The Kai Chronicles: The Great Escape

Chapter One

Kai:

With a swift duck of the head and a right swing, another guard goes down. A different guard jumps at him but all he sees is red. Kai's deabru growls out at the guard, and bares his teeth, his warning sign for "back off." The guard freezes and Ty pulled on Kai's arm, toward the exit of the hell they lived in, and were tortured since they were kids. This was their great escape. The sound of their boots pound against the ground as they rush to the door, red lights flashing all around them, with a loud beeping sound drowning out the shouts of the guards. The backpack on Ty's back, bounced with his movement, the zippers making a small clank as they hit each other. Kai struggles to get himself under control as the door nears, he needs to be somewhat back to himself in order to act normal.

They burst out the front door and head straight for the woods to the west of the lab. Kai's lungs burn from the cold fall air around them, he gives one last look at the lab behind him, as it slowly shrinks out of view.

After what felt like hours of running, the boys stumble upon train tracks. Ty, out of breath, looks in both directions before looking at his brother Kai, who is also trying to catch his breath.

Kai holds his shaking hands tightly to his body, trying to get himself together. Taking notice, his brother hugs him and begins to hum the familiar tune their mother used to sing them. The tune was one of 3 that could calm Kai down completely, and only when Ty sang it, would it work. Almost immediately he felt his heart rate decrease and his normal senses came intact. In the distance the high whistle of a train could be heard, a small light was coming from the left of the boys, and it was growing bigger and bigger as the train got closer.

"We're going to hop onto this train and get far away from here, okay?" Ty said in a low, gentle, tone. Kai nodded and let a breath out, he adjusted his own backpack, and began to anticipate the speed of the train. He looked at Ty, and Ty nodded back.

They started sprinting again, as the train pulled up alongside them.

Faster

Kai heard his brother speak to him in his mind. He pushed his legs to go faster, Ty grabbed his arm and launched them both at the train. They both fell into an open car with a loud thud, Kai letting out a low laugh. Both boys flopped on their backs and stared at the roof of the car, the cold air slicing at their skin. Ty gets up and closes the door of the car effortlessly, and then back down to lay on his back, next to his brother. Moonlight being the only source of light in the car. 

"We're free" Kai said breathlessly, he couldn't believe it, after all the years they finally managed to get out. Ty reached out and pat his brother on the chest, he was catching his breath, but he was thinking the same thing. The floor seemed to vibrate as the train continued to move towards its destination, to who knows where. Kai stares blankly at the ceiling, his mind can't seem to grasp what was going to happen when they woke up. The mere thought of leaving the lab was enough to make him smile. Kai let out a loud hysterical laugh, catching Ty's attention. Kai felt his brother's eyes him, he sat up throwing his head in his hands.

"Free" he said, then he said it again, and again, and by the 6th time, Ty had sat up and pulled his brother into his arms in a tight embrace. The word was falling out of Kai's mouth, and swirling around his mind, but he still couldn't grasp the idea of being away from the lab. When the word finally registered through his head, Kai began to cry, but not the bad kind, the good kind. The kind that comes when you feel a rush of happiness and relief, the kind that comes when a weight gets lifted off your shoulders. Ty's hand began to soothingly rub circles on his brothers back, a small happy tear of his own slipping down his face.

After a few minutes of staying in the position, the boys lay back down next to each other, resuming their blank looks at the ceiling. A shiver ran down Kai's back, they were only able to grab a limited number of things and a jacket was not one of them. The lab had temperature-controlled rooms, so the boys didn't need jackets, but occasionally, they were allowed supervised time outside. The brothers were never allowed to go outside at the same time, because of the risk of them running away, so outside time was useless and boring for the two. The lab used to allow the boys outside together, but their first tried attempt at escaping changed that.

The memory of that day popped into Kai's mind.

Kai and Ty were outside in the lab yard, kicking around a soccer ball, around the age of 15, both of them looking around occasionally to find a route to run to. The guards were standing together having a conversation about their lives, and the boys took notice of that. Kai kicked the ball 'by accident' over by the gate surrounding the small field. "My bad" he called to his brother, with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Ty took a light jog to get the ball, while Kai kept his eye on the guards. The guards glanced at Ty, but thought nothing of it, as they turned back to their conversation. Kai could see Ty slip the small wire cutter out of his sleeve and begin cutting the fence in a rushed manner. One of the guards bent down to tie his shoe, the other squatting down to continue their conversation; Kai took that as an opportunity and ran towards Ty and their exit.  Kai slipped under the wire, and by then the guards were shouting at the boys and running after them, he stowed a glance behind him and saw a guard pull out his gun.

"Gun!" Kai shouted. Ty turned his head to assess the situation, he noticed the gun pointed toward Kai and stopped to grab Kai right as a shot was fired. The bullet grazed Kai's upper arm, causing him to grunt and cradle his wounded arm. Ty turned his head to see Kai's fingers coated in red. Blood. His heartbeat picked up, his eyes struggling to stay in focus, and eventually his demon took over. Kai watched his brother in horror, he had only seen his demon 3 times in their lives. The guards didn't even get a second to process what had happened with Ty, before he had attacked them. He pounced on one twisting his head around to an unnatural position, his body hitting the ground immediately after. The second guard shakenly points his gun at Ty, and taking notice, Ty kicks it out of the guard's hands. Kai remembered that the guard standing in front of Ty, was the one that shot him, so there was no way Ty was going to go easy on him, like he did with the other one. Kai didn't like watching his brother in his demon form, so he turned his head away, but a hand was clamped harshly on his shoulder, a surprised noise escaping Kai's lips. Kai felt a poke in his neck and looked to find a needle, a warm liquid made its way to his veins, and darkness took over him. Ty turned his head at his brothers' noise, only to see his body being dragged away. He started to make his way towards his brother, but a guard approaching took the opportunity to stick, and inject him too. Ty fell to the ground, but he still tried to resist the drowsy feeling that took over to him, crawling to his brother. He was only able to make it a few steps before he fell, the darkness taking over him too.

            When Kai woke up, he wasn't in his normal room, he recognized the room as the punishment room, it was located in the basement of the lab. Titanium chains were wrapped around his wrists, restricting his movements, the chains triggering a slow mild burning sensation where they rested. Kai's heart began to race, as he realized what is going to happen, the events of the day before, playing back in his mind. Two brawny men walked into the room; the bottom half of their faces covered by black medical masks. Kai shivered in fear and pushed himself against the wall behind him, his body shaking- he shouldn't be scared but he was super dependent on Ty. The lab knew this, so they separated them whenever they caused trouble. Ty was Kai's protector, and without him Kai didn't know how else to act, besides scared. One of the men delivered a swift kick to the side of Kai's back, getting a grunt from him. Pain shot up his spine, and he felt himself losing control of his Deabru.

A small bump on the train brought Kai back out of the painful memory. He noticed his breathing had picked up, Ty was softly humming their mother's tune, almost instantly calming him down. He missed their mother dearly, and he wished there was anything he could do to bring her back. He didn't mind having Ty, after all, the only person he had was Ty. Ty was there for Kai during his worst moments, and he knew how to handle every situation. He was a major role model in Kai's life. Kai's thought chain slowly died down as he felt himself getting drowsy, and eventually he gave in, and closed his eyes.