Kai

I waited, standing in her room.

Don't come here please. If you see me like this, it will make it worse.

A few seconds passed, and I was still alone, so I let my emotions take over me. I almost cried, but the fear of her catching me like this made me hold it.

As always, I could smell her scent in this room. I knew would miss her sweet scent so much. 

I'm not proud of what I did, but I put some of her scented lotion in a small container to have with me for when I would miss her too much. At least that, if I closed my eyes, I would at least have her scent. I had also taken some of our photos that I kept in my room.

Stealing some of her lotion was so shameless and creepy, but I didn't think I would survive if I didn't have something of hers. I would go crazy and think that she was just a dream to escape the cruel reality.

I stayed in that room for a few minutes. I was surprised that she hadn't come to look for me yet.

I put it all in a backpack that I had and went back to the living room where Hanon was. She was leaning on the wall near the door.

I didn't know what to say. I couldn't say anything that I wanted.

That I miss her already. That I love her. That I don't want to go, but if I don't, they will hurt her.

That I want to tell her, but I can't because I can't risk her trying to help me and getting hurt.

I cleared my throat, "I'll leave now"

She looked up at me. Her face was red from crying, but other than that, it seemed numb. Empty.  Her hands were still cut and I was worried sick that something would happen to her while I was gone.

My poor Hanon.

The sight was breaking my heart.

I opened the door and she watched as I left.

That was all.

No goodbye. No 'stay here'. Nothing.

I was actually thankful. It made this impossibly hard task easier.

I calmed myself down and then headed to the meeting spot. 

_________

Cameron and I were supposed to act normally. I knew there were people watching and listening to us, so we agreed to talk about random stuff and act like I didn't know what would happen.

"Why are we here?" I asked him.

"Shit, I have no idea. We must've gotten carried away while we were walking"

"What!? You mean we're lost? You led me here!" I acted angry.

In fact, the place looked very suspicious and was very secluded. How dumb were they?

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I was heading that way, I must've taken a wrong turn-"

Cameron was interrupted by the sound of footsteps.

"Good job, Cameron" A male voice was heard.

I looked towards the direction where the voice was coming from and saw a man in a suit with some other guys surrounding him. The man was blond with long hair. He seemed older than me, but not too old. The guys behind him were the typical body guards.

I didn't know this guy, but he was probably sent by my father.

"Hello, Mr Huxley" He smiled, "I am very happy to finally meet you"

"Who are you?" I asked.

"You don't know me, of course. I'm a friend of your father's"

I looked at Cameron, who looked like he was about to faint. Then, the man beckoned him.

"Good job, Cam. Come here"

Cameron looked at me, hesitating. Then, the man's smile dropped in a second, and he yelled, "I said, come here!"

Cameron walked over to them, hesitating. One of the other men grabbed him and led him somewhere away from us.

"Now, you. If you don't want my boys to get violent, I suggest you cooperate"

"Or else? You're going to kill me?" I chuckled.

He couldn't do that.

"No, but it will definitely hurt. You're coming either way, so why make it painful?" 

"Very well"

That was the plan from the start.

Two guys grabbed my arms so that I wouldn't leave and led me to the direction Cameron was taken. 

"Well. This was easy" The man sighed.

I was put in the back of a truck  with Cameron, who was panting like a dog.

As soon as everyone went to the front and we were alone, I spoke to him.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine" I whispered.

"How are you so sure? You don't seem to have much authority right now"

"I promise you. It will be fine"

Cameron seemed to be getting a panic attack and started crying. I didn't know what to do, "Gosh, I didn't even get to see my family. What are they going to think? They're going to keep looking for me and I'll be-"

"Stop it" I snapped at him.

"I hate you. I hate you for putting me into this mess. I hate you-"

"Shut up!" I yelled, forgetting the people in the front.

"Keep quiet!" A deep voice was heard from the front.

Cameron took a deep shaky breath. He stopped talking, but he was still crying and sobbing.

"You'll see once we get there. It's not what it looks like right now"

"How good can it be?" He asked with a small voice.

________

"This place is huge" Cameron looked around in awe.

He was impressed and looked around the mansion and the garden as we walked through the entrance.

My childhood house.

The house I only got to see once, from outside, when I ran away with Hanon.

For that reason only, seeing the outside of this house made me smile.

But when the security led us inside, I got a tight feeling in my chest. It was as if everything was back to being grey. Well, not literally, but it felt gloomy and dark. Like back then when I was a child.

"This place isn't so bad" Cameron mumbled.

For you, it isn't.

"Oh it's very nice. Wait until you see your cage!" The blond guy chuckled, making Cameron panic, "I'm only kidding, of course"

"Very funny" He mumbled.

"Well, Mr. Cameron will wait here to doscuss some things while Mr. Kai sees his father"

I was surprised that I would see him so soon. I was also scared. I hated that I felt scared.

So soon. He is really eager to see me.

The security led Cameron in another room. He kept looking at me with a pitiful look as they led him away.

"You. Come with me" The blond man beckoned me with a wide  smile.

His smile wasn't warm or comforting. It was disturbing and you couldn't tell what, but something seemed off about it.

I followed him upstairs to the second floor until we were outside a door that was way too familiar.

My father's office.

I thought I would be calm and confident when I finally faced him after all these years, but all I felt was panic and I hadn't even seen him or heard him yet.

The blond man left me no time to gather myself and knocked on the door.

A rough voice was heard, "Come in"

The second I heard the voice, my stomach dropped, I felt like I was about to throw up and also like I couldn't breathe properly.

The man opened the door, pushed me inside, and then closed the door behind him. 

I didn't dare to look at him at first.

I shouldn't look weak in front of him.

I looked up to see him sitting at his desk. He looked older. He looked rough, but he still looked evil and disgusting to me.

At first, I stayed frozen. I couldn't speak, couldn't move. Every beating he ever gave me, every harsh word, was running through my head. It was a good thing that he was also silent.

But then he stood up. He walked past me and locked the door. With every step he took closer to me, the urge to throw up became stronger. When I heard that click of the door, my heart skipped a beat, and I felt like my head was pounding.

My body felt so weird at that moment. In every part of it, there was something that felt wrong. I was holding back with every bit of me.

"Well, look who's here"

His voice sounded more gruff than when I'd last heard it. It also sounded calm, unlike how it was in my memories, but it still had a tense edge to it, like he would snap and yell any minute.

I will not be weak in front of him. I won't. I can't.

"If you were looking to intimidate me, you're doing a terrible job. Your drama and theatrics are only embarrassing to me" My voice was thanfully stable.

I internally praised myself and urged myself to keep it up.

"Maybe I didn't intimidate you, but I got what I wanted" He smiled.

"That's enough. Why did you look for me? You threw me out in the first place"

He sighed, "Kai, parents get fed up by their kid's behavior, and sometimes we say things we don't mean. I didn't mean that" He gave me a look as if, at fourteen, I should've known that when he beat me up and told me to get out and leave no trace.

I tried to contain my laughter, "Really? Then what were you doing all these years? Looking for me? I'm sure that's not the case. You could easily find me at any moment"

"I let you have your fun with that girl and now that you're grown and, hopefully, mature enough, I can help you without having to put up with your temper tantrums"

"So you just wanted to skip the part where you were supposed to be a parent?"

He lifted an eyebrow, "That's a little ungrateful, Kai. I raised you until you were fourteen"

"Did you? There's no parent like that in my memory. Only a cold and empty room"

"You're being dramatic. I came to visit you everyday"

"Unfortunately yes"

"So you prefer your mother?" He chuckled bitterly and lifted an eyebrow.

"You were both very disappointing in your own way"

"Enough" He groaned and hit his desk with his fist.

That sound and that voice did something to me that no beating could do. I felt like my insides were pounding with uncontrollable anxiety.

Calm down. Think of something good. Think of Hanon. Think of her taking care of you after every beating.

I gathered myself and tried to act as calm as possible.

"Tell me what you want" I firmly demanded.

He looked down. I could tell he was having a hard time getting it out.

"I'm sorry" He finally managed to say.

I raised an eyebrow and let him continue. 

"What I want to say is, you're right, I was an awful, awful parent. But it was my first time being a parent"

He looked up at me and started walking closer. I got the urge to step back, but I didn't want to look scared, so I gulped down my fear and stayed glued to the ground.

"I was raised like this. I was isolated, punished for every mistake that I did. I can honestly say I was lenient on you if I compare myself to my parents"

"I don't recall asking you about your childhood"

"You're mad, I know, but after you left, I had enough time to think about what I'd done wrong and I realized that I'd made the same mistakes as my own parents"

I was surprised. Not in a good way, but not in a bad way. Just, shocked that he was telling me all this. That he was telling me about it now. This wasn't going how I had planned at all and I was getting anxious.

"Kai, I didn't know better and for that, I'm sorry"

"You went through all this unnecessary trouble just to say sorry?"

It didn't add up. I also didn't buy his whole 'I'm sorry' act. He was manipulative and cunning and I couldn't trust him.

"Well-" He looked down in thought and then back at me, "Actually, I know a simple sorry isn't enough, so I figured, I'd try to redeem myself"

"How?"

"By preparing you to be my heir"

I held back a smirk.

Now, it was going according to plan.

"Your heir?"

"You are my only son after all, but if I died and left all of this to you, who has never even gone to school, you would lose everything and end up poor"

"I see"

"Then, what do you say? Do you accept?"

"I'm sure you haven't told me everything yet"

He chuckled, "I underestimated you. You're very smart"

"Well?" I urged him.

"You will take classes every day, multiple times a day. You will have security with you at all times so that I know you're safe and you're not planning something that could hurt us both"

"And what else?"

He looked down, once again. I had figured by now that he did that when he was about to say something that could make me react badly.

"That girl" He trailed off.

Hanon. He means Hanon.

When I realized that, I got very defensive.

"What?" I snapped at him, unintentionally. 

"I don't want you to see her anymore"

I knew he would say that, but now that he was supposedly sorry, I had no idea why he would have this request. 

"You might disagree, but she is a bad influence. She might make you run away again and she doesn't realize how beneficial this will be for you. I don't want you to use the knowledge I give you to back stab me"

I held back my anger. I knew he would say this, but I was still angry.

"I see. Okay then"

"Really?" He looked shocked.

I simply nodded.

"Kai, if you're lying to me and I see that you have communicated her, I will be very angry. I don't want you plotting behind my back" He narrowed his eyes.

"Don't worry" I assured him.

"Then, we have a deal?" He asked and extended his hand for me to take.

I nodded firmly, but didn't touch his hand.

"Come on, I don't have any disease" He chuckled.

"I don't want to"

He let out a frustrated sigh, "Fine. Arnold will show you to your room. Arnold!"

The blond man, Arnold, opened the door a few seconds after, "You called, sir"

"Yes, take Kai to his room"

"Of course. Come with me"