The Kingpin's Possession

78: Left with No Other Choice

Kit:As soon as P’Kim departed, shutting his door with a firm hand behind him, Kit was quick to spring up from his bed and lock the door.

When he fell back on the bed, he proceeded to bury himself under the covers, fear and guilt churning in his gut for what he had just done. He hadn't meant to expose Ben’s secret to P’Kim, in fact, he had wanted to take that secret to the grave if possible. But circumstances hadn't left him with much of a choice.

The only relief he felt was at the fact that talking to P’Kim about Ben had somehow lessened the guilt that he felt towards his friend for not realizing his feelings sooner. But the most prominent guilt remained, and it gnawed at him until he pulled the covers over his head, cowering away from the rest of world in hopes that if he hid away, somehow, everything would be alright.

Unintentionally but also quite expected, he soon dozed off and only startled awake when a knock sounded at his door.

He was saying, “Come in,” when he suddenly remembered mid-sentence that he had locked the door. But this didn’t seem to be a problem for P’Aawut, because he pried the lock open with the key in his pocket.

“NongKit pulled the blanket tighter around himself as he rubbed his eyes, not having the strength to push himself out of bed. “I’m not really feeling well,” he told P’Aawut, which wasn’t all wrong, but not the full truth either. “Can you let P’Kim know that I’d rather stay in my room instead? I’m not hungry, either.”

Aawut nodded in understanding, even though he didn’t know what was going through the boy’s head. “Understood. I’ll let him know as you wish.”

Kit stared listlessly at the door until it opened again, within the span of a few moments, to reveal that P’Aawut had brought a tray of his dinner up to his room. “What’s this?” Kit asked. “I’m not really hungry, P’Aawut.”

“KhunWhen he closed the door and left Kit alone once more, the latter scrambled out of bed to lock the door again, though he briefly wondered if it was of any use, seeing as P’Aawut had the key anyway, but it gave him a sense of security, however false.

But as soon as he remembered the ache in his neck, Kit rushed to the bathroom, to see the damage for himself. The man in the mirror before him had a bruised neck, red and angry marks that resembled hands imprinted on his skin. Funny how this was the most his father had been present in his current life; and a telltale sign of what a monster Ayan was.

The marks had started to darken, and as a consequence, gotten more visible as well. At this point, Kit was seriously worrying that P’Kim, with his sharp wits and keen eyes, just might end up finding out about what really happened at the restaurant.

By then, the excuse he used about his situation with Ben wouldn't hold up anymore.

It was insanely difficult to hide anything from P’Kim—even now Kit wasn't sure if he was being particularly convincing. Perhaps P’Kim already had his doubts on whether Kit was telling the truth. Or maybe Kit was just a bad liar.

God, he was so screwed! He didn’t know what else to do as his father’s earlier threats rang in his mind.

What should he tell P’Kim if he investigated further? Kit knew that, if he was given just the right amount of pressure, he would crack easily and admit that his problems ran deeper than his guilt with Ben’s unreciprocated feelings.

What should he tell P’Kim if he ended up finding out about these bruises? That he and his friends had a fight? He couldn't, for the life of him, bring himself to lie about something like that.

So he needed to find a different way to help P’Kim, as well as his own friends.

But what? What could he alone possibly accomplish?

More than that, he was sure that there was a mole somewhere, that somebody here or at P’First's territory was feeding his father information to bait him with. He was certain of both options—because the only other person who knew about his sister's pregnancy was P’First.

He paced around his room, his mind deep in turmoil as he tried to decide on whom to tell. Earth? No, it was too dangerous. As much as possible, Kit wanted to keep him away from this kind of danger.

Ben? Kit stopped pacing—he just might be the best person to tell, but then he remembered what he learned from Earth today. No, he could not bring himself to take advantage of his friend any longer. He could not live with himself if he accidentally hurt Ben like that again.

Then who else could he go to for help, anyone who might know about his situation and give him advice on what to do? Was there even anyone for him to approach if he couldn’t go to P’Kim?

Suddenly, a thought came to mind, and even though it was completely absurd and unorthodox, he couldn’t help but think it was the best bet he had.

“I hope I won’t regret this,” he said to himself as he sat down, his mind going over the many possibilities and implications he might face later.

He still had some time to think before he could go through with his plan, but then, hours later, his mind was still set on it. So when everyone had gone to bed later that night, he waited until he heard P’Kim go into his room and shut the door, before he went out of his room and snuck out of the mansion.

Of course, getting out of the house undetected would never be a thing in this property, because as soon as Kit was walking off the porch, the guards by the front who were on patrol swarmed him.

“Nong“Oh,” Kit said as nonchalantly as he could, shrugging. “I’m not going outside, actually. I’m just heading to the other mansion out the back.”

When the guards looked less alarmed, Kit tried to suppress his sigh of relief. “That’s fine, right?” He played it off as a casual remark, but he was actually gauging on whether his plan would be a success or not.

“Ah, chai“Oh, and could you please refrain from telling P’Kim where I’m going?” he pleaded. “I just have a few things to discuss about my sister, and I would really appreciate the privacy.”

“Alright, alright,” the guards agreed.

And so there Kit went, rushing through the vast backyard to reach the other mansion at the back of the estate. It was smaller than the main house, but no less grand. Kit rarely comes to visit here because this place was basically a whole different world away from the main mansion, and usually, he never really had any need to be here in the first place.

But this was his first time coming here on his own and that too of his own accord. So he was a little worried if he would be accepted into the mansion at this hour.

As he went up the steps to the front porch, he steeled himself for the conversation to come. There was a pair of guards stationed by the double doors, and they looked surprised to see Kit there.

“Nong“I have urgent business with P’Kla,” Kit announced. “Please…I need to see him immediately.”