11
Kadaj heard the car stopping in front of the mansion he refused to call his ´home´. Shortly after, the sound of heavy footsteps followed and the way they angrily stomped up the stairs told him it wasn´t over yet.
They promised pain.
Shivering he crawled deeper under the blanket, a poor attempt to hide from what surely was to come and knowing that there was no escape.
Sephiroth was pissed.
Clinging to his teddy bear -the only toy he had been allowed to keep and the last remaining thing of their old life apart from his memories- he waited.
Next to him Loz snorted. Lucky, dumb Loz.
Kadaj almost envied him for being so oblivious and soft headed,for just ignoring the trouble and sleep. But since his dreams had turned into nightmares that wasn´t much of an option either… Although right now he would have rather coped with some imaginary monster than the real one.
The door opened with a shrieking sound.
Peeking out fearfully from under his pillow, Kadaj sighed in relief when he noticed the slim figure of his brother instead of that of his punisher.
"He wants to see you." Yazoo tilted his head, then left the room to wait outside.
Slowly Kadaj got out of his bed, not too thrilled to see his father as soon as possible. Since it was dark he didn´t see where he was going and promptly tripped over something, falling to the cold ground.
Rubbing his poor ass, Kadaj got to his feet and slowly walked out of the closet. His butt wouldn´t be the only thing to hurt at the end of the night…
Yazoo turned around and walked to the cellar door with long strides, not waiting for his little brother to follow. Kadaj had some difficulties to catch up, but finally jogged next to the long haired one.
"Is he…very angry?" Fearfull eyes looked up, but went unnoticed. Yazoo held his gaze straight forward, avoiding his little brother´s troubled and pale face.
"Yes."
Kadaj bit his lip and walked a bit slower. As if this would help to get away from Sephiroths wrath… On the contrary, the longer he had to wait to satisfy his sadistic needs, the messier it would get. And this was a lesson Kadaj had learned on his own.
Eventually they reached the heavy wooden doors of the salon and the brothers came to a halt.
"This time you are on your own. You know the rules. There is nothing I can do."
Surprised Kadaj looked at his brother again, who seemed to find it incredibly interesting to count the tiles on the ground.
"It´s not fair," the younger pressed through gritted teeth.
"Life never is."
With this, Yazoo knocked on the door, his face an expressionless mask. When had he started to become so… indifferent? There was no time for Kadaj to consider, since the cold voice of his father ordered them to enter.
With shaking legs, the younger followed the older, sneaking into the room and making himself as small as possible.
He didn´t dare to look up, or have the courage to look straight into Sephiroth´s face. He had done this once and immediately regretted it. Best was to just make a guilty face and wait until it was over…
"You can leave now. Wait upstairs. I won´t take long." This nearly softly spoken words were obviously not addressed to him but still, the first moment Kadaj was incredibly relieved.
´I won´t take long´… This sounded promising. But the next moment he realised that the shorter his punishment went, the longer Yazoo´s would be…
Clenching his fists he stared at the ground, listening to the sound of the shutting door. Now it was only him and his father.
"Look at me." The cold command forced him to automatically lift his gaze. Sephiroth had this impact on nearly everyone. It was just impossible to refuse his orders.
The silver haired man sat in a large, comfortable chair, casually holding a glass with a dark golden liquid and generally giving a relaxed impression. But Kadaj knew better. And a short look into the general´s icy green orbs confirmed his fears.
"Well." Sephiroth took a sip from his glass, never letting his eyes from his victim. "What do you have to say to your defence?"
Kadaj´s mouth was filled with a bitter liquid. He gulped and mumbled "I…"
"I cannot hear you. Stand straight," the general interrupted him rudely and watched with satisfaction how the boy flinched. Then Kadaj gathered himself together, straightened, cleared his throat and started in an almost provoking loud tone. "Sir, I have to say that it wasn´t my faul-"
The first hit connected with his stomach and Kadaj thought the world had come to an end. A fire exploded deep in his guts, all air was knocked out of him and his legs gave in. Holding his stomach he rolled over to the side, eyes squeezed shut and tried very hard to not vomit on the expensive carpet. That would only give the general another reason for more punches. Not that he would have needed any.
"Not your fault, mh?" Another punch, this time on his back, made the boy scream. "Tell me Kadaj, whose fault was it?" The general´s voice was calm, friendly.
Heavy boots seemed to crush every bone in his body, that only consisted of agony by now. He wasn´t able to answer, even if he had been physically, he couldn´t have brought himself to do so. Because there was no right answer. Whatever he said wouldn´t matter. Sephiroth wouldn´t listen anyway. It would only lead to more punishment.
"Answer." The blows stopped abruptly, and two green, merciless eyes took their time to watch the whimpering, crying boy and to enjoy his agony.
Finally, Kadaj managed a "The teachers" through sobs, but he cried out again when his hair was roughly gripped and his head jerked back. Sephiroth slapped him hard, VERY hard in the face.
The boy´s eyes went wide. Not only from the pain that exploded on his cheek and the ringing in his ears. Sephiroth never EVER had hurt him where it could be seen! Either he was really angry or had lost control … and Kadaj wouldn´t make it to the other day.
"Please it..it was my fault, just my fault, please don´t kill me… I won- won´t do it again, please…"
A sadistic smile crept over the general´s fair face, which turned into a disgusted snarl when the child´s bladder emptied itself, not standing the pressure of fear any longer.
He smashed the boy´s head to the ground, and left the room without another look at his unconscious child. If he couldn´t scream there was no pleasure in torturing him and Sephiroth had other things to do. Things that promised to be much more… fun.
With a small smile he walked up the stairs.