Kai woke the next morning - or at least he thought it was - in a cold sweat. His hands were clenched as he leaned back against the corner. His knees were tucked close to his chest and his breath was coming out in shallow bursts. The nightmare he'd had was so real, he had to glance around his sleeping friends to make sure that they were still there. Still alive. 

When he saw that they were unhurt, each sleeping either soundly or stiffly, he didn't relax quite yet. He snapped his gaze down to his hands and checked for any signs of blood or any weapon. He didn't want to hurt his friends the way he had in his dream. He didn't want to see them die again. He'd had enough of that. He hated it all.

"Kai?" a hoarse, strained voice murmured, and Kai looked up. Chase was struggling to sit up while trying to maneuver around his sleeping father. He somehow looked still exhausted as he sighed and propped himself up against the wall behind him. "Are you alright?"

Kai realized that he was crying. Fiercely and quickly, he rubbed his face to get rid of the tears. He was scared and upset out of his mind, but he couldn't act like a child anymore. He had to be tough. 

"Y-Yeah," he said, mustering all of the casualness he could into his voice. "I'm fine. Just a dream." He shook his head, avoiding Chase's eyes.

The older boy was quiet, and Kai knew that he was studying him carefully. Finally, Chase said: "I don't believe that, but I won't question." 

Thank you, Kai's mind whispered, and he physically relaxed. He closed his eyes and buried his face into his knees again.

"How long have we been here?" Chase asked hoarsely. He checked his surroundings with a shaky breath in.

Kai didn't even care anymore. He just wanted to get out, to protect his friends, to leave, to let them live without the worry of Kai hurting them, to LEAVE. To let them live their lives without him, so they could be safe.

But he also didn't want to leave. He didn't want to leave Shintaro, Abby, or Chase. He especially didn't want to leave Abby. Or Shintaro. Or Chase. He didn't want to leave any of them, yet he knew he had to so they would be safe.

"Okay, come here," Chase said softly, and Kai looked up again. The older boy had one arm out, and he waved it forward. When Kai hesitated, he beckoned again. "Come on, you need it right now." 

Maybe he was right. Yesterday, he hadn't wanted anyone to even touch him. Today was different. He knew that he could hurt his friends, and knew that he had in his dream and that terrified him; but right now, he just wanted someone to hug. He wanted someone that would take him into their arms and just listen to him cry or listen to him pour everything out onto the floor in front of them. He just wanted someone who would quietly let him cry into their shoulder.

Kai scooted forward and tucked himself under Chase's arm. He buried his face into Chase's chest, hoping he wouldn't hurt Chase's wound, but he didn't flinch or make any pained sound. Kai didn't wrap his arms around Chase, but Chase did to him. Both of his arms were firmly wrapped around his back by the time Kai had settled into a slouched position, leaning on Chase's chest. Tears were starting to soak Chase's shirt, but the older boy didn't seem to care.

"Just calm down, okay?" Chase whispered sympathetically. "I don't know what just happened to you, but I'm one hundred percent sure that it was terrible. I'm sorry. But you just need to calm down. Okay? Take a few deep breaths and try to push past whatever happened. You're going to be alright." 

Kai realized that Chase sounded just like his father. Encouraging yet firm at the same time. Gentle yet fierce to get his point across. Sympathetic yet harsh. Kai felt himself relaxing, his body and mind. All he could think about right now was Chase's sympathy for him.

The two boys stayed in that position until Linda moaned and rolled over. Kai pulled back immediately, finally making Chase wince. The dark haired boy skittered back into the corner, the feeling of wishing to not harm his friends returning. He felt very vulnerable to anger right now, and he knew if he got angry, it would be terrible. People would end up hurt, and he didn't want that. Not at all. 

"Kai?" mumbled Linda, sitting up slowly and rubbing her eyes. "What?"

Kai shook his head and buried it into his knees. Thankfully, Chase acted like nothing had happened. He continued to stare off at the ceiling, which he had been doing before Kai had wrenched himself away. 

"You're awake," Linda said softly to Chase. "Thank goodness. What happened?" She eagerly leaned forward a little, but Chase shook his head.

"I'm going to wait until everyone else wakes up," he said in his scratchy voice. He rubbed his forehead and glanced over at Kai quickly. "Just a fair warning," he mumbled to Linda, "it's not going to be easy to soak in."

Linda sighed and nodded. "Nothing is easy around here, Chase." She allowed herself a soft chuckle as she propped her arms behind her and sat crisscross. Gabriel was awake now and watching her, but he looked away when she caught his eyes.

"Well, wake everyone else up," Shintaro said suddenly, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at his son. "I want to hear it now." 

Chase squirmed a little, and Kai realized that Shintaro must not like things being kept from him. He always pressed someone when they weren't saying anything. 

Linda turned to Abby and shook her gently, making the younger girl moan and rub her eyes tiredly. She brushed her hair out of her face, sat up, yawned, and blinked at Chase in relief and confusion before scrambling over to her brother and wrapping him in a hug.

Gabriel turned around and poked Luke's shoulder. He didn't show any signs of being awoken at first, but soon he sluggishly swatted Gabriel's hand away and rubbed his eyes. He sat up and eyed Gabriel for a moment, then saw Chase and smiled a little.

"Good, you're awake," he said quietly.

Chase nodded. He smiled back, just a tiny bit, then sighed. "I have something to tell you all," he said quietly, nervously. 

Kai lifted his head and watched Chase expectantly. 

"Luke... probably already knows," Chase said, glancing over at the mentioned young man, who stared at Chase with his eyes widened and a sad look crossing over his face. "Thorn put a curse on me while I was ... in his possession. He..." He trailed off with a shaky sigh.

"He?" Shintaro pressed sternly.

Chase shook his head and continued. "The curse he put on me is ... it ... Oh, how do I word this? Thorn put a small amount of Dark magic inside of me. He knew that since I'm a Light, it should have killed me, but instead it had a different effect, something that he found beneficial. When I'm associated with any kind of Dark magic, it... turns me into one of them. If," he added when Shintaro nearly choked, "if the magic is strong enough, it can take over me. But Thorn didn't think I would be strong enough to fight it off when it tried. Which I am," he said firmly. "That's... what was happening when I was..." He didn't finish the sentence, knowing that everyone knew what he was talking about. "I was fighting it off, but since there were so many, it was really hard." 

"I... remember doing that," Luke murmured, looking down at his lap. 

"First off," Linda said, "you didn't do it, Thorn did. Second," she snapped, turning back to Chase, "why didn't you tell us?!"

Shintaro nodded his head firmly. "You should have said something! I would have gotten us out of there much faster than I did!" 

"You couldn't have, Dad, and you know it," Chase said back. "You were too weak. And... I honestly didn't think you would believe me. Even if you did, I didn't know how to tell you. I don't have a way with words." He shrugged and glanced back at Kai again.

Kai's mind was swirling with anger and worry and fear and guilt and shame. He was a Dark. He had Dark magic. If he used it around Chase, he could turn his best friend into what he himself was. Chase would have to live like Kai did, and Kai didn't want that at all. He was scared that he would hurt his friends, and now he was scared of himself and turning Chase into something he was the opposite of. It would probably kill Chase if Kai made him that way, and Kai especially didn't want to kill Chase.

Chase was watching him with a look of pity, yet he didn't say anything. Kai had no doubt he was thinking the same thing. 

"This is all really sweet," said Moon's voice from the now open door, "but I am going to need one of you to come with me." She smiled that scary smile, and Kai scooted to the other end of the room as quickly as he could. He hated her, and he didn't want to be ANYWHERE near her.

"Preferably you," Moon said to Luke. "I've got to get my revenge on you, even if you aren't Thorn." She waved her hand, and suddenly Luke was standing up. He had a shocked and pained expression, then began to walk forward. Moon was controlling him like he was some puppet. 

Shintaro growled in anger and jumped to his feet, but Moon held out her other hand, and he froze where he was. Then without a word, he sat back down and let Moon walk away with Luke. 

She slammed the door closed, and Kai realized that Luke was about to go through what he had.

~

Here's the next chapter! I really hope you guys are liking this book! Thank you for all the reads I have on it! I love you all so much! 

That spoiler that I gave...

It's...

COMING. 

REALLY

QUICKLY.

I don't want to write it, but I know I have to... 

KLAHTJKAHKASJTYAKJDH!

Well, I hope you all enjoy the rest of this book... and miss that poor character...

Peace...~~ O_O