Hey all readers. I think it's obvious that the names of the Bladebreakers in this story are not mine. However, Sam Coredori and her bitbeast Drazema. Along with the team the Carnivora Catz and their bitbeasts are all mine so please don't take them without my position. Thanks bb4564

Chapter 17 – A Bitter Past!

"I can't remember exactly when it started. It happened so often I can't think of a single moment when it didn't, but I know there was. I mean, before my parents died, I'm sure I had a pretty normal life. I think if my mother knew what was going to happen to me she wouldn't have saved me. For years I wished she hadn't. Sometimes I still do. But she did and then I went to Bivolt and that's when it started.

At first everything was fine. Well as fine as things could be in Bivolt. I was trained hard to be a perfect blader. By the time I was seven I had fallen into a very demanding routine. I would wake at five and immediately begin training my body. Then I would blade and I wouldn't stop training until I was physically unable to. I was then given a half hour break followed by more training. It would be this way until six. Then I was allowed to rest and study. Train my mind. I found this hard at first but I still learnt the… consequences of showing weakness. By the time I was nine, I was unable to show emotion. Which was exactly what he wanted. After all, emotion was a weakness…and weakness was not tolerated at Bivolt.

He would frequently test me. Abusing me physically…mentally…any way he could, waiting to see if I'd crack and when I did, the abuse would greaten. I swear I could have died from some of the treatments I was given. Electric shock treatment was his favourite but sometimes he would just resort to physical beatings. Then when I turned twelve, the real abuse started."

Sam paused and Kai just stared at her waiting for her to continue. When she didn't he prompted her. "What abuse?" Sam turned to face him, her face hard. "Can't you guess Kai? I was abused physically, mentally, emotionally, but there as still one area he hadn't tested yet." She looked at Kai but he looked completely lost. Sam sighed, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I was raped! Constantly. Soon it just came to be another form of abuse. Another way of trying to get me to crack" Kai couldn't keep the shock from his face. "Oh, didn't you realise your Grandfather was capable of that!" She laughed harshly, "then there's an awful lot you don't know about your Grandfather. No…he's capable of a lot of things." She paused. "So when I was fourteen, I knew I had to leave. I'm strong Kai," she looked at him accusingly, "but I'm not that strong. I left Bivolt with the help of Drazema. In fact, that was the only reason I was kept at Bivolt."

"You mean Voltaire was after your bitbeast?!"

Sam nodded. "Of course. You see Drazema has many secrets too. Secrets only I can reveal. But I won't. That's why Voltaire hasn't just stolen my blade. He needs me. And he's obviously going through a lot of effort to get to me. But I refuse to give in. If he wants me, he's going to have to do a lot better then what he already is. You see, Drazema warns me when someone from Bivolt is around. That's why she glowed when I first battled you. I didn't pick up on it at first. Not until Max told me who you were."

She glanced up at him. "You see now why I can't go back. Voltaire wants that secret. And he is going to use any means to get it out of me. But I can't tell him. If I did…" she stopped and smiled, "but it doesn't matter cause he ain't going to get it." But Kai's curiosity was raised now.

"Why? What would happen?" Sam's eyes went dark. "I'd die." Kai's eye's widened in disbelief. "It's true. The secret of Drazema will die with me. I'd die without it anyway."

"How? I don't understand."

"In order to access the secret I need to give all my energy. Without my energy my heart stops and I die. You see what happens in battles when the person runs out of energy. They faint and their blade stops spinning." Kai nodded.

"Well with Drazema, she doesn't just stop spinning and I don't just faint. She takes me into her and I lose all my energy and I die, simple as that."

Kai shook his head. "How do you know all that?"

"Because the secret was shown to me when my mother died. Drazema was her blade and she gave up her energy to show me the secret."

"But I thought your parents died in a car accident." Kai replied.

"What do you think caused the accident?" Kai paused. He couldn't believe Sam was talking about this so calmly. How could she live with knowing that she carried something that was going to kill her? Sam suddenly stood up. "So now you know," she said quietly. "Like I said Kai, I'd die before I'd go back there. I'm dead if I go back there anyway. At least if I killed myself, I'd keep the secret with me and it would be a lot less…painful."

Kai rose to his feet. "Don't worry Sam. I promise I won't let anything happen to you." Sam looked up at him with surprise, but Kai was looking away. She placed a hand on his arm and he looked over at her. "Don't make promises you can't keep Kai. You obviously don't know what your Grandfather can do." With that she took her blade from his hand, placed it in her pocket and headed back over to the place where they had jumped the wall. Glancing back over at Kai she smiled warmly, her face seeming to shimmer in the moonlight. It was as though all the memories were now hidden beneath the mask she always wore. Turning away from him, she quickly scaled the wall. Kai followed after her, lost in thought. Only he knew what was hidden beneath the mask and now that he did, he was starting to wish he didn't.

As they headed back to the hotel, neither of them spoke. Both of them were oblivious to each other and the crowds around them, despite the lateness in time. It wasn't until they were about to cross the road to the hotel that Sam finally spoke. Turning to face Kai, she held his gaze as she spoke. "You can't tell anyone what I have told you…not even the rest of the team." The mask was gone, and Sam was once again the scared, tortured girl he had spoken to only minutes before. Kai nodded his head in agreement and Sam smiled, replacing the mask as she transformed back into the calm, confident girl she was when they first met.

They entered the hotel through the front and headed towards the elevator. Just as they passed the receptionist he called out to her. "Samantha Coredori of the Bladebreakers?" Sam turned to face him. "Yes?" The boy held out an envelope. "This came for you a few minutes ago." Sam walked over and took the envelope form him. There was no name or return address on it. Confused but smiling anyway, she turned away from the boy and walked towards the elevator. Kai was looking at her questioningly but she ignored him.

Once they reached their room, Sam went straight to her bedroom and closed the door. Sitting on the bed, Sam opened the envelope. Looking inside she pulled out a piece of plain paper. On it someone had written five words which sent shivers up Sam's spine.

The secret will be revealed

Sam felt the envelope fall to the ground as she sat there in shock. Shaking her head to shake away the thoughts running through her head, she returned to reality. Looking down she noticed something else sticking out of the envelope. Picking it up she saw it was a small medallion with a picture of a pyramid with a cat's eye in the center. Sam gasped in shock and let the pendant fall to the ground. 'How could they know the secret?! No! They couldn0't have…but then…' Sam stopped and let her thoughts fade.

So Voltaire knew the ancient tale…no matter! He would never be able to open the secret without her and she wasn't going to help him. Just then a knock sounded at the door. "Come in!" Sam called, stashing the enveloped and its contents under her pillow as the door slowly opened. A second later a familiar blonde head filled the doorway. "Sam?"

"Max!" Sam cried happily, jumping off the bed and giving him a hug. Max laughed. "I was worried about you and wanted to make sure you were ok." Sam was touched.

"Thanks Maxy but I'm fine. Honest. In fact…" she walked towards the door, "I'm feeling a little hungry. Any pizza left?" Max shook his head, a small smile on his lips. "Tyson found it…didn't even stand a chance." Sam giggled.

"How 'bout ice-cream then?" Max glanced at his watch. "At 9:30 at night?" Sam shrugged.

"Why not? It's open." Max looked at Sam doubtfully then smiled broadly. "Sounds like fun!" Sam laughed too.

"Great! Let's go."

Together her and Max headed towards the door. As they passed Kai, she noticed him staring at her. She paused. "We're going for ice-cream…you can come…if you want…" To her relief, Kai shook his head. As grateful as she was for Kai helping her, he was still a pain in the butt as far as she was concerned. Shrugging offhandedly, she followed Max out the door. "Suit yourself." With that they left the room, closing the door on their laughter as they went. Kai crossed over to the window and watched her and Max as they went towards the ice-creamery. As much as he denied it, he couldn't help feeling a slight dread for her safety. Narrowing his eyes, he turned away from the window and went to his room. "Might as well enjoy the silence while it lasts," he mumbled to himself, "Lord knows she'll be bouncing around the room once she has sugar!"