Another chapter, mis amigos! This one was quite painful to write, for reasons that will soon become apparent… but hey, I'll get over it someday! Now, to answer the reviewers:

Catherine Noble: Woo! Doctor Who theme tune, yay! Lol! Thanks for your review!

Betrayed by Darkness: Thanks! And you reviewed A Little Piece of Paper too! Well, I'm updating! Yeah, I know. Poor Kai… :-C

BooBoo: Wow. That was interesting, in fact it reminded me of Max! hee hee, lol. Don't worry, I do not plan on abandoning this fic, it's my most successful yet! I shall attempt to… umm… elaborate! Glad to know I make someone happy! Hopefully this is as good as the last one! Enjoy!

sproxy23: Yeah, I know, the homework was VERY evil. You're rubbing off on me, you know… enjoy this chappy!

blueraven: Thanks for reviewing! Here's the next instalment!

Shizuka-Yuki: Hey! You reviewed twice! Thanks! Yep, I know. Totally evil. It's no fun, being evil… :-C lol! (Bows to applause)

EagleFox: WOO! I set a record, yeah! Thanks for the fave, I'm updating!

AnimeBando33: I know. Hilary focuses too much on the big scheme, she doesn't see what's going on under her nose… Thanks for reviewing!

onetime23: Deep, huh? Wow, thanks:-D I'm updating! Reviews make me high!

Bruna Aquino: Aww, thanks! I will keep writing! Glad you like!

Chapter 3: Silently Broken

'He calls the mansion not a house but a tomb.
He's always choking from the stench and the fume…
…He doesn't have many friends.
As they are
Face down and bloated snap a shot with the lens.'
To the End, My Chemical Romance

Kai's POV

I softly close the door behind me. I have to be careful not to make any sound whatsoever. He mustn't know I'm back. Otherwise it all begins again…

Wearily, I glance at the clock on the wall. Ten-thirty. I hope I've stayed out long enough, but I can never tell when he gives up waiting. Of course, preferably I'd stay away from here all the time, but I have to sleep somewhere.

And I'm not about to force myself on anyone else.

As quietly as I can, I leave the kitchen and creep into the hall. Turning to go up the stairs, I freeze.

At the top of the stairs stands my grandfather.

I feel my heart miss a beat as we stare at each other. A small, cold fear starts gnawing at the bottom of my stomach. He doesn't look pleased. This can't be good.

"Grandson. Where have you been, out so late?" As he speaks, I can hear the cold fury in his voice that he's barely suppressing. What have I done to displease him now? What is he going to do to me?

I want to run away but I can't. Terror keeps me rooted to the spot and I can only watch as he advances slowly towards me.

"Well? Answer me!" I try desperately to think of something, but my mind has gone blank. What difference would it make anyway?

"Nowhere," I say, my mouth dry. "Nowhere important." He's right in front of me now, only a few centimetres away. Only my willpower stops me from cowering.

Quick as a flash, his hand snatches out and seizes my wrist in a vice-like grip, above my head. I want to cry out but I daren't. No emotion. Isn't that what I was always told?

Smack! He slaps my face, hard. Again and again he strikes me, and I can do nothing to defend myself, my wrist still held prisoner in his unrelenting grip.

"Liar!" he snarls, and sinks his fist into my stomach. I gasp in pain and go limp in his grasp, and he throws me aside like a rag doll. I hit the hard floor and lie there for a few blissful moments, glad of even a small respite from the beatings. Even though I know it won't last.

But he has a different way of breaking me. "Look at you," he says mockingly. "You're pathetic! Like a wounded animal. I doubt you feel anything at all." He smirks, and inside, I cringe. "Just how I wanted you. But then again, who would want a thing like you?"

I'm crying inside, silently pleading for acceptance. I've always tried to meet your standards, it's all I can do. What am I doing wrong? Why do you hate me so? He might not think I feel, but I do. All too well…

His foot connects with my back, and I'm kicked across the floor, having only the satisfaction of not letting him hear me scream to help me hold on. I roll over. Finally, my legs start working again, and before I know it, I'm racing up the staircase as fast as I can possibly go, gritting my teeth against the pain. I can hear him behind me. I've got to get away, I don't want him to hurt me anymore…

I run along the landing towards my room. Finally, I reach it, slam the door and lock it. Thank goodness it's got a lock.

"You can't run away forever, Kai!" My grandfather's deranged voice floats through the door.

I'm trembling. I lean with my back against the door to stop it, breathing hard. Slowly, I slide down until I'm sitting with my knees up my chin, all my energy gone. How much longer can I go on like this?

My thoughts dwell bitterly on the past day. Happy birthday, Kai, what did you get? A lecture off both my teacher and Hilary, who has no idea what's going on by the way, and the homework assignment from hell. Oh yes, and my grandfather beat me - yet again.

I stare numbly down at my arms. Covered in bruises, the darker, more recent ones overlapping the old. The marks you leave on me may fade with time, Grandfather, but the pain that you cause me remains the same. Do you even care?

Who am I kidding? Of course he doesn't. He would gladly leave me in some dark hole somewhere to die; so why doesn't he?

Tears well up in my eyes. What's the point of anything anymore? The homework's sitting in my bag. I don't care. It can wait. It's just a reminder, like almost everything else, of the nightmare that is my world, of the life that is forever denied to me that so many others take for granted.

Life. What is life? It certainly isn't what I'm in now. What I experience is only a half-life. How can I live life to the full if I'm always being torn down? What is even the point of my miserable existence?

Would people miss me if I disappeared? I don't think so. I'm worthless, a traitor. I don't deserve to live.

And I don't want to go through this pain any more.

I consider it. Is suicide really my only way out? In the blackness of my despair, it feels like it. So how to go about doing it? How do I let myself out of this world?

Cutting? No, too slow, and besides, people think it's a cry for help and I'm long gone beyond that point, I just want to go…

Could I jump off a building? Not that either, there's none around here that are high enough.

As I think about it, I realise that the answer might lie in my own bathroom.

Shakily, I stand and unlock the door, peering out. The hall looks deserted, so I slip out and down the corridor, taking care to make not a single sound. I enter the bathroom and begin my search.

After a few minutes, I find what I'm looking for. A bottle of Paracetamol tablets. I unscrew the lid and count them. Thirty 500mg tablets. This is the only way. I won't even feel anything. I'll just go to sleep, and then I'll never wake up again…

I've got my way out. I just need to find a place to use it.