With a yawn, Cole stood up from the couch and stretched. It was ten pm and he was starting to get a little sleepy. "Hey Kai, are you going to be turning in anytime soon?" he asked. Everyone else -with the exception of Jay, who was on watch duty that night- had headed for bed several minutes ago.
Kai shook his head. "I'll come later,"
Cole frowned. "You sure? You look really tired,"
Kai didn't reply, just turned back to look at the TV.
"You had the first watch last night as well, didn't you?" Cole asked.
Kai gave a slow nod.
"And you've been teaching for most of today. You must be exhausted,"
Kai shrugged, looking blank but Cole realized that he was slightly uncomfortable.
"Anything you need to talk about?"
"No," Kai stood up and turned off the TV. "It's fine." With that, he turned and left the room.
"Drown and die, Fireboy,"
The metallic smell of blood was heavy in his throat.
"Drown and die, Fireboy,"
The cell floor was cold under his hands.
"Drown and die, Fireboy,"
He looked up. They were back. Faces twisting into cruel grins as they chanted,
"Drown and DIE, FireBOY,"
They had captured him again! Dragging himself up off the floor, Kai weakly stumbled backwards, away from the group.
"Drown in pain! Die in fire!"
... Fire?
He turned around. There was... was a ... fire in his cell! As he watched, a man came forward with a branding iron.
Kai turned around, poised to run.
But there was nowhere to run to. The cell door was closed.
The glowing rod came closer.
He screamed.
(But you can't scream it all away)
Eyes flicking open (flick knives), Kai simultaneously kicked the blankets away and leapt off his bunk, heading for the bathroom.
He felt so... so... sick. The fire, their chanting, the powerlessness, the certainty of pain... even in his sleep, he couldn't escape. Staggering forward, Kai made it to the toilet just in time, leaning over the porcelain bowl and heaving into it. Acid burnt his throat and he struggled to breathe.
He could still feel the burn-
No.
Still taste the smell of blood...
YOU ARE READING
On a String
FanfictionKai returned 'successful' from a solo mission, but his 'victory' cost him the ultimate price- his sanity. Now, shocked by the state of his friend, Cole steps in...only to find that healing Kai won't be easy. Warning this does get brutal kinda like m...
Chapter 10
Start from the beginning
