Hibisha and Akin 'to38 and secretsareneverkepthiddenforve are cool people because they they reviewed.
The rest of you are cool too because you read this thing.
Hmmmmmmm.
So, without further ado, a scheming Kai for your reading pleasure, only at:
When the Stars Cease to Shine
Chapter 10: The Great Escape
After a bit of sputtering in which Kai had been unsuccessful in trying to persuade Tala to drop his crazed scheming, Kai had grudgingly hidden his phone back in his little cache, and proceeded to mope around in his room.
Since there was nothing Tala could do until he was out of the mansion's walls, Kai would have to figure out his escape routes by himself.
Well, shit.
What to do, what to do.
He paced around, almost wearing a tread into his expensive oriental rug. Getting pissed, he dragged all of his pillows from his bed and made a little fort on the rug before settling into it and getting comfy.
Nnnnnnmmm. Silk, satin and cool egyptian cotton? Oh yessssss.
He could just stay here forever.
No, no. Focus. We need to get out of this place. A hell hole is a hell hole no matter what kind of warm fluffy pillows it had.
Ok. Think.
Well. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking. Ooh, was this pillow always this huggable? It was so damn comfy, ahhh...
No! Bad brain! Focus! Think: Stealth and cunning. Stealth and cunning.
Cunning and stealth. Secrecy.
Like a tiger stalking his prey.
Like a great white sneaking on an unsuspecting fish.
Like someone that's doing something secretly.
Pfffft.
Kai took some time to roll around sniggering at himself before refocusing his thoughts.
Damn. He was becoming Tala. How and when did that start to happen?
Anyway.
Cunning and stealth.
Cunning and stealth.
James Bond.
He was on to something here.
He'd seen a lot of movies. He could do this.
Except he didn't have any cool shoes that let him walk on walls, or that cool cutting tool that cut out bits from windows, or jet powered rollerblades, of those hook-thingies that allowed people to scale walls and stuff. He didn't even have any guns (Not that he'd shoot any of his employees, of course). No smoke bombs, no jet packs, no nothing. Tch.
Just then, he heard a knock.
"Young master Kai?" came a timid female voice. "Mr. Dickinson asked me to fetch you."
Kai blinked. A bolt of inspiration struck, a thousand light bulbs clicked on in his head, he resisted the urge to scream 'Eureka!' and jump around like crazy.
He stood, walked to his door, and opened it just a little. "Lilliana?" he queried, squinting at her from behind the door.
"Young master, Lord Voltaire-"
"No time." Kai opened the door fully before he pulled her in and shut it.
"Yo-yo-young Master?" She whimpered, eyes as wide as saucers, practically shivering where she stood.
"Lilliana. It's alright. I'm not going to eat you."
She blinked at him owlishly.
"I want you to do me a favour."
She continued to blink owlishly.
"I need you to get me Voltaire's schedule for the coming week."
Now she was just staring at him.
"Lilliana?"
"Oh! Oh, um." She composed herself. Or as composed as he could get anyway. She was so awfully timid! "How am I supposed to do that?"
"Ask Mr. Dickinson."
"What? But I can't-"
"Shhh!" Kai turned a glance at the door, and she got the hint. "This is supposed to be a secret, okay? Just tell Mr. Dickinson that I asked. Don't tell anyone else. Can I trust you?"
She looked solemn as she answered. "Of course."
Kai smiled. "Now what did you come here for?"
"Oh yes! Dinner is ready. Lord Voltaire called for you."
"I'll be right there."
Now there was nothing left to do but survive dinner and wait till he got the schedule.
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Dickinson was the Hiwatari family's butler, and Kai had known the man since he was an infant. He was an affectionate old man with a pleasant countenance and kind, grandfatherly demeanour about him.
The only thing his grandfather had done right in his entire damned life was hiring Dickinson as their butler.
If anyone could and would help him out, it was the portly old man.
He just hoped he wouldn't get into too much trouble.
Two days had passed since he'd made that little deal with Lilliana. He was again burrowing into his pillow fort when he heard a slight knock on his door.
Well, that was fast.
He extricated himself from his fortress and opened the door, to find not the girl, but Mr. Dickinson himself.
"Kai." The man nodded at him, and he opened the door further so he could walk in.
"Why do you want that schedule?"
"Why do you think I want it?"
The old man looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate.
"Mr. Dickinson, please." Kai pushed down his pride for the moment. "I need your help. You know I would never ask you for anything unless it's important."
The man sighed. "Kai. You know very well that I'll always help you. But don't you think this is going too far?"
"I have no other choice!" The blunette yelled, raking both his hands through his hair, tugging at the strands as if he was going to pull them out. "I'm going crazy here, being held captive like I'm some criminal! I'm sick and tired of my grandfather, sick of his control and his attitude! I'm eighteen for crying out loud, I should be able to live my life as I like it! He's gone too far this time, and I can't take it anymore!"
The man was gazing at him now, concern and worry clear on his face. "I understand Kai, but I entreat you to think it through again, before doing something so reckless."
"There's nothing to think about." Kai said, straightening to his full height, steely determination in his eyes. "I'm running away. And no one can stop me."
Dickinson sighed, but there was amusement in his eyes. "I suppose that's right." He grinned a little and waggled his eyebrows. "Voltaire is leaving on a business trip this Friday. Convenient, isn't it?"
Kai grinned back. "Yes, indeed. When will he be back?"
"In 2 days."
"I couldn't ask for more."
"But," the man frowned, stroking his mustache, deep in thought. "Boris will still be here."
Ah Boris. That slimy, slithery snake of a man who was the head of security at Hiwatari Mansion. Kai hated the man with the burning fury of two thousand suns.
And Boris was Voltaire's most trusted lapdog with the eyes and reflexes of a hawk. This was going to get really tricky.
"I can keep all the others away from the hallways that you'll use as your exit. And I can help to distract the guards at the main gate as well."
Kai nodded. It was not to prevent anyone from stopping him, but so they wouldn't have to be guilty when they were questioned. If no one saw him making his escape, they wouldn't be able to say anything to Voltaire no matter how he interrogated them, keeping their jobs safe.
"Will you be okay... If Voltaire finds out?" He didn't want the jolly old man to lose his job because of him. That would be majorly sucky.
"He won't find out." the old man had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and Kai found himself grinning back.
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Finally.
Friday, eight thirty pm, the moment of truth..
He had a small duffel bag filled with some T-shirts, two jeans, clean underwear, his red silk pajamas, 3 pairs of socks, his toothbrush, his white cashmere scarf, and his passport. He also had two thousand rubles in cash stuffed in one of his socks, because he couldn't use his credit card without getting traced and then hunted down.
He was wearing all black: black Nike sneakers that let him run freely, loose black cargos, a tight fitting long sleeved shirt and a black jacket lined with fleece, to keep out the cold, plus, he had a black cap on to hide his unique hair.
He'd called Tala the very day Dickinson had visited him, telling him about his plan. Tala said he'd be there at nine pm sharp, where they would make their getaway in the cover of the dark. Hopefully. Tala said he'd pray for it, just to be on the safe side.
Kai wondered what sort of pagan ritual Tala had performed to convince his boss to give him 3 weeks off. Probably something involving blood, and a life time of overtime with minimum wage.
He watched from his second floor window as Voltaire got into a jet black limo and shut the door behind him. Boris was no where to be seen. Shit. He was hoping Boris would escort Voltaire to the airport so he could make his getaway without much trouble, but that was not to be, apparently.
He hefted his duffel bag (which was also black) onto his shoulder before he took a deep breath and blew it out. Walk to the ground floor, open the the door, run to the gates, keep to the shadows, try not to get caught by the dobermans, wait till Dickinson distracts them and make a mad run for it through the gate.
Here goes nothing.
He opened his door and stepped through before he power walked down the hallway, down two flights of stairs and out the back door. He saw not a single soul on his way, and sighed in relief.
Yes. He could do this. Cunning and stealth.
He took off at a light jog as he kept an eye out for the 3 dobermans that they owned. He'd never befriended them and he dearly regretted that now. Damn his grandfather for never letting him have any fun. "Dogs are filthy creatures" his ASS.
He dodged behind trees and tall bushes, grateful that his gardeners were nuts for trees with thick trunks.
As he made his way toward the main walls of his estate, he thought he saw a beam from a flashlight, and froze where he was standing behind a thick oak.
"Hm. I thought I saw something move." A gruff voice said, and the flashlight moved from side to side, coming dangerously close to the oak he was using as his hideout.
"What are you doing, wandering this place when we were told not to? was very specific that we were not supposed to let the dogs out or patrol this area. What are your ears made of? LETTUCE? Che. Lets get going." Another voice, this one much smoother, spat out.
Kai cheered internally for Dickinson. The old man had gone above and beyond.
"Oh. The time is eight forty five now." The second man spoke again, albeit a bit loudly.
"Yeah. So?"
"In ten minutes, the estate's power is gonna cut out and-"
"What? But we never have powercuts he-"
"SHUT UP YOU OAF!" The second guy sounded crabby, and vaguely like his stuck up personal trainer. "As I was saying, the power's gonna cut out for exactly 5 minutes because there's gonna be a mysterious problem with the wiring. So when Natasya takes her car out to the main gates, the gates will stay open for those exact five minutes because the gates depend on electricity, yeah? So a person can just hide behind the car and make a run for it, since something's mysteriously wrong with the backup generator as well. So it's eight forty seven now, meaning there's exactly eight minutes to the shut down."
"Why are you saying all this this?" The first guy sounded clueless as ever.
"Good luck, young master Hiwatari! Now come you big lug, let's get inside." The voice that sounded like his trainer faded away gradually till Kai couldn't hear anything.
He didn't need to, anyway. He was feeling so touched that his employees would do this for him, at the risk of their own jobs. They were all getting a raise when he came back, that was for sure.
He began jogging a little more freely with the knowledge that the dogs weren't roaming about. He soon reached the large stone wall that separated the estate from the rest of the surroundings. It was eight fifty. He had five minutes to reach the gates, and then... Freedom.
Taking off at a brisk run, he stilled when he came within the vicinity of the large mechanised gates, the bright interior of the control room that was visible through the large bulletproof glass windows, and...
Boris sitting inside. Shit. That made everything more complicated. He waited, settling into a crouch, making himself as small and still as possible.
At exactly eight fifty two, a large minivan pulled up to the gate.
A minute passed before the large gate slowly swung open, but the car didn't move out, and at exactly eight fifty five, the whole place plunged into darkness, and a cacophony of yells and curses filled the air as the men inside the room scrambled around in the dark to try and find flashlights and emergency lamps, pounding at various buttons in their confusion.
Kai surged forward, running as if the hounds of hell were at his heels, moving behind the car, beside it, as he used it as cover from getting spotted by the torch beams that were now being waved about wildly.
Not wasting a minute, he shot out of the gates, and and what did you know, Tala pulled up at that exact moment, throwing the passenger side door open before yelling "Get in!"
He practically threw himself into the vehicle which started moving even before he closed the door, and fell face first into Tala's lap as the vehicle lurched forward with the tires squealing and engine roaring.
He vaguely registered Boris's screaming and cursing as he barked orders into his phone, demanding a car and what not.
He fell back into his seat with a huff, his chest heaving with exhaustion and his body feeling numb with the fading adrenalin.
Before long, he started giggling, and the giggles turned into full of bellowing laughter wich Tala joined, and it sounded like there were a couple of hyenas in the car as they laughed away their shock, not yet completely comprehending that yes, they had gotten away safely and were now speeding away from Moscow at a hundred kilometers per hour.
Voltaire was gonna be so pissed.
**********continues...
So... Kai has escaped! And now he's gonna spend three whole weeks with Tala in the beautiful country side, where romantic opportunities overflow, and we get to meet 4 surprise new characters who I hope you all like!
How was this chapter? I hope it all sounded believable and real! If you have any questions, if anything is not clear, leave me a review or pm me and I'll gladly clarify.
Ok, so, review pleeeeease!
Till next time!