asylum [kai parker] editing/rewriting

Twenty-One

I send Kai a glare before he grabs ahold of my arm and grabs the groceries and his wallet. "What? What are you d-"

"We need to leave. Now." Kai scolds, suddenly more serious. Serious Kai is even scarier than funny Kai, happy Kai, or psychotic Kai. There's too many Kai's.

"What? We can't just-"

"Yes. Now get your ass to the car before the lady calls the cops." Part of me wants to follow him and manage what exactly he does to shut the lady at the front desk up. But instead he walks in front of me, leading me out to the car.

The lady isn't at the front desk, which makes me wonder if she even saw the news. Either way, Kai opens the car of his piece of shit car. But just as he opens it, he glances across the parking lot. He silently debates on picking another car. But instead, he just gets in.

I get in the passenger seat and pull on the crappy seatbelt. "Too many memories in this car?" I raise an eyebrow.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I enjoy this piece of shit." He says, looking at the keys and turning them in the ignition.

Kai sighs loudly and presses his foot down.

"Where are we off to now?" I'm curious, honestly.

"You know, I'm thinking Vegas, what about you?" His bright white smile almost makes me squint.

"No." Why would we spend our time driving all the way here?

"Too bad." He speeds up more, looking over at me.

"Why are you so..."

"Psychopathic?" He swings his head towards me.

"Annoying, bitchy, sociopathic, murderous...yeah, psychopath works." I nod and shrug my shoulders.

"Well, my view points on things have changed. I believe it's sociopath now." He says and looks me in the eyes.

"Keep your eyes on the damn road, genius." I glare, looking ahead.

"Okay. Hmm..." Kai thinks for a moment, "I spy, something green."

"The tree," I blurt as I roll my eyes.

"Which one?" He asks and raises his eyebrows.

"Are you serious-"

"Too late. Point for Kai, your turn." He slams his hands on the steering wheel along with the music.

"I spy something yellow." I kick my shoes up and place them on the dashboard.

"Stripes on the road. My turn." He grins.

"Cheater," I mutter, actually somewhat happier now.

"How can you cheat in I Spy?" Kai throws his hands in the air dramatically.

I just roll my eyes at his response.

"I spy, something...black," Kai hums quietly to himself.

"Your soul," I raise my shoulders with a sigh.

"No. That's it, I win." He stops me from doing anything else and turns up his screaming music that I'm not used to.

"Fine. You always win," I huff.

"Damn right I do." He smiles a little and keeps his eyes on the road attentively.

I need to get a way away from him sooner or later. He is going to drive me insane and he isn't even at his worst point yet.

"You know, you aren't the worst company in the world..." Kai looks over at me again.

"And I wish I could say the same thing back but...I'm afraid I'd be lying." My face twists a little as I fight off a smile.

"Ouch," Kai coughs noisily and then begins rummaging through his almost empty bag of pork rinds.

It's only about one minute before Kai starts talking again.

"Since you're like, not responsive." Kai smiles a little, "let me tell you of one of the times when I felt something."

"That's impossible," I mutter.

"Well, I was in New York, walking through town when I saw a small girl. She was crying. Her ice cream was all over her clothes and mouth and face- ugh, it was disgusting. But anyway that's not the story. The fat little girl with sticky mess all over her face kind of well, hopped around screaming. Tears were mixing with the ice cream and- oh my gosh just thinking about it makes me want to throw up." He shakes his head.

"You talk. A lot." I say, listening even as I look outside.

"Well the girl was crying for her mom, and I watched her walk up to me asking for help. She was like crying a lot and I didn't want the ice cream all over me so I backed up. But of corse it got on my hands and that was fucking sick so I wiped it back on her back. Then I looked down at her little eyes." He pauses to catch a breath. "And I felt empathy for her."

"What did you do then?" I ask, just a little curious.

"Oh. I went to McDonalds." He turns to the road.

"And the girl..."

"Oh. I left her there."

My eyes widen as I silently judge him.

"I said I felt something. Never said I would help her. I felt something," he shrugs.

And just like that I'm back to where it started, still hating him.

It's about an hour down the road, of him talking my ears off before I feel something snap inside him. "Why aren't you talking?"

"Because I don't want to." I say blandly. "You took me from everything I loved."

"Loved, ha." He shakes his head a lot before flooring it more.

"You're such a teenage girl." I huff loudly.

"Why is that?"

"One moment you're so fucking happy and now you're like pissed at me for not speaking."

"It was just a question," he says innocently.

"Well shove your question up your ass." I shake my head.

"Why are you so bitchy?" He asks.

"Because you took me from my family-" I pause myself, "why else?"

"Come on. Have I ever done anything right?" It's actually a very valid question.

"Hmm. You stood up to Aaron the Asshat." I say, but that is the only thing.

"Oh. Almost forgot about that-" he smirks slightly.

"I haven't."

"Pyromaniac. Hmm, that was a creative one." Then the jackass is back.

I shake my head disappointedly.

"Sorry, but points to ever thought of that one." He says and smiles at his witty self.

The light laugh that follows is ignored. But the happiness flowing throughout the car is all but ignored the moment we turn to each other and lock eyes at the same time.

"Kai-" I start, fading off when the bright light flashes. There is a sudden jolt, followed by blackness.

I told him to keep his eyes on the road.