AN: UGH. I'm writing this just after finishing Chapter 23...I just know that I've got to go mad with writing. Otherwise I won't bother till the last minute, you guys know what I'm like! Although I may go and sleep...in a minute.
Disclaimer: Why do I keep writing these...you know the story, guys. Don't you?
Song For This Chapter: Silver Bullet - Hawthorne Heights
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Chapter 24 - Comfort in a Dark Place
Boris slammed into the laboratory, his face an expression of the utmost rage. Daniel was quivering at his side, too scared to do anything except obey orders. Who would even dare to try and confront or do something out of line when Boris got like this? Not him, that was for sure. And almost no-one else on the planet, either. The trainees backed away, terrified.
"What went wrong?" he bellowed, sending any mice in the rafters running for their lives. Daniel squeaked a reply, "Well sir..." Boris shot his head around to glare at the boy, "IT WAS A RETORICAL QUESTION DAMMIT!" The potion should have worked perfectly...what went wrong with the damn thing? Daniel scurried back, towards the door, unlatching it with a trembly hand before running out of the room. His mind kept thinking that any second now, Boris was going to figure out he was out of the room. But not a sound emerged from the cold room. Not the Daniel noticed - he was too busy running for his life.
Unfortunatley for Tyson, he was right in Daniel's path. The boy came screeching to a halt, and the men started having a staring match. Each wondering who was going to crack first. Eventually, after what seemed like forever, Daniel smirked. "I figured you would come here Tyson - looking for your little buddies, huh? Well it's too late."
"What's too late Tyson?" Hilary whimpered, appearing at his side, "What's going on?" Daniel snapped his head around to look at Hilary, "Shut up bitch!" The black haired boy ignored this. His mind was thinking...thinking...what had happened?
What started this whole thing out? So many questions! This guy obviously knows something...with that, he stormed over to Daniel, whom was a few inches shorter than Tyson. When Tyson grappled him by the arms, he yelped slightly.
"Where's Kai?"
"I-in the d-d-dungeon. Boris told me to lock him up there, I couldn't do anything to stop him! It's not my fault, honest, please don't hurt me, just take the prisoners and go! I'm no use to you!"
"Wrong." Tyson barked, dragging Daniel by his collar to the main corridor, "You're going to show us where Kai is. And Ember, too."
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"I'm so sorry..." she sobbed, putting her face in her hands and crying gently. He wrapped his arms around her, sharing her pain, releasing her, giving her a shoulder to cry on. "It's alright," he murmered softly in her ear, "You're not to blame."
"I'm not?" Ember choked, her voice weak and fragile-sounding, "But...how can you be like this after what I've done to you..." she continued to cry and cry. Kai held her close, shedding some tears himself. Ember was pressing slightly against his gunshot wound, which he had quickly bandaged up with his scarf. The old thing came to some use after all...he thought. Even so, it was still quite painful, although he didn't dare tell her. She would just cry more, and she was in enough sorrow already. How he longed to set her free of all of this pain! But he couldn't do much - just comfort her in a dark, scary world. Let her cry on his shoulder, be there for her, do whatever it took to make her smile again. But that would be a rare event after all of this had happened...in fact, Kai doubted if Ember would ever be cheerful again. Ever be her old self. This was a life changing experience, but not a good one.
Kai stroked her flame-red hair and continued whispering into her ear, "Shh...it's alright..." He rested his head on her shoulder, his own tears slightly soaking the fabric. Either Ember didn't notice, or she was just in too much pain to care. Time slowly passed in the dingy cell, minutes turning into hours. Neither of them shifted, both too exhausted - emotionally and physically. Ember's sobs slowly grew quieter, as she gently fell into a deep sleep.
Even though his own eyes were screaming at him that he needed sleep as well, he knew full well that he could not fall asleep at this moment in time. Kai needed to protect Ember, prevent her from any more pain. He'd caused her too much already, even a small amount would have made him breakdown, but this was beyond anything he could ever have imagined. Kai didn't even notice he was succumbing to sleep as well. The icy cold wind rattled the wooden door, the snow smashed into the earth outside, but nothing disturbed the two young souls inside.
That is, until a figure came in through the door in a clumsy manner. With a crash and a bang, he knocked over several metal buckets on the floor, making a crescendo of rattling and smashing that could have awakened the dead. Kai snapped awake, his grey eyes turning to the source of the noise. They widened when he saw...
"Tyson?!?"
"The one and only."
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AN: Everyone like? I don't know why I didn't finish this chapter sooner, but I guess I needed to get my creative juices flowing again to really make a good chapter. I like this chappie, and I hope you guys do too!
"No matter what," Kai said, smiling at the people around him, "This is a family. An odd one, I'll give you that, but we are all a family, we all care for one another. Therefore we must take revenge swift when we deem it neccesary. One of our finest has been traumatised by this..."
"I'm up for it, Kai," Ember spoke up, "And we will take our revenge." With a ghost of a smile to him, Ember got up and started to walk towards the door, followed by Kai, and they all trailed out. To even the odds, destroy the opposition. It was payback time.
AN: Does this last Author note mean anything to anyone? And I'd just like to say that I am very sorry for this chapter being a little later than I said it was going to be, but it's here! Woohoo! Now my fingers hurt, and I'm gonna go watch TV.