Kai collapsed onto his knees, his pulse pounding in his ears. He was too numb to sob his anguish, to think, to move. His whole body felt disconnected from the earth like he would float away at any moment. He couldn't comprehend any coherent thoughts. The only words that replayed over in his brain were these: No. No, no, no. Chase is dead. He can't be dead. No. His heart cried out in anguish and suffering and longing, but he could hardly feel it. 

Hands touched Kai's shoulders, but he didn't react. The hands were rough and large, with calloused fingers - it was Ezekiel. Kai didn't have the strength to impatiently shrug the stranger's hands off his shoulder. He couldn't pull his eyes away from Chase. 

Eventually, he realized that tears were running down his face. He felt sobbed marching up his throat, threatening to break free. He did nothing to try to stop them, let them flow freely from his mouth. His hand dropped onto his lap, trembling with sadness. He forced his eyes away from his friend's body and looked up at Shintaro with another devastated sob.

Shintaro was crying just as hard as Kai was, which normally would have startled Kai if he too hadn't been so upset. Tears were sliding continuously down his cheeks, splashing on his hands below him. His hands were hovering in front of his chest, palms up, and shaking with emotion. He couldn't seem to look away from Chase either. 

Kai looked over at his girlfriend, who wasn't sobbing, but tears were sliding down her face steadily. Her mouth was hanging open and her hands were limp at her sides as she sat on her knees. She was struggling to catch her breath due to the crying, but the look on her face told Kai that she didn't care. Her brother had just fallen, how could she care about herself?

Falte was standing stiffly beside Kai, his eyes trained on Chase's body. His mouth was open only slightly, his eyes wide and filled with tears that hadn't yet been shed. His hands were clenched by his sides, shaking furiously in shock and sadness. He hadn't known Chase for as long as Kai had, but there wasn't much of a difference between their relationship. Kai thought of Chase as a brother, and Falte was Kai's father; therefore, Falte found Chase to be a second son. 

Kai forced himself to keep looking at his friends instead of Chase, and his eyes locked on Linda. She was a few yards away, her eyes stuck on Chase's lifeless figure. They shone with tears as her hands hovered just in front of her mouth, which was open and trembling as she fought back her tears. Her other hand was touching her chest, and then she looked over at Shintaro with a heartbroken look.

Gabriel was standing next to her, a bleeding scratch on his cheek that must have just recently got there mixing with his tears. His teeth were gritted behind his slightly open mouth, his creamy eyes wide. His shoulders were trembling harshly as he stood in silence, staring at his friend. Gabriel was an antisocial person, Kai knew, but he thoroughly enjoyed being with the friends that he'd made.

Amy was sitting up to the right of Gabriel and Linda, leaning on her right leg and sobbing uncontrollably. Her eyes were shut tight as if she couldn't bear the sight of Chase's body. She had one hand over her mouth to muffle her sobs as she shrank into a small ball of sadness. Kai didn't know how she could get so emotion over someone she'd met only days ago, but he was almost grateful that she was upset too.

Kai forced himself to look over at The Dark Lord, the murderer, the Shadow King, the enemy. Kai didn't know what he was expecting, but the pleased yet surprised look on Brethren's face didn't spark any emotion in Kai's chest. He was too numb to feel any anger anymore. The Dark Lord's right hand was on his hip, and he was looking down at Shintaro with a small smile touching the corner of his lips. 

Beside him, Moon was grinning like someone had just given her a million dollars. Her silvery eyes were locked icily on Chase's body, and her shoulders were shaking as though she was holding back another laugh of triumph. Both of her hands were on her hips as she stared at Chase gleefully. 

Kai dropped his eyes away from everyone, letting his gaze fall to his closed, shaking hands. His palms were beginning to sting from his fingernails biting into his skin, but he didn't open his fists. He couldn't move anymore - he didn't have the mental, emotional, or physical strength to. 

Finally, his brain caught up to what had just taken place. 

Shintaro had just killed his own son. 

Questions began spilling into Kai's head. Had Shintaro meant to murder Chase, or had the blast of magic been an act of panic? Had Shintaro thought about what he was about to do before he'd taken action? If he had, had he known that it would have killed Chase? Could Shintaro have done something else in order to save his daughter? How panicked had Shintaro been that he'd done such a terrible thing? He had to have known that the blast would at least hurt Chase, right?

Kai began to wonder shamefully if he would have done the same thing for Abby. If he hadn't frozen, would he have used his magic in a panic to save his girlfriend? Would he have killed his best friend to rescue Abby? 

Was killing Chase the right decision? 

After all, Linda had said his mind wasn't right anymore. Could she have fixed it? Could Shintaro have simply tackled Chase and healed his wound, then Linda healed his mind? Would that have worked? 

Or was murdering their friend the best thing they could have done? 

Brethren began to chuckle, soft and low at first, until it turned into a rumble of a laugh. Shintaro was the first to turn and look over at his father while tears streamed steadily down his cheeks. Everyone else reluctantly turned to stare at The Dark Lord, their faces mixed.

Amy: Loathing and malice. 

Linda: Hurt and anger.

Gabriel: Shock and sadness.

Falte: Surprise and fear and bitterness.

Abby: Fear and regret and anger and sadness.

Kai: Nothing. 

He felt nothing.

He could feel nothing. 

"That was quite a show," The Shadow King rumbled cheerfully, tipping his head down at Shintaro with a cold smile. "I must say, you're reactions to this are priceless. Come now, Shintaro, you know he would have died anyway, whether by your hand or mine."

 Shintaro's tortured expression didn't change as he stared devastatingly up at his father. His hands shook as he lowered them to the grass below him but didn't look away from Brethren. Shintaro opened his mouth to say something, but only a whimper that Kai wouldn't have expected from him escaped his throat. 

"You're going to die," Amy's flat, deadpan voice said lowly, and Kai lifted his eyes to stare at her. Angry tears were shining in her eyes as she pushed herself to her feet. "You're going to die for that." 

"It wasn't me that killed him, dear," Brethren said with a shrug of his shoulders. "If you want to kill the murderer, then by all means, do." He gestured to his son with a dismissive hand. 

"No," Kai's voice said, his tone drop-dead serious and desperate. He hadn't registered that it had really been him who had spoken until Brethren turned to him with raised eyebrows. "No," Kai said again, his own stern voice filling him with the strength to struggle to his feet. He wasn't hurt anymore, but it was an effort to rise up. 

But when he stood straight, he leveled his gaze with The Dark Lord and planted himself firmly in front of Shintaro, in front of his friends. His pulse was pounding in his ears, and he was shaking terribly, but he wasn't afraid. The anger was returning to him, but also the determination of his decision. He wouldn't mess this up. 

He wouldn't let his friends lose anymore.

He wouldn't lose anymore.

He couldn't lose anymore.

He had to lose them all in order to keep them safe.

"I'll make you a deal," Kai said roughly to the tall man before him, staring defiantly up into his eyes. 

"What?" Linda asked sharply from behind him, and he could feel her surprised and stern stare on the back of his head. "Kai, what are you doing?" 

"Don't get involved," he said harshly to her, not bothering to look back at her. "You can't help me in this. None of you can. So stay quiet." He didn't look away from Brethren as he spoke, keeping his hard frown trained on The Dark Lord.

"Name it," Brethren said lowly, leaning forward a little with his hands behind his back and a creepy smile on his face. 

"You cannot lay a hand on them, whether it be your own bare hands or by magic. You will leave them alone forever," Kai stated flatly, and then paused to take a deep breath. 

If he did this, he was losing his home.

His friends.

His family. 

But he saw no other choice. 

He would do what he had to to protect his family. 

He would put his family first. 

He would keep The Dark Lord away from them.

They could live as peacefully as they could. 

Without him.

"In exchange for me," Kai finished, keeping his gaze level with The Dark Lord's. "You are free to take me wherever you please, whenever you please, and to do whatever you please to me. I will not argue, will not fight. But you must promise to leave them alone. If you don't... I will find a way to kill you." 

Brethren raised both eyebrows and recoiled back slightly, his smile turning into a small smirk. He looked Kai up and down, as if considering the chances of this being true and trying to find the benefits of having a young Dark in his clutches. 

"Kai..." Shintaro's shaking voice pleaded from behind him. 

Taking a deep breath, Kai slowly turned around to face his friends. 

"No," Abby, Linda, Gabriel, and Amy all said at the same time, their voices all stern and pleading. 

Amy was holding Linda's arm for support, leaning on her right leg and lifting her left carefully. Abby was still sitting on the grass, but her eyes weren't on her brother anymore. She was staring pleadingly up at her boyfriend, begging him to stay. Linda was helping Amy stand, but her gaze was locked on Kai, her eyes hard and desperate. Gabriel was standing on Linda's other side, his arms crossed over his chest tensely. He looked just as desperate as the others.

"Kai, you can't just throw yourself away like that," Abby said softly, her voice breaking. She clenched her hands together in front of her, as if squeezing her hands were keep her tears back. "You can't just... give yourself up like that." 

Kai sighed shakily, holding back tears of his own. He knew he was going to lose his girlfriend. His father. His friends. But he was doing it willingly, to save them. He was saving them. His life in exchange for theirs. 

He could live with that. 

He could live with the knowledge that his friends were safe while he was in The Shadow King's hands. 

 "Abby," he said gently, making his way to her and kneeling before her. He took her chin in his right hand, tipping her head up so he could look into her beautiful blue eyes one last time. He rubbed her chin gently with his thumb, taking deep breaths through his nose. He leaned forward, closing his eyes, and lightly touched his lips to hers.

When he pulled away, tears were streaming down Abby's cheeks. He lifted his free hand and wiped away the tears off her left cheek, letting his hand trail into her hair afterwards. He ran his fingers through her hair gently. 

"I'm doing this because I love you," he said softly, keeping his eyes trained on her shining blue pupils. He took a long breath and leaned away from her slightly, lifting his head to gaze around at all of his friends. "All of you." 

Shintaro shook his head firmly, finally seeming to find himself and his words. He was frowning now, but his eyes were still shining with tears. "You can't, Kai. You can't go with him. You can't go through what I did for all those years. I won't let you." 

Kai shook his head right back, lighter than Shintaro had. "It's not up for you to decide, Shin. I made my decision. I'm going with him in order for you to stay safe. I don't want him to hurt you anymore than he already has." 

"We can figure out a different way," Linda said, her voice shaking. "You can't go off with him just for us." 

"Don't say it's a waste," Kai told her. "I'm not 'throwing myself away' for no reason. I have a good reason, and that's to make sure you remain untouched. I don't want anything else to happen to you all. If anything does... I'll lose myself more than I already have." 

It was true. 

Kai already felt lost.

Alone.

Broken.

He couldn't deal with any more of it, and he wouldn't let his friends deal with any more of it. 

Kai took another long, shaky breath and rose to his feet, the effort not surprising to him. He could hardly rise without effort anymore, but it didn't shock him. He looked over his friends one by one until his eyes landed on his father. 

Falte was staring wistfully at him, his chest trembling with the shaking breaths in was sucking in and out unevenly. His brown eyes were full of tears, ones that slid down his face and dripped off his chin. His eyes were crying out silently for Kai, but he didn't make a sound as he stood simply staring at Kai. 

Fighting back tears, Kai lifted his arms compellingly, tipping his head invitingly. His vision blurred against the tears that were threatening to spill over, but he could make out the shape of his father coming forward. 

With a choked sob, Falte folded into his son's arms, wrapping his arms around Kai's torso tightly, longingly, wishfully, dreading the moment he would have to let go. His body shook in Kai's embrace, but they held onto each other tightly. 

Kai lowered his head and buried it into his father's shoulder, letting his tears spill onto his father's T-Shirt. He fought back the sobs that were threatening to choke him, squeezing his eyes shut against the tears. 

"Don't go," Falte whispered. "Please don't leave me. Not again." 

"I'm sorry," Kai softly said back. "I can't let him hurt you, and I can't take him out by force. A deal was the only option, and I wasn't about to trade anyone else." He took a long breath and lifted his head away from his fathers shoulder, pulling back enough so that they're eyes met. "You're going to be alright, Dad. You'll see." He pulled Falte back into the hug, pressing his forehead against the crook of his father's neck. "I love you." 

"You can't go," Falte murmured tearfully into Kai's chest. "You can't." His voice dissolved into quiet sobs that broke Kai's heart. 

He didn't want to leave. 

He didn't want to lose his family.

But he had to. 

He couldn't lose them to the clutches of death.

They would live, and they would live without him.

Kai squeezed his father one last time, then turned again to The Dark Lord, who was standing expectantly behind him with his arms behind his back. 

"Well?" Kai said impatiently, ignoring the fact that a few stray tears were still sliding smoothly down his cheeks. 

Brethren extended his hand to shake, and Kai took it.

"Break your deal," he said in a tone that only The Shadow King could hear, "and you're dead." 

"Deal," Brethren said gleefully, and the scene around them vanished.

~

THIS

IS

OFFICIALLY 

THE 

LAST 

CHAPTER!

You have finished Escape!!!

Congratulations! 

On a more serious note:

Thank you all so much for sticking with me throughout the long, long, long, process of writing this book. Every moment, every word, every vote, every comment was worth it. Thank you for staying patient with me while I struggled to write through the parts that I was stuck on. 

Thank you.

It means the world to me. 

You have no idea how grateful I am for each and every one of you. 

Really.

Thank you so much. 

I told you before that this book would possibly be shorter than the last, but it turns out it was longer. *shrugs*

What do y'all think the next book is going to be about? 

Who do you miss more, Chase or Luke? 

Don't worry, Chase and Luke's legacy will live on. 

They are not really dead to me. 

They are still my beloved characters, and I will forever hold them in my heart. 

One died bravely, one died broken. 

Both took a piece of me with them, but I will always have them near me. 

Just as I will always have you near my heart and mind as well. 

Thank you again. I cannot say it enough to get my point across, but thank you so much for staying with me, for reading, for voting, for commenting, and for encouraging me through my tough spots. 

I hope you enjoyed Escape. 

Until the next book~