Prologue
Three sharp knocks. Dread instantly filled Kai. He whipped back around to his webcam whispering... a mix of fear and desperation entering his voice. “You can trust him Nolan, he’ll protect you now, I love you, little brother.”
A sickening crash came from downstairs along with two pairs of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. Kai ripped the USB stick out bolting to the rug frantically moving it aside, he lifted up the loose board; throwing the USB underneath it, he didn’t bother putting the rug back properly. It didn’t matter anymore.
The steps were getting closer. Kai tore open the door. Survive. That’s all that matters now. Turning to the sound of two men standing at the stairs. Kai leapt at the smaller of the two men whose ratlike eyes widened in surprise.
He landed on top of the smaller man with a crack followed by a scream—rage mixed with pain. Kai spun to his left blowing out a plume of thick black smoke into the larger man’s face, staggered, clawing and choking. “I can win this” Kai thought a small sense of hope rising in his chest, as quickly as it came it dissolved as the smaller man disappeared into the floor, reappearing less than a second later, Kai turned the heel of a boot met his face launching him towards where his front door used to be.
Blood spewed from his face, his nose turned the wrong way, the larger man had recovered and picked him up with what felt like an iron fist, Kai desperately tried to blind the man again to no avail as the man’s other hand clamped over his face. “Nolan... I’ll survive this for you little brother.”
With renewed vigour he kicked off the large man falling to the marbled ground, he recovered quickly putting his fists up, Kai’s face turned to horror when he saw ten pairs of eyes, with a skewed sadistic smile to match. The man had multiplied.
Kai’s stomach dropped, the adrenaline was gone, his lungs burned - a rib must’ve pierced them. His vision ran red, his face ballooning where the boot had struck, his resolve was slowly wavering.
Before Kai could get the chance to think of a plan, a thin arm wrapped around his throat closing his airway, the smaller man had appeared out of nowhere and now had him trapped, Kai fell to his knees as the smaller man kicked his legs from up under him.
The larger man loomed over him, shoulders like stone pillars. He cracked his scarred knuckles, the sound echoed like gunfire. Then the beating began. Pairs of legs and fists hit him relentlessly. Kai couldn’t resist anymore, giving up he thought back to Nolan. When he taught Nolan how to ride a bike, the innocent smile on Nolan’s face, the joy, pride, and love, Kai felt in that moment. He’d never get to experience it again.
“Drag him to the kitchen, if he’s still breathing, fix it.” The smaller man ordered, his voice high and whiny, the larger man grunted in response. Dragging the almost lifeless Kai by one leg into the kitchen, blood oozing onto the marble floor in his wake, the man took out a pistol, a silencer attached, caught a gleam from the dimly lit kitchen, he aimed at Kai’s barely recognizable face and pulled the trigger.
As the gunshot faded; Only the faint sound of boots echoed through the house.
