Hurting Friends- Kai
As Kai followed Kenny to the mosquito he brought a tentative hand to his still throbbing cheek. It was wet with
blood.
'Kenny.' He called out. 'You go on ahead. I'm just going to clean this up.'
He turned away.
'Uh…okay Kai.' Answered Kenny. He made as if to go but stopped again and added, 'do you…uh…do you want any
help with it?' Kai smiled softly at the look on Kenny's face, A strange mix between worry and terror. Kai shook his
head.
'I'll be okay Kenny. Go on, I'll be there in a minute.' Kenny finally nodded reluctantly and walked off down the
corridor into his bedroom. Kai went the other way, into the bathroom. He stared for a while at his reflection in the
mirror. His skin looked even paler than usual in contrast to the bright red blood smudged across his face. Kai
frowned. A large bruise was already forming in ugly shades of purple, blue, and yellow.
He turned on the taps and watched as the freezing water filled the sink. When it was almost full he turned off the
taps, took a deep breath and plunged his head into the ice cold water.
When he came up for air, hair dripping, the blood had mingled with the blue face paint and together they had turned
the water a strange purple colour. Kai grabbed a face cloth from the shelf. Refilling the sink with fresh water, he wet
the cloth and slowly rubbed the colours from his face. It no longer hurt to touch his wound. It was there but he had
blocked the pain. It was something he had learnt a long time ago. He would not have survived without learning it.
Kai shivered as the awful memories flashed through his mind. They used to cut through him again and again till he
was bleeding and dizzy from the loss of blood. Sometimes even then they hadn't stopped and only sheer willpower
had kept him alive on those days. When they had finished hurting him they would leave him shivering on the cold
stone floor. Even though he was just a child, he never cried. Each tear shed in the Abbey bought a lifetime of torture.
All the same, he hadn't been ready for Rei to punch him. Somehow, it hurt much worse than anything else he had
suffered. It was a much deeper hurt than simple cuts and bruises. It was the very fact that Rei would lose control so
completely. In that short moment when Rei's fist flew towards him, Kai had felt how helpless he was, weak and
powerless to stop it. That was what hurt the most.
Kai shook the water from his hair and grabbed the plasters from the shelf. In brooding silence he finished off
(reapplying his face paint) and went to find Kenny.
'So? What do you think?' asked Kai. Kenny had been studying the mosquito for more than ten minutes now and Kai
was beginning to get impatient. Kenny sighed and sat back, frowning thoughtfully.
'Well… I can't be sure, but I don't think this is an insect.' Kai leant against the wall and folded his arms.
'If it's not an inset then what is it?' Kenny fidgeted nervously.
'Err… it's uh… I think it's a robot.' There was a thoughtful silence from Kai.
'So your saying that Rei was bitten by a man made machine and now something is seriously wrong with him and it
was almost definitely done deliberately on purpose?' Kenny looked slightly surprised.
'Um…yeah, I suppose so, but…' He was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Kai quickly got up and went to answer
the door.
Kenny stayed seated for a second, a puzzled expression on his face as Kai hurried out. He slowly finished his
sentence,
'But the only company to have developed that technology… is Biovolt!'
