All of the children jumped as Shintaro leaned away from the wall and propped his elbows on his knees. He looked over all of them with a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He locked his eyes on Chase and smiled a little wider, but it seemed a lot sadder. 

"You mean Chase got all of that right?" Abby said in a whisper. She quickly got onto her hands and knees and scrambled over to her father. She stopped and sat in front of him and hugged his torso. 

Shintaro nodded. "That's right. He ... guessed it all. I did know that man. His name was Luke, and he was my friend. Best friend, actually. We did everything together. He was so nice, and I had to return that kindness. What I didn't know was that his family hated him. He came to me for comfort but never told me. I found out a few days before the incident. He always came to my house, so I wanted to go to his. When I arrived, there were loud noises coming from inside. Something crashed and I immediately rushed in, hoping I could help. When I ran into the living room, his mother was holding a shattered vase in her hand and crouching over Luke. He was on the floor, unconscious. She'd hit him with the vase, and it broke. That was the worst way to find out, and it wasn't a good time to be there, either. She began to advance toward me, and I had to flee. I couldn't go back to help my friend, which made me feel terrible. It was the day of the catastrophe that I saw him again. He was wandering the streets like he had no purpose, and when I confronted him, he hugged me and wouldn't let go." He paused and looked away. Abby squeezed his torso harder and Chase leaned forward eagerly. Kai found himself wanting to hear the rest, too. "I didn't realize that he was apologizing to me until it happened. Darkness suddenly overtook the sun, and began to wipe out everyone in my town. One of the shadows - Thorn - decided to take Luke's body. Luke ... changed completely. One moment, he was hugging me, the next, he was trying to beat me up. I had to flee the town. I... Didn't find out about Thorn until a few years ago, and I had to keep my family safe, so I moved a lot." He rubbed Abby's head, obviously finished with his story. 

Kai felt a tear slide down his cheek, and he quickly wiped it away with a shaky hand. That's horrible, he thought. Finding out that your friend suddenly wants to kill you...

Abby openly sobbed into her father's chest. Chase remained silent, but Kai could tell he was fighting tears as well. 

"That's why we moved all the time," Chase whispered into his hand. "That's why you were so scared when I told you that I was like you - a Light. You didn't want Thorn to hurt me, too." He leaned back again and brought his knees up to his chest. 

Abby flung her body back and faced her father. "Why didn't you tell us? I would have ..." She paused to think of something to say, sniffling. "Done anything I could to comfort you if I had known!" She leaned forward again and squeezed him tighter. 

Kai found himself wondering what the rest of Shintaro's back story was like. Who were his parents? Who was his wife? How had he met her? Kai shook his head and tried not to think about that right then. What he needed to focus on was Shintaro, now. This Shintaro, not past Shintaro. Kai felt horrible that Shintaro had to go through that, so he gave Shintaro a sympathetic smile. 

Abby scooted off her father. "I love you, Daddy." She rubbed her eyes again and tucked her blonde hair away from her face. 

"I love you, too, Abby," Shintaro murmured, patting her head. He sighed and leaned back against the wall. Kai could tell he was glad he'd said that, but it had been difficult for him to tell. 

Kai realized that Thorn could be waking soon. He jumped to his feet quickly, startling Chase and Abby. "I should go," Kai said. "Thorn is probably going to wake up soon. He doesn't know I'm here." He turned and headed for the door. 

"Kai," Shintaro said, and Kai stopped to show him that he was listening. "Don't tell him anything, please." 

Kai smiled, but didn't show it, and nodded. "I won't." He opened the door and rushed out, shoving through a pair of guards. One of them called after him, but his companion hushed him and Kai rushed on. 

He slowed to a stop and peeked open the door to Thorn's room. He slipped in and found Thorn still asleep. He looked the same - angry or upset. Both hands were clenched again, and Kai quickly sat down beside the bed. 

~ 

It was only an hour and a half before Thorn woke up, but not the way Kai would have expected. He shot up like a bullet and nearly tumbled on top of Kai, who scrambled away in terror. Thorn righted himself against the post of his bed and looked around the room. His face was paler than usual, and he spotted Kai. 

"S-sorry," he said, actually stammering. He sat back down on his bed and rubbed his face with one hand. He looked like he was straining to do something, but Kai didn't question as he scooted back over to his blanket. 

He felt the urge to ask Thorn if he was alright, but thought against it and folded his hands in his lap. "What was that?" he asked instead, and Thorn sighed. 

"Just a nightmare," he replied shakily, removing his hand. "I get those, too." He stood back up and gestured for Kai to do the same. The younger boy stood quickly and went to Thorn's side. 

Kai didn't know what to do or how he would treat Thorn now, knowing that he had once been an innocent boy. Knowing his backstory. Then again, Thorn was Thorn. He only was using that body. 

"Come," Thorn instructed after taking a few deep breaths and regaining his composure. "Now that you feel better-" He stopped himself and eyed Kai. "You do feel better, right?" He reached up and touched Kai's forehead, then dropped his arm. "You don't have a fever anymore, I don't think. How's... How's your head?" 

Kai felt a shiver run down his spine, but ignored it and shrugged. "Feels a little better. I can do stuff now." He smiled at Thorn, who returned it with a tiny smile of his own. 

"Good," Thorn said quietly, then gained more confidence. "That means you can get more combat training." He nodded at Kai and opened the door, leading the younger boy out. 

Kai noticed that Thorn looked genuinely happy, and he suddenly felt like he needed to complete a goal: Make Thorn happy, because even though he was a bad man, he still deserved happiness. Maybe if he made Thorn happy enough, he would let Luke go and Shintaro would be able to have his friend back. 

~

Chapter fourteen is here! I love updating this book. I think I'm going to start the next chapter, too... 

Meh, I'm not sure. 

Remember, you are all free to make guesses and theories about ANYTHING!! :)

Peace!!~~