Their hands intertwined again, his lips cracking into a large smile as he pulled her close to him and nuzzled her pink hair. She squealed under his touch and together they sat up, nuzzling one another.

This is what it's like.

Slowly he opened his eyes and met her gaze, his breath taken away by her pure beauty and grace. She would always be there when he woke up.

Love.

"So where is this place you're taking me to?"

"It's downtown… I'll show you. I heard some rumors going on there that DJ Snake is going to be playing tonight."

"DJ Snake?" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise and wonder. "He's my favorite DJ of all time!"

He sipped at his coffee and handed her the ticket that he produced from his pocket, sending her into a fresh wave of squeals. She smiled gratefully at him and bounced up and down, her pink hair falling gently upon her eyes.

"I can't wait! Oh Kai this is so exciting!"

"I figured you would want to go."

The morning was dim with light, the snow gradually melting off the porch in the back and dripping down into the white below. Sun shone through the windows and with the light came deep shades of love that he began to feel all over him.

He had never known such happiness.

Julia… Julia are you watching?

The day had only just begun but he wanted to do everything. He wanted to play in the snow, he wanted to dance in the flurries, making snowmen. There was only one thing on his mind that he realized did not change.

Her.

When was it… that I learned not to be lonely?

Was it the fact that you and I shared our pain?

When did I realize that I had become a stronger person because of you?

When did I realize… that I really didn't lose as much as I thought I had?

His boots crunched in the snow as he made his way towards the house. He had driven to Tyson's house that day; just to see what was going on. He had texted Ray the night before and learned that he would not be present at today's gathering. Kai began to think to himself as he walked through the snow, holding Mathilda's hand.

Ray was with a girl that he had met, saying that there were some things he needed to take care of. Kai could understand this; he felt the same about Mathilda.

Tyson had recovered his brother in a catatonic state, and saved him from himself. Hiro was no man to be played around with, but his mind was unstable so his actions had to be monitored. Tyson was the one to do this, and bought Hiro over to the house to stay for an unknown period of time. Kai was sure that Tyson would change back to his old ways.

Max.

Kai had not seen or heard from Max after he socked Tyson in the nose. Max had gone running off into the distance without a word or a text of his whereabouts, and Kai suspected that Ray was the only one who knew exactly what was going on.

Max… We need to get a hold of Ray as soon as possible. Before anything happens.

As both Kai and Mathilda approached the house Kai stopped in his tracks, his sixth sense picking up something. Mathilda looked at him curiously and stopped as well, holding his hand tightly. She gazed up at him but he refused to meet her eyes.

Beneath him Kai could feel the ground shifting, the air swirling around him much more violently than before. Slowly, he let go of the breath he had been holding and laid his eyes upon the house.

For some reason, the sky had grown dark.

"The weather didn't say anything about rain today…" Mathilda's voice could barely be heard over the icy wind that now pierced through their coats and made them shiver. Something in Kai's mind clicked.

Something's wrong.

"Mathilda… get back to the car."

"W-what?" she fumbled around in her coat pocket for a phone, her hands now trembling. "Kai, what's going on? What's happening?"

Kai's eyes narrowed, his heart slowly icing over with his mind becoming clearer. Quickly he laid out his options in his mind.

Dragging Mathilda along with him Kai hasted over to his car, opening the trunk and taking out a black suitcase that was hiding in a secret compartment under the felt. Mathilda watched him carefully, and he could feel her shudder when he opened the case in the cold winter air. Flurries flew around them now and as he constructed his weapon he breathed out, holding the weapon ready.

"Something's not right. I can feel it." He turned to her slightly, taking her hand in his and feeling his heartbeat rise gradually. His boots crunched heavily in the snow as he nearly shoved Mathilda back in the car, leaving her the keys.

He waved his hand towards the house and checked his phone to see the time. The afternoon was slowly passing him by and as he gazed into Mathilda's eyes he began to see his heart in her.

"Listen," he said carefully, his lips near her. "Something isn't right in the house… I can feel the aura… you need to listen to me…" he licked his lips and swallowed hard, eyeing the front door cautiously.

"If I'm not out within twenty minutes you call the police and get the fuck out of here. Do you understand?"

"Kai what're you going to-"

"Do you understand?" he repeated, leaning into her. "You get the fuck out of here. Drive. I don't care where. Just drive and get the fuck out."

"But Kai, I don't understand, why do you have a gun in-"

"Just listen!" he nearly cried, trying to keep his voice down. "You need to get out, okay? Twenty minutes. Time it. After that, call the police and leave. Do you understand?"

"Kai what's going on?" Mathilda's eyes were filled with tears now, her hands reaching to grasp him. "I'm scared… you're scaring me!"

His vision blurred.

You mean more to me than anything.

Promise me.

Promise me you'll be safe.

I can protect you only so much.

I need to trust that you'll be okay.

JULIA!

I need to make sure you're okay.

I need to make sure you're safe.

I can promise you one thing, as long as you're with me, you're safe.

I can protect you.

I couldn't protect her.

I won't.

I won't make that mistake again.

All at once his lips pressed against her and she stopped her whining. Kai could feel her surprise and when he released his hold she was left with a star struck look in her eye.

"Mathilda, twenty minutes. After that, police, then drive. Understand?"

After a few moments of momentary shock Mathilda finally nodded her head and embraced the keys in her fingers. She swallowed and held her head down, whispering to him.

"Just…. Promise me you'll come back."

Kai clicked his gun and stood up in the snow, his back towards his car now but his love with nobody but her.

"Without a doubt."

He breathed in and slowly opened the door, his eyes darting about to see the dark rooms ahead of him. He clicked his gun again and checked the time.

Twenty minutes to go.

The door creaked open at his touch, Kai smelling something rank and foul coming from across the hallway and to his right. With a quick hop he was over at the wall, aiming his gun at the darkness before him. Taking a look around the area Kai realized that everything was out of place.

The dining room table was upturned, shattered pieces of glass were scattered along the floor and a few flower petals floated lazily down from broken and tattered flowerpots. Kai pursed his lips.

There was a struggle here.

Kneeling down upon the floor Kai bent down to examine the damage done to the wood when out of the corner of his eye something red caught his attention. Turning his eyes away from the glass he spied droplets of red all across the floor and eventually leading up towards the walls. Bloodied handprints lined the walls, some smeared and others merely stamped on like plaster. His nose caught the scent of flesh and instantly he knew.

This just happened.

Feeling more uneasy Kai hastily stood up and aimed his gun at the oncoming darkness, his heart racing in his throat. Slowly, Kai made his way into the hallway and opened the door to Tyson's guest room.

The room was empty save for a few pillows in the corner and a mess of feathers. Blood was coated along the floor here as well and as Kai peered down he noticed drag marks. The blood streaked away from him and into a room to his left, where he proceeded to open the door slightly.

Human whimpering was coming from the other side.

Aiming his gun inside the room Kai opened the door carefully to see a body hunched over another body in agony. His eyes widened.

"Tyson!"

Tyson clamped a bloody hand over Kai's mouth and shut the door, moving a dresser behind the door and ensuring blockage. Once Tyson had done his deed he let go of Kai's mouth and Kai sputtered out, wiping his lips.

"What the fuck!" he whispered frantically, glaring at Tyson. "What the hell happened?"

At that moment Kai stopped himself, seeing how bloody Tyson was. His hair was ruffled and his clothes were torn in various places. Brown blood caked his left and his hands were still dripping with the red.

Kai's gaze fell upon the body that remained still on the floor. A gaping wound in the chest left Kai to speculate that this was an attempted murder.

"Tyson…. Tyson is that… Hiro?"

"I tried to stop him… but I couldn't… he got to him… he was in the dining room… I was in the bedroom… I heard him screaming… and then when I came out…." Tyson's words became babble as he broke down in tears, Kai holding onto his shoulders.

"Tyson, who did this? Who is 'he'?"

Tyson was about to respond when the door began to pound, the dresser moving back and forth violently. Kai swallowed hard, aiming his gun confidently.

"Peek a boo!"

Maniacal laughter erupted from behind the door and Kai pressed himself against the dresser in an effort to block the intruder from entering. He yelled at Tyson.

"Did you call the police?"

"I don't have my cell on me and neither does Hiro! It was in the bedroom but I dropped it and Hiro doesn't have one… the house phone is in the living room!"

"Fuck!"

Getting Tyson off his feet Kai urged him to press against the door as Kai dialed Mathilda's number on his phone frantically.

"Kai?"

"Mathilda, you need to get the fuck out of here now! Call the police and get out of here! Drive back to the café shop, somewhere!"

"What's going on?" her voice was in a panic.

"Don't ask questions just do it!"

All at once the door flew open with the intruder making his way in.

"You all smell so fresh…"

"Shit!"

Tyson wrestled with intruder who wielded a bloodied kitchen knife in his hand, swinging the weapon around crazily. Kai backed off and pocketed his cell, aiming the gun at the intruder's head.

"Let him go!"

The words were only minor as the intruder stopped for a second before swinging the knife at Kai. Kai cursed under his breath and ducked, punching the intruder in the gut. Although his hit was hard, the man did not stop at all, headbutting Kai hard in the chin and sending him into the wall. Kai held onto his chin as he tried to recover, the man swinging his knife at Kai. Ducking out of the way and kicking the intruder down upon his knees, Kai tackled him over onto the floor, wrestling the knife away from the free hand and disabling the man.

"Tyson! Tyson make sure that Hiro's bleeding is stopped!"

"It is; I wrapped it up."

"Get out of here!"

"But Kai I-"

"Do it!"

Without hesitation Kai heard Tyson slowly drag Hiro across the room and out into the hallway. Kai was holding the man down as much as he could, but soon he gave in to the struggling. The man sat up and wielded his knife again, swinging at him.

Dodging a near hit Kai kicked the intruder in the stomach, finally seeing the hood come off the head of the man who was attacking. The grey sweater moved slightly to reveal a rather childish face of a man Kai knew well.

His eyes widened and his heart stopped.

"M-Max?"

Blue eyes dulled over as the hood was placed back on and Max made a run for the door, dropping his knife in haste. Kai sat frozen on the floor as he heard Max break through the glass window in the other side of the house and escape outside, the sound of sirens soon filling his ears.

"Kai! Kai are you alright?"

He blinked twice, his eyes and mind focusing back on the area. Mathilda was holding him tenderly and Tyson was off in the distance, seeing Hiro being taken away in a stretcher.

Kai was standing of course, and his legs moved almost numbly towards his friend. His mind was a jumble of thoughts and nothing made sense. Slowly, he sat down in the back of the ambulance with Tyson.

Somehow, Mathilda had followed him there too.

"Tyson… Tyson was that… Max?"

Tyson could only nod as Kai gazed at him, the feeling of confusion resting in Kai's heart. He swallowed and thanked an officer for offering him water in a small plastic cup. The snow around them was grey and almost colorless, life seeming to move out of time and space.

"What do we do now?" asked Mathilda. "Why did he do this?"

"I had overheard…" Tyson was talking now. His hands were bandaged and his bleeding had stopped.

"I had overheard… Ray and Max talking… Max is… off his…"

"You can't be serious… Max is…"

"Yeah…. For at least a month…"

"That's how long we've…"

"I know…"

Kai bit his lip, turning his head to see the bloodied body of Hiro beginning to be hooked up to life support and manual chest tubes. He grit his teeth.

"We'll see what happens… I don't think it's anything fatal…" Tyson's demeanor had chilled, and Kai slowly softened, putting a hand upon his friend.

"We have to go find out what the hell happened."

Standing back up in the snow, Kai turned to Mathilda and spoke evenly.

"You are not to come with me. It's too dangerous."

"But-"

"No buts."

"Then I'll go." Tyson stood up next to Kai, his head down but his body shaking with rage. "I can't afford to lose another person… I can't…"

Kai nodded respectfully, his heat full of ice. He didn't understand Max's intentions, nor did he want to. He believed that any person willing to take another person's life was not in the least worth worrying about. He was a murderer.

"Then let's go."

"Is this the last place you heard him go to?"

"It's right outside the club…. I really think there's got to be something here."

The cold winter air chilled them to the bone and as they walked through the white snow Kai felt as if he were waking from a dream.

Had Max really attacked Hiro? What was he doing?

The sound of lapping water attracted his gaze and Kai spied a few flurries of snow sticking to something that was a bump out of nowhere. The sky above was pale grey and he could not tell what time of day it was; Kai felt that at least a few hours had gone by.

A few seagulls cawed off in the distance and behind him a wooden fence stood in the midst, surrounded by mounds of snow.

But those mounds were natural.

Kai kicked a few flurries off here and there until he finally came upon something he had not expected. The lapping waves of the lake flushed around his boots and with a cautious hand Kai reached down into the wet cold, his fingers coming upon something he thought he would never touch.

The hand was severed, the middle and index fingers missing. The bone was discarded as well, leaving a clean cut of meat on the frozen flesh. Kai retracted his hand almost immediately, but ushered Tyson to come and take a look.

"Human hand huh…"

"Do you think…"

"I wouldn't put it past him now."

"Kai!"

Her voice echoed in his ears. He jogged over to where she was, her form bent over something laid in the snow. Her fingers were wet with ice and her eyes were wide with both fear and anticipation.

"I… I found something…"

Getting down with her Kai flicked up the tube and dusted off the snow, reading the faded label that was half glued on.

His eyes narrowed.

"Max Mizuhara…"

The tube was pocketed and Kai shook his head, suddenly feeling as if he were in a trance. Soft fingers wrapped around his hand and as he gazed upwards he saw Mathilda staring at him with the same look she always gave him.

"Are you alright?"

"I… I'm fine…."

"We need to move." Tyson's voice broke Kai out of his daze. He stood above them, pointing his finger towards something in the distance.

"I think he was headed that way…"

Kai and Mathilda both stood up and peered into the distance, Kai seeing a faint trail of blood leading from out in the open until a back door of…

The club.

Kai's body stiffened as he began to walk forward, his mind set on his goal.

"We have to stop him before he takes someone's life…"

Tyson walked beside him, his body full of rage and anger.

The snow flew around them, surrounding Kai's body with nothing but fatal memories of that day of which he wished would fade into nothingness.

Everything screamed at him.

Those voices were all I heard. The club was full of everything music; pounding bass and beating drums and loud synch. He had headed up the back stairs and to the second floor, where the main party was happening. I wanted to make sure he was stopped before anything happened.

Tyson and Mathilda were insistent upon coming with me. I had no idea if they would prove helpful or useless to this job… but I felt as if I owed Max something for making me realize exactly who I was protecting.

The heat from the room was enough to make anyone drown in a flood of sweat. I heard voices of the people around me, but only one figure stood out from the rest.

His hoodie was up and his face was covered, save for the piercing blue eyes that were frightening demonic. He smiled at me I remember, his pearly whites now stained with yellow and almost zombie-like in appearance.

What happened to you?

The movement was all around me, like some sort of dazzling dream. Flashes of red and green and blue waved back and forth, but all I could focus on was him. He was dead in the center, unmoving and unwavering and staring at me with those zombie like eyes.

The people around me moved quickly when I unsheathed my gun, screaming at the top of my lungs to get people out. The look on his face was priceless; he acted shocked as if he didn't know I had a gun on me.

I tackled him over and we struggled, though specifics I can't remember. The voices of joy were soon drowned out by the sounds of screaming and horror, the piercing screams echoing in my ears.

He was strong; I never thought he would be like that. He was so kind and gentle, a mere child in a world of forever adults. He was always laughing, playing, and even joking.

What had gone wrong?

Before I knew it I had come face to face with something out of a horror story. My eyes lay upon his knife and I drew my gun to his chest. For some reason, we locked eyes.

Every memory, every breath, every drink we shared, every good time we ever had suddenly came into my mind and I think for a split second we transcended time.

I couldn't remember if I had pulled the trigger or not, but when he fell backwards so did I. We lost each other's grip and in a fleeting moment of passing I realized that he was still a kid, still a child that was trying to find his way.

My body went numb and I remember hearing my own voice screaming aloud, some dark figures coming and placing their hands on me before I could move. I hit the floor hard and right when I did I knew that I had done what I had promised her.

Mathilda I could see from the corner of my eye, was shaking horribly but in the arms of Tyson was alright. She was safe, and that was all that mattered to me. Her gaze was set upon me and would not cease, and even as Tyson stroked her, I could see that they were both shaken.

A piercing scream bled through my ears and as the red began to seep into my eye sockets I realized that he had probably gotten me right through my chest.

I was still alive sure, but he had gotten me good. My eyes looked down at my chest to see if the knife was sticking out of me like in the movies.

It wasn't.