Here is the second part to Vanish!! Thank you for reading the first one, and enjoy this one too!! :D

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Chase could hardly breathe, the pain and exertion almost to much too bear. Even though the edges of his vision were slowly turning black, there was no way he was going to slow down. He could hardly think - the only thing running through his mind was escape, running and never stopping, although he didn't even know where he was going. He wasn't about to let himself get caught again, especially since he knew that Moon was still out there. 

Whatever they wanted from him, those Darks weren't about to get it. He was going to run until he couldn't anymore - but that was getting closer, Chase could feel it. As soon as he collapsed, however, he would summon his magic and try to teleport back home. He hoped he would, anyway - underneath the burning fire of his muscles, he could feel his strength draining. 

As if he'd jinxed himself, Chase suddenly went tumbling forward, landing harshly on his stomach - which knocked an involuntary yell of pain out of him. Although his mind was screaming at him to get back up and keep running, his body wouldn't allow him to move as he struggled to regain his breath, which had been blown away from the force of the fall. 

As he lay on the damp grass, he slowly realized that he was going to bleed to death if he didn't act now. The slash wound in his right side burned like wildfire that was spreading up through his ribs, staining his shirt and causing the fabric to stick to him painfully. He hadn't been able to check how deep it had been, but he could tell it was still bleeding - even after twenty minutes. Sure, he had been running the whole time, which wasn't good for the wound, but he would have expected it to at least slow down by now. 

"Couldn't get far, could ya?" a chilling voice mused from behind him. "That's too bad. I wonder how long you would have gone with a wound like that before we caught you." 

Taking a deep breath, Chase rolled onto his back with a hiss of pain, using his elbows to prop himself up. Two of the three Darks that had raided the house were standing in front of him, a male and a female. Both were looking at him with grins of devious malice, their eyes glittering. 

"What do you want?" Chase spat at them, refusing to back down from the pain that was causing the lines of their faces to blur. 

"What makes you think we can tell you?" the woman asked with a laugh, inclining her head at him with a wider smile. "You're just a kid, Chase Carter." 

The woman probably didn't realize it or even care, but that stung more than Chase liked to admit. Pinching his mouth together, partially from the pain but also from anger, Chase glared up at her in a show of impatience. "Well, whatever you want with me, do it now while I can't get away." 

He hoped that he was only pulling their leg, because he wasn't exactly sure if he could get up anyway. But he would have to try - if he couldn't escape, he would do his best to fight back. Whatever they wanted from him, they were not getting it. 

Thankfully, both of them seemed dumb enough to fall for it. They glanced at each other and shrugged, before stepping forward in unison. Together they grabbed his arms and hauled him to his feet, causing spots to dance in Chase's vision. 

But he forced himself to ignore them. In mere moments, he had elbowed the girl in the ribs with all the strength he could throw into his arm, and a second later, the man was toppling forward due to Chase's leg sweeping under his own. Their holds on his shoulders broke away, though the girl's grip remained for longer, dragging him down to one knee. 

Yanking his arm away, he shot back upright and swayed sideways slightly from the wave of dizziness that almost overtook him. Shaking his head, he darted forward into the woods again, using his burst of adrenaline to keep him going. 

But the Darks had obviously been expecting this. After only about thirty seconds of running, the third Dark, a young teenager probably only a year older than Chase appeared from the trees above him. The teen landed smoothly on his feet and wasted no time - he rushed straight toward Chase and brought his knee up a few moments before reaching him. 

The boy's leg collided with Chase's wounded side, forcing a scream of agony out of Chase's mouth. For a moment, everything went dark as the pain cascaded over him like a wave of a fiery explosion. He hardly felt his body hit the ground - he could only feel the burning fire in his side. 

After a few moments of lying senseless, Chase realized that his lungs were burning for air. Abruptly, he opened his mouth and breathed in deeply, unable to ignore the throbbing pain it brought him. Everything but his side felt like dead weight, but the darkness was slowly creeping back to the edges of his vision. 

Chase blinked a few times, only to find himself staring up at the dark sky above him. The clouds were hiding the moon and stars, making it hard to see anything but the rolling tufts. His side burned, and the urging feeling to cough bubbled up in Chase's throat. He swallowed it back as best he could, but it didn't work too well and he let out a few weak coughs. 

Panic began to bloom in his stomach when he tasted blood, but he realized that his tongue was stinging - which thankfully meant he'd only bitten it during the fall. 

Suddenly, the Dark boy's face appeared above him. The boy's expression confused Chase - it was strangely tight, his eyebrows furrowed and mouth thin. But before Chase could think about it, the look on the boy's face changed drastically. It switched quickly to one of terror and confusion, and then suddenly he was gone as if he'd been yanked away.

Just as the Dark disappeared, Chase heard an angry yell that sounded like Kai and was followed by a crack, like something hard had crashed into the trunk of a tree. Both sounds came from a few paces to his right, but he could hardly turn his head to see what had happened.

Another shout was raised above the trees, this one unmistakably Shintaro. Chase heard a few grunts of pain which were quickly followed by thuds against the ground several yards behind him, and then all went silent. 

Until his father's voice cried out, "Chase?!" 

And then Shintaro was there, leaning over him with a frown that looked like it could murder whoever it was directed towards. There was a forming bruise on his cheek, but he paid it no mind. His eyes didn't once trail up to Chase's face; instead, they were locked on the wound in Chase's side. Shintaro pressed his hands against the gash, and Chase let out a little whimper - it was the only sound he could make. 

A few moments later, Kai appeared over Chase, leaning over his other side with a wide-eyed expression of worry. He was unscathed, probably because he'd taken out the teenaged Dark from before quite quickly. His eyes darted from Chase's face down to the wound, and he gasped. A second later, his hands were wrapped around Chase's left hand tightly. 

No, those weren't Kai's hands. They were Abby's, who had just got to her knees beside Kai with tears in her eyes. 

Chase could feel his father's healing spell working as best it could, closing the wound up from the inside. Though it was relieving, it was also painful at the same time. When Shintaro pressed his hands down a little harder to force his magic to work faster, Chase bit back another whimper. 

Abby squeezed his hands tighter. "Chase, can you hear me?" she asked, her voice shaking. "I've never seen him like this... Even when he was hurt in Thorn's arena, he always made some sort of joke..." 

Chase wanted to open his mouth, to smile at her, to tell her that he was fine - but he still could hardly move his body. He closed his eyes until, gradually, the pain began to subside and he began to relax, his shoulders releasing their tension and his breathing becoming more even. 

After another few minutes, Chase opened his eyes again and turned them toward his sister. Immediately, he flashed her his signature grin, making her eyes light up. "Who said anything about not making a joke?" he asked her weakly. "I'm not deaf." 

Abby smiled back at him, relief pouring into her expression. "You always manage to get yourself hurt," she said with a shake of her head, but her smile didn't leave. 

"Hey, this time it wasn't my fault," Chase protested, making Shintaro's mouth twitch a little. "Besides, it's not like a try to find out how much pain I can bear. I guess getting hurt is my specialty." 

"How about we make it not?" Shintaro said firmly, frowning down at Chase. 

Chase laughed, though it sent distant spikes of pain through his side. "Okay, sure. I'll try." 

"No, you'll not try," Shintaro argued. "You'll do." 

"Okay, I'll do." 

~