The next full moon…
POV - Kyas
I loosened and rolled my shoulders, jumped up and down in my white shirt and blue jeans, white shoes. White shows the blood better. Blood on white shows them they're winning, motivates them.
I headed for the door.
This was gonna hurt.
I walked down to Elias' door and knocked twice.
"Oh, El-eeyyyeee-aasss." I sing-songed. I shivered at how it sounded in my own voice.
"Go away, Kyas." He yelled.
"Come on, baby brother, are you really going to test me again?" I said.
I heard his footsteps and leaned against the wall beside his door, crossing my arms. He opened it.
"Hey, baby brother!" I said with a smirk.
"Stop calling me that, what do you want?" He asked.
I checked my nails.
"Look, Elias, things have been a little... tense between us for a while, and I want to fix it. I think it's time to stop pretending, ok?" I asked.
"I'm not pretending shit." He said.
I leaned close. "Noooo, but I am..."
"What?" He asked.
"I want to confess, make things better, but we can't do that here." I pointed at the camera in the hall. "Too many eyes."
"Walk with me." I told him.
"What if I don't want to?" He said, but came into the hall.
"Well, you'll miss the mother of all confessions, years in the making, baby bro. Annnd you know I can make you anyway." I taunted.
I actually couldn't, Alpha had taken care of that before we left the council meeting. The test command not to kill, without this, hadn't worked though. He scowled, but followed.
I led him to a detention building, where our pack keeps trespassers, rogues for questioning, or anyone else that needs holding. Down to the lower level, where lights create shadows big enough to hide Alphas.
I slipped into the last one, because it had the brightest light and two stone walls. It was the most like the cell at Cedar River they did this in. He followed me in.
"No cameras here, so we can be honest." I said. "What is your beef with me, baby bro?"
"Stop calling me that! You know my fucking beef with you.You did exactly what I thought you were going to do. You took my father away from me!" Elias yelled.
I turned my back on him. "Oh, this shit again?" I turned back with a nasty grin. "Full confession? Ok, I did."
He was shocked. "What?"
"I promised confession, right? I did steal your precious, Papa. I wasn't going to, not at first, I really did want to share... but, then you seemed uninterested in sharing, so, the plan changed." I said with a shrug.
"You admit it? You were planning to take my father away?" He asked.
"Like I said, not at first..." I said, and then approached him, reaching my hands out to him. "But, you made it so EASY, little brother! The jealousy was priceless! I couldn't have planned it better! Every time you left the room, I was Right there, filling Papa's head with all the ways I was the better son."
I saw his temper ignite.
"Then you cut yourself off from the pack link, so I didn't have to worry about you listening in, or counteracting with the truth, I really do owe it all to you!" I said with an evil grin.
"I knew it! You planned it all!" Elias yelled.
"Oh, baby bro, you bet I did. All those nights playing the ghost, I set him up good. 'Papa, why didn't you ever take me fishing?' 'Papa, I would have loved playing catch with you.' Oh, man, he ate that up! Everything he did with you I made him feel guilty for never doing it with me. That promise gave me the perfect opportunity." I said.
He was shaking with rage.
"You know he was never yours, right? He was always mine, you were just a...place holder, keeping the favorite son seat warm for me, you know, you never had a chance. You know why, baby brother?" I asked, standing toe to toe with him.
"Why?" He said through gritted teeth.
"Thirteen minutes. You were the extra kid, he didn't need you. I had him longer, he loved me more, because I was born first." I lied.
He lost it, and punched me in the face, knocking me back. I knew how to catch myself on walls though. "Oh! Baby brother's got a right hook!"
I threw a half hearted punch to his shoulder, knocking it back, but glancing off. I needed to save as much of my own energy as possible. He sucker punched me in the gut. I laughed. "Is that all you got? You can't even kick my ass right!"
I saw it, the moment he snapped. Goddess, I hope this helped him.
He went off, punching me everywhere, kneeing me, kicking. He kicked my calf, making me fall to one knee against the wall. I put my hand up. "Wait, Elias, please stop!" He needed to hear uncertainty to keep him going. Don't stop Elias. He didn't. He never even registered that I wasn't fighting back.
He kicked my ribs, slamming me against the wall, then then knocked me to the floor. "Ok!" I shouted, "you win! Mercy!" He needed to know he was winning.
I saw Papa about to step forward and shook my head. Not yet.
"Mercy!?" He shouted. "Like you told Papa when you showed up out of nowhere?! That. Wasn't. Mercy. It. Was. Theft!" He yelled, punctuating each word with a punch.
"The whole time I...was gone... he loved me...more. Favorite." I choked out.
I managed to kick him away from me, I needed him to come at me like they did.
Papa tried again. "No!" I choked on blood.
"The whole time you were gone?" He said. "You were a pack slave, Kyas! A nothing! A thing underfoot! An it! A nobody!" He screamed, coming at me hard.
I felt it, the trigger. A nobody. My basic truth. Fear locked me down, Elias became the faces of other people, so many other people.
"No, Master, don't!" I screamed. "This one learns! This one will do better!"
I was gone. Back in that place, desperately trying to make them stop. The blows kept coming. His head blocked out the light, Master Silas!
"Master please! Let me show you! I'll do anything!" I yelled.
His power crashed hard over me, holding me down, crushing me.
KYAS BLAZE, YOU WILL NOT KILL!
"Yes, Master, no, Master, this one won't! This one can obey! Please don't hurt me anymore!" I begged.
He reached for me and I screamed, unable to move. He grasped my shoulders and pulled me up off the floor and wrapped me in his arms while I screamed in terror.
He cradled me, and rocked and said things I didn't understand.
I didn't fight, I couldn't move. I was too terrified of what this new torture was. The rocking continued, Master didn't let me go.
I started hearing words. "Come back, Kyas, come back to Papa. It's over son. It's all done."
Papa? Where's Papa? Master, let me go, I need to find Papa. My screams became desperate calls for Papa to save me.
He kept me wrapped in his arms, captive, he kept saying it. "Come on, Kyas, come back to Papa. I've got you, you're safe, no one will hurt you."
Papa? That's Papa's voice. I looked up, and my eyes focused. Not Master. Alpha. My body finally unlocked and I went limp. I stopped screaming. Took deep breaths, calming down.
"That's it son, come back to Papa. You're home, you're safe, I've got you." He repeated.
It's Papa. He has me. I'm home. I'm safe. I took a deep, shuddering breath, and then just stayed in Papa's arms, while the panic faded.
'Kyas,' Chaos said, making me flinch. 'Check the colors.'
And I did. And they are beautiful.