Devil in Disguise (Kai Parker)

Chapter Ten: Captured

Damon coughed and spluttered on the floor, angry red burns sprouting harshly on his face from the acidic effects of vervain, the only herb known to subdue vampires. Kai started wandering the aisle again, exclaiming, "Who buys patio furniture, from a grocery store. I mean," he selected a green umbrella from the stand, "somebody must, otherwise it wouldn’t be here, but… Now, I’m a little unfamiliar with vampires," he broke the umbrella against his knee, and threw away the shorter part, "but, from what I’ve gathered; a stake in the heart should do it. Right?"

Meg shrieked as Kai lunged with the broken stick, jamming it into Damon’s hand. Blood pooled around the splintered wood, and Damon yelped, in obvious agony. "But you always fight dirty, Damon. That time you and Bonnie played Monopoly, and you stole from the bank? Not cool."

"Kai," Meg cried desperately. ‘Stop it."

He ignored her.

The vampire grunted, and wrenched the broken umbrella from his hand. Kai watched nonchalantly as he got to his feet unsteadily. "I’m gonna rip your head off."

Kai shook his head. "No. You’re not."

He started to rush him again, but Kai swung the umbrella stick and smashed the entire shelf of bourbon, sending the alcohol cascading down onto Damon. There was another sizzle as more vervain came into contact with his pale skin, and he once again sank to the floor. "I didn’t know which bottle you’d take, so I vervained them all." he said cheerfully.

Smiling vindictively, Kai raised the stick again, this time to kill. Meg ran forward, ready to pull the weapon from his hands, but before she could take three steps a third voice called, "Stay away from him!"

Bonnie Bennett looked at Kai levelly, standing at the far end of the aisle. "Oh, the useless one is here. Thank god." Kai mocked, "I’ve watched you try to do magic for months now. What’re you gonna do; fail at me? It’s embarrassing. I’m embarrassed for you."

Bonnie didn’t pay any attention. Her dark eyes were fixed on Damon, until Kai raised the umbrella again. She stared determinedly at a candle, and suddenly, the wick burst into flame.

Meg, though officially not a witch right now, could feel the burst of magic rejoicing as Bonnie got her powers back. The Bennett gasped disbelievingly, nearly laughing, but she became serious as her attention turned back to Kai. He blanched, and said, "Uh-oh."

Meg looked at him weirdly. There was a certain… victory to his smile, identifiable only through years of seeing him act and lie. He was up to something.

"Run." Bonnie told Damon, and the vampire was quick to obey. He zoomed out of the aisle, giving Meg whiplash as she tried to follow him, and was soon out of sight. "Fes Matos," Bonnie chanted, smiling sweetly at Kai. "Incendia."

Meg screamed as fire erupted around Kai. He looked at the witch with dumb, stupid shock – an act, as Meg knew for certain, but a convincing one. Bonnie looked at him smugly. "Giving up so soon? I’m embarrassed for you."

Damon appeared out of nowhere, and hit Kai in the back of the head with unbelievable force. Meg cried out as he crumpled to the floor, eyes rolling back in his head, arms dangling dangerously close to the fire. Bonnie fixed her with a look, almost as though she hadn’t noticed her presence until now. Damon raised his eyebrows at her, and after a moment’s deliberation, Bonnie nodded.

There was a sickening pain in the back of her head, and Meg blacked out.

"Sorry I called you the most annoying person in the world." Damon said, over the bodies of two people. "I hadn’t met him yet."

Bonnie smiled fondly.

***

Hours later, Meg woke with a groan. She felt stiff, like she’d been asleep for hours, and what was wrong with her head? It felt like a train had run it over. She raised a hand instinctively to massage her throbbing skull, but was met with the friction of tape. Her eyes opened in shock, to find her wrists tied securely to the arms of a hard-backed chair. Oh, that’s right. She remembered.

"Gah." she made a stressed noise in the back of her throat. She couldn’t see her watch, and it was freaking her out. Hyperventilation started creeping up on her at the thought of being denied this one habit. "Please," she said hoarsely, breathing heavily. "I need to check my watch. I NEED to check my watch."

"Why?" came a voice by the fire. She hadn’t even noticed Damon was standing there, illuminated by the flickering orange light. "Timing something?"

"No," she struggled against the chair. "No, I just need to look at it! Please! I swear, I don’t mean to do anything rash with it, I just need to check it! It calms me, and not having it… it really, really stresses me out, OK?"

Bonnie’s voice came from the shadowy area of the unfamiliar room. "I noticed that four months ago. You did it every time we were worried."

"Yes, yes! It’s a habit, of sorts. Please, can I just look?" she begged.

Damon sighed as Bonnie came into the light, holding something silver and battered in her hands. Meg almost sobbed with relief as she saw her watch. It was 03.34 AM. Her frantic mind slowed, and she exhaled. "Thanks."

There was another moan from behind her, and she finally noticed that another chair was pressed against the back of her’s. The person, hiding just out of sight, flexed their neck and sighed uncomfortably. Damon looked at him. "You’re awake. Good. Now for the ‘Q and A’ portion of the evening."

"Let me guess," came Kai’s voice. "I answer right; I get a pork rind. Wrong; I get a poker."

Damon looked at his bag of pork rinds in surprise. "What? No, no, no. These are for me. You two just get the poker." he jabbed Kai on the shoulder with the iron rod. ‘Don’t forget about Meg, sitting behind you."

Meg felt Kai’s breath against her neck as the boy tried to look behind him. "Ah, yes. Hi, Nut-Meg. And Damon, you don’t have to do that."

Damon looked at him sardonically. "No?"

"We’re on the same team!"

"Really?" Bonnie interjected, voice laced with poison. "Do you always try and kill your team mates?"

"Yes." Meg muttered, remembering a few… unpleasant games of Cluedo.

Kai paid her no attention. "The important thing is that you have your magic back. It worked." he rose one eyebrow. "You didn’t really think I’d kill Damon, did you?" he laughed, shaking his head, "In what universe does that make sense? I wouldn’t kill one quarter of our population. I’m not a monster."

As he spoke those last words, he aimed a kick at Meg, warning her to keep quiet. "I knew Bonnie would show up. She always comes back – all thirteen times. And I knew, with the right motivation, she’d be able to access her magic. Although I did get a little worried, with all your bickering, that Damon’s life wouldn’t be enough motivation. Turns out it was. I guess that’s just how you two show your love."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "So you did all that, just to make sure I’d have my magic?"

"Of course I did. Because your magic is the key to getting the hell out of here."