A/N: Thanks everyone for checking out my story! I find that Kaila is so much fun to write! I'll aim to update every sunday!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Ch.2: Instinctual Fear

I could hear my brother looking for me – I could hear his faint calls of my name, and I tried to move just a foot as the proctor was talking. Instead, the instant that I did, Hisoka's yellow piercing eyes went directly to look down at me. His cold start was enough to send a shiver through my body, and I remained where I was.

It was almost as though he was a spider, and I was trapped in his web.

I couldn't breathe – I dared to not even take a breath.

"How can we tell if you're the real instructor?" Yelled a man, and I was fully frozen in fear that I didn't even know what was going on. If I chose to even twitch a finger, Hisoka would know. Somehow, he knew that I was trying to get away from him.

It happened – very suddenly. I heard a man scream, but never saw anything being thrown. I took a chance to look to see that a man had cards imbedded into his body. They were normal playing cards – they weren't even anything that could pierce through the skin. How was this possible - how was Hisoka able to make nonlethal things lethal?

I blinked my eyes. "That settles that, then," Hisoka spoke, drawing my attention back to him. I felt as though my head was harder to move. It slowly turned towards the red haired man as I looked at him with unbridled fear. What was this man? He was leagues above everyone here. He shouldn't have been allowed to take the exam with the rest of us.

"The real instructor would have been able to catch those cards." I looked at the front where the man with the luscious mustache was. He caught the cards in his hands as he glared at Hisoka. It was amazing. This proctor might be able to take Hisoka in a fight if he caught them.

Still, since everyone was distracted…

I moved to take a step away, and Hisoka didn't even look at me. He was too busy looking at the instructor. I shied my way towards the back where my brother was and only started to breathe when I was next to him. "Kai!" Pokkle stated. "What the heck were you doing with Hisoka? Didn't I tell you to stay away from him?"

"I-It…The…" I wanted to point. I wanted to tell him exactly what had happened, but the fear was still preventing me from saying anything. I swallowed thickly. Pokkle's scrunched up face slowly started to turn to concern at seeing the terrified look on my face. "I…He…H-He…" I tried to breathe out. I couldn't even form words – why couldn't I form any damn words?

The fake magician was able to have this kind of effect on me?

It wasn't even a good kind of stuttering that I was doing – it was a scared shitless stuttering. It was the kind of fear that you got after seeing something that you didn't understand. And, I didn't understand Hisoka. I didn't understand how he was so powerful, or the abilities that he possessed.

Pokkle then placed a hand on my shoulder. I flinched as I was brought out of my thoughts. "Come on, we're going to be left behind," he said, while I looked up to see the group of people start to move again. I nodded numbly, and tried to run.

I tried to take a single step forward, but I couldn't feel my legs from underneath me.

Hisoka's cold, yellow stare baring down at me was enough for my entire body to be paralyzed in fear. I couldn't shake that picture out of my mind, causing me to jump when I heard my brother's voice.

"Kai!"

I tried to pick up the pace and shove my emotions to the side as I slowly started to run faster. A fog swept across the area, and soon enough I couldn't see my brother in front of me. "P-Pok!" I yelled, looking around for him. I slowly started to slow down after hearing some screams from the other people around me. What was happening – where did everyone go? "Pok!"

"Kaila?" Leorio's voice came from behind me. I turned to look at him and nodded at him as a greeting. I still must have looked spooked because the nineteen year old walked up to me with concern. "Are you alright? You look a little pale..."

"Leorio, watch out!" Came another person's voice, and I looked up just in time to see a monster in front of us. It was large and towering. It looked like a dinosaur of some kind – and the strawberry looking fruit on top of it was very misleading. It wasn't nice at all, and it was currently munching on someone's legs that were dangling out of its mouth.

I blinked my eyes while pulling out my bow and drawing an arrow. It was time to finally use the damn things. I readied it on the string with shaking hands and pulled back tightly, just like my brother instructed. When I released, the arrow soared two feet into the air and dive bombed onto the ground.

I looked at the arrow protruding out of the ground and anger soared inside of me. "Are you fucking kidding me!?" Of course I didn't know enough to actually use this weapon effectively. "Ergh!" I rose my hands palm up in front of me, clenching my fingers into my palm in frustration. I looked up to see the monster charging, and before I had a chance to move out of the way, Leorio's exposed torso collided with my body, pushing me out of the way. We rolled on the ground for a bit, until we stopped a few feet away.

Letting out a breath, I heard Leorio do the same.

"Are you hurt?" Leorio asked, and I looked up at his sweaty face. My heart was pounding lightly. This guy was going to definitely earn a little Kaila Sweet Time after all this is over. We stared into each other's eyes, and I was about to respond, but the ground started to shake. A roar sounded out, which cause the both of us to look away from each other. I gripped my bow tightly as I glanced over at Leorio as well as a blonde headed teen that was standing beside him.

"Let's go, we can't hurt them!" I instructed, to which the blonde headed teen nodded. Leorio followed suit, keeping up the rear. We managed to enter some sort of forest, which was a good thing. We now weren't wandering around an exposed field with large, terrifying monsters. Plus, the stupid fog was lifting ever so slightly.

I was positive that my brother would be able to kill those things no problem, but I unfortunately had absolutely no combat experience. I was realizing just how out of my league I currently was entering the Hunter exam.

It was silent for a bit as we continued to walk. I was at the front, followed by the blonde, and then Leorio. "Are you really trying to be a Hunter?" Came the blonde headed brat from behind me. I turned around with a raised eyebrow. "You didn't seem to know how to use that bow back there."

"Kaila is here to support her brother, Kurapika," Leorio spoke, almost scolding the boy for his indifferent tone towards me. I smiled gently – this man was husband material. Damn, I am falling more infatuated with him. I wasn't mad about it, though. "But, since we're on that topic, why would you bring a weapon that you don't know how to use?"

"To match my brother," I stated with a shrug. "He likes to match with me. He's the other archer with a pink beanie." I even pointed to my pink, natural hair at my head. The two of them observed my hair color and then nodded. "But…I never anticipated the Hunter exam would be this dangerous."

Kurapika nodded. "Yes, those monsters back there I wasn't sure if we could take."

"No, not the monsters…" I trailed, looking at the two of them with wide eyes. I couldn't mask my fear anymore when I envisioned the man. The red hair and piercing yellow eyes sent a surge of terror that I didn't know I could feel. "H-Hisoka…" I stuttered out, chills spread through my body. "That man is the most dangerous thing here." I even had to rub my arms to get rid of the goosebumps that appeared on my skin. I wish that I had my leather jacket and that it wasn't somewhere in the tunnels.

I was so ignorant and naïve less than an hour ago.

"Speaking of…Did he do something to you?" Kurpaika stated, and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You were trying to talk to Leorio earlier, and then you were suddenly pulled by an invisible force. It led you right to Hisoka's side."

I shivered again. "I-I don't know. He's…terrifying." I turned around to face the front until I saw Hisoka in a small clearing to the left. I ducked down, now trembling, and the other two followed my action. They didn't see what I did, they just instinctively ducked down as well. Leorio crawled to where I was from the back.

"What is it?"

"He…Hisoka…." My eyes were wide, and Leorio shot his head up to look. Kurapika did as well while I continued to hug myself down at the ground. Not many people could instill fear in me – but Hisoka was on another level than most humans. He had a feeling of danger – I could feel it, even if he tried to paint himself off like some sort of clown. "Get down!" I ushered, pulling both of them back down towards the ground by their wrists. "We need to sneak away."

Leorio frowned. "It looks as though he's being cornered by those men…"

I glanced around the foliage to see the men that were there, "I don't think it's the men we should be concerned about…" I whispered. They looked scared and mad while Hisoka just looked at them with mild boredom on his face.

It didn't take long to find that Hisoka's yellow eyes immediately drifted to mine. A chilling smirk appeared as he slowly stared to lick his lips. His eyes were dark and focused, and I felt shivers run down my spine. I quickly stood up and ran, not wanting to be anywhere close to him or his energy anymore. I had to also find my brother – I couldn't just stay here and save men that I had no business with!

I got five steps until the familiar invisible pull was back. It would have pulled me directly to Hisoka had I not wrapped my arms around a small tree that was on the way. He gave another pull, but I held tightly onto the tree. "Ah…An obstacle…" He purred out in delight and was about to take a step towards me, but one of the men in the circle started to attack.

"Die, you bastard!" He yelled. The other men in the group started to charge as well but was prevented when they all froze suddenly on the spot. They fell to the ground, all with blood flowing from their necks. I looked to find that Hisoka held a playing card in one of his hands and barely moved. The playing card didn't even have a spec of blood on it.

"They wanted to play examiner with me," Hisoka spoke, casually walking around the corpses of everyone that laid around him. My legs and arms that were wrapped around the tree were shaking and becoming weaker by the second. "Should I play examiner with you?" He asked, his question was light and purposeful, but the dark look in his eyes said another story.

My eyes widened. "N-No…" I whispered, but it seemed as though he had heard it. He grinned and started to lick his lips. "Get away from me…!" I continued to say in a low tone. I dug my nails into the tree causing small indentations into the bark. That seemed to surprise me out of my fearful trance as I took a glance. It seemed like my nails hadn't been chipped or broken, even though they should have been from the necessary force.

I felt the tips of my fingers become hot – it wasn't natural.

It scared me.

What was happening?

What was all this?

"You're starting to awaken something dangerous, my little toy," Hisoka stated, instantly appearing at my side. He was observing the indentations in the bark as I stared at him terror. He turned to look at me with glee shining in his eyes. "I love that look in your eyes. I want to see more of it," he spoke, almost as though he was finding this all to be a moment of pure ecstasy.

This guy was a predator and a monster.

I quickly took an arrow out of my quiver and was going to plunge it into his neck. I jumped off the tree for more speed, but was stopped in mid-air as his hand wrapped around my wrist. I felt his vile touch on me and started to kick around.

I had to get away – I couldn't fight him. What was I doing? What was I thinking? I wasn't a fighter. I wasn't strong enough for this! I continued to kick around and tried to not let out a scream that was trying to surface in my throat.

"That's right. I want to see the fight drain from your eyes." I stopped kicking and could only stare up at him in shock. "I want to be the one to break you."

"Burn in hell, fucker!" I yelled, dropping the arrow that was in my captured hand to my free one. Once I felt the arrow in my other hand, I plunged it into his midsection with as much force as I could muster. I felt my hand start to heat up again, which caused my eyes to widen. He dropped me with a small chuckle to see the arrow that was slightly glowing a yellow-white color at the end of it. Blood was trickling down his stomach. I could almost see a faint streak of white and a golden color coming from the feathers of the arrow.

I landed on the ground harshly on my ankles and took a shaky step back, panting loudly. I didn't know what that was – I didn't want to know. He placed his hands on the arrow head and plucked it from his body. The blood continued to flow down his body, and I realized that it wasn't that much damage. The instant that the arrow was removed, the glowing part of it disappeared, and it returned to being a normal arrow. Hisoka tossed it on the ground and looked up at me. Our eyes met, and I felt an uncomfortable shiver travel down my back.

I turned on my heels and started to run, but a hand latched onto my hair and pulled me back. I screamed in pain as my hands went to the one that was pulling. I had to get away – I was going to die. This man was going to kill me – I wasn't any match for him!

"You managed to hurt me. This is…" He stopped, a grin spreading on his face. It was one of pure enjoyment. His next word was in bliss as I stared at him with concern. "Delightful!"

He was starting to become unhinged – he was like an addict that got a taste of something and wanted more.

"Let go of me!" I yelled, the fear no longer holding me back. The anger that was currently coursing through my heated veins was going to cause me indescribable pain. I was fueled by my rage – I always had been even when I was a child. It left me with my fair share of scars and bruises as a result.

I dug into my quiver quickly and pulled out another arrow. If my hair was holding me back…then I was going to cut it off! I wouldn't let this man kill me – I wouldn't let anyone hold me back!

However, the second that the arrow head was about to meet my hair, a hand snatched onto that wrist.

"Don't…" Hisoka muttered out in his deathly quiet tone. It seemed like all hints of joy and amusement were gone. The anger had been instantly replaced with fear. I couldn't breathe. I was frozen as he held my wrist in his vice like grip. "I happen to like the length on you…" He whispered into my ear. It sent shivers down my body and I tried to turn around and kick him. The action was quick - he pinned my arm harshly against my back, causing a small wince from me as my left eye squinted from the pain.

Let me go…Get away from me!

Get away!

I breathed deeply to try and calm down and think rationally – my heartbeat was thumping wildly in my chest. The need to flee was greater than the desire to fight this madman. There were too many emotions that were going through my head. I couldn't think clearly – and my strength and will were quickly being depleted by the second.

Get…!

Leorio came running from the bushes. He looked furious that I was taken off guard for a moment. "Let go of Kaila!"

Hisoka looked between me and Leorio. "Kaila," Hisoka repeated my name, which only instilled fear back into me tenfold. The adrenaline from the anger that I was feeling before was gone. My heart beat slowly as I felt as if I were going to pass out.

Just the fact that he now knew my name filled me with terror and anxiety.

He made me look into his eyes as he forced my face to turn using the hold he had on my hair. "What an adorable name for my adorable toy." I clenched my teeth and exhaled loudly showing my distress. I didn't know what I was going to do – it felt as though I was paralyzed from the overbearing malice that he had about him.

He was going to hurt me. I knew that he was – he was going to kill me. It was the look in his eyes. It was the look that said that I would never be able to fight against him.

"Damn it, Leorio!" Kurapika yelled, jumping out from his hiding spot. "We can't take him!"

"I'm not going to leave a beautiful girl at the mercy of a monster like you!" Leorio yelled, narrowing his eyes. I didn't have the mindset to take in any one's words or actions. I was too scared to even take a breath. He walked towards the edge of the clearing and pulled out a stick.

I could feel Hisoka starting to tremble, but I doubt it was from fear. One small glance towards him showed that he was laughing silently with his lips curled upwards. I could feel my blood run cold – I had seen this man kill so many people now. The look in his eyes were crazed – they were the eyes of a madman.

Leorio would be next – he would be next!

Then it would be me…Would he go after my brother…Would he go after Pokkle, too?

I wouldn't let that happen. I wouldn't let anyone harm my brother. I wouldn't let him harm Pokkle.

I grit my teeth even more as Leorio charged with a stick. The man let out a yell as Kurapika took out two wooden swords from his back. Everyone was ready to fight, and I was standing still in Hisoka's grasp.

What was I doing?

Was I this useless?

I grit my teeth harder, waking up from my paralyzed trance as I took my leg and prepared to kick him in the upper arm. I waited until Leorio charged with the stick. Hisoka seemed amused as he was more focused on Leorio than me. Narrowing my eyes, I took the chance to launch a strong kick just as Hisoka let go of my arm to catch the stick. He slid to the side, his eyes going down to mine as he unhanded me in favor of catching Leorio's attack.

Letting out a breath of relief at being freed, I jumped back as I rubbed the back of my head where he had pulled on my hair. The spot was tender and sore. Narrowing my eyes at Hisoka, who punched Leorio, the man turned to look at me as he placed a hand on his waist in boredom. His words were in mild amusement, however. "Is that the best you all can do?"

"Eat shit," I spat out, actually spitting on the ground in front of me. I thought I saw Kurapika pale as he realized that I was riling HIsoka up. It wasn't my fault – the man pissed me off as much as I feared him. I dug into my quiver as I took out another arrow. I held it tensely in my hand, almost splintering the wood in the process.

Hisoka eyed me as a devious smile appeared on his face.

He walked towards me as Kurapika ran over to help Leorio. The shirtless man was laying on the ground in defeat. On his face was a swollen cheek from where the magician had punched him. I continued to stare at Leorio, and a feeling of remorse went through me. He was such a nice guy – it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that he got beat up instead of me.

He didn't deserve this.

"Your fight is with me, Hisoka. Leave the rest of them out of it." I glanced to the two of them. Kurapika took Leorio's arm and placed it over his shoulder. The blonde headed teen nodded as he started to quickly run out of the area. I moved my numb feet to stand directly in front of him. "I'm not afraid of you."

"Your arm is shaking so much, Kaila," Hisoka spoke, taking a momentary glance towards my trembling arms. My eyes widened and I then clenched my hands tightly to quell any remaining fear. It was hard to do – I was deathly afraid of the man. I was nothing when compared to him in terms of power.

I knew this…Why was I such an idiot?

Why was I doing this?

Hisoka let out a chuckle. He must have noticed my confused and terrified face. I quickly darted my eyes back up to him. "Don't worry. Your friend passed my test. You passed also…" He spoke, looking at me with amusement and joy on his face. I narrowed my eyes at that facial expression.

How dare he? How dare he look down on me like I was weak?

Because I was.

"We're moving onto the second phase soon," came a voice from Hisoka's pocket. The red haired man's lips curled upwards at the notification. I stared at him and then looked down at the ground. My pink hair falling in front of my face as I glared.

"You need to go, don't you?" I spoke. I reached the conclusion that this was no place for someone like me. I didn't even want to be here. I couldn't handle this test if someone like Hisoka was this obsessed with me. I would rather swallow my own tongue than deal with him. Hisoka's eyebrows raised. "I'm pulling out of the exam," I stated, putting the arrow back in the quiver.

Hisoka chuckled. At first it was a low chuckle and then it erupted into a full blown hysterical laughter. It sounded as though it belonged to someone that was absolutely demented. I took a trembling step back as my entire body felt as though it were on fire. I felt the urge to run away – this man was even more dangerous than I already assumed he was. It was as though he was sending threatening and dark invisible waves as he continued to laugh. He continued until he composed himself, standing up straight.

"That was a good joke," he complimented and held a hand out to me to take.

Goosebumps appeared along my arms. I shook my head stiffly. I would never take his hand. I didn't even want to be near the man. "I'm serious. I don't…want to do any fighting. I-I don't want to be a Hunter."

"I'm not going to allow you to smother your potential," he stated, his eyes darkening by the second. "If you don't pass the Hunter exam then I will kill the boy that you are with. The one with the pink hat."

I clenched my hands tightly as I looked at him with anger in my eyes. Upon looking at my complete change in atmosphere, his eyes lightened up. He smiled as he placed his hands to his cheeks. "I love that look! You're starting to make me excited."

I was watching him as he took a few steps towards me and then disappeared from my line of sight. I felt him lift me up over his shoulder, but it was too quick for me to even react to it. Letting out a gasp, we were running through the forest. My arms were dangling down his back, and I let out a shiver of disgust as I touched him.

I heard him chuckle as I did my best to not have any of my skin make contact with his body.

It took only a matter of a couple of seconds before we appeared in the resting area before the second phase. I tried to remove myself from his shoulder, but his arm wrapped around my back to keep me on his shoulder. "Put. Me down," I ordered, but he only responded with patting my back as though I were a child.

He approached a man that had a ton of pins through his head. He was wearing a green outfit that also looked incredibly debatable. I looked away from the strange man as he turned to look at me. "I managed to find something interesting. Should I let her go for now?" Hisoka asked, as though I wasn't even there. I placed my hands on his back and tried to push myself off of him.

"And?" The pin headed man asked.

At hearing his voice I felt a wave of indifference coming from him. This man was also a psychopath. He had to have been if he kept men like Hisoka around for company. "Let me go!" I yelled, once more pushing myself away from him.

"She has potential. She isn't ripe yet."

Goosebumps went through my body. The way he talked about me filled me with dread. "Let go of me!" I screeched, and he lifted his hand from my back. I started to fall headfirst towards the ground. Before I was about to eat shit, he grabbed my ankle and dangled me upside down. My shirt started to lift up and I grabbed the hem of it while pulling it down to not show anyone my bra. "Let go!" I yelled, and he looked down at me with a smile.

"The second phase is starting. You can play with her later," pin man stated, and the instant he did, Hisoka released my ankle. I fell to the ground and the instant that I did, I scurried away as I back crawled to gain some distance. My chest was moving up and down rapidly as I stared up at the two towering men.

"You're no fun…" Hisoka stated playfully, his hands on his waist. The two of them never stopped looking at me, and I took a small breath as I stood to my feet. Their eyes kept staring into mine, and Hisoka rose a hand to wave at me. There was a dark promise in his eyes that said that I hadn't seen the last of him. I swallowed and walked backwards into the crowd until the participants blocked my sight of them.

"If you don't pass the Hunter exam then I will kill the boy that you are with. The one with the pink hat."

A shiver went through my body at hearing Hisoka's echoing words in my head. I rubbed my arms up and down furiously as I scanned the crowed for Pokkle. I spotted his pink hat near the front of the crowd and ran over to him.

To be continued...