Edited by: Waning_Crescents

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The words Axis spoke and the way he treated Cal kindled a flame inside of Sigal, a kind of rage unknown to him. While he had undergone that emotion before, it felt different; more intense but also more painful. He fixed his gaze on the criminal, a murderous intend glowing in his eyes. “Step away from him.”

“Woah, so scary.” Axis mocked with a grin on his lips. “I even was so generous and let him say goodbye to you.”

It took every ounce of Sigal’s willpower to not make any moves, but he clenched his restrained hands into fists, bursting with fury. “Step. Away. From. Him.”

“You are in no position to make any demands, Mr. Investigator,” Axis remarked before he stopped the malicious act of playing with Cal and put his gun away. Then he turned to Cal and said, “Look at your partner. He is trying really hard right now and that only for your sake. Isn’t that a sight to behold?”

“Let him go…” Cal squeezed out between quivering lips.

“Are you so worried about him? Are you scared he will get hurt?” Axis questioned. “You see, the only reason he is here is because of you. Your selfish actions brought this about, little brother.”

“Cal! Don’t listen to him! This is not your fault.”

Axis chuckled as he briefly glanced at Sigal, but then he crouched down to Cal. He grabbed his hair and lifted his head, gazing into his eyes. “It is always your fault. Everyone who gets involved with you is doomed to die.” He lowered his voice. “Starting with your mother.”

Cal’s eyes widened in shock.

“Oh, that’s right! You didn’t know, did you?” The corner of his mouth lifted into a terrifying smile. “Your mother didn’t commit suicide. We killed her because of you!”

Axis let go and got back up, while Cal let his head drop.

His body trembled as he stared on the ground with eyes wide open. W-what did he just say?

***

The curtains had been drawn shut, only the soft sunlight shone through it. It had been in the middle of the day and all that could be heard from the dimmed room was sobbing.

Little Cal startled awake from his afternoon nap. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times as the sobbing traveled all the way to his room. “Mom?” He sleepily got up and tottered after the noise which led him all the way into the kitchen.

A woman in her late twenties sat on a chair. Her arms rested on the table, and she had her head buried in them.

“Mom? Are you ok?” Little Cal walked in while he rubbed one of his eyes once again, still not fully awake.

At the voice of her son, she immediately lifted her head and wiped the tears away, putting on a smile. "Yes, my dear. Why are you awake?”

“I had a nightmare.” Little Cal replied, “But why are you crying? Is it about dad?”

The woman looked at him with a pitiful expression, but then said, “Come here.”

He nodded and walked up, taking a seat on her lap. He lifted his right hand and wiped the remaining drops of tears off her cheek. “Mom, I will never leave you. I will stay with you.”

She nodded with a kind smile. “I know.” She pulled him into a warm embrace. “And I will always be by your side.”

Then she loosened her grip, and her eyes met her son’s. “Rhys, do you know what your name means?”

Little Cal shook his head.

“It means passionate. People will be drawn to you and love you,” she explained, “Never forget that, okay? You are a wonderful child and I love you more than anything in the world.”

Little Cal stared at her for a moment, but then a smile appeared on his lips, his teeth showing. “I love you too, mom!”

Rain splashed down, the wind blew wildly like a ravaging ferocious beast, plunging the whole sky into darkness.

Little Cal stood in the halls of his school, staring through the window. Mom, where are you?

He watched the rain pouring down, while he waited patiently for his mother. As the minutes went by without any sign of her, he grew worried. All the other kids had been picked up by their parents a while ago and only he remained. Suddenly, his teacher walked up to him. "Rhys, please come with me.”

He whipped his head around and glanced at the woman, but then followed silently. As they reached the teacher’s lounge, he caught a glimpse of a tall man and beside him stood a young woman, both clad in expensive attire.

Little Cal stopped in his tracks, his expression full of uncertainty. “Why is dad here?”

The teacher crouched down in front of him and said, “Rhys, something happened. Your mom had an accident.”

His eyes widened. “Is she okay? Where is she? I want to see her!”

“Your dad will explain everything to you. He is here to pick you up.”

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“No! I want my mom!” Little Cal screamed. “Where is my mom?”

The tall man walked over and squatted down. “Calm down. Everything will be fine, I promise.”

Little Cal shook his head as tears rolled down his cheek. “Where is my mom? I promised to never leave her. Bring me to my mom!” He cried bitterly.

“It will be fine, my son. You will understand in time.”

***

Uncontrollable rage surged up inside of Cal. “You killed her?” He glanced to his right, where the knife he dropped before still lay on the ground.

“That’s right,” Axis said as he walked back to where he sat before. “She was too stubborn and a nuisance. It had to be done.”

“You will pay for this!” Cal straightened his back and then whipped his head backward to smash the back of his head against the man’s face who restrained him.

Startled, the bulky man loosened his grip on him and Cal broke free. In a hurry the man tried to grab after him, but only grabbed his sleeve and Cal slipped out of his jacket. He darted to his right, grabbed the knife and dashed back at Axis. “Die!!”

At the same time, Sigal saw the opening Cal created and wanted to act but got stopped by the man behind him right before he made any sudden moves. “I wouldn’t even try. Before you can even reach him, I will blow your brains out and he still will face the consequences.”

Sigal gritted his teeth, cursing his own powerlessness. He was only able to watch what unfolded in front of his eyes, unable to provide any help.

Just as Cal was about to ram the knife into Axis, a sudden impact from behind disrupted him and he found himself pinned to the ground once again. He still held the knife in his hand, but he couldn’t lift it as the person, who was now on top of him, fixed it in place, as well as pressed one knee slightly against his back to prevent him from moving.

“Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!” Cal cursed in frustration, while he slammed his left fist multiple times against the dirty ground.

“Woah, that was close!” Axis let out, but then turned to the man that held Cal in place. “Well done, Killian.”

The man nodded in acknowledgment.

“I will kill you! I will kill you!” Cal screamed at the top of his lungs, which turned his voice into a terrifying savage creature out for blood.

The change in Cal’s demeanor left Sigal quite shocked. He had never seen Cal like that before, neither did he know what ignited that sudden outburst. Parts of what Axis said didn’t reach all the way to him, thus, he lacked the information that led up to this.

“I guess we have to calm you down.” Axis squatted down, looking into Cal’s blood shot eyes. Without any words, he grabbed after the knife, which the other still desperately clung to, yanked it out of his grip and threw it far away. “You don’t need this anymore.”

“You will pay! I swear you will pay for that!” Cal kept threatening.

Axis sighed and opened the bag around his waist which hung loosely down on his left side. It was not too big, but spacious enough to carry some articles. Then his hand slid in and as he retracted it, the sound of chains clanking together resounded.

At this familiar sound, Cal froze. Axis held leather cuffs and a collar in his hands. The cuffs were linked with chains and the collar had a chain-like leash attached to it.

As Cal’s eyes fell upon these items, his face lost all color. His enraged and hateful expression changed into a panic stricken one in a mere second. “No.” He slowly shook his head.

“You still remember, don’t you?” Axis dangled the items back and forth in front of Cal’s eyes, causing the metal chains to clink noisily. “Your gear?

Cal broke out in a cold sweat and his breathing quickened. “G-get this away from me!”

Axis motioned to the bulky guy to come over. “Help Killian to lift him up, so I can attach them properly.”

The man nodded.

Axis straightened up again and narrowed his eyes. “It’s time to remind you to whom you belong.”

Cal shook his head once more, his body shivering. I...I’m not going back. He scraped his feet against the dirty sand-scattered ground in an attempt to get up, but Killian still had his knee pressed against his back, making it impossible for him to get away.

As the bulky man grabbed after his left arm, Cal flailed his arm around. “No!!” But the man just caught his arm in the act, grabbing it firmly. Killian loosened his knee on his back, and both heaved him up, while Cal wriggled around in a desperate fight to get away. “Let me go!”

“Be a good boy and calm down, will you?” Axis drew closer with the terrifying items in hands.

“Leave him alone!!!” Sigal trembled in anger and frustration. He gnashed his teeth and dug his nails into his skin, but so deep that little blood seeped out and rolled down his palms, dripping to the ground. “Stop!!”

Cal panted as he kept up the struggle to keep Axis from putting the restrains on him. Sweat rolled down his face, the terror visible in his eyes. “No!! Let go!!!”

Axis clicked his tongue in annoyance. “You really want it the hard way, don’t you?” His expression darkened. “If you keep struggling, I will make sure Mr. Crawford over there will suffer in your stead.”

Upon hearing that, Cal faltered, and he stared at Axis before he glanced at Sigal. His partner’s expression showed all the built-up anger, but also carried worry in his eyes. He slowly shook his head at Cal in a manner of saying, ‘Don’t worry about me.’

Cal’s eyebrows lowered and slightly drew together, but then he averted his gaze, clenching his teeth. He stopped his movements completely, squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his head.

“You always have to make things so hard for yourself and others, don’t you?” Axis sighed.

The two people that restrained him, lifted his arms in front of Axis, who put the cuffs on his wrists. The clicking noise made Cal jerk and his pulse sped up. Next, his half-brother bound his ankles and lastly, he secured a collar around his neck, leaving only the leash in his left hand.

Afterwards, the two men stepped away and Axis tugged on the leash, causing Cal to drop to his knees. His gaze fell upon the cuffs around his wrists while he shivered uncontrollably. As if something hefty pressed against his chest, he gasped for breath, while the hue of his eyes dulled.

At this moment, his vision changed. Everything around him got swallowed up by darkness and it went silent. He found himself back in that cold dark room, trapped in that lifeless cage, not able to escape. All these memories and emotions flared up all at once: the strong stench, the cold cement floor, the pain, the loneliness and all the sorrow.

‘You are nothing but a puppet, a toy. You are useless and no one wants you because you are such a failure. But don’t worry, you are useful to me. I will keep you forever. You only have me, no one will ever care about you but me.’

Axis's voice echoed in his mind.

‘My dear little brother, when are you going to accept that this is your life? Stop your futile struggle and give in. You are mine; my property.’

“Cal!”

Mixed into Axis voice from his memories, another voice dully resounded, but he couldn’t determine the owner. His state of mind was in complete chaos, trapped in shock and panic, not able to distinguish the past from the present.

“Look at me, Cal!”

The voice drew closer.

“Cal! Look at me!!”

Who?

Unconsciously, Cal followed the voice’s orders and slowly lifted his head.

“I am here, Cal.”

His clouded vision lifted bit by bit and into sight came his partner, Sigal.

Sigal…

Cal stared at him with lifeless eyes. Why is he looking at me like that? He seems in so much pain, what’s wrong?

“Cal, calm down and breathe!”

Somehow hearing Sigal’s voice helped him return to reality. His pulse slowed somewhat down, and his breathing stabilized, the color returning in his eyes.

Cal lifted his hands, the metal chains rattled as he did so, and touched the leather collar around his neck. It was tightly wrapped around, leaving just enough room so it wouldn’t disrupt his breathing.

“I will get us out of here,” Sigal said with a calm voice as he fixed his gaze on his partner. “Just don’t give up. I will find a way.”

“And how do you intend to do that?” Axis interrupted. “Don’t give him false hopes, Mr. Crawford. There is nothing you can do.”