Behind The Mask

Chapter 27- Kio

I walked out of the hospital. I knew what I was going to do. Kian grabbed my arm to stop me from going out onto the road as a car passed by. I could barely see anything, only shades of red. I put my life in Kian's hands and let him guide me across the roads, knowing that if I didn't I would most likely get hit.

I was going to make him pay. That obsessed, arrogant piece of crap was going to be begging for mercy by the end of the night- and he would not receive any. From what I had seen in the operation room, she would never be able to dance again. I loved it when she danced, it made her look amazing and every move that she did just made me fall deeper in love. He had taken that away from me and ruined her favourite hobby: there was nothing that would stop me.

I knew exactly where I was going, because I knew that he still went there every day. Our special place by the lake. After I'd broken up with him, I had seen him sitting there every day since. It was almost like he had been waiting for me to return to him...

15 minutes had passed and I was almost there. My anger had not died down. Every step I took made me even angrier. As I walked, I began cracking my knuckles and stretching my muscles.

As we neared the lake, Kian stopped me and sat me down for a second. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? You're normally the person who doesn't like violence, and you're bubbly. Once you do this, you'll find that the blood on your hands doesn't wash of in the sink."

"He hurt her, Kian. Do you understand that? If it was Akari that was hurt like that, you would be doing a lot more than me, wouldn't you?"

"... I understand. Just make sure that this is what you want. I have your back, no matter what."

And with that, he pulled me back up to my feet. It was time. I made my way down the path that led to the lake with a determination that I had never had before in my life. Kian was right; this wasn't normally me. I was normally the one against the violence and making sure that everyone was okay. But he hurt her. He did the most unforgivable thing that I could imagine: He. Hurt. Akai. There would be no forgiveness.

I saw him standing in the same spot I knew he would be, in the exact position I expected. He had a smug look as I walked towards him. "Ah, so you got my gift. I had her wrapped especially for you. And now you're here, I knew that she was a problem getting in the way of your eventual return to me. Now that she is out of the way, we can be together again: just like I knew we would be. What's with that look? You should be happy! She was being a bother and tried to take you away from me completely, so I made sure she wouldn't do it aga-"

I lost all sense of control that I had left and started punching his face in. I hated it. I hated the fact that it was me doing it. I hated that he had hurt Akai in the first place. I hated how good it felt. The feeling of my skin making contact with his face was so satisfying, and the feeling of letting go was just so freeing.

I pulled myself back and looked down at the pulp that had remnants of Pete's face. I stared at my fist with it's split knuckles and blood pouring down them. That was enough for now. I would let the police do the rest. I turned and walked away with Kian's arm wrapped around my shoulder, comforting me in the way only my brother could. As much as we may trash talk each other, he was and always would be my loving brother, caring for me when no one else would.

"You bitch!" I heard Pete from behind me. I stopped moving. "After all I did for you, all the effort I put into us. THIS is how you repay me? I'm the one who tried to make this work. So what I stopped you from talking to other boys? It kept our relationship while it worked. You broke up with me only after you started talking to other boy! And then when I knew you'd want me back, I got rid of the one thing stopping you. Everything I did, I did for you! You are nothing but a worthless creature who doesn't deserve the love. I guess you and that broken, pathetic excuse for a human deserve each other!"

I felt Kian's grip tighten as he knew what I was prepared to do. He held me until I stopped struggling. He comforted me again. We walked away, feeling terrible. I felt awful because I felt so good. I never wanted to feel like that again.

We walked all the way back to the hospital. We had been gone for about an hour and I wanted to see if there were any changes to Akai's condition. I was more coherent when crossing the roads again this time, but I still let Kian guide me just to be safe. I could hear a few people around laughing, playing, and dancing. I stopped and watched the ones that were dancing for a second: they reminded me of Akai when she would dance. That would never happen again.

I walked in through the entry doors of the hospital and let Kian guide me towards the room we were in earlier. When we walked in, I saw Eliza sitting down and the room below was empty. "Hey. The operation was a success, and they've moved her into a new room: but before I take you there, I need to ask you a few questions. Who exactly is Pete Winters?"

I took a deep breath before sitting down and answering. "A few years ago, there was this popular kid at school called Pete Winters. I- along with almost every other girl in the school- had a massive crush on him. One day, I found out that he had a massive crush on me as well. I decided that it might be a good idea to ask him out. Of course, he accepted so I was happy. We dated for about eight months, and during that time; he was very clingy and wouldn't let me do anything I wanted. He wouldn't let me talk to any other boys, and even got angry when I talked to Kian. He became way too obsessed with me to the point where I decided to break up with him. His obsession continued and he believes that I belong to him and love him."

"And that is why he hurt Akai? That's why he hurt my new daughter?"

"... Yes. I am so sorry, I never intended for her to be caught up in this? I mostly forgot about him and now she's hurt because of me? I let the person I love get hurt..."

Eliza got up and hugged me, assuring me that it was okay. She didn't blame me, even though she should have. I deserved every little bit of judgement I would receive. After all, it was all my fault.

Aftera few minutes of comfort, she led me to the room Akai was to stay in for alittle while. She was still unconscious but the doctors said that she should beawake by dinner time. I decided to stay away for a while and the others decidedto give me some time to myself with her. I fell asleep for a while and when Iwoke up, it was about 8 o'clock. Akai was still dead to the world and hadn'tmoved. I decided to go ask the doctor if that was normal. Out of nowhere, thedoctor started rushing into the room looking worried. She was supposed to beawake, so why wasn't she?