Choice of Music: Mr Lonely - Akon, She's So Gone - Lemonade Mouth

Chapter 13 - So Gone

Kia kept running. Her legs burned and her heart pounded, pumping her blood through her. The rain pelted against her skin like ice, drenching her to the bone. It was a good thing it was raining, as it hid her tears from the naked eye.

One foot twisted against a patch of slick mud, and down she went into a muddy puddle. Now covered in rain, mud, and dried blood from her arm, she allowed herself a moments rest. "Talk about cliché," she mumbled to herself, a weak smile appearing on her face. "The same person I fell in love with killed my mother and sister. I wonder what uncle K would say." She shivered in the cold rain, sitting in the puddle.

She urged her body to move, but wouldn't react. Was this shock? Kia didn't know and, quite frankly, didn't care anymore. Kia couldn't let go, she couldn't cry just yet. She had to find somewhere to go, somewhere to stay. Could she go back to K's? Even with Vice there?

Kia suddenly realized that the rain had stopped falling upon her, but rather around her. "Kia?" she heard someone say her name, the voice sounded male. Looking up, she met eye to eye with Yamato. "What's wrong?" he asked her. He carried a bag of what looked like groceries or something while holding an umbrella over them.

Attempting to say she was fine, she couldn't. The lump in her throat stopped any sound coming out that didn't seem like a whimper. "Kia? Does anyone know you're here?" All she could manage was a slight shake of her head. "What happened? Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?"

"I," she tried to say, "I don't-" she couldn't help it. Her body shook with her sobs. Vice was a cruel, sadistic killing machine, but why did it seem to her that he looked hurt when she told him she hated him? Her uncle would most likely be panicking right now, not knowing where she was. She felt an arm gently wrap around her and lift her to her feet.

"Come on, Kia. Let's go to my house," Yamato said, his voice kind. Wrapping her arms around herself, she walked with him.

Vice watched the two walk away. Damn Yamato and everyone else. He hated that stupid bandit leader, he hated K, he hated any man who was able to get close to Kia. He hated them because he knew that was a place he could never be. Not in the past nor the present. And now, even the future was fucked.

His fist punched the tree with as much force as he could muster, shattering the wood and cracking some of the faux skin upon his hand. The freezing rain did nothing to tame his wild black hair as water fell off him in droplets. The sleeves of the hoodie were pretty much gone from his little "stunt".

I hate you

Vice remembered the look in her eyes. Full of so much sorrow and pain, and now hate. And he caused it. He knew that she would reject him, but why in the hell did it hurt this bad? He was the utimate evil, for Douji's sake! He shouldn't have cared about whether she would accept him or not. He should have outright just killed her, like he should have done years ago. Even then, she was terrified.

I never want to see you again

"Do you really mean that?" he murmered. As much as he loved the sight of people in pain and bright red blood coloring his green gauntlets, it seemed like he couldn't get Kia's blood off of them fast enough. A deep feeling bubbled in him, rising in his empty chest and resting itself there. The evil Douji didn't like any of these new feelings coming to him. Memories flashed through his mind, ones of years ago, before everything shattered.

A smaller version of Kia, her black hair in pigtails and wearing a small white dress, clinging to his leg. Large hazel eyes stared up at him with admiration and awe. Those were the eyes he wanted to see, not ones of terror and anger.

"Please, Kia. Come back!" the little girl cried. Her hair was also in pigtails, like her sister. Her twin sister.

"No way!" Kia laughed. "Come on, Risa!" She ran towards the woods that their parents had warned them to stay away from, or the big bad wolf was going to take them far away.

"Daddy says we're not s'possed to go in there," she said, wringing her little hands together.

Kia blew her a raspberry. "Daddy's little girl! Daddy don't like me, he won't care."

"He does too!" Risa argued.

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

Kia ignored her sister and ran off. "If you go in there I'm gonna tell!" Risa yelled, clinging to the hem of her dress.

"Tattle-tale!"

"I am not!"

Her feet padded the ground as she walked into the woods, not knowing where she was going. It was about late spring, so most of the trees were full of leaves, and some had little blossoms growing in them. Not watching where she was walking, Kia stepped into a mudpit and sunk. Sinking up almost to her neck, she scrambled to escape the trap.

Feeling something grip the back of her collar, she was yanked out of the pit. Dripping mud, she heard someone say, "Well well, now what do we have here?"

She struggled in the person's grasp, wriggling like a fish on a hook. "You're kinda feisty." Kia turned to see golden eyes look at her, and her rescuer dropped her. The little girl hit the ground with a thud.

"Ouchie," she mumbled.

"Why are you so far out here?" she heard him ask, and turned to face him. The boy was much taller than her (considering she was six) and he had wild black hair. He wore a green jacket with funny looking pants and something hanging off of them. He also had funny looking things on his arms and above his eyes.

" I don't know," she told him.

"You should know why."

"Are you the wolf?"

The boy looked taken aback. "Wha?"

"Mommy and Daddy said there's a big bad wolf that lives in the woods and takes little girls like me far away."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Do you want me to take you far away?"

Kia shook her head violently. "No."

"Then shush. Go home, brat." He turned and began to walk away. Kia got up and started to follow him at a distance. He didn't fail to notice this. "Why are you following me? I said go home."

"I don't know how."

He gave off an irritated sigh. "You're lost?"

She gave him a slight nod. Kia was met with a quick lurching of her stomach, and was being carried underneath his arm like a football. "Hey!"

"Knock it off. If I have to take you home I don't want to hear a word out of you. Got it?"

Silence.

"Answer me," he growled at her.

"You said I had to shush." He glared at the child, and she giggled. The boy gave her a slight bonk on the head. "Owie," she cried, holding her head. "That hurt!"

"I don't care."

"What's your name?"

"What?" he asked, looking at the child.

"My name's Kia. What's your name?"

He looked at her, and she didn't know what was running through his mind. "It's Vice," he told her.

Please leave your thoughts. I apologize if anyone's ooc or anything.