Chapter 14

Kai sighed in boredom as he looked at the word cards on the dining room table. Garmadon and his family without in the backyard, playing hockey, and having a family day while Zane was sat inside with Kai, finishing their lesson from the other day, but it seemed the teen couldn't seem focus. Instead, he was looking around the room for something to do while Zane was writing some notes in his journal. As Kai looked out the window, he saw Garmadon and his family with their hockey sticks.

His mind wandered back to that room with Ray, but for some reason, it was worst than before.

When Zane finally looked up from his journal he gasped. Zane was looking at the ground with tears streaming down his face and his nails buried themselves in his head, breaking the skin. Zane immediately reached for the boy, trying to stop him from hurting himself. However, Kai quickly back away in fear as the doctor was a monster.

"Kai, what's wrong?"...

A week after the inspectors' visit, Kai was at the beach with his mother, Zane, and Jay. The boy had a bucket full of many different shells as he walked across the beach, with Jay following close by to make sure he didn't hurt himself. Zane chuckled as he watched Kai quickly back away from the waves that rolled in. He looked at the waves in confusion and a twinge of fear. As Jay reassured the teen, Zane decided to join Maya. Kai's mother was sat on a deckchair, smiling as she watched her son watch the waves in fascination and then back away when they got too close.

Zane quietly sat on the deckchair next to her's.

"I haven't been to the sea in so long." She said, catching him off guard. "Ray would never take me or Nya." She said as she took a breath of salty air. Zane shifted nervously as the awkwardness grew. Maya just watched her son quietly.

"He was a cruel man, wasn't he?" He finally asked but she didn't answer. "Kai said something the other day; he said, and these are his exact words 'Papa hit big stick', do you know what that might mean?" He asked and she sighed.

"Well, Ray did not like noise and, one of the reasons he didn't want to have children, and Kai sometimes made noise." She admitted. "Ray had a big stick that he kept in the corner of Kai's room, which used when he was acting up."

"So how often did he beat him?" Zane asked as he tried to stop the glare from forming on his face.

"Thankfully, not very often." She sighed sadly as Jay encouraged Kai to sit down and let the waves hit him. "But Ray did have other ways of silencing him." She added sadly.

"Like what?"

"He'd growl."

"What?"

"He'd growl." She repeated. "Like an angry dog."

"And that kept Kai quiet?"

"I'd imagine so otherwise he wouldn't have kept on doing it." She sighed before frowning. "The people that Kai lives with, the Garmadon family, they don't like me do they?"

"I wouldn't say that."

"Then why won't they let me see Kai at their house?" She glared at the young man. "Why do you and Mr. Walker have to drive MY son all the way here so that I can spend some time with him?" She asked and Zane just sighed.

"Dr. Garmadon and his family are just concerned that it will be difficult for you to see Kai with his foster parents." He replied and she scoffed. "It's not because they do not like you, they're just trying to be considerate." He added, but Maya didn't say anything and just turned back to watch her son...

That night, after the visit was over and Maya went home, Zane was ready to claw his eyes out. Jay had gone home already and he was back at Garmadon's house with Kai and trying to get Kai to say something in a proper sentence, but he just wasn't cooperating. He just kept staring out the window.

"Come on Kai, ask me a question." He said again with a small frown of frustration. "I don't care what it is, just ask me anything, we're not going anywhere until you ask me something."

"Dark." He said.

"Yes it is dark, that's because it's late." He glared as he massaged his temples to ease the incoming headache. "So just ask me a question and we'll be done for the day and you can go to bed."

"Where John? Come Thursday?" He said, still looking out the window.

"So what you really want to ask is: 'Where will John pick me up on Thursday?'." Zane sighed as he waited for Kai's response, but the boy still kept staring out the window.

"Dark."

"Alright, let's call it a day." Zane snapped as he stood up and left...