lifeline ⇾ kai parker

24┃to be human

"I'll call you to you later... Mila."

"Okay..." Mila trails off, and he jumps in to reveal his name.

"Alex. My name's Alex."

"Right. I have to get going, Alex. But it was nice meeting you."

"You, too." Alex watches her walk away, hands in his pockets and eyes holding an enchanted sheen.

Mila tries to focus on the upcoming meeting and not the last time she had been properly taken out to dinner. Because if she were to let her mind slip, if she were to remember the night that had been imprinted into her mind along with so many others, then she would be doing the opposite of moving forward. Entangled in the past was something she was for so long, and she couldn't be that anymore just as much as Kai couldn't be anything different than what he was. It's why she was here, making a life for herself, and Kai was once again imprisoned to a world because of all his wrong choices.

━━━━━

THE HISS OF BREWING POTIONS filled her ears as Mila sat, reclined, on a leather chair. Moments ago she was surrounded by a plethora of students, swabbing her cheeks and taking blood samples before they scurried away to do what had been called a "magical analysis". Ms. Featherwood, a teacher that excels in the chemistry of witchcraft, had been taking lead ever since Ric had been caught up with another problem he was vague about.

Now, Kai and Mila had the room to themselves for the moment. He hadn't left her side during the whole hectic process. Not even to drift away and examine the many viles, beakers, and flasks, something she expected him to do because of his short attention span. She could see him lifting the equipment up curiously, an eye magnified from the glass, and probably ending up ruining whatever experiment laid out on the table. Instead, he stayed settled on a stool beside her, his hand interlaced with hers.

"Now that we're alone, care to explain the fact that you were engaged to marry someone else?" Kai hummed, trying not to let his insecurity show.

Mila sighed. "I wanted to explain earlier but then you freaked out and then we were rushed here and then you shooed Alex away like he was pigeon."

"I could have set him on fire. Be thankful."

"We dated for a year, and then he proposed. You were still in the 2018 prison world. I said yes, and then a month later I changed my mind. That's it. I promise," she summarized. Rather than nausea, dullness invaded her senses. Like the extremities of her supernatural being were weakening.

"Okay, if that's it what is he doing here?"

"I don't know," Mila shrugged. "He mentioned he got a job here. He majored in Occult Studies, and he's a werewolf so it makes sense that he would be a good fit here."

"He's a werewolf? It's like he's checking off all the boxes on my list," Kai huffed. He stared forward, seemingly distracted by thoughts in his mind that Mila knew weren't about rainbows and unicorns.

"The boxes for what list?"

"The list I mentally make as to whether or not I should off someone. If I find out he's some distant cousin, well... let's just say it doesn't look good for him."