Chapter 10
Snap!
Lightning flashes in front of the ninjas' faces, and the thunder booms a few seconds after, showing the monster of the weather is drawing nigh. Jay takes his legs off the wire and hangs merely by both hands, his grip loosening every passing moment. He lets one hand go of the only thing between him and certain death. Come on, Jay, Zane's depending on you! The lightning ninja moves his hand forward about a foot and grasps the wire again; then moves his other hand approximately another foot forward attempting not to slip again. "Hang on Zane; I'm coming," Jay reassures the ice ninja, who does not seem to be listening, but gazes above everyone, while Nya calms her baby, and Pixal becomes agitated for the first time since who-knows-when.
Zane freezes, the only movement being his hands and arms trembling out of muscle strain. His left hand loses its grasp and he dangles by one hand, yet he does not react. He just stares at a lone figure on the ceiling, a hood drawn over his face, though Zane knows who is there. A familiar voice whispers in his mind, Kai is dying from poison, and the blame is lying on your shoulders, for once you are gone they shall know what has been haunting you for many a year. I shall see you soon, Hawthorn, my friend. The evil voice laughs as lightning cracks next to the electrical line and a piece of the wire splits open, frays, showing wires beneath the black, plastic covering. Zane's attention snaps back to Jay, who's hand is about to touch the frayed piece, a foot or two away from him. Zane swings himself back; then forward, the momentum thrusting him towards the lightning ninja. The ninja of ice grasps Jay's shirt, pulling him away, and grabs hold of another portion of the line, bringing them closer to the window, where Pixal extends her white hands towards the two.
"Zane, the line is breaking!" Pixal shouts, "Hurry!"
"Throw Jay over here!" Cole puts his hands out as the others back away from the window.
Zane's robotic instincts allow him to throw the ninja of lightning far enough that Cole barely manages to grasp Jay by the arms. "Zane jump!"Pixal tells him.
"Watch out!" Melissa warns as the wire snaps and Zane swings his body forward, nearly to the sill, but not close enough.
"Zane!" everyone screams in unison as Nya hands Melissa the baby and rushes out the room to get help.
Zane drops, though it is quite dark, where one can hardly see his figure slam on the asphalt with a slight crack. The lightning flashes, revealing his twisted up body, his arms hugging him and his legs bent upward. His left hand is partially snapped off, hanging by several wires. His eyes are wide open and he stares into the dark sky, rain pounding on his weakened body. A surge of artificial adrenaline courses throughout him and he leaps up, holding his damaged hand. He darts around the building next to him, terror seizing his typically placid mind with utter surety as to run. To run anywhere; anywhere that is away from this waking, walking, talking nightmare he has faced for years and years. The memories of the murders of Kai and Nya's parents flash vividly in his mind, and the murders of Jane and his adoptive Grandmother. He sees his father whispers barely audibly to him at his death, 'I love you'. Zane keeps running, for hours and hours and hours straight, never looking back, never paying heed to his family's desperate calls to him, never feeling the pain in his body. His heart feels flooded with sorrow, yet void at the same moment. There is a hole in the remaining piece of heart, although he possesses no knowledge of any means of curing himself. How he came by to run aimlessly and end up at his old dwelling in the Birchwood forest, he does not, except to presume he misses home, and his father. He draws in his breath out of both habit and pure comfort, and goes to open the door. It is already open a few inches, a sign someone has been in there.