Devil on the Doorstep

Well, I'm surprised. No one has killed me yet for the last chapter lol…

Devil on the Doorstep; Chapter VII: Easier to Run

"Where's Bryan?" Kai asked as soon as he came into the room. Ray scowled.

"He left, Kai. Needed to go and see Boris."

"That's not true!" Max ignored the glare Ray sent him. "Ray started shoving him, and then Tyson chucked him out!" Max's eyes widened as Kai brought out his gun again.

"I will deal with you two later. If Bryan is hurt in anyway…" He left the threat open and ran out into the pouring rain, getting soaked in an instant. "Bryan? BRYAN?" He yelled, crimson eyes straining for any sight of the pale teen.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Mr World Champion." A taller boy stepped in front of Kai.

"Carlos!" Kai pushed his fringe out of his eyes. "Get out of my way."

"Now, why should we do that? We not good enough for you?" Kai rolled his eyes and looked at Stuart, who was most probably the one he had been closest to in the sharks.

"Look, Stuart. One of my best friends is pretty cut up; he's just had a fight with my team mates and has disappeared. He's Russian, and can't read any other language, so I need to find him." Stuart frowned and looked at Carlos.

"Come on, Carlos, there's got to be someone else we can bother."

"You can bother Ray and Tyson if you promise to beat them up?" Kai smirked and ran into the main street. He looked at the street clock. Wasn't as late as he thought. Only about seven thirty. Suddenly, Kai recognised a pale figure standing in a shop doorway. "Bryan?" Bryan turned around in fear. When he saw Kai, he didn't relax. Kai wrapped his arms around the older boy's back, rubbing his hands on the other boy's arms.

"You left me…" Bryan muttered. "Everyone leaves me…"

"Come home, Bry. You're freezing." Bryan shook his head and stared into the shop window. "You want to go in there for a bit? Have a look at the instruments?" Bryan nodded, his eyes lighting up.

"Mr Hiwatari, how may I help you?" The shop assistant looked up as the door opened and jumped to attention when the Russian and Indonesian teens walked in.

"We're just looking." Kai growled, his crimson eyes softening as Bryan picked up a guitar and quietly began to strum it, mouthing words. "How much is that guitar?" He pointed to the one Bryan was using.

"You kidding? That's 400,000 yen (A/N: about $3,375 or £1925). Your little friend has expensive taste." The shop assistant gave him the once over.

"That includes case? And everything else that is needed?" The assistant nodded. "I'll take it." Kai pulled his check book from his back pocket and wrote a cheque. The shop assistant grabbed a case from the back of the till and handed it to Kai. "Bry? We're going." Kai chucked the case at his friend.

"What the… Kai, did you…" Bryan stammered, looking nervously at his friend.

"Put your guitar in the case and let's go. Max will be getting worried."

Bryan raised his eyes to look at Kai. He didn't say anything, but what he wasn't saying was clear. Thank you.

-

If I could change I would take back the pain, I would…

-

"What? You gave him a guitar?" Bryan closed his eyes and leant against Kai as Ray ranted.

"Well, considering that you chucked him out, I reckoned he deserved it." Kai toyed with Bryan's silver hair gently.

"He launched himself at Ray! He could have killed him!" Tyson argued. Bryan shuddered as the voices grew louder.

"He launched himself at Ray because Ray was threatening him!" Kai yelled back, rubbing Bryan's shoulders.

"Correction, I was trying to find out why he was here!" Bryan had had enough.

"You really want to know why I'm here?" He screamed, scaring himself. "Have you ever had to wake up too scared to go on in the morning, only wanting to die, but knowing you can't die because you don't want to condemn others to death? Have you ever watched your friends die? Knowing that you were supposed to die too, but you didn't…" Tears were slowly falling from the Russian's eyes.

"Bryan!" Kai rubbed the older boy's arms comfortingly, but Bryan shrugged him off.

"My best friends are DEAD!" He sobbed. "Some stuck up, twisted git tortured them all their lives, and then someone decides to bomb them! Do you know how that feels?" DO YOU?" Bryan dropped to his knees, sobs wracking his frame as Kai rubbed his back, wrapped his arms around him. Kai gently lifted him up and took him to the room they shared. Bryan buried his head in Kai's chest, listening to the younger boy's heartbeat.

"Bryan…?" Bryan looked up at his friend. "Who killed them?" he whispered, a single tear cutting across the shark fins on his face.

"I don't know… there was a helicopter, there were lots… and I couldn't read them."

"They were in English? Can you draw the symbols out?" Kai pushed a piece of paper into his hands and Bryan grabbed a pencil, forcing his mind to concentrate. He closed his eyes as the pencil skimmed across the paper. Kai gave an intake of breath. "This… this is the… This is the sign, the sign of the ones that killed my father? Are you sure?" Bryan nodded.

"Why… Do you know it?" Bryan stood up as Kai stood up. "Where are you going?"

"Get the hell out of my way." Kai hissed venomously. "I mean it!"

"Kai…? Where are you?" Bryan edged away, but not fast enough for Kai. Kai raised a hand and struck Bryan across the face, before leaving the room.

Bryan curled up on the floor, tears once again falling from his lavender eyes.

-

Something has been taken from deep inside of me, the secret I've kept locked away so no one else can see, wounds so deep they never show never go away, like moving pictures in my head for years and years they've played…

-

Seth felt a barrage of horror fill his chest. It wasn't the first time he'd seen a dead body, but every time, they reminded him of the frailness of mortality, of all he'd lost and all he'd betrayed.

He sat down on one of the rocks, hiding his face in his hands. How could he tell Kai this? Kai didn't deserve this, Bryan didn't deserve this, Tala didn't deserve this. No one deserved it.

When he looked up, Tala's lifeless body had gone.

-

Sometimes I remember the darkness of my past, bringing back those memories I wish I didn't have…

-

Soo… what do you think? Am I going to get killed again? Hehe… review!