, help!"

Emily takes her spear from where it was leaning against the wall and whacks the ice ninja's head, shouting, "Zane! Snap out of it!"

The Nindroid pays no heed to her and tightens his vice grip. Lloyd's face turns scarlet from lack of oxygen, and he begins forming a green ball, but before he releases it, Zane lets go of him, and takes off out of the cave. The green ninja catches his breath while Emily rushes after him.

"Zane!" she calls after him as he attacks two Venomari, taking the sword out of one's hand and slicing down the front of its head, and violently assailing the other.

"Behind you!" Lloyd screams as a tiger lunges towards Emily, claws extended to her back.

Thank you for the reviews. Is this getting a little too creepy? Because that thing attacking Kai is not a Serpentine at all.