Kai woke up with a gasp. His eyes popped open and he tried to sit up, but collided with something, whacking his head on it. Whatever he'd hit grunted in pain and lurched backward. Silence came after that, only disturbed by Kai's gasps.

"Sit up," said the person he'd collided with. It was a male, and he recognized the voice, but he couldn't place it.

Kai did as told and had to let his eyes adjust to the darkness before being able to see who it was. It was a guard, but he was sitting crisscross in front of Kai and rubbing his head with his right hand.

No wonder it had hurt when Kai had hit him. He was wearing that mask. Kai rubbed his own forehead and scowled at the guard in front of him, before realizing who it was. It was that strange guard that had given Abby and him water.

"What are you doing in here?" Kai said in a whisper, hoping his voice wasn't shaking too badly.

"Waking you up," the man replied shortly. "You were having a nightmare." He rested his hand on his leg. "Didn't look pretty."

Kai considered lunging at him, but thought better of it. He would interrogate him. "Why would you wake me up? I thought you and your kind were ruthless."

Kai realized that he'd offended the man when he flinched and looked away. "I'm not one of them," he said. "I only do it so I can see her. And so I don't die, too." He looked past Kai to Abby's cell.

Kai titled his head at the guard, then looked to Abby's cell. "You like her?"

The man jumped, then turned his head back to glare at Kai - but the boy couldn't tell because of the mask. "What?! No! Of course not!" He suddenly reached up and took off his helmet, and Kai felt his jaw slacken.

Sitting in front of him was a boy that looked to be no older than thirteen or fourteen. His hair was down past his shoulders and a pure white, lighter than his mother's was. His eyes were a strange yellow color, and his mouth was pulled in a serious frown. When he took off his helmet, Kai almost felt this strange ... light feeling radiating off him.

"I am NOT in love with Abby," he snapped at Kai, narrowing his yellow eyes at him.

Kai waved his right hand. "Sorry, thought you were." He paused, genuinely confused. "Why do you want to see her, then?" He winced as he moved his shoulder, realizing that it was throbbing again, due to his sudden movements.

"I ..." he tried. "I have to keep an eye on her. I can't leave her alone in this. She needs me, but it's hard when you're forced to be one of Thorn's men. I'm trying to be there for my sister."

Kai's jaw slackened again, and the boy scowled at him, only to widen his eyes as Abby made a squeaking noise behind Kai.

The dark haired boy whipped around, earning a painful stab in his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, feeling lightheaded, then looked back up to see Abby sitting up.

"Chase?" she said, her voice shaking. "It's really you?"

Chase stood up and went past Kai, kneeling down in front of her. "Yes, Abby," he said softly. "It has been me this whole time. I'm sorry that I dragged you into this." He rested his head on one of the bars with his eyes closed. "I'm sorry that I did something rash and got you into trouble. You shouldn't be here, and neither should Kai. You're both too little. Thorn is so cruel..."

Abby clutched the bar where Chase's gloved hand was. "None of this is your fault," she snapped, her voice bittersweet. "You were doing what you knew was right. You were trying to protect us. I'm grateful for that."

Chase sighed through his nose. "Right." His voice betrayed the fact that he didn't believe her. "I'm sorry." He stood suddenly. "I should go, before a guard sees that I'm doing something other than what I told them."

Abby grazed his gloved hand with her fingers. "Be safe. Please." She smiled at him, then rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Go back to sleep," Chase said to her, then turned to Kai. "Both of you." He flashed a smile that Kai hadn't seen yet at him. "Rest well."

As soon as Chase left, Kai yawned, but felt a little too scared to fall back asleep. He didn't want Thorn to haunt his dreams again.

"Kai?" Abby murmured. "Are you going to go to sleep?" She sat back up and scooted back over to the bars.

"I... My shoulder hurts a little." He paused. "Okay, that's a lie," he said when Abby raised her eyebrows at him. "It hurts a lot. And I had a nightmare, and I don't want to have another..."

Abby reached through the bars and touched his hand. "Don't worry. You'll sleep okay." She gripped his hand and he blinked at her. "Go to sleep. You never know what Thorn will do tomorrow. We have to be ready."

Kai silently agreed with her and carefully laid down. He felt sleep claw at his eyes and closed them.

~

Kai woke suddenly to the world tipping sideways. He yelped in shock as he opened his eyes, realizing that someone had grabbed his shirt and flipped him onto his side. Thankfully, he was lying on his uninjured shoulder. Still, the movement had sent pain through his arm. 

"Stand up, kid," someone unfamiliar said. "Thorn wants to see you." The person grabbed his left shoulder and hauled him up.

Kai couldn't hold back his scream of pain, and he heard Abby jump awake. She sat up almost immediately, then shouted: "Hey!" at the guard angrily.

The guard paid no mind to her as Kai felt the world tip and spin around him. His vision went completely black and he whimpered, trying to find something to lean on.

"Look what you've done to him!" cried Abby's voice. She sounded really angry. Kai hadn't heard her get mad yet, and she sounded a little scary.

"Do I look like I care?" the guard said in boredom, shoving Kai away from him when the boy tried to lean on him. This guard obviously wasn't Chase.

Kai's vision returned to him slightly, but he still was in shock from so much pain. Another voice, this time it was Chase, joined the circle of loud voices.

"Let me carry him there," said Chase. "He won't move, and we all know that. He's too stubborn."

The other guard groaned in defeat. "Fine." There were footsteps, and the guard disappeared. Kai saw something blurry come up to him and put his arms around his body.

"This may hurt," Chase warned quietly. "I can't act all careful with you during the day." He hauled Kai onto his back, and this time the boy could keep his cry back, but still he whimpered.

"Sorry," whispered Chase, and soon they were walking.

"Please be okay," Kai heard Abby say quietly, but the rest was a blur. Before long, Chase had set him down in a room and Kai could see almost clearly.

Thorn was standing in the middle of the arena area, where Chase had put him down. "Thank you, Chase," Thorn said, then waved the guard off. He walked away, casting a second glance at Kai, who was glaring angrily at Thorn, but also was cowering in slight fear.

"What do you want?" asked Kai, trying to sound fierce. He was really terrified of Thorn now, but because of what he didn't even know.

"I'm training you," chuckled Thorn. "Like I said, I need young warriors." He took a step forward and waved Kai on with his hand. "Strike me."

All fear forgotten, Kai gladly did as he was told, letting his anger spill into his arm. He was angry at Thorn for killing his mother, taking him here. He was mad at Thorn for everything this cruel man had ever done, no matter if it included Kai or not. Gritting his teeth, Kai swung his fist at Thorn's face.

But the tall man grabbed Kai's fist without even flinching. He smirked and twisted Kai's whole right arm, making his wrist sore.

Thorn let go of his hand and tsked at Kai. "You positioned your arm wrong, you made it obvious you were going to punch me, and you aren't standing correctly in case your opponent does block. You must be ready if he strikes at you."

Kai scoffed, then swung again. Once more, it was quickly deflected.

"Try again."

~

Here's the chapter you've been waiting for! Chapter five is now updated!!

CrystallizedFaith , here you go! Your theory was correct!! ;)

Peace!!~~~