28. The Checkpoint

3.09.20

Kody's POV

I woke up once the sun was high in the sky. James was still laying on top of me with his face in my chest, but the rest of the car has woken up and are idlly chatting. Koda's wide eyes stared at me from the floor, and I gave him a gentle smile.

"Oh my God you three are so cute!" One of the girls squealed loudly.

"Shhhh!" I commanded while soothing James slowly back to sleep. He only stirred slightly, yet my heart clenched hard in my chest. I kept him awake much too late last night, and he deserves to rest as long as he needed to. "What time is it?"

"It's seven in the morning. We just crossed the southern border of the Kingdom of Harley a few minutes ago."

"It's so far from Carbuos to Jul."

"Yeah, well that's just the life of the royals. Go here, do this. Why? Because it's proper," the brown haired girl intimidated, and I couldn't help but chuckle lowly. I definitely related to that statement. Obviously she didn't grow up a princess.

"I still can't tell if I prefer not knowing when you'll eat next or being so formal all of the time," I admitted.

"I've never had to choose, so I can't say I understand. However, you should know that I don't judge you at all for your upbringing. If anything, I admire you for it. Kody, I used to go into the market place in the winter and see people frozen to death; I can see how hard it is to survive out there. I think you used so much courage and pure drive, and that's why you're here."

I smiled calmly at her comments. She had no idea how hard it was to find a will to live when I was alone at 13, but she still tried to understand. Suddenly, James groaned and curled his fingers tighter into my shirt. I wrapped my arms tightly around his back as we went over a rather large bump. Suddenly, the car rolled to a stop.

"You're going to want to wake him up. Like, right now!" the same girl commanded in a slightly hushed voice.

I shook James hard, and he woke up slowly. "Jam we don't have time for this! I don't know what's happening, but you need to get up right now," I murmured urgently.

He shot up at my words, and I could now sit as well to see what's going on. Oh holy hell, I know that face too well. The sun guardian himself was checking the cars of everyone ahead of us. It wouldn't be long before he found us.

"Jam listen very carefully. Take the girls and Koda and run away. Go fast, and if you can, don't let him see Koda. I need you to then get my father. How, I don't care," I commanded without leaving any room for a discussion. "He'll probably let you get away if he finds me because I'm what he wants."

"What about you? Kody, I can't live without you, we already decided that!"

"I'll be fine, Jam. I don't want us all to die for no reason. I would rather die for a cause than have everyone in the car be killed. You can't stay here because you need to get my father."

The guardian was one car away now, and James looked me in the eyes before grabbing Koda. "I'll always love you, even in death," he confirmed before leaping out of the car. The two girls ran after him, and so did a few guards.

I, on the other hand, threw myself out of the door on the opposite side right into the sight of the sun. "Ey! Handle them later, this is the one we're looking for!" he shouted before shifting his voice so that only I could hear it. "Playing the savior, are you? It's a shame that you'll never see your little boy toy ever again."

I was tackled onto the hood of the car by his guards while the driver just watched from the safety of the car. My arms were jerked behind my back, and I groaned rather loudly when they were pulled so hard that my shoulder ached. A scary looking man approached me with a needle, and I began to struggle. I was intending to just go quietly, but needles scared the living daylights out of me.

"Hold him still, I can't risk injecting this in the wrong place. We can't accidentally kill him or the boss will kill me," the man commanded, and I was pinned down roughly. There was nothing I could do about the coming needle, and I just closed my eyes. "This won't hurt one bit..." I heard before I got the worst pain of my life. I jerked violently before my limbs wouldn't work. My eyes were slowly watering from the pain, and the man, delighted by my pain, corrected, "Yeah, that was a lie. Goodbye," before leaving.

I wasn't able to move, but I was still awake. The only thing that I could do was blink, and even that took a lot of effort.

"Does he still feel pain?" A voiced asked from behind me, but I couldn't turn my head to look. A sharp pain came from my upper arm, and I squeezed my eyes shut. If I could scream, I would.

"It appears so, Sir Fairu."

"How long does it last?"

"With a dosage such as we gave him, almost 2 weeks, sir."

"Awesome! Put him in the car. Sit him up so he can see the path to his doom."

I was lifted up without any caution, and the person even dropped me like he wasn't expecting me to weigh anything. It hurt because the dust got into my eyes, but I couldn't move anything to clean them. Eventually, I was placed into the front seat of what seemed to be a pick up truck based on the small cab.

Another person got in beside me, and I could barely see that it was the sun guardian out of my peripheral. "Kody, Kody, Kody," he muttered darkly, and if I could have shuddered, I would. "You're probably wondering what I'm going to do with you." I was, stupid mind reader. "Well I'll probably let you suffer for a while before I put you into the machine again. I'm thinking sleep deprivation, starvation, physical and mental tiring. All the good stuff. Then I'll take all of your power for my own and leave you to whatever happens to you. Dead, no memories, vegetable, I honestly have no care in the world. Let the blithering idiots that somehow put up with you figure that out."

"Now you're probably wondering why I want all of the power in the universe. All I want is total control over this Earth and all of the people in it. As of right now, your stupid positive energy is getting in my way of my negative, and I need to get rid of it to be successful. Originally I was after your mother, but you're just as good. Now, Kody Lamark, prepare for your worst nightmares and fears to be put into one singular week. By the end, you'll be begging me to end you already. After all, you don't even have control of your own body!" he chuckled evilly, and I though about James. Please find me soon.