A Touch of Color

Chapter 1: Breathe Slowly

"So how do you know them, Mr. Deniese?" The opposing lawyer asked in a tone that already made Kai's answer seem laughable.

"They're my neighbors, Mr. Colton." Kai answered indifferently keeping the same tone as him. This made the room grow silent as they waited for the next response. Kai had a distaste for people like him. He hated when a person thought all high and mighty of themselves leaving everyone else thinking the opposite.

Mr.Colton looked around the room and grinned as if Kai's remark didn't bother him a bit, although it was quite clear it did since he gave Kai a quick side glance before saying, "Let it be known to the jury, the witness identified the culprits." Then, he turned back to Kai and said, "Now tell me, what really happened the day of the alleged kidnapping?"

Kai smiled, "I thought you'd never ask. Well, March fifteenth is a date of pain, lies, and trauma. Though it started off normal, this is a date to never forget. One I can never get out of memory no matter how hard I try. It was a Friday night, and I was plopped on the couch going through my phone as usual when I was stopped by an incoming call from an unknown number."
__

"Who is this?" They asked in a husky voice. A familiar one at that.

"Who is this? Who the hell is this!?" I answered back.

"That's not the point. You have something that belongs to me, so give it back! Or else— "

"Or else what?"

"Look, kid, it's either give me back my property, or face the consequences. I have this phone number and your address, so don't even think about bailing out, Kai."

Just before the man hung up, I heard another voice this time sounding quite charming—the exact opposite of the first man. "We gotta go." He said.

"Fine," The man whispered back at him. "Be here! I'll text you the place."

"But—" The phone hung up right in my face. I took the man's words as a joke until he texted me the location we were meeting at thirty minutes later. It wasn't a surprise we met at the same place I found the phone about a week earlier. Surprise or not, the place did give me the creeps. As I turned the corner thinking about what to say, I saw 6 faces that I know I'd seen before.

"Hiya, neighbor. Didn't know we'd be meeting again so soon, did ya'? Jayson's small lips curved into a smirk. He actually thought this was funny. His blue hair and black eyes mocked me as he stood there silently anticipating my answer.

I was timid, "What kind of voodoo—?"

"Oh right. These are the consequences. You know them, don't you?"

I looked around idiotically and I did. These were my so called neighbors. Soo-Khan, the brown eyed baddie—the only blonde I'd ever understand. Sugo, the buff red head with chocolatey skin. Tae, the blue eyed boy with pink hair and a bad attitude. Matthew, the 6 foot giant with a perfectly fit body and sun kissed skin. And even Jamie, the green eyed half German with red highlights. I knew these people or least, I thought I did.

I was definitely done with this though. I needed to get out of there and quick. "Okay well if we're done with whatever this was, I'll be leaving now." I stated.

"Are you stupid or just dumb!?" He asked as one of his men threw a knife towards me. Luckily it hit the wall behind me and got stuck. He must've done it to scare me because he didn't even attempt to get it out of the wall.

"What the fuck!" I blurted completely frozen from fear.

"Ya' know what," he continued, "just hand over the phone and you can get outta' here, kid."

"You're lying." I furrowed my brows. Just as those words left my mouth though, Jayson put his gun down and motioned his men to do the same. I was about to hand over the phone when all of a sudden I saw the gang whisper to themselves and turn to get their guns. I was scared and the next thing I knew, we were all in the hospital praying I didn't kill Jayson.

I can still hear Soo-Khan screaming, "Boss!..Boss!..Wake up!" It brought back memories from my childhood.

"Mom...Mom...I'm sorry!" I won't call you mom anymore, I promise. Just wake up Marie!" Coming back into reality a tear came out of my eye, and I immediately wiped it. I hated using pain as an outlet, but it was the only way I could express myself without showing my real emotions.

"Boss, you're awake!" Soo-Khan said enthusiastically.

Jayson heavily coughed, "What happened?"

"That boy tried to kill you." Jamie glared pointing his finger reminding me of a kindergartner telling on another. I tried so hard not to laugh, it ended up choking me. "That prick just laughed at me!" He said running towards me. He kicked me in my left eye with his cleats repeatedly until it was closed shut.

"Calm down," Jayson said as he slowly rose from the bed in pain. He still had his eyes closed, but I could clearly tell he was talking to me when he said, "Explain yourself."

I had to think smart. It was a long shot, but if I played the bad guy they were bound to back off, right? No—not even close. "I shot you, dumbass. Did you forget already?"

Soo-Khan shook his head in disappointment, and Jayson's eyes widened. Before he could say anything though Tae yelled, "I outta kill you, you stupid fuck."

"There's no need for violence." He calmly replied to Tae. He then snapped and pointed to Sugo.

"His name is Kai Thomas Phillip Deniese. He was born on August 24th, 1992. And he's a stupid mother fucker that's going to get his ass beat if he keeps—"

Before Sugo could finish mentally kicking me in 10 different languages, Jason snapped again and he stopped. "Do you know what I do to people like you?"

"Let them go because you know they'll lie to the cops for you." I responded frantic with worry.

Jayson chuckled like I just said the funniest joke in the world. "Exactly." He waved his hand around in a counterclockwise motion. A bit after Jayson's movement, Matthew grabbed me and knocked me out cold. I kept going in and out of my conscience state of mind, so I would hear bits of conversation.

"Jayson we—"
...
"He tried to kill him!"
...
"You're being dramatic."
...
"What should we do?"
...
"The room."
...
"But we ran out of food."
...
"He'll manage."
...

I felt myself moving and before I knew it, someone was slapping me awake. That someone was Soo-Khan. He looked directly into my eyes and told me I'd be alright. He stood up to get a first aid kit and rushed back to me. "I'm sorry." were the words that came out of his mouth as he stitched the scar a bit above my left eye. "Sometimes all you can do is breathe slowly."

'Breathe slowly.' I repeated. I know he didn't mean literally, but the thought of it made my heart sink. My head went to panic attacks and the feeling of being trapped. In those settings, breathing slowly was the only thing you could do to keep yourself alive. I knew it was more about staying calm than actually focusing on slow breaths, and that's when it hit me. I let out a short sigh of realization, "Maybe you're right."