Run Away
Run away, little darling,
Run away from pain.
Run away from all the tears,
Run from all the rain.
Kai reached down with cold, shaking fingers to pick up the discarded newspaper. The deep hood pulled over his head hid his more recognisable features. Without it, the picture on the front page of the newspaper would have been the mirror of his own. How was he meant to escape the Hiwatari family when they did this? Walking slowly on, Kai read the headline with a scornful scowl, 'Hiwatari Son Kills Sister'. He should have seen it of course; Voltaire wouldn't let his prize guinea pig escape so easily.
Still, it had taken four days before they had taken the bribes. Voltaire now had the police dangling from his little finger. If they caught him, he would be brought straight back to the Abbey.
Kai shivered, this time it wasn't from cold. In a way it was his fault that Kira was dead. She had died for him. Kai swallowed against the sudden lump in his throat. It still hurt to think about that night. Pulling his jacket tighter around him, Kai continued on, through the small village and out into the countryside.
He had been travelling for four days now, and had spent only a few hours each night huddled half asleep under a bush or in some dark barn if he was lucky.
After he had cried all his tears for Kira, Kai had grabbed only the bare essentials and left the house that night. He hadn't had any personal belongings apart from Dranzer, his Beyblade. From Kazan, the large town a few miles from Moscow, where he had lived with Kira and his father, Kai had made his way cross-country to the village where he was now.
He wasn't quite sure where he was aiming to go but in a general way, he was headed somewhere towards Japan, though it would take a while before he got that far.
To be truthful, he was not running to something, but from. He was following his sisters dying wish, that he escape the Hiwatari's forever.
Of course as he now knew, that wasn't so easy. He had been recognised twice already that day and his picture had only been published that morning. Ironically, it was the skills he had learned at the abbey that had allowed him to escape. Both times he had slipped away, each time gaining his freedom.
Setting a brisk pace for himself, Kai continued down the road. It was getting towards evening and he hadn't eaten at all today (he had run short of food early yesterday and was rationing himself.) Even so, he knew he wouldn't stop until well into the night. It was to cold to sleep in the open without shelter, if you stayed still for too long, you'd freeze to death. So Kai kept moving.
With a despairing look, Kai noted a single snowflake float slowly from the sky. He knew from experience that it would soon be followed by many more.
He was right. Half an hour later and he couldn't see more than an inch in front of his face. It was freezing cold and his healing wound ached like hell. After an hour, fighting stubbornly against the battering elements, Kai finally excepted that he couldn't move further without risk of losing himself.
Hunching himself against the onslaught of wind and snow, Kai moved to the side of the road until he bumped into a hedge. Then, pulling his coat tight around him, he hunched down and pushed himself further into the slight protection afforded by the scrawny hedge. Then, despite himself, Kai started getting sleepy, as the snow piled up around him, Kai finally surrendered to his fatigue and forgot all about the cold, He forgot everything, falling thankfully into unconsciousness.
Kai drifted through the all-consuming darkness as voices came and went, there was no pain, no cold, but there was no light either. He struggled for something to latch onto, something to pull him away from the waves of fear and misery.
'Help me'
The girl looked up from where she was seated. She was wearing a large fur coat and she pulled it close around her as she stared at the boy lying prone in her bed. She had found him the night before on her way home. Actually, she had tripped over him. When she had finally managed to drag him home and put him to bed he had been dangerously feverish and she hadn't been sure if he would survive.
Standing up, she walked over and looked down at him, he was muttering something and he looked…afraid. Surprising herself, Zephyr reached out and took hold of his clenched hand. Curiously, it seemed to help a bit. The boy stopped tossing about as much and after a while his face became smooth and calm again. As his hand unclenched, Zephyr reached out gently and brushed a blue spike of hair from his eyes. Then feeling suddenly self-conscious she stood up with a sigh and walked back over to the armchair where she sat down again to watch from afar.
It wasn't so dark now, he felt as though someone was there with him, holding him up, pulling him towards the light. He felt from afar a feather-light touch on his hand and he moved towards the feeling. Then, suddenly, it was colder. His stomach burned from the old wound, his bones seemed to ache and he shivered slightly at the new sensation. With a small groan, Kai opened his eyes.
There was a soft glow seeping through a thin gauze curtain hung across the window and it cast a golden light across the dusty wooden floor. Kai turned his head, trying to work out where he was. From the far corner there came a small murmur as if from someone sound asleep. Staring past the shadows, Kai could just make out the shape of someone curled up on an old armchair. Gritting his teeth Kai pushed himself up into a sitting position. Looking down he realised that someone had replaced his old bandages with new ones.
Looking back over at his sleeping host, Kai blushed slightly. It was definitely a girl. Without thinking about it, Kai swung his legs off the bed and tried to stand up. To his surprise it didn't quite work. Instead of holding him up, his legs just collapsed beneath him sitting him neatly onto the floor. Grimacing at this lack of strength Kai put his hand on the bed and tried again. This time he managed to stay upright but his legs were shaking and he started to feel light-headed.
'You shouldn't be standing up you know.' Came a voice. It startled Kai so much that he lost his concentration and sat down again! He glared over to the girl in the corner. She was sitting up properly now, watching him. She smiled slightly. Kai grimaced in annoyance.
'Hn' came his short response. Then, looking away from the girl and at the room around him, he asked, 'Where am I?' If anything, the girl only smiled more, her face becoming more mischievous!
'Well, this is my room…that's MY bed…' Kai frowned over at her in consternation.
'I'd better get on my way before I trouble you further then' he said standing up again. This time his legs were steadier and he started for the door; quite ready to leave before this girl realised she was helping a murderer.
'Wait!' she exclaimed. 'You can't just leave?' Kai looked at her, an eyebrow slightly raised in questioning. 'I…I mean, don't you want to eat before you go?' Kai turned away again.
'I'm not hungry.' He growled quietly.
'But…' Kai stopped again. He was in the doorway now and he turned to look back at her, frowning slightly.
'Look, I'll pay you for your trouble if that's what you want?'
'No!' She cried, she was starting to look slightly hurt now. Kai stepped back uneasily, wondering if she was going to start crying or something.
'What do you want then?' he asked, as patiently as he could. The girl looked down at the ground now, her confidence gone.
'I just…It's just that…' Kai waited but the girl didn't speak. He suddenly realised that she was crying.
'Hey, don't do that! Look, just tell me what's the matter kid?' said Kai, trying desperately to calm the girl. He stepped forward hesitantly as she sobbed quietly. Her dark blue hair covering her eyes.
'I…I'm not a kid…' she murmured in the midst of her tears. Kai was standing in front of her now, unsure what he should do.
'I know that…but what am I supposed to call you, you haven't told me your name?' He said quietly so as not to alarm her. Sniffling slightly she looked up, the light from the setting sun glinting in her eyes.
'I'm Zephyr.' She said miserably. 'Who are you?' Kai stared at her for a second. Then he couldn't help himself. He started laughing. He couldn't stop even though it hurt! After a moment of confusion, Zephyr started to giggle a bit as well, then she was laughing too! Within seconds the two were on the floor, Kai clutching his stomach in pain but still laughing, Zephyr with fresh tears, this time of merriment, rolling down her face unchecked! After a while they calmed down enough for Kai to complain.
'That hurt.' He groaned, wincing at the ache from his injured side.
'It's your own fault!' Said Zephyr, accusingly. Still, she got up and moved over to him ignoring his feeble protests as she began unwrapping the bandages from his side.
'Don't be such a baby.' She reprimanded and he swiftly fell silent and chose to glare moodily at her instead.
'Damn!' she murmured irritably, 'You've started bleeding again.' Kai stayed silent, wondering suddenly why she was even bothering. He was nobody to her. An outcast. His gloom returned as he remembered his sister once more.
'Why are you doing this.' He asked disconsolately. She looked up at him in surprise, his sudden mood swing catching her out.
'Uh…why shouldn't I?' she glanced at him strangely and he looked away. He put his hand down on the rough floor to steady himself, running his finger carefully along a grain in the wood.
'I just…don't you know what I am?' She stayed silent, tightening the bandages around his chest. Kai stood up suddenly, pulling away from her and ignoring her protests.
'Just stop!' he shouted, rounding on her angrily. 'Why didn't you let me die? You could have let me die. I...I don't deserve your help.' His voice fell to a soft whisper. 'Can't you see? I'm a monster.' Zephyr looked at him, and her eyes filled with sudden anger.
'I don't care what you've done, I don't care who you are, all I wanted was to help you!' She stopped and took a breath to calm herself.
'I'm sorry, I just want to help you, okay?' Kai watched her suspiciously,
She must be mad, he thought. He tried to argue his case.
'But...'
'No buts, sit down on that bed and wait. I'm giving you something to eat whether you want it or not and I also won't have you bleeding all over my house after all my work getting it clean from last night.' There was a no nonsense look in her eyes that made Kai sit on the bed before he knew what was happening. Within minutes she had pushed a hot bowl of soup into his hands along with a large piece of fresh brown bread.
'Eat!' she ordered before sitting down beside him to start re-wrapping his bandages. After a hesitant pause, Kai decided to do as she asked. It wouldn't hurt, he would just leave as soon as she finished with his bandages, he definitely couldn't stay though, it wouldn't be safe, for either of them.
'So?' she said after a while. Kai looked at her, she had finished bandaging his side and was leaning back against the wall, watching him.
'What?' He asked, confused. She raised an eyebrow.
'You haven't told me your name yet.'
'Oh.' Kai looked down at his bowl of soup, it was almost empty. 'I'm Kai.' He said quietly.
'Just Kai?' She smiled slightly, amused at something.
'Kai Hiwatari.' The smile disappeared.
Kai's heart skipped a beat. She knew, she knew who he was. He had to escape. She stood up with a sudden movement as these thoughts whirled through his head. Instinctively, all his muscles began to tense in preparation for a quick escape. He didn't really want to hurt this girl but if she got in his way then he might have to.
'My mother…' Zephyr stopped and Kai waited tensely, wondering where this was leading.
'My mother used to work at a place called 'The Abbey'…It was run by a man named Hiwatari.' Kai's mouth fell slightly in shock. He suddenly found that he couldn't move even if he wanted to, his body wouldn't obey him anymore so he just sat there, stock still, watching warily as Zephyr gazed out the window, not really seeing what was in front of her. As the silence lengthened, Kai caught himself watching the fall of her long hair, glinting a soft gold across the waves of blue.
'What happened?' he whispered finally, breaking himself from the reverie. Her hand fell from fiddling with the gauze curtain and clenched angrily at her side.
'They killed her.' Her voice had dropped to a vehement whisper and she turned suddenly to glare at him with daggers in her eyes.
'Maybe I should have let you die after all!' She hissed coldly. Kai stared at her, suddenly there was a lump in his throat and he realised that he didn't want her to hate him. He wanted her to care if he lived, the way she had before. Breaking the spell of tense silence in the room, Kai stood up and strode to the door, trying to hold back sudden tears in his eyes. Why did it matter so much? Why did he care what she thought? She was a complete stranger to him. Closing his eyes, Kai stopped in the doorway.
'I'm sorry.' He said roughly before disappearing out into the falling night.
In the darkening room, Zephyr felt her knees go weak and she fell to the floor, choking back sudden tears.
'Mother. What have I done?' she whispered as the golden light of the setting sun disappeared and darkness crept into the lonely room.
