AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Thank you all for following and reviewing this story. Enjoy the next chapter.
Chapter 5 -
It had been three days after the break in and Brax had gotten the locks changed and so far there had been no suspicious activity near the Braxton house, allowing Brax and Heath some time to call around for any information on who would be targeting Kyle.
The only time that some uncertainty had been shown, was when Kyle and Ricky went to open up Angelo's the following morning, finding several scattered papers all with cryptic messages of threats and disturbing pictures.
The strong-willed blonde had reassured Kyle with a soft shoulder pat, that Brax would find out who was after him and encouraged him to just get on with the day.
Kyle had wrecked his mind for answers as he stared at the messages and pictures.
Now, at three days later, Kyle and Casey were together on the couch mindlessly chatting, when a large rock broke through the window with a paper attached.
Kyle cautiously made his way towards the rock on the ground; bending down to pick it up.
Casey slowly shuffled towards the now smashed window, alerting the older Braxton.
"Casey: don't!" Kyle yelled.
Casey spun around to glare at Kyle.
"What if they are still out there," Kyle implied.
"We have to at least see," Casey protested.
Kyle pulled off the note and read it:
Are you sweating yet? Time's ticking. You won't know when you won't know how.
Casey went back to the window and noticed a suspicious looking black car parked across the street.
Desperate to show his brother's he could help, Casey rushed out the front door.
Kyle dropped the rock on the floor and rushed out after his younger brother.
The two guys in the black car spotted Casey and Kyle and sped off around the corner.
"It must have been them; we have to go after them!" Casey exclaimed.
"No! Are you crazy? Brax told us to keep away until he had everything sorted!" Kyle yelled.
"What; and wait for you to get hurt?!" Casey yelled; showing his frustration over his brother being a target.
"No Casey; this has to be thought about," Kyle responded.
Casey huffed and pulled himself out of Kyle's grasp; walking back into the house.
Kyle took one lasting look out onto the street. He had managed to get a glimpse of one of the guys in the car and somehow the man had looked familiar to him.
Casey was inside picking up some of the broken window glass when Kyle returned.
"Are you alright?" Casey asked, seeing Kyle in a daze.
Kyle nodded as he thought hard on where he knew that man from then it finally reigned on him: from his time in Melbourne prison.
Kyle shot his head up in panic, realising the trouble he was actually in.
"Kyle, what's wrong?" Casey pressed.
"Get away from there, Casey; we have to get Brax now," Kyle ordered.
"I know who might be after me."
Kyle hastily grabbed out his mobile phone and stepped out into the backyard to gain full coverage.
Kyle waited anxiously for his big brother to pick up; unaware that he was about to fall straight into a trap.
Casey remained inside, carefully cleaning up the shattered glass and not taking any notice of the danger his brother was going to be in with being alone outside.
Kyle sucked in the fresh air; hoping that it would assist with his shock over his discovery of who it was, but it was no use.
As Brax finally picked up on the eleventh ring, Kyle barely got out a 'hello, I know who it is' when he felt a throbbing ache over his back and felt himself being dragged through the back yard.
Kyle dropped his phone in the grass, unable to control any of his limbs to fight.
"Kyle! Kyle; are you there?!" Brax yelled through the phone in sudden panic; only his voice was all but a muffle as Kyle's phone was covered in the seedlings of the grass.
Brax heard nothing on the other end of the line and panicked; what had happened to his brother and why did he just shut off like that?
Kyle tried desperately to yell out but his voice was muffled as a strong hand gripped firmly around his mouth.
Kyle felt another hard blow to his head, followed by a wave of dizziness and a trickling sensation.
Kyle tried hard to remain conscious as he felt blow after blow over his body; his abdomen heaving as the agony continued on.
Kyle crunched up his abdomen as best he could but could not fight against the pulls on his body from being lifted up and thrown back down like a ragdoll.
Hard throbbing pains seared through Kyle's face and the young Braxton could taste the blood from his face as it seeped into his mouth.
Casey finished cleaning up the glass and turned in the direction of the kitchen.
"Did you manage to get a hold of Brax?" he called.
Casey furrowed his brow when he was met with nothing but silence.
"Kyle?" Casey called out.
Casey let his suspicions lead the way as he walked into the kitchen and out the back door which had been left ajar.
"Kyle, you out here?!" Casey called again.
Casey spotted Kyle's phone in the grass and read several missed calls from Brax as well as last call duration: two minutes.
Casey surveyed the yard and saw no Kyle in sight and Casey knew his brother was in trouble.
Casey sprung into action; sliding Kyle's phone into his pocket and running out of the yard.
"Kyle!" Casey bellowed out.
"I think that's enough now!"
Kyle faintly heard someone yell.
"He hasn't paid yet!" Another man growled.
"Remember what you said: we have to make him pay first; have a little fun. You hear that our little mate, Bennett: this is just the beginning," the scruffy ex-criminal threatened, in a deep and husky voice.
"Damn it; I think I hear someone. Let's go!" the balding man exclaimed in panic.
Kyle leaned to his side spitting out a wad of blood before closing his hazy eyes; barely seeing the two men rush off; besides from the blackness of their shoes and pants; then again Kyle wasn't even certain that was true through the blackness he was seeing in his mind.
Casey noticed his brother on the ground near the bushes and got a glimpse of the two men as they hastily took off.
Casey crouched down beside Kyle.
"Kyle, Kyle can you hear me?" Casey asked.
Kyle let a faint groan escape his lips and Casey could see Kyle's struggles to remain conscious, as the Braxton was bruised and bleeding heavily.
Casey whipped out Kyle's mobile phone from his pocket, considering he'd left his inside the house and quickly rang for an ambulance.
"Hello, Summer Bay Emergency services; what is your emergency?"
"Yes I need an ambulance right away. To thirty-three Saxon Avenue; well just down from there in the bush land at the back. My brother's been badly attacked and is bleeding heavily," Casey said in a gasped breathe.
"Okay sir, is your brother conscious and breathing?" the sweet voice on the line asked.
"Ah, no; he's...he's breathing, but he keeps falling in and out of consciousness," Casey gasped again.
"Alright sir, I will send someone over right away. In the meantime, make sure your brother remains still and on his side if possible and be mindful if he has developed any spinal injuries. Also if you can manage some of the bleeding with strong pressure that would be of great assistance," the lady explained.
"Okay, thanks," Casey replied and stared down at his older brother that looked a right mess.
Casey pulled off his shirt and gently pressed it against the back of Kyle's head where there was a large open gash.
Kyle's face was severely swollen and covered in blood and his shirt had been torn in places; revealing nasty abrasions on the skin.
As Casey waited anxiously for the ambulance, he called Brax's number.
Brax answered straight away upon seeing Kyle's number appear on his phone.
"Kyle, what happened; why'd you lose contact?" Brax said in panic.
"Brax, its Casey," Casey spat out.
"Case, what's going on; why are you calling from Kyle's phone?" Brax demanded.
"Kyle is being taken to hospital. I'm waiting for the ambulance now," Casey explained.
"Casey, what the hell happened?!" Brax demanded; his voice hard yet full of worry.
"He went out to call you and the next thing I know, he's gone and I found him in the bushes behind the house, beaten."
Brax went into immediate panic over the safety of his brother.
"Why was he outside alone Casey?!" Brax yelled, releasing his rage on his brother.
"We went over this!"
"I know...I...I didn't think -"
Casey was interrupted by the sounds of the ambulance sirens.
"Casey, I will meet you at the hospital!" Brax yelled and quickly hung up.
Casey put the phone back in his pocket, feeling withdrawn from his oldest brother's rebuke.
Two paramedics rushed out to Kyle's side and quickly assessed the injured Braxton.
"Can you hop out of the way for us, son?" a senior paramedic with grey hair said to Casey.
Casey stepped aside and gave the paramedics room to kneel down with their bag.
"Can you tell us anything about how this happened?" the senior paramedic asked.
Casey shook his head.
"No I found him like this," Casey mumbled.
"Well he's in pretty bad shape," the senior paramedic explained as he shone a light in Kyle's eyes, gathering his pupil reflex and dilation.
The younger paramedic checked Kyle's other vitals and placed on an Oxygen mask.
"We need to get him to hospital immediately," the younger paramedic told Casey.
"His heart rate and breathing in low and shallow, and his Oxygen saturation has decreased to below normal, due to his dramatic blood loss. Without treatment soon, your brother will be in critical condition."
Casey stared watching the paramedics attend to his brother; still in shock of the severity of his condition. Casey thought back to what Brax had said: was this partially his fault for leaving Kyle alone? Could his brother die because of him?
The paramedics carefully lifted Kyle onto the stretcher and placed him into the van.
"Are you coming along too?" the senior paramedic asked.
Casey shook himself out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, I just need to get a new shirt," he quickly replied and raced back to the house where he grabbed his shirt and phone, then upon returning, jumped into the ambulance.
Brax huffed around frantically, as he made a grab for his keys. Ricky had seen Brax talking on the phone and curiosity got the better of her as she made her way towards the back room where her partner was.
"Brax, what's going on?" she asked.
"Kyle's being taken to hospital after being beaten," Brax explained.
Ricky stared with her mouth agape.
"Is he going to be okay?" Ricky questioned.
Brax stared blankly at Ricky.
"I don't know; the way Casey was going on. How could he go off alone like that? How could, Casey not even know what was happening?" Brax ranted.
Ricky listened to Brax sympathetically.
"Don't go blaming Casey for this Brax; maybe there is more to the story than you know. I'll keep an eye on things here, while you go to the hospital," Ricky said softly.
Brax huffed, but quickly kissed Ricky before rushing out the back room.
On the way out, Phoebe danced into the restaurant in her usual cheerful self, causing Brax and Ricky to glance at each other.
"Do not, say anything; at least until I know what's happening," Brax mouthed to his girlfriend.
Ricky nodded and smiled as Phoebe approached the bar; glancing back at Brax hurrying out the door.
"Hey Rick; where's he off to in such a hurry?" Phoebe asked, pointing behind her.
"Brax just needs to sort out something with some suppliers," Ricky answered, hating that she had to lie to her friend, but at the same time did not want to cause the bubbly woman to worry.
"What brings you here anyway, Pheebs? Didn't you have a music class on today?" Ricky asked.
"Yeah, but it's finished now, so I was going to grab some take away food and head on back to the house, to spend some time with Kyle," Phoebe replied.
"Ah look, Pheebs. Brax didn't want Kyle here today to cover shifts as he's been working lots and now with Brax off on an errand, it leaves us short staffed; so do you think maybe you could help me out for a few hours?"
Phoebe smiled and looked around the restaurant.
"Sure Ricky. Kyle and I can spend tonight together," Phoebe commented and headed behind the bar to slip on an apron.