Run. Cry. Die.

Night-time shenanigans- Part 2

"Good evening Kai, how is your sister doing?" Mr Ryder nodded as Kai wondered into the family room where the news showed a picture of the Italian president and the caption 'Search for Phantom called off after three months'.
"She'll be fine. Probably a bit of dodgy food for lunch or something." Kai nodded, trying to ignore the man's mug shot. He should have taken that man out years ago.
"You know the Italian president?" Ryder questioned, Kai found it bizarre that he hadn't questioned the sunglasses yet, then again, bodyguards often wore glasses like the ones he had on.
"Classified information I'm afraid."
"No worries. Join us, stay the night even. I'm sure your roommate can care for your sister. Just for one night."
"I'm not sure but I'll do as you wish." Kai nodded and took his boss' invitation to sit in an armchair that overlooked the whole room, all the exits and entrances as well as any hiding spaces. The old man seemed to understand Kai's need to be able to see everything. Mrs Ryder sat with her son, watching the TV while Evelyn lay across a sofa with a book in her hands.
The three of them seemed so relaxed compared to their usual selves during the day.
Mr Ryder sat in another armchair and picked up another book.
"Hey, Kai. You ever played?" Thomas asked, gesturing at the TV that showed soccer.
"No, I never did the whole socialising thing. Team sports didn't suit me very well."
"Hah, it's a good sport. Not too rough but not too laid back."
"I suppose it must be good for people not so keen on violence."
"Violence? You're a fighter, I suppose?" Mrs Ryder asked.
"Martial arts, boxing, I grew up quick to protect my sister. She did better in school than I did. She's the reason I even finished."
"Cute. Dad never let us drop out. He'd've caused a massacre before one of us could have dropped out."
If only they knew. Kai's mind ran wild at that statement but he didn't dare say anything. His phone buzzed instead, "Sorry. My sister woke up."
"Oh, is she alright?"
"Food poisoning, I think. It's not too bad. She just needs to learn to cook."
The family didn't seem to bat an eye at Kai's statement or as he read the messages and typed back.
'Ryder has 1 lab p/sub-cat - big O - O home'
'He says stay the night. Text me more - Mr buys J sick. Tom opening up - Tom is favourite of parents - Eve ignored'
'Tom is pursuing medicine - Eve doesn't care for it - Tom will take over f-business after Mr death'
'He knows truth?'
'Y'
Kai scowled, wiping his hand over his face and massaging his clenched jaw. Even after learning that, he still felt like they were hiding something. He could do anything more though.
"You look uptight. This is the time in the evening where we come together to sit quietly and let go of our day's worries. Just let your mind run free." Mr Ryder stated.
"With all due respect sir, I'm still working and to let myself go would be to let go of the thing that keeps alive. To let go of that would be letting go of life itself. I much prefer this uptight feeling, as you call it, to relaxing."
"You do not feel emotion like us." Thomas stated, "You're incapable of feeling the emotions that any other man might feel."
"I'm am merely better at hiding my emotions than others. It's a key part of my job, showing limited amounts of emotion."
"It's a coping mechanism, just like avoiding giving a straight answer is. You're grieving a great loss."
"May I speak plainly?"
"Of course."
"Thomas. You sound like an old man. Keep your youth while you can, you only get it once and as someone who threw that away, I wasted it. I lost my ability to be young when I decided to pursue a life of danger to keep my sister safe. I gave up years of my life, just so that my sister could have a few more years of trouble free life, don't do what I did and throw youth away. You'll only regret it later on."
"Now you sound like the old man."
"I've seen things that I would not want any other to imagine seeing. I've witnessed events that should never have happened and survived them. Sounding like an old man is nothing compared to what I've been though, but you shouldn't have to go through that as well."
"Thomas is correct, you know. You're evasive. We answer one question about you with three more questions. It's like you're compensating for something." Mr Ryder chuckled, "Anyway, one hour. Then we all go to bed."
"One hour of silence." Mrs Ryder nodded. This tradition of theirs seems bizarre to Kai but they all appeared to hold it so dearly in their everyday lives so he went along with it. Texting the tech guy about his findings of their evening routine.
'Family time is weird.' He sent a secretive picture of them, none of the appearing to notice his phone's minute movements.
'They're pretending to forget about all their worries by watching the football and reading teenage heartbreak romance books'
'So Jinx found the phone'
'Yup'
'How do you know the genre of book'
'Because I know the author but that dust cover doesn't fit the book. The book it thinner than the cover- Eve is hiding something'
'I'll check it out later. I've got an hour to kill'
'Read a book.'
'I have to look alert.'
'Boring. Sleep?'
'A-L-E-R-T - to be quick to notice any unusual and potentially dangerous or difficult circumstances'
'Haha v. funny - try meditating'
'I'm pretty sure it's illegal.'
'Not mediCation! MediTation! Not that any law ever stopped you before.'
Kai turned his phone over and slid it in his pocket, ignoring Jinx's madness for the hour. Blanking out his mind had very few advantages but one of them meant he could pass time that much quicker without being disturbed by anything in the world. Not even a bomb right above him.
After the hour, Mr and Mrs Ryder left pretty quickly, going to either an office or their bedroom. Evelyn left half an hour after them, taking a brief trip through the kitchen and finally Thomas retired at ten past midnight after losing too many races against the machine.
Once they were all gone, Kai moved into the kitchen, away from all distractions and near food.
He threw his fists at his face. Pounding against his skull.
'Update?'
'You.'
'Not the time for riddles Jinx. My head may as well be cracked open on this counter top.'
'Why didn't you tell us?'
'Pick up the damn call.'
"Why the hell did you hide that from us Kai? How could you hide that?"
"You're the shrink. You tell me. Tell me why I'm screaming in my head, why I want to smash my head against a solid marble counter top and why my last hit consisted of a triple cocktail. I can't live like this."
"How much of what did you take?"
"I don't know. I just took what ever felt right. I don't exactly label my bricks."
"Kai! Listen to me! You're avoiding telling us the truth!"
"What do you want to know? How I escaped? Or who my father is? Or the truth behind my fiancée's death? They're all the same answer."
"You're a super human, war lord, super soldier, you play chess, blindfolded, against a grandmaster like most people play tag. Tell us the truth behind that."
"No. It's classified information. It's code black, level ten clearance. Three people in the world have that and I'm one." Kai hung up after hearing footsteps on the wooden floor, cutting through Jinx's reprimand.
Evelyn's voice can't through the silence, Kai didn't dare move from his spot, his shakes were getting worse and he felt like he might fall over if he so much as shifted his weight a tiny bit, "What's the c- clearance for?"
"Shoot, how much of that did you hear?" Even his voice sounded rough. She didn't pick up on his obvious tells but she did relive him of too much worry with her reply, "Uh, three- three people have clearance for something and you're one- one of- one of the three?" He put a palm down on the counter and leaned against it, all of his weight on his one arm that prevented him from becoming a heap on the floor.
"Anything before that?"
"N- No. Why? Is- Is it bad?" She stepped forward, "Did- did you do s- something?"
"If that information got out, over 180 countries of the nearly 200 would have a price for my head."
"I'm s- sure you can't be that b- bad. You protect people for- for a living."
"Mmh. I can't tell you what I do for a living but it isn't as heroic as you think." She stood right in front of him, their faces close together as she held a hand on his shoulder. She could definitly feel his trembling but she ignored it for her curiosity.
"So, what what can you tell me?"
"That I'm dangerous and you shouldn't be near me."
"Why? 'Cause you'll- you'll kill me?"
"That's a likely-" she cut him off by placing her lips on his, hungry for him. Her hands tangled in the back of his hair and his free arm wrapped around her waist before she shook him off and ran just as quickly as she had appeared.