A/N: Man it's been a while. Sorry for the long wait folks, but graduation had me occupied for three weeks or so…and I've been busy with college stuff like orientation and whatnot…finding a job…turning 18…you get the idea. But in anycase, it was all kind of weighing down on me, so I went out of my way to find the perfect pick-me-up, lol. So after a heaping dose of Fruits Basket and Law and Order I figured I was finally ready to finish this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
…
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
Kai slammed his cell phone shut so suddenly that the pigeons at his feet leapt into the air with startled cries. For a long time he remained very still, sitting on a secluded park bench, listening to the frightened flutter of wings around him.
He wanted to say something…vent his anger on someone, somehow. He wanted to open his mouth and scream to the world that he was done being toyed with; he was through with all of the lies, the hatred, the pain…
The silence.
He tried to stop his hands from shaking, gripping his cell phone tighter. Why? Why wouldn't anyone give him a straight answer? Didn't he deserve that? Didn't he deserve that at the very least? Kai set his jaw, forcing his shoulders to relax as he leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. Blankly, he stared at the ground, his expression emotionless.
Bryan wasn't answering his phone calls. Rei was at work. Tala wouldn't even speak to him, let alone—
His ruby eyes widened. For a brief moment, he glanced down at the navy blue phone in his hand. His eyes narrowed a split second later, a pained expression between frustration and sadness lighting them up.
Tala…why? Why do you always hide from me, when all I want is the truth?
/All I've ever done for you was in your best interest. You should keep that in mind./
Why do you stop me…break my every attempt…?
/These things aren't always about youKai/
What did I do to disgrace your trust?
Lowering his forehead into the palm of his free hand, he tightened his fingers around the locks of his long bangs, his nails biting at the flesh.
"Am I…truly that disgusting?"
…
Rei raced down the hallway, his heart pounding in his ears, thrumming wildly against his temples. He couldn't even hear his own footsteps anymore. The people around him were all a blur. He was only thinking about one thing: Kai. Kai had to know.
He felt his heart leap into his throat as he crashed through the doors and out onto the crowded sidewalk. He almost tripped, his cat-like reflexes saving him at the last minute from sending some poor stranger head-first into on-coming traffic. Rei didn't stop to apologize—he kept running.
He had to keep running.
How had this happened? How had he missed it? Delilah…he had just seen her, only just spoken to her not forty minutes ago. She had been laughing. She seemed so innocent. Rei practically leapt off the sidewalk and onto the road as he ran through the groups of people crossing the street.
But she wasn't. She wasn't innocent; she had taken his files to Russia. His real name, his drafts, all of his sources, including Kai and Tala—they were all there. And now they were exposed.
At first, Kenny had tried to reassure the neko-jin. He had, in fact, asked Dizzy to forward the Balcov story to Russia. That was the point. That was how Boris had been imprisoned. But Delilah had been outside of Moscow, in a remote area that only someone familiar with the country could have known well enough to be welcome in. It wasn't a tourist attraction she had been interested in. It wasn't for the news.
Rei felt the desperation in him take over as he skidded to a stop at a crosswalk that was suddenly filled with cars. Everyone was waiting for the chance to cross. Everyone was calm.
Rei wanted to scream.
When he and Kenny had knocked on her office door to ask her what was going on, the door swung open easily. The room was cleared. Delilah was gone, and the window was open. He could remember throwing himself at the window, disbelief and hysteria taking over when he saw that the fire-escape was lowered.
She'd used the fire-escape. Just like Rei did.
In a flash he saw the dots connect before his eyes. Delilah was his stalker. She knew where he lived; she could follow him home from work easily. She'd used his fire-escape that night to sneak into his apartment, just like she'd used it to run away now that Rei was back in work.
Unable to wait any longer, Rei hurtled himself from the sidewalk and out into the street. There was so much screaming, car horns blaring…but the Chinese teen was only focused on his goal. He had to get to Kai. They were all in danger now, and it was all his fault.
…
"I…I don't know what happened, I mean, we were just talking—he asked me a straight question and I just…I dunno…" Tala sighed. "I snapped."
Bryan pinched the bridge of his nose from where he was sitting at his kitchen table. It had been hours since Tala had called him on the phone. Hours. And he still didn't have a clue as to how to fix this mess. Glaring at the manila folder on the table beside him as if it would explode, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. Balancing the phone between his left shoulder and his ear, he lit the Stolichnye and took a long drag, blowing the smoke out slowly and listened to Tala ramble on.
"You know," he interrupted when Tala started repeating himself again. "He's been calling for the past forty minutes."
"Kai?"
"No, the Grim Reaper."
"Charming."
"Look, Tala, I think you just need to sit him down and talk to him, because he wants answers. Just tell him what he wants to know—he'll need to find out sooner or later."
He flicked the ash off of the end of his cigarette as he listened to Tala's even breathing on the other end. He knew Tala was considering it, trying to find a flaw in the advice. Bryan smiled softly around his Stolichnye. He never did take advice he hadn't thoroughly evaluated.
"It's just…easier said than done," came the final verdict. Bryan sighed, blowing out a long stream of smoke from his nostrils.
"I know, and I'm doing the best that I can, but there isn't much I can do to help from here." Taking another drag on his cigarette, Bryan pulled the manila file closer to him, flipping it open. Sneering, he pushed it away again.
"Bryan, I don't know what to do anymore…"
The lavender haired teen furrowed his brows at the helplessness in his lovers voice and snubbed his smoke.
"Hey—don't lose it on me Tala," he answered gently. "We'll get through this, I promise."
"I know…I know it's just—"
Bryan didn't hear the next thing that Tala said. Lowering his cell from his ear slightly, he furrowed his brows, his whole body stiffening. Behind him, the front door closed softly.
…
Kai made his way through the crowds on the busy sidewalks, his ruby eyes trained on the ground, his hands tucked loosely in his jacket pockets. As he made his way back to the Athenee Plaza, his mind began to wander. After a moment he looked up, catching a glimpse of his reflection in a car door.
Kai sat alone in the corner of the small basement in the dark, trembling away from the blood that splattered his limp pillow. His blood.
He held his head in his hands, his knees bent against his chest and shaking badly. The pain…it hurt so much. But he couldn't touch his face…he couldn't pull the scabs…if he did, the ink would bleed out into his skin, and his grandfather would do worse…so much worse.
A small sob escaped his lips, and he tilted his head down so that the tears dripped off of his nose, away from the tender skin of his cheeks. For a long time he cried to himself in the darkness, until a flash of light reflected off of something on the floor at his feet. Sniffing, the small boy reached down for the object. It was a large piece of broken glass. The moonlight was reflecting off of it from where it had appeared from behind the deep grey snow clouds. Hiccupping, he lifted it up to his face.
Kai shook his head to erase the memory, the sound of glass shattering echoing in the dim corners of his haunted mind. Tentatively, he reached up and ran a hand over the blue triangles tattooed into his pale face. Closing his eyes, he remembered seeing them for the first time…horrified and disgusted.
Boris smiled at him over his anguished screaming, still holding the crude needle. Kai screamed again, curling up into a ball on his side, clutching his head in his small hands. Still smiling, Boris stepped back as Voltaire swept in, driving his boot deep into his grandson's stomach. Kai choked, his screams instantly coming to an end as he gasped for air instead.
"Keep it down. The neighbors will suspect something."
"What…what did I do?" he sobbed when he'd finally regained his voice. Voltaire sneered, grabbing him by the hair and pulling him up so that he could see the small boy's face.
"You were born," Voltaire hissed venomously. "You're just lucky that you were actually worth something!"
Tossing the boy aside roughly, he turned and left the basement with a dark scowl on his face. Kai didn't try to get up. He was hurting so much…he'd dislocated his shoulder…thrashing wildly…trying to get away…
He jumped when Boris crouched down in front of him suddenly.
"Listen boy, don't touch the scabs."
Kai choked, turning his head away as best he could, tears streaking his face.
"If they break…I'll do it again."
Kai was running now. As he made his way up to the hotel, a doorman offered to hold the door for him, but he crashed through an unopened one, frantically taking the steps two at a time up to his room. He didn't want to keep his secrets anymore. He didn't want to have to call Bryan to get the answers he wanted. He wanted to get them from Tala. He needed Tala to be there for him.
He needed him…
…
Tala frowned into the phone when Bryan hadn't answered him for the second time. Maybe he'd finally answered one of Kai's calls? But no…Tala could still here Bryan moving. He was still on the line.
"Bryan? What's going on?"
A desperate, "Shhhhhhh!" echoed in the ear piece, making Tala nearly jump out of his skin. Carefully, his pressed the phone to his ear and listened. All he could hear was Bryan's footsteps and the deep sound of his heavy breathing. It made Tala's heart leap into his throat.
"Bryan?" he whispered pleadingly. "Bryan, what's—"
"Tala…I'm sorry—" he was cut off suddenly, and Tala could hear another person in the room with his lover. The redhead clutched the phone to his ear, his hands shaking.
"Bryan?"
…
The lilac-haired teen took a defensive step back from the doorway as the other person entered and lowered his cell phone out of visual range.
"What do you want?" he snarled.
"You have something I need," came the confident reply. "I'll be taking it with me."
Bryan swallowed, his fists clutched meaningfully at his sides.
"Get out of my house."
"Hand me the file and I'll leave quietly."
Bryan's eyes traveled from the manila file on the table to the figure standing in front of him in his kitchen.
"Like hell I will!"
The figure smiled, pulling something from the inside of their jacket.
"Then I'll take it."
Lilac eyes widened. Bryan didn't have time to react.
…
Kai entered the apartment quickly, taking the steps to Tala's room two at a time. Throwing open the door, he wasn't too surprised to see Tala standing in the middle of the floor with his cell phone pressed against his ear. What he couldn't place, was the stricken look on his best friends face.
"Tala…what…?"
Ice blue eyes met his, and Tala pulled the phone away from his ear, his eyes wide.
"It's Bryan…he—"
The crack of a gunshot went off on the other end of the phone, making Tala drop it suddenly, his back slamming into the wall in surprise. Kai dove for the phone, screaming.
"Bryan…? Answer me! BRYAN!"
His only answer was the dial tone.
