On a String

Chapter 9

Cole watched in horror as... something left Kai. (But Kai had so very little left and he couldn't afford to lose any more of it).

The trembling Ninja's eyelids abruptly slid shut, defeat defined in every line of his body.

"Kai?" Cole called worriedly as his friend began to sway. There was no response so Cole raced across the room, just in time to catch Kai before he hit the floor. "It's okay, Kai," said Ninja shuddered in his grasp as Cole easily lowered him to the floor and eased him into a sitting position against the wall.

"Please! Don't hurt me!" His hands came up, as if he sensed an incoming strike and was trying to halfheartedly block it.

Cole let go of Kai. "Just breathe," he instructed softly, sitting down next to his friend. "I'm not going to hurt you. Why would I want to do that?"

Kai didn't reply and something in Cole's gut clenched.

They must've...

"Did they hurt you?" Cole asked softly, almost afraid of the answer.

But no answer came. Kai remained silent, causing Cole to look at him- really look at him. Not just see the panic or the worry or get sidetracked by wishful thoughts of everything returning to normal. But actually look past the emotions and evaluate at the physical side of Kai.

There were bags under his eyes and he seemed to be much thinner than Cole remembered- it had been surprisingly easy to support his weight. There was a cut on his cheek and another on his hand which disappeared up under the material of his gi. Cole was willing to bet that there would be more cuts and injuries underneath the rough cloth.

It confirmed what Cole suspected.

Kai had been tortured.

A silence fell between the two Ninja for a full minute before Kai quietly spoke up. "You're not going to... going to ask any more questions?" His voice was tentative; soft. Like a lost child's.

Cole nodded in affirmation. "No more questions," he assured Kai gently.

Nothing mattered now. Getting answers seemed pointless with the revelation of how terribly Kai had been tormented. Sickened, Cole reached out a hand, closing his fingers around Kai's (too thin) wrist and sliding the sleeve up. He didn't want to see this. But Kai had endured having it done, so Cole was going to check that there was no permanent damage.

Do it for Kai.

At the sudden touch, Kai jerked his hand away, but Cole held on. "Hang on, bro. You've got a cut here. I want to make sure it's not infected,"

Kai looked panicked. "You don't need to-"

"Just trust me, okay?" Cole replied. Kai remained tense, but let Cole roll the sleeve up without further protest. "That's it. Nice and easy," Cole murmured while inspecting the injury. Fortunately, the cut didn't seem to be too deep, but it was rather long- it went right up Kai's forearm, stopping just past the elbow.

(A long flash of red on a tanned brown background). Assured that it wasn't infected (but still looked beyond painful), Cole was about to drop the sleeve, but paused as he noticed that something else was beneath the red material. "Huh?" he asked, rolling the sleeve up further.