Chapter 13

The front room of the house positioned on Rockmore Drive was dark, save for the small amount of light glowing off the television and illuminating the two boys sitting on the couch.

Blue eyes glared at the satanic digits on the VCR, and still they would not budge. To Tala it wouldn't have mattered but the fact that he was alone with a boy who was sitting extremely close to him, had begun to freak him out. Callum's thigh brushed innocently against him, forcing Tala to gulp suddenly.

It wasn't as if he had never been alone with a boy, hell he was always alone with them, but the whole saga that had unfolded hours before had left him on edge. He wanted to jump and scream, and run away as fast as he could from where he was. But he was stuck, watching Callum out of the corner of his eye. The way Callum was sprawled out across the sofa lazily, the way his shirt had raised slightly revealing a patch of his taut tanned skin, the way he had managed to look attractive in an almost effortless way. It had affected Tala, to the point where he just wanted to escape, and yet Callum on the other hand had not suspected a thing.

"I have to go," Tala screeched suddenly, his voice high pitched.

"Hey, are you okay?" Callum asked, looking at Tala as though he had flipped.

"Uh-yeah-look, I-I…I'll see you, tomorrow…"

Quickly, the red head jumped up, almost bounding out of the door without an explanation, or before Callum even had the chance to say goodbye let alone complain. But it didn't affect the brunette; he casually went back to relaxing on the sofa, stuffing his face with a handful of Pringles.

Outside, Tala walked as fast as his legs could take him, his face flushed. Yet he couldn't understand why he was acting so strangely, it was starting to somewhat worry him. Was he becoming overly obsessed?

He had no idea, in fact all he could thing about was his past, and all he knew at that current moment was that he still had not managed to overcome his past. He had thought about it, and thought over it more, until the point where his brain felt like it would explode. Running a hand through his bright hair, he knew he had to see Bryan tonight, there was no point waiting any longer, after all he had waited six years to see him.

Opening the door to the piece of metal waste that was his Honda, he sat himself behind the steering wheel, turning the key as the engine started with a rusty cough. Although he knew it wasn't in the best of conditions, he was grateful that his adoptive parents had decided to buy it for him, they weren't as well off as the other families in the neighbourhood and he realised that the purchase had been difficult to sustain.

Pulling out of the street, a dark feeling of what he imagined to be the size of a boulder formed in the pit of his stomach, twisting his nerves into unimaginable knots. It sickened him, and yet he was determined to find Bryan, determined to sort things out, despite not even knowing what he was going to tell him or rather ask him. His hands gripped firmly on the steering wheel he began to remember what his Russian friend was like.

Bryan and him had never been more than acquaintances despite being in the same dormitory. He remembered him as the sadist, the one who was always in Boris's office for sending one of the children to the medical ward. But he knew Boris favoured those who were mean, cold, heartless…something he was trained to be since birth and yet something he failed to master almost eighteen years later.

Eighteen years later, he contemplated that statement, almost eighteen years of waste, and what had he accomplished? Nothing, nothing at all, he was like a soul wandering without guidance, without light. He mentally shook himself, he was always dwelling, always thinking and yet he knew he needed a clear head to face Bryan's riddled form of communication. Hitting the play button, he drowned in the blare of heavy guitars that came from the speakers, his inner voice silent once more.

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It had been a while after Faith and Nicky had exited Kudos, walking side by side they made their way back to Rockmore Drive in silence. Even Nicky who usually jumped at the opportunity to make use of her vocal chords had managed to refrain from speaking. But such was the atmosphere where speaking seemed likely to cause more damage than was necessary. They remained in this way until a sharp toot from a night Owl cut the silence, causing both girls to bolt in surprise.

Nicky laughed softly, while Faith shuddered, "Those things freak me out"

"Hey! Animal rights! It's an Owl not a thing," Nicky mused only half seriously.

"Whatever"

"If you aren't careful that 'thing' will come and peck your head," Nicky responded in a fake voice that sounded like something out of the exorcist.

"Tala was right, you are weird," Faith laughed back.

Nicky grinned pretentiously, "I prefer to call it 'different' thank you very much," she continued on a more serious tone, "Speaking of Tala, does he seem a bit distant to you? I get the feeling something's wrong"

Faith tensed slightly, she couldn't tell Nicky about what Tala had entrusted her with, it seemed wrong for her to discuss it, "No, no I'm not sure what's wrong with Tala."

"Oh, well I have to go by later on anyway, I'm such an idiot I snapped my drum stick and I left my spare at his house."

By this time, they had arrived at the front door to Faiths house. After fumbling with the keys the door opened and both girls stepped inside to find Callum still lazily relaxing on the sofa.

"Hey Calumny (a/n: Calumny is something that is scandalous)," Nicky chirped, whacking the back of Callum's head, as he surfaced from the couch.

"Scandalous," He responded comically imitating one of the Ashley's from 'Recess', "What brings you here Nickelodeon?"

Nicky purposely rolled her iris into the back of her head, revealing zombie-like white eyeballs, "To steal all your junk food," she answered, voice raspy and arms outstretched pretending to grab the tube of Pringles that sat on Callum's lap. Both teens fell into heaps of laughter at the little performance.

Faith cut in suddenly, "I thought Tala was here"

"He left, he was acting all weird… voice high pitched, god only knows what goes through that boy's head," Callum answered snatching the Pringles back.

Nicky's expression changed to that perhaps resembling worry, "I should be going, best get that drum stick"

"Yeah…see you tomorrow," Faith replied slightly distracted in her own thoughts.

"Ciao babe" Callum called as Nicky walked out of the front door.

Tala's house, was only a few streets away and for the anxious Nicky it took no time at all to be stood on his porch, waiting for someone to answer the door. She could smell the familiar scent of his mother's cooking wafting in the air, making her mouth water. She had always enjoyed being a guest for dinner, partly because Tala's mum could do wonders in the kitchen, and partly because they were genuinely nice people. Even then, Tala had always managed to find some fault in them, Nicky knew he found it difficult to accept them as his true parents and they would always end up arguing on this point.

The wooden front door opened revealing a petite woman.

"Nicky, come on in" she welcomed brightly.

Nicky smiled warmly, Tala's mother always had the ability to make her feel appreciated as an extra to their family. She looked nothing like Tala, but then that was obvious seeing as she wasn't his biological mother. Instead of being tall, Nicky estimated she was almost half his height. Her honey coloured hair and warm brown eyes oozed daintiness which, was also seen in her beaming smile and calming personality.

"I'm here to see Tala, Mrs. O'Hara"

"Oh I'm afraid I haven't seen him all day."

Nicky frowned, "You haven't? Well just tell him I popped by, will you?"

Mrs. O'Hara smiled, "Sure, wait a minute, take these for your mother, she's always nagging me to send her some scones"

That had to make Nicky smirk, it was so much like her mother to nag Tala's mum for scones, after all her mother barely had time to step foot into the kitchen let alone bake wondrous treats. Her dad was usually the one cooking all the food, and at that it would mostly be ready-made meals.

With a thank-you she stepped back into the warm summer night, the drumsticks completely forgotten and instead the only thing embedded into Nicky's mind was the thought of finding Tala. Pulling out her cell phone as a last resort she pressed the speed dial button to Tala's cell. It rang for a few seconds before switching to his answering as a woman's orderly voice started…'you have reached the answering for the number 07733-'

In defeat she headed home, hoping that Tala was somewhere warm and safe.

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Tala had been tapping his fingers on the steering wheel and humming in beat to the Incubus song 'Smile Lines' that was blasting out from the tape deck. He had attempted to not think, until that point when his thoughts were snapped away from the distracting song and onto the sound of ringing, his cell-phone ringing.

Slowing the car slightly and glancing at the number on his caller display, he almost had a heart attack seeing Nicky's number glaring back at him. Immediately voices of concern filtered through his head, what if she knew what he was doing? What if she had told his parents? It was almost as if he had a guilty conscious that could snap at any moment, but then there was a part of him that did feel guilty for not talking to his parents before going to find his past. Quickly he pressed the off button on the cell and watched as the screen that had been lighted up seconds before faded into the darkness surrounding.

After a few minutes, the familiar sign of 'Castledon' came into view. This was where his beloved field was located, but he also knew that Bryan was a current resident of the town.

Pulling off the main road and onto a side street he parked the car under a street lamp, turning off the ignition. With the front drivers seat light on, he fumbled with the lock on the side drawer, rummaging through the junk that had collected there. Underneath the CDs, tapes, pens and pieces of paper he pulled out a tiny square black book. Skimming through the yellowed pages he came across the number he had been looking for, Bryan's. Picking up his cell once more and switching it on, he dialled the number that had been inked in black years before. He gripped the cell harder as his hands grew sweaty from nerves. Ringing… Ringing… his breath held back waiting for someone to pick up. Click… He could have sworn his heart skipped a beat when he heard that click of the receiver.

"Hello," the voice belonged to a male, Tala guessed he was a lot older than a teenager was, probably in his thirties or forties, it was an annoying voice too, something you could get bored of hearing almost instantly.

"Can-Can I speak to Bryan"

"He's at work, call back later kid"

And Tala could almost picture the man at the other end, about to hang up, hang up Tala's own dream at the same time.

"-Wait"

"Yeah?"

"Where does he work?" Tala asked, spewing out the first thing that came to his mind.

There was a sigh of irritation, before the voice answered, "It's a club, 'The Pitt' its on the high street"

And then there was the click, but it didn't matter, because Tala knew where he was going now, knew he was heading to this so-called club on the high street.

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The tacky red sign flashed repeatedly outside 'The Pitt' and a line of people snaked up and along the pathway. Joining the queue Tala became lost in his thoughts and did not realise that he had reached the front, until an over-muscled bouncer stopped him suddenly. Looking up Tala caught the bouncer's gaze that washed over him trying to make out whether he was of suitable age or not. This seemed to strike Tala as funny and he cracked a small grin, causing the bouncer to shake his head and chuckle before ushering Tala through the arched entrance.

As he followed the mass of people trundling down the stone steps into the basement, the smell of smoke and the feeling of darkness engulfed him. Tables and tables were scattered around, each filled with people much older, smoking and drinking. He knew if he looked to the dark corners there would be couples making out, he had been at 'The Pitt' before, although that was just a coincidence. He couldn't remember much about that time, except that the bar was located near the front. Slowly he made his way forwards pushing through the herds of couples and groups all dancing freely on the cheap light up dance floor. As he neared the stage the heat became much more intense, the smell of smoke had become somewhat heavier and the music blaring from the amp was louder, threateningly vibrating the fragile atmosphere.

Sliding into a seat at the counter he waited for the barmaid to be free and soon enough she came to serve him.

"What can I get you, mister?" her voice was very sultry, and she intentionally leaned forwards revealing her cleavage teasingly as she wrote down his order.

"Coke and vodka," Tala replied casually.

As she set about pouring the mix, Tala studied her carefully. She was exactly the kind of girl he used to thrive off. Her short brown hair was pulled into two high pigtails, with a few loose strands girlishly falling to the side of her pretty face. She was dressed in the usual night-club uniform, of a tight fitting black strapped top, with the small red 'The Pitt' badge sewed onto one of her breasts. From what he could make out, she was also wearing a rather tiny PVC mini-skirt that would have sent the straight and bi male population wild.

"Here you go darling," she placed the glass on the table top, winking and waiting for her tip.

"Do you know where I can find Bryan?" Tala asked, placing a few dollars on the table for the barmaid.

"Hang on, I'll get him for you babe" she moved aside for a moment, popping her head into the door positioned behind her, "Snowflake, someone wants you"

Tala's hand flew to his glass, hastily gulping down part of the Alco-pop he had just ordered. He was nervous; his fingers clenched the cool of the glass, whitening in anxiety, the glass dangerously on the verge of shattering from the pressure-

"Sindy, who's going to count up the rest of the bottles if people call me every two minutes for a chit cha-" He stopped talking when he saw the red head seated behind the counter. Tala also looked up at that instant, recognition clear in both of their expressions.

It was strange, all these years Tala had forgotten how Bryan had looked, only a vague image stained his mind and yet as the other stood in front of him, everything about him came back refreshed.

His hair colour was the same shade of lilac, still in the same sharp cut that reflected his personality, except it had grown down below his neck in a rebellious fashion. His eyes held the same coldness that stared menacingly against the pale skin of a Russian. There were only a few things that had changed, one being his height, the other the addition of a stud, which pierced the skin beneath the lip on the labial.

Bryan smirked suddenly, bringing Tala back to life.

"So long time no see"

Tala scowled, "I'll cut to the chase, why did he do it?"

"He?" Lavender eyebrows raised in mock confusion.

"Boris"

Bryan leaned over the table, it was to Tala as though he had crossed over the border of being a worker to a customer, and he did not like it. It was making Tala more nervous, making him almost forget why he was there, what he was doing. He raised his glass, devouring the rest of his drink.

"Never realised you would turn to drinking Tala, or am I making you anxious" The boy smiled, a harsh uncaring smile. Tala groaned inwardly, he knew Bryan was pushing buttons, the right buttons, it made him feel like a puppet, obeying as Bryan yanked at his strings.

His mouth twisted into an angry frown, "cut the crap Bryan, you know I'm talking about Boris"

"That sadistic bastard? How would I know?" Bryan rolled his eyes, nodding at Sindy to motion that he had understood her silent warning.

"Come through, we'll talk about your issues inside," muttering under his breath in Russian he added, "You're scaring the customers away"

Tala followed, he did not care where they discussed it, as long as he got answers.

"Why did you come here," Bryan asked suddenly.

"I want the truth"

Bryan's voice edged with annoyance, breaking slightly, "What truth Yuri? Do you want me to tell you its ok? That your life isn't still controlled by him. That his voice doesn't echo hauntingly every time you break one of his rules. You know its true-"

Tala slammed Bryan against the stone wall of the basement; his arm pressed firmly against the other boys' neck, choking the rose tattoo that was just visible under the black of the boys T-shirt.

Bryan smirked, "You still can't face the facts about yourself can you?"

Blue eyes narrowed harshly, "shut up Bryan," he said softly.

"You can't even admit," he spat at the red head, "What did you come here for? For me to tell you it's ok that you're gay? What…did you think I had forgotten Yuri?" he taunted.

"Shut up!" Tala growled, louder, more angrily, his arm ramming Bryan against the wall harder. He let go, grunting under his breath, before turning and walking away.

Bryan's cold laugh rung out around, "Or should I entertain you on the topic of your parents?"

It was as if something had snapped inside Tala, like the puppet string had been pulled much too hard. There was no thought involved, only the impulsive thrive of anger pushing forward. The fury built up into Tala's clenched fist that connected sharply with Bryan's jaw, slamming them both backwards against the darkness of the wall.

For a moment both wore an expression of mutual shock, motionless, their brains catching up to what had just happened. Tala looked pained as realisation hit him, the boy in front of him had his head hung low, like a life-less rag doll…guilt swept through his veins replacing the adrenaline that had been pumping. That was until Bryan's hair shifted and he looked up daringly at Tala, his lips curved into a sickening smile, teeth showing, red, and mouth dripping with blood.

Roughly Tala let go of Bryan, he knew it was another one of Bryan's mind games, he refused to play them. It was simple and he walked away.

The heavy door of the basement groaned as Tala pulled it open. Before it had even opened completely the loud blare of electric guitars skimmed the corners of the room.

I love the way you rape my skin
I feel the hate you place inside
I need to get your voice out of my head
Cause I'm the guy you'll never find

I'm faking all of the rules
There's no expressions on your face
I'm hoping some day you will let me go
Release me from my dirty cage

I can't control you
You can't control me
I need to feel you
So why's it involve... you and me...

Neither moved again, still, almost contemplating the lyrics filtering through the tiny gap in the door, but then Tala's hand gripped the door handle harder, ready to leave, having the courage to leave.

It was Bryan who spoke, "Wait, they sent your box"

Tala gripped the handle harder, stationary, not knowing what to do. He knew exactly what 'the box' was. It was nothing and it was everything, it was colloquial in the Abbey, for the items the boys came to the abbey with. Of course these weren't allowed to remain with them, and so Boris would store them in shoebox sized metal tins. Tala had seen them before in Boris' office, he assumed all the children had, they were stacked on the shelf one upon the other, an army of identical boxes, except for the personal number printed on to the side. They were identical on the outside alone, on the inside they contained possessions of their pasts, the pasts Tala craved to have so much and yet could barely remember.

He turned around after a moment, knowing that Bryan wasn't lying. He wasn't trained to lie; there was no need after all.

The last time Tala had seen one of the boxes was when he had been beaten in the principle's office, and here it stared at him, from Bryan's hands. His box, his own box, not one of the random ones, it was his.

Greedily his azure eyes swept over it, he wanted it so much, and yet he was scared. Unsure he stepped forward, but the sheer presence was like a drug, a drug that he craved; hungrily he snatched it from Bryan's hands.

"Thank you" He smiled a soft pained smile, fingers clenching the cold hard edges of his box possessively. Their eyes met, blue against purple, a whole conversation carried out in just one flicker. He turned and left.

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Outside the summer breeze lapped upon his face as he walked, in no direction in particular, but as he came closer he knew he had been walking to his field.

It seemed so long ago that he had been here, carefree…happily enjoying his time with Faith. Yet those memories seemed like a dream now, something that he had never experienced. His veins oozed with emotions that were bursting to be released, and it was at that point when he lay back on the fresh grass, knees bent before him that he knew he was fatigued. He could just sleep there for eternity, and yet the child in him was yelling at him, kicking and punching him with its little fists so he would open the box. He looked at it staring at him from nearby, he was afraid; did he really want to face what had been locked away for so long? He didn't know.

There was something nagging inside of him, telling him that the box was a hoax, that it was with him to torment him in some sickening way, some sickening method of Boris. He had evidently dealt with too much that day, too much emotion.

Covering his eyes with his numb fingers, he sighed, he wanted to be swallowed up by the ground, drowning beneath into pools of nothingness. But the box was waiting…

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Well that's chapter 13 written, please leave a review (just click that button there!)

Anyway, before you go, hey WAIT, I have a surprise for you all…

A very good friend of mine called Elfy, has kindly drawn a picture of Faith looking out of a window wistfully staring at the world, it's really awesome and I love it to pieces, so here's the link (you'll have to copy and paste it because ff.net is being stupid)

If you can't see the link above, check out my ff.net profile and there will be a link there, but you HAVE to see it, it's just beautiful!

Hope you enjoyed that ^__~

So I would also like to dedicate this chapter to three people in particular, Elfy because she drew that awesome picture, Nicky for helping me on the chapter and Coppelia because she really wanted some Bryan in the story, and has been waiting a long time for it! Hope you enjoyed!

And I'm doing individual thanking-ness this time because you guys are the greatest.

Flamey- That's so nice of you, I feel bad for not updating sooner, but you made it sound so nice saying that you enjoyed it sparingly *huggles* well I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.

Mezu- Thank you for the review, yes I will put in more Tala and Faith moments because I think they're a nice contrast from all the angst in this story! And aww Kai *huggles*

Dark Ice Dragon- Thanks for the luck-ness for my exams, so far they've gone pretty well so I'm happy, and last chapter MC was just acting a bit mean, but we're all mean once in a while so she's excused. LOL. Hope you update the hidden soon, I'm waiting ^_~

Lost Deasert Wolf- I really will try and keep updating now, because I'm in the mood for writing this story, *pokes* will you leave me a longer review? Pleeease *pouts* because I love reading things from people who read my stories, even if it's something about you.

CRL- *cries with CRL* yeah that was sad last chapter with Kai, and don't worry MC and Rei are still together, ^_~ did you manage to listen to that Incubus album? What did you think? Aww I love it! Brandon *jumps excitedly*

Whisper -YES! Glomping Yuri is a great idea *glomps* hehehehe, let us laugh evilly too! Hope you liked this chapter! And yay, you come to the forum more, so I get to annoy you more!

Vampire Neko -*kicks Noleé in the balls* yep I've wanted to do that too! And you'll have to see what happens with Faith, but she does get with someone, but *grins evilly* you'll have to wait and see!

Nicky -*helps Nicky to kill Voltaire* I hate that man sooo much, urgh! But I have a lot in store for him, Kai will be saaaved! *dramatic finish* hope you liked you in this chapter!

Elfy –Aww you aren't emotionally unstable, I'm just a great authoress who can make people cry at the click of my fingers *sticks out tongue* just joking! And thank you sooo much for the picture, I really loved it! I really did *huggles elfy*

F. A Star Hawk – Thanks, and yeah it did seem like MC had serious PMS last chapter, hopefully she'll be cured soon. Voltaire is a whole other story, *pukes* I hate him, must start plotting to kill him *laughs evilly*

Tenma Koneko – I'll tell you from now, this isn't a Tala/Kai story, just so you know, and Faith, you'll have to wait and see who she ends up with. So you can refresh your memory on what has happened in the story, check out the reviews and I left a review with a summary of what's happened (especially for you) and hey! What's happened to sweet revenge!

Ryoki- Hey I updated! Is the world going to shine now! *grins* and I'm glad you like the plot so far, its really nice hearing that because I'm always unsure of where I'm taking this story (trust me the original plan was soo different) Thank you

Arcia –Hey when did you become so dramatic *pokes tongue* glad you liked it, and aww Kai, he's so cute when he's sad. God I'm such a sadist! Thanks for the review!

Katie- Thanks for the review, hope you liked this chapter! Keep reading! ^__^

Mira- It's nice that you can relate to it, I hope the future chapters will have you smiling and sorting out the problems that have incurred your life. Talk to you soon, and leave me a review.

Oh yes one more thing, if you don't have an ff.net account or just want reminding when the chapters are updated, leave me your email address in a review, and I'll email you telling you when I've updated.

Till next time, your authoress

~dudems

P.S. Please review *winks*