Here ya'll go. (Hehe. "Ya'll".)
Shi-oot. I forgot to do my math homework. Friggin' arithmetic. Oh well, I'll get around to it eventually. I don't have a morning class tomorrow anyway, so I'll be up late, I guess.
Enjoy! This chapter has another plot twist, and more time passes. Sorry for those of you who were hoping for some hot Kevin/Bryan action, (yeah right,) but I skipped over those details this time.
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Kevin's POV.
Aah! Was that a shoe that just flew passed my head?! My mother has darted passed Lee and Bryan as they tussle violently, dodging fists and kicks. She's kneeling down beside the fallen officer at the foot of the staircase in my house, and she's beckoning Mariah and I toward her. I don't want to move from where I am, though. Bryan could easily grab me.
"Give it up, Leeroy," Bryan growls, distracting me. I looked toward them fearfully and tighten my grip around Mariah's hand as she pulls me up and starts tugging me around the side of the room. "He's mine!"
Lee growls loudly and swings a fist at Bryan, who just barely dodges. "The only thing that should belong to you is a coffin, you son of a bitch!"
I'm too dazed to tell exactly what's going on. Mariah pulls me down to a crouching position behind my mother. Lee is the only real force of protection between Bryan and I, and he's having a hard time keeping him away.
I'm dizzy. I think I'm gasping for breath. I know I'm still crying, but I can't feel the tears falling down my face. I teeter a moment, leaning into Mariah who catches me. What, mom? What did you say? Mariah is nodding, pulling me up, and taking me upstairs. I fumble up two steps, then trip on the third, and push my arms out just in time to catch myself. Mariah falters, trying to pull me back up, but there's a thrashing behind me and my mother screams. Lee is yelling, and Mariah is yanked away. No, wait, come back! Don't leave me alo-
I cough, choking. Something is digging into my back, pushing its full weight into me and shoving me against the odd angles of the steps. I push back before two huge hands grasp my neck and twist me around. Suddenly, I'm being held up by a strong arm, with my back pressed against Bryan's chest and a knife to my neck. I feel my hands fly up and attempt to pry the arm off of me, but as the knife pressed harder against my skin, I stop.
No body runs towards us. Mariah has her hands over her mouth, my mother has one hand on Mariah's shoulder and the other over her own mouth, and Lee has both his hands in the air, as if to tell Bryan to stop and calm down. But I can feel him move up the stairs, backwards, and my friends and mother grow farther away.
-x-x-x-
Bryan's POV.
"Move, and I'll slit his throat, got that?!"
Oh my god, the power. A life, a lover, a future sex slave, all in my hands. And I can do whatever I want with it.
I'll get out of the house with him. I'll knock him out and steal their car. I'll drive until I can't, and then I'll find some way to keep going. All the way to Russia. I have money. And I'll get to the abbey and find a way in, and I'll find my way to the basement, and I'll let the rest turn out as I want it too. But for now, I have to reach the top of the stairs. Kevin is trying not to cry for help or struggle. He must be so scared right now. Good. Oh, that's it! I'll drop him out the window! Wait… What if he doesn't break an ankle? Can't neko-jin jump from really high places and be fine? Damnit. Okay, scratch that. Um… Uggh, how the hell am I going to get out of here with this kid?
His father is unconscious. The other cop is either dead or dying. I'm in the clear, no threats are upstairs. And then I remember the tree branch that reached out towards Kevin's bedroom window. It was thick enough for me to get onto with Kevin, and have it not break. The car would be right below! How perfect. I reach the top of the staircase and shout downwards, demanding that they remain in place. They're not following. Aha, I'm going to make it! This kid is all mine!
And that's when I feel it. Something blunt and thick, crashing into my head. I stumble, and Kevin screams, before I begin a dangerous tumble back down the staircase. I lose my grip of my neko-jin, and he plummets down with me. I feel my arm snap, and my collar bone crack. I feel a few ribs break. And then I come to a stop. Kevin lands on top of me, but he's not moving. Bitchy teammate screams, and his mother pulls my little lover off of me. Things are fading to black all around me as Lee grabs a handful of my shirt and brings a fist crashing into my face, quickening the process. The last thing I see, stumbling down the stairs, is Kevin's father, with a baseball bat firmly in his grip.
-x-x-x-
Bryan's POV.
I just wanted him to love me. I just wanted him to smile when he sees my face, and rise up on his tip-toes to give me a kiss on the cheek. I just wanted to hug him, and have him not flinch when I do so. But I wanted it so badly, I've become the one thing I've always feared.
He's asleep. I could grab him and run, right now, and no one would know. The small hospital room in the village that they live in isn't the most high-tech; no surveillance cameras of any kind. The lock on my own door was easy to pick, and with a simple move, the guard had been rendered unconscious by the door. I don't have much time, so I have to make a choice now. I'm standing beside the bed he's in, gazing down at him.
His arm is broken. He has a nasty bruise on his forehead, it's swelling a little. The rest of him is buried under blankets, so I can't tell anymore damage has been done, though I'm sure it has. It was a nasty fall. My own wrist is broken. Though, I suppose less damage was done to me. I did have him as a cushion when I first started to fall.
I think I was angry with him. I should be. He ruined everything by telling his parents. But… I'm not. Don't get me wrong, I still want to drag him to the abbey and chain him up, but now, watching him sleep…
He's just so innocent. It's radiating off of him; it's the first time I've seen his face this close where he hasn't looked scared or afraid of me. His chest raises and falls in rhythm, and every now and then he shifts, and then flinches, like he's rediscovered a wound. Poor little thing.
…
I've become Boris, haven't I? He did this to us. He acted like he loved us at first, and built up the trust. Then he shattered it all with gradual punishments, and extra training. Physical abuse followed, and grew worse. Then, all at once, he raped me. The sexual abuse just spiraled from there. And now I'm like him in that stage. He wanted to hurt me, as I want to hurt Kevin. He wanted to rape me, as I want to rape Kevin. He wanted to do all sorts of horrible things to me, and I feared for my life because of it. Oh god… I fall into the seat beside the bed and reach up, taking Kevin's hand in my own. The cast makes it difficult to hold, and I end up grasping a few of his small fingers gently.
Suddenly, I realize exactly how Kevin feels towards me. I can, because I've been in his position. Damnit, why couldn't I recognize this before?! I've become that son of a bitch, I'm him! No, no... That means there's no way to make things right with Kevin, doesn't it? I'll never feel his kiss, not a kiss he wanted to give me. I'll never hug him without him crying and pulling back. My head is reeling now, as I come to this realization. I've done all of this to myself, too, haven't I? If I had just been kind and honest about how I felt, and tried to put myself in his position, I could be cuddling happily with him. But instead? I'm slumped in a chair next to his hospital bed. He's here, because of something I did, something I've been doing. And I'm in a shit load of trouble if I don't make up my mind soon.
So my options are straight forward; Run away on my own and never come back. Put this all behind me, let Kevin live his life like he deserves too, and save myself the dread of becoming Boris. Or, dose the kid with GHB, throw him over my shoulder, and book it with my kitten.
…
Aw, shit, why does like have to suck like this. Okay, okay, think. If I leave now, I'll have this hole in my stomach, (or perhaps in my sex drive,) that will always long for Kevin Ki. If I take him, I'll be hunted for the rest of my life, and I can only assume it will end with someone finding me at the abbey and killing me, and rescuing Kevin. Unless I just kill myself, but that would be saving them the effort, now wouldn't it? Uggh. Um… let me simplify it even more.
Sex, or decency.
Ff. Well when I put it like that, too hell with decency. I'm going with what's behind door number one. (Here's a hint; it's Ki.)
-x-x-x-
Three weeks later.
Kevin's POV.
Bryan told me what his original intentions were. He says there are cells two levels below our feet, and if I misbehave, I'll end up in one. He says he'll beat me again. I'm so confused and scared, I don't even know what day it is. I haven't seen anything colorful for a week and a half. Half of the time, Bryan is actually… gentle. Or he tries to be. It's hard for him, I guess. It's almost like he's trying to turn things around, and then I'll say something, and he'll switch completely. He'll get really scary, and he'll hurt me. Sometimes it's worse then others. Sometimes he just smacks me and leaves. Other times he…
My eyes fall to the floor. Twice, he's raped me. Three times in total, now. He says that I'm in 'training', like a dog. That I'll learn how to behave soon enough and then everything will be fine. But I don't want everything to be fine, because it will only be fine for him, which means he'll he… to me… and it really hurts. And if I whine too much he just does it more.
It's snowing again, outside. Everything is gray and white. I'm sitting on a window-bed, my feet drawn underneath me. Bryan bought me new clothes, recently. They're okay, a little big, but not as revealing as I was afraid they would be. They're warm; a jacket, pants, long sleeve shirts, and one short sleeve shirt. They're all stark white. Oh, and wool socks. I'm glad for those, at least. It's freezing here – wherever here is. I close my eyes and let my head lean against the window panes. They're really cold, but I don't move.
Softly, I begin to hum. My mother would always sing this tune to me when I was crying because of a scraped knee, or a bruise. It's helped, so far. When Bryan isn't around, of course. I shudder. Once, I was humming it and he came in really quietly, so I couldn't hear him, and when I finally noticed him and stopped short, afraid, he made me keep going. It was scary, because he pulled me into him and just held me while I hummed.
He needs help. I mean, I need help, but… he really needs help. Like, help help. Not Help Help, like I need, but… Oh, you know what I mean, right? He's been giving me pills. He watches me take them, so I can't spit them back out. I'm really tired all the time, and I think it's because of that. When he comes in I just don't have the energy to fight back.
I'm in a corner room, in some rounded area of wherever we are. Like, maybe a tower or something. Cliché, right? There's a bed and a wardrobe, and a small room off to the side that's a bathroom. Once, a few days ago, Bryan vanished for like, two days. I was alone for so long, and I almost relaxed a little bit. I brushed my teeth and fell asleep without him standing over me. And then he came back just the other day, and raped me. Like he had been saving up all that lust.
I open my eyes and lift up my hand, tracing a few fingers across the fogged glass panes slowly. I write out a Chinese symbol, something that my father has on the doorframe into his study. It's the symbol for hope. I gaze at it sideways for a long time, thinking about my family and what's become of me, when I hear a knock on the door. I jump. Why is he knocking? He usually just comes right in-
"Kevin?"
… That's… that's not his voice. I blink.
"Kevin Ki, are you in there?"
I turn, suddenly, and face the door. My eyes are wide. I hear myself reply, without even having to think.
"Uh-huh…"
The handle jiggles, but it's locked from the outside. There's a moment of silence, spare soft clicking sounds of the lock being messed with. My heart rate picks up. What the hell is going on? What's about to happen to me? Before I can panic more, however, the door pops open, and an unfamiliar face pops in. I blink, lean back against the glass, and then all at once recognize who it is.
Fiery red hair, sweeping to both sides of his head. Ice blue eyes. That signature cock of his eyebrow.
"Tala?" I breathe. My hands drop into my lap, and, dumbfounded, I just stare ahead. Something like utter relief sweeps over Tala's face, and before I know it he's in the room closing the door carefully behind him. He starts walking towards me and I pull back, startled, and he suddenly stops.
Then he does something weird. He kneels down on the floor with his hands out before him in an I'm-not-going-to-harm-you manner, and then from the kneeling position, he sits down on the floor. He crosses his legs and folds his hands between them, and looks at me with a strange expression on his face.
"Are you okay, Kevin?"
Soft, his voice is. Not like Bryan's. It's not rough and hinted with anger. I feel myself shake my head.
"… Where are you hurt?"
"Everywhere." I whisper. I hear the wavering in my own voice, soft and sorrowful. Is he here to help me? I don't feel afraid of him, but I haven't seen him for so long, or anyone else for that matter, and… isn't he like, really good friends with Bryan?
"Okay… I'm… I'm here to help you, Kevin. Bryan doesn't know I'm here. But I'm going to help you get home, okay? To your mother and father."
I blink. What? Mom and dad? Home? I feel my eyes water. Tala shifts and opens his arms to me. I can tell that he doesn't really know what to do, but it's obvious that he's trying to offer me a hug. I hesitate and then slide off of the window-bed and fall into his arms. He hugs me carefully. He doesn't smell like Bryan, he smells like mint and coffee. If I close my eyes, it's almost like I'm no where near Bryan, or any of this. But then I open them, and pull away from Tala awkwardly. I look up to him, eyes wide with fear.
"But… where is he?"
Tala doesn't answer. The door slides open silently, and through it appears another figure. I recognize him instantly as Ian, or Ivan, or whatever. Ian is easier to remember, at least for me. He blinks at the sight of me, startled.
"You're… you're actually here?"
Tala rolls his eyes. "No, this is his twin. We can leave him here, though, it's not like his parents miss this one."
Panic rises again, but not for the reason Tala thinks. If they're really here to save me, then they won't leave me behind. While Tala tries to inform me that he was only kidding, my thoughts are resting in another matter. What will my parents think of me now? I've been… sexually involved with another man. Not that I wanted to, I mean, I was raped, but…
"Hey Kevin." Ian says quietly, squatting beside Tala. During the world tournament before the one involving the episode with Bryan, (or the start of the episode with Bryan,) Ian and I got to know each other a little. Well, we talked and stuff. He's alright, a little rude, but then, I am too. It's suddenly embarrassing, to be here like this; to be on the floor in these clothes, beaten and abused, and completely at their mercy. And I am, really. I'm too tired and sore and weak to fight back, and I might not even try if they attacked me. I'm just so tired of it all. Finally, I muster up the strength I can find and nod back to Ian, who glances worriedly at Tala.
"Okay," Said red-head announces, scooping me up, "let's get you home."
I make a bit of a moaning noise as he hoists me up. God, I hurt everywhere. My back is killing me, so stiff and sore that it hurts to be held up like this. The last time Bryan beat me, I managed to pull away from him, and he was so caught up in hurting me that he didn't care if he was just pelting my back. I remember the pain, the aching sting, the crying, and then a dull blur, as I almost lost consciousness.
And suddenly, for the oddest reason, I find myself thinking about the last time Bryan had actually been near me. Or rather, the most recent time. All he did was talk to me, and ask me about my mother. What was it like, he asked, to have a mother? Apparently, he never had had one of his own. I feel tears in my eyes by the time we reach the hallway and start away from the room. My mom must be so scared. She's always been protective of me. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've done something that's resulted in a cut or bruise, and how it's resulted in being grounded. I'd take one of her, "Dear, you have to be careful!" lectures over this any day.
We reach a stone staircase. Everything is stone, I'm just realizing that. They start down, Ian going first, Tala carrying me effortlessly. Am I really that light? Bryan has been feeding me, but I haven't had much of an appetite. I want my mom.
I guess you don't know what you've got till it's gone, huh? I miss my bed. I miss pancakes and music and the colorful bindings of all my dad's books. I miss the smell of wood when I run up the staircase in my house, and the creak of the old wooden floor beneath my feet as I move through my home. I miss my dad, and all his insane stories over dinner. I miss my mom, and her infinite wisdom. I miss my friends and their support, their trust, and their love. I miss my family. I miss my old life.
They've reached the bottom of the staircase. It's another hallway, just as dim as the one upstairs. They keep moving, and none of us make a noise.
I miss sleep. If I ever get home, I'm just going to curl up in my own bed and sleep. I'll go to the hospital after I wake up, but first thing's first, I'm going to sleep.
And then I see Lee.
We've entered a foyer of some sort, and I don't notice him at first. He's standing by a tall pillar; the ceiling in here is really high. The echo of Tala and Ian's footsteps is annoyingly loud. When I see him, he's already noticed me. It's startling, to see him here. He's running towards us, and something strange washes over me; utter fatigue. Tala hands me to Lee the second he reaches us, and Lee lowers me to the floor carefully, cradling me. He's saying something now, my name, and then something else, but I'm not listening. I press my face into him and close my eyes tightly, smelling him and feeling his warmth. Yes, without a doubt, this is Lee. Now I want to fall asleep. Right here, I want to sleep. That's when we heard the crash from some distant part of wherever we are.
"Taaallaaaaaaa!"
It's distant, but angry. Very, very angry.
It's Bryan.
My eyes fly open in fear and I push into Lee as hard as I can, hoping that I can somehow just vanish into the safe feeling that he provides. I whimper. He holds me tighter, his head snapping up. I imagine the anger on his face, the sadness. Tala is speaking hurridly now.
"We have to get out of here, Yin."
Lee doesn't move.
"Yin, now. I know you want to kill him, but we have to get out of here."
"Come on, do it for Kevin." Lee mumbled hurriedly, and a little awkwardly. Yes, please, do it for me. Get me as far away from Bryan as possible, please please please.
"I know." Lee breathes. He looks down at me and smiles sadly, and after a pause, I smile back. Through the tears, the fear, and the pain, I smile back.
And then he hoists me up, and with Tala and Ian, we leave.
-x-x-x-
Twenty Minutes earlier.
Bryan's POV.
Zippidee-doo-da, zippidee-ya, my oh my what a wonderful slave, plenty of bondage time, heading my way, zippidee-doo-da, zippi-
…
Wait… Is that door open?!
Oh shit. The door to my room – my old room, when I was at the abbey all those years ago; the one I'm keeping Ki in now – is ajar. The padlock is on the floor, ruined, and the regular lock to the door is popped open. I'm running. I slide across the stone floor and skid to a stop before the doorway, and very slowly, reach forward and push it open.
"Kevin?"
Silence. I panic, stepping into the room. Empty. I check in the bathroom, under the bed, even in the wardrobe.
Shitshitshit. Shitty McShiticus. This can't be happening. How the hell did he get out?! There were two locks, two steal locks! Not only that, but I fractured his ankle last time he fought back against me. How did he get out?!
And then I see it. Folded neatly on the floor is a small square of paper. I slip towards it without thinking and pick it up. It takes eight folds before I have it open all the way, and then I have to turn it over and right-side up. What I read on it doesn't set in at first, but slowly, as the words sink in, my eyebrows furrow with rage and I feel my stomach burn with hatred.
You shouldn't have taken him, Bryan.
I take two deep breaths, quickly. My grip on the paper tightens, crinkling the note before it tears in half in my hands. Then, seething with rage, I take a deep breath and open my mouth, eyes closing tightly. I roar.
"Taaallaaaaaaa!"
-x-x-x-
Somewhere, sometime later.
Kevin's POV.
Nnnnghhahhhhggn….. ngmmnggnh…. Nnhhyellow? Hmm… Yeah, I think that's yellow. I stretch before flinching, finding pain in my movement. I'm bundled beneath something… a blanket? Good lord, it's warm. And so soft, too. I close my eyes again and mew softly, snuggling into whatever I'm buried in. My eyelids stick together comfortably, and I phase out again, falling back to sleep, before I feel a gentle weight on my shoulder. It's outside of these blankets. I'm lying on something soft, I think. I open my eyes again and moan. Go away, damnit, I'm trying to sleep. A little push, hardly moving me, but I feel it. I moan again and shift, flexing a few fingers to tug at the blankets. They hardly move, but I manage to squirm a little and poke my nose out of whatever I'm cuddling in.
"Hey kiddo. How you holding up?"
Tala's voice. I moan again, softly, and pull back under the blankets. I feel something shift beside me, and whatever I'm laying on pulls down a little. Tala is sitting beside me.
"That good, huh?"
I try to reply, but it comes out as a whimpering moan. I feel the weight on my shoulder again, and it pats me a few times before silence takes over.
"It's gonna be okay, alright? Don't worry."
"Aymnot."
Ho ho, intelligent response, retard. I think I meant 'I'm not'. Whatever.
"…" Tala shifts and lies down beside me. I'm still buried under the blankets, but I roll over stiffly to face where I think he is, and push my nose back out of the covers. His hands are behind his head, and he's gazing up at the ceiling blankly. He glances at without his face changing, and then looks away again. I blink sleepily, and as the silence takes over, my eyelids drift closed.
"I'm sorry about what he did."
"Mm."
I keep my eyes closed. The air is crisp and cold outside of my blanket fortress, and I can feel the chill on my eyes if can keep them open. He's not worth looking at while he speaks to me.
"I know I should have stopped him in the first place. I just… Didn't think he would actually act on anything."
"Stoppit."
"Hm?"
I crack my eyes open and yawn carefully. Speak clearly, retard, or don't speak at all. "It's obvious that you don't know what to say, and it doesn't matter to me anyway, so save your dignity." I murmur. My voice is strained and hushed, and when I finish my sentence, I feel drained of energy again. To my surprise, Tala starts to snicker.
"You won't want to hear this, but you sound like Bryan."
"Goodie."
"Hey, no offense. You're better then him, I'm sure."
I close my eyes and pull back under the blankets. "Yeah, I don't kidnap, beat and rape people."
Tala remained quiet as I said this. I don't pull back out to see what his face looks like, and I don't care. The cast on my arm is thick and scratchy, but I pull it towards my chest either way. My ankle hurts. I can feel bandages constricting various parts of my body. I know for certain that there's a square patch of gauze on my cheek, and two small strips of medical tape on my forehead by my hairline, and one across the end of my right eyebrow. I trace my fingers across them slowly and thoughtfully. Finally, Tala replies.
"Well, we're not out of the woods yet."
How encouraging.
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Pfft. I just have to keep this going, don't I? Dang. For those of you wondering, they're still in Russia. Lee, Ian, Tala, and Kevin against Bryan, whose location is unknown. Godspeed, boys, Godspeed.