Finally a long chapter! They are really rare you know... I like that word: rare. It's spelled the same way as "weird" in norwegian! Maybe I'm bit weird? Whatever, get on with the story!!!

Chapter 18: Gryff Hiwatari?

"It wants us to follow..." Tyson reacted at once. "But, you cant know that! What if Kai's still in the castle?"

"Trust me, he isn't. He's out there somewhere, and he's not alone..." They hesistated, wondering what to do next.

"But, how did he get out?"

'I'm sorry, but I cant let you follow him.' They whirled around. He stood in front of them, smiling. He looked different now! His eyes was black, like an animal's.

'That could ruin everything...' But before he got the chance to do anything, a loud bang was heard from the door. He disappeared, like smoke! Ray opened his eyes again, to see a familiar person in front of him, a gun in his hand...

Ray's mouth dropped open. "You?"

The black haired boy smirked, and lifted his gun. "Is it more of them?" he whispered. The others shook their heads. "Good." He put the gun back in his belt. Ray steared at him like he was a ghost! It was the boy from the book! He looked just like Kai. He had the same face, same eyes! But his hair was black and shiny, and was bound in a pony tail. His skin was a bit darker than Kai's, and the tattooes in his face were white! He was wearing jeans and a black leather jacket over a red t-shirt.

"Kai?" Tyson looked at the strange boy. "What happened to your hair?!"

"Oh shut up, I'm not Kai! You gotta be Tyson, am I right?" His voice sounded exactly like Kai's, so Ray understood why Tyson was confused. Tyson nodded slowly. "But, who are you?"

The black haired boy smirked. "I'm Gryff Hiwatari, Kai's cousin."

Max blinked confused. "But, we heard that all Kai's relatives were killed by Voltaire!"

Gryff frowned. "Dont you think I know that?! I've been in a hospital for nearly eight years! I survived a gunshot to my head for godness sake! But I knew Kai was still alive. I just could'nt find him, and he think's I'm dead! And I have my reasons to think that, somebody else survived too..."

The three boys looked at each other, not quite shure what to do. "How do we know that we can trust you?!" Tyson asked. Gryff laughed. "You cant! But time is moving, and I think I know where Kai is. Look, I dont care if you trust me or not, I didn't came here to make friends, but Kai needs your help!"

Max was not convinced. "I'm not really shure about this, but you're right. By the way, how the heck did you get inside?"

Gryff snorted, and walked out into the empty hallway. The othes followed. "I tried to break a window, but it was impossible! But I managed to build a tunnel that leaded to the basement..."

"Okay, I wont ask how you did that." Gryff smirked, and ran down the stairs. "'C'mon! We got to hurry!" They followed him down the stairs, and down to the kitchen. There he removed the carpet on the floor and opened a small trapdoor. Ray bent over and saw the stairs that leaded down to the basement. Gryff walked down first, and took a small flashlight up from his pocket. The small light flashed through the dark and showed that the basement consisted of hundreds of small rooms, and hallways! It actually looked like a maze. Tyson gasped. "Okay, how the heck do you know where we are supposed to go?"

"This way!" Gryff grabbed Max's arm and ran as fast as he could throught one of the small hallways. Everything was complete dark, and the basement smelled of something Tyson guessed was vodka.

"Gryff! May I ask, how you knew that we were in danger?!" Ray asked. It was a bit difficult to hear what he said since he was running.

"Mr Dickenson told me that something was going on! He's on his way, but he said that, because of the snow, they would have problems landing in the valley! Tala and the others are waiting for us, not far from here. He said that he knew where Voltaire was!"

Ray nearly stopped. Tyson gasped again, and looked surprised at the blackhaired boy. "What?! Where?!"

He swallowed, a concerned look upon his pale face. "He's here, in the valley..."

"D'you think that he-"

"No! If he was trying to make Kai go out of the castle, he would have denied! And you would have heard it!" He looked at Ray. "No, I think it's something else! Someone Kai trust's! I just hope that they...that they wont lead him to Voltaire!"

"But who?!" A light shined in front of them, and they could feel the cold and fresh air. They stood outside the castle. The snow blinded them, although it was nearly two in the morning! The sky above them was covered in thick, dark clouds. Gryff threw a look at Ray. "I dont know, but I dont think that Kai know's what he's doing..."

"How is that possible?" Gryff snorted, and looked out over the landscape. "Another thing I dont know..."

"But, the things you're saying cant be true! Kai's injured! He cant walk for long before he faints! If he's out there to long, he's going to die!" Gryff tensed, and looked at him with fear in his eyes. "What? He's injured?" Ray understood that Gryff looked at Kai as a little brother, so next time he spoke, his voice was more gentle. "Look, its gonna be okay. We just have to find him as fast as we can." He nodded, and was about to walk out in the snow, when he noticed that the others was still wearing their sleeping-clothes. "Maybe you should change first?" Ray looked down at himself. He was still wearing a grey t-shirt and boxers. Tyson was wearing a blue t-shirt and boxers too, but Max was the only one that was wearing white, baggy pants. Luckily, they had been wise enough to put their shoes on.

"There's no time! We have to go! Now!" He grabbed Gryff's arm, and they ran out into the snow.

It felt like a dream. It had to be a dream! But he felt, deep inside, that he wasn't supposed to be there. It's just that, he couldn't remember anything! Where did he come from? Where was he? Who was he? He didn't know! The only thing he could remember was the girl in front of him. Everything felt so blurred. And he couldn't think at all! He was so...tired. The only thing he wanted to do, was to sleep... But no, he had to follow this girl. He had no idea why, he just walked. Walked deeper and deeper into the forest. He shiwered, and he was soaking wet. It felt like his face was about to turn into ice! After all, he was only wearing his sleeping clothes...

Have you ever been running through a forest before? I guess you have. Maybe you remember the cold snow under your feets? The darkness around you? The sounds from your feets, the beatings of your heart and the birds that took off around you? You get the feeling that someone's looking at you. Someone you cant see. But most of all, you feel free! The four boys that now ran through the dark forest, didn't feel anything else than panick. A friend was in danger. A friend that had helped them, when they needed it, and now he needed them. Gryff ran some metres in front of the others. He had known Kai his whole life. When they were kids, they had been bestfriends. He didn't want to loose that! Not now, when he had finally found him. After eight years with nothing, he couldn't be too late. He couldn't let him down now, not when he needed him the most...

Ray looked around him, with fear in his eyes. He had the same feeling I just described, like someone was looking at him. They should have met Tala long time ago, but they couldn't find him! In over an hour now, they had followed some footprints in the snow. They weren't shure if it was Kai's, but if it was him, he wasn't alone. The footprints of a horse could be seen with the others, and Gryff had recognized them, as one of the wild horse's.

They could all hear that Tyson was scared, because he started to hum on a song that sounded a bit like Titanic. Max looked okay, to be honest. He held himself in the background with Tyson.

Suddenly, Gryff stopped in front of a huge oak. Ray nearly ran into him, and from behind he heard that Tyson tripped over a root. Ray looked at Gryff as he lifted his hand, and took something white from one of the branches. At first, Ray thought that it was snow, but when he leaned closer, he saw that it was a piece of Kai's t'shirt...

"He's been here!" Ray shouted backwards to Max and Tyson, who now had got up from the ground. "But, I dont understand. Where's Tala?"

Gryff shook his head. "I dont know. I just hope they're okay..."

"Yeah..." Tyson leaned his back against a tree to catch his breath. "They cant be far away now, cant-" But they never heard the rest of the sentence. A gunshot echoed through the forest, and made birds take off from the trees.

"Oh no. 'C'mon!" Gryff ran as fast as he could towards the middle of the forest, hoping that Kai hadn't been the target...

"I hate guns!" Tyson shouted, and ran as fast as he could after the others.

Hm, is someone dead? Maybe, I haven't decided yet...maybe TALA! Did you guys know that 'Tala' means 'Wolf'? Cool huh?

Please Review!!!

Bye!

Alecto