Hi there everyone! I hope that this chapter came out quick enough :) On a sadder note – this fic only has two chapters plus an epilogue to go! It will be sad to finally finish TBR, but there will be a sequel. I have already decided on a title and plot and hopefully you will all stick around to read it!
Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews. I wasn't certain about how the response would be considering the long break between updates, but you all proved my fears wrong. Thanks for all the support. It really means a lot.
A massive thanks to: ForeverFalling86, the Light Shadow, Taijiya Mizu, Demolition-GIRL-33236, CleverPhoenix, Rapunzelle, x-Black-Dranzer-x, black angel falling, phoenix80, totally-bobby-dogz, american farmer & The keeper of lone wolfs.
I am looking for a beta for the sequel to Ten Black Roses. Anyone interested, leave a note in a review or PM and I'll get back to you :)
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
TEN BLACK ROSES
DancerInTheDark101
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or the song and lyrics to Ten Black Roses or the band The Rasmus (although I do own all of The Rasmus' albums!). Oh, but I do own the plot.
Summary: When Kai's friends start to suspect something isn't quite right at home, they pry into the matter. What they find shocks and horrifies them, but does it explain the constant bruising and bandages? What is Kai hiding so desperately? Abuse, dark themes
Chapter 20: When You're Sad And No One Knows It (II)
(I'll Send You Black Roses)
Rei ran. He didn't stop to catch his breath until he was at least half an hour away from the hospital. Pulling out a cell phone from his back pocket, the dark-haired teen dialled a number, pressing the phone to his ear as it rang.
He frowned when the phone went straight to voicemail. He wasn't supposed to have his phone turned off. That was what they had agreed on. Something wasn't right. A hundred and one scenarios raced through Rei's head as he stood on the bank of a river, watching the dark water swirl around in a deadly dance.
The teen had most likely killed one of the best bladers to ever walk the earth. He had most likely killed one of his 'former' friends. He had most likely killed the wrong person…
XxX
Some hours earlier
Voltaire Hiwatari glared at the policemen standing outside his cell in the local police station. They had read him some bullshit about abusive actions towards a minor and shoved him in the cell and slammed the barred door shut. That had been hours ago and he was starting to get severely annoyed. Who the hell had the right to lock him up in the first place? Nothing had been officially charged against him and there was no way Kai would ever speak up against him – not when he wasn't alive to tell the tale…
However, it seemed his waiting had paid off when a heavy-armed policeman held out a set of keys and unlocked the cell door. "Mr. Hiwatari, you are to come with me," he spoke in a gruff, official voice. Voltaire smirked at the tone, knowing full well that the policeman was barely out of his teens. He was a rookie pretending to be some tough cop. And he could see right through it.
Standing stiffly, Voltaire followed the rookie cop through the darkened hallways to a brightly lit interrogation room. He winced slightly at the change in lighting and as his eyes grew accustomed to the artificial lighting, he scoped out the room.
The room was very blandly decorated. Cream walls, linoleum flooring, a single light dangling from the ceiling. Directly below the light was a metal table bolted to the floor. A chair made of the same materials was also bolted to the floor beside the table. A large, glass window occupied the space on the far right wall and Voltaire let a smirk distort his face. It was obviously two-way glass.
Inside the room were three other people besides himself and the rookie cop. They were all men and Voltaire had a suspicion that they were all very high-ranking officers. The tallest of the three – standing at least 6`4 – had grey/blue eyes that honed in on him immediately. Watching, Voltaire smirked at the look of disgust that ran across the man's face. He knew what he had been brought in for. Apparently they had laid charges against him for chid abuse and murder. Voltaire scoffed at the thought.
They weren't going to prove anything by locking him up in a two-bit police station with claims of things. Even if he was proven guilty and was sent to prison, it was no skin off his back. He knew people who would help him out. Did they really think that he wouldn't? He was Voltaire Hiwatari, CEO of the BIOVOLT Corporation, one of the largest independent companies in the world.
The rookie led him over to the metal chair and urged him to a seated position. Understanding, Voltaire sat on the cold chair and didn't even flinch as the handcuffs were released with a quiet snick. Once undone, the cop quickly snapped the free end to a circular rung on the edge of the table. Now, he couldn't go anywhere.
Voltaire faced the policemen, letting a malicious smirk possess his lips. He caught the quick look of fear passing over their faces before it was hidden behind the masks of indifference. And with the first 'silent' introductions over, the interrogation began.
XxX
Head pounding, Tala was forced out of the room as the doctors and nurses struggled to make do with what equipment they had. The last ten minutes had been the worst of his life. Watching the doctors frantically work on getting Kai's heart beating again, amidst the high-pitched shrill tone informing them that they were failing. Both Tyson and Spencer were beside him, their expressions grim at the sounds coming from inside the room. So out of it, Tala didn't see the twin looks of hopelessness and grief pass between the two boys.
Sliding into a nearby chair, Tala let his head fall forward, catching it with his hands as his fingertips buried themselves in his red hair. Letting out a low sob, the distraught boy struggled to deal with the emotions swirling through his mind. While part of heart only held hope for Kai's survival, it seemed that the remaining ninety percent could only see the ordeal ending in another funeral.
His thoughts kept slipping back to the ten minutes of shrill beeping. The ten minutes when Kai's heart had been still, no longer able to pump blood through his weakened body. No breath had left his lungs, the machines having to do the work for him. And when they had been ushered out of the room…Oh god, I have to get back in there. He can't die alone!
A sudden gasp ripped from his mouth and Tala sat up straight, blue eyes widening in horror at his thoughts. Shaking his head violently, Tala tried to rid the thoughts of his best friend's death out of his mind. But no matter how much he willed the thoughts away, they just wouldn't leave.
"… Tala?" a tentative voice asked, breaking his silent battle. Tala looked up from staring at his pale hands to see Spencer and Tyson standing over him, concern written across their faces. His mouth dropped open a little as he struggled to find something to say. Instead of any words leaving his lips, a single crystalline tear fell from a blue eye to trail down a defined cheekbone and drop off his chin to land on the floor with a quiet splash.
Nothing was said as Tala let the tears flow. He had tried so hard to be strong, be the person everyone expected him to be. Yeah, sure, he wasn't as emotional as any other person, but he did have a breaking point. And that breaking point had just been hit.
Losing Bryan had been hard, harder than he had originally thought. The boy had been one of his closest friends and had been with him through all the bad times, and the good. But when Bryan passed, Tala had still had Kai. Kai was his best friend, the person he trusted the most in the world.
When the abuse had finally become knowledge, Tala had felt sick. Knowing that his best friend had been through the horror for most of his life had made him sick to his stomach. The fact that Kai had hidden it hadn't made the situation any better. But what made the whole thing the worst wasn't the fact that Kai had gone through it alone, or that it had happened at all, but the fact that it had been his grandfather – his family, that had done such a horrible thing to him.
"Hey, Tala. Come on, man…" Spencer whispered. Tala heard the words, but didn't comprehend them fully. It was only when a hand was placed on his shoulder did he realize that his friend was trying to tell him something.
Blinking slowly to rid the haze covering his mind, Tala spoke. "Yeah?" His voice was quiet, filled with grief and resignation. To his own ears, he sounded pathetic and broken. He was broken…
Spencer pulled him to his feet and Tala let the taller boy steer him over to where the small window looking into Kai's room was situated. Taking a quick glance inside, Tala didn't really notice anything until he looked again.
Eyes wide and mouth open, Tala stared at the largely diminished movements of the personnel inside the room. Most of them were standing still, staring at the prone form on the bed, who was still covered in the red liquid that had spilled from his body. One of the nurses had lifted her hand to cover her mouth, silently gasping at the sight.
Unable to bear it any longer, Tala rushed from the window and pushed the door open with a loud bang. All of the doctors and nurses turned at the startling sound, surprise flitting across their features. Ignoring them, Tala slowly – if a little hesitantly – over to where Kai was lying.
Kai's slack features were pale, frighteningly so. The twin cobalt blue tattoos on his cheekbones stood in stark contrast to the ashen tone of his skin. Dark lashes that normally parted to reveal unearthly crimson orbs were closed, brushing against the top of his cheeks. The teen's slate bangs were dishevelled and fell across his forehead in an array of blue and grey strands. A single smear of dark blood crossed Kai's face; the single imperfection on a face many said was beautiful, beautiful but haunted.
Reaching out and grabbing his friend's limp hand; the redhead gripped his fingers in a tight grasp. Looking over to the many machines that were attached to the blue-haired boy, Tala let a tearful smile grace his lips. The black screen with the green line was flat no more. Regular blips of green rocketed upwards in a steady rhythm. Kai's heart was beating again.
Glancing back to Kai's face, Tala finally took in the tubes and machines keeping his friend alive. A clear tube ran down his throat, giving the weakened boy much-needed oxygen. The tube was attached to a machine that hissed with each inhale and exhale. Kai was on a ventilator.
Another machine was placed more or so next to Kai's chest, with small wires protruding from the main compartment. The small wires were attached to the unconscious teen's chest, monitoring the rhythm of his heartbeat.
Those were the only machines that Tala knew. The rest of them were foreign, doing a job of which Tala had no idea. But at the current moment, Tala didn't care. Kai was breathing; his heart was still beating. He was alive.
XxX
Rei stared up at the black sky, obscured by silently moving clouds that added a tinge of grey to the night. He sat under a large tree of some kind, thinking. His actions some hours before were going to have dire consequences, of that much he knew. Attempted murder was not something that was taken lightly in society. He just hoped that he could disappear before anybody came looking for him. He didn't know where he would go, or when he would go.
He had killed one of his closet friends.
Oh god. What have I done? What has Kai ever done to me? Shit…
It was then that his voice popped into his mind. The words he had spoken. The truth. Rei felt the worry dissolve in an instant. He had done the right thing. It was all part of the plan. In the end, everything was going to be fine. He had the utmost faith in him. And Rei was going to make damn sure that he fulfilled his part of the plan.
… TBC …
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Preview: Chapter 21: When Your Heart's Dark And Frozen (II)
(I'll Send You Black Roses)
"And in other news, the CEO of the major company BIOVOLT Corporation, Voltaire Hiwatari, has been arrested on undisclosed charges. As we were unable to find out what the charges laid were, several rumours have been spreading the upscale social network. Most of them involve the CEO's grandson, high school teenager Kai Hiwatari. We will let you know more on the matter as it is revealed. Tony Hamilton, reporting."
Tala switched off the television before glancing at Kai's slumbering form. Sighing, the redhead rubbed his sore neck from sleeping in the not-so-comfortable chair all night. So the media were latching onto the latest gossip. It had been news to him, hearing that Voltaire had been arrested. He was beyond happy that the monster was finally getting what he deserved. But the happiness was overshadowed by Kai's condition.
The boy had still not awoken after the hurried surgery. His condition hadn't improved any, but it hadn't deteriorated either, which was a good thing.
However, the fact that the police still hadn't found Rei Kon was beginning to worry Tala greatly. The boy had stabbed his best friend in the chest, missing his heart by millimetres. Kai was extremely lucky to be alive and Tala didn't want Rei to come back and finish the job he failed to complete.
For now, it was all just one big waiting game. And Tala hated playing games.
Well, that's one more chapter down! Please leave a review and tell me what you thought of the chapter. Oh, and I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what you think of my writing as well? Have I improved since the beginning of the fic? Gotten worse? Improvements that I could make
You guys have been an awesome group. I hope you keep reading :)
See you all next chapter!
-Dancer-