Consumed » Kai Parker

Eight

"Find anything yet?"

I'd been peering underneath the bed in Kai's father's room when he asked this and lift my head up to look at him. He's crouched in front of the large, wooden closet and turns his head to look at me expectantly.

"Nothing yet," I sigh. "Just some dust bunnies."

Kai stands up, brushing himself off before walking to the other side of the bed across from me.

"Maybe it'll help if we take a closer look," He says, bending down to grip the bottom of the bed with both of his hands. Realizing what he was going to do, I gasp and scramble out of the way on all fours.

My heart jumps in my chest when he flips the bed. It slams against the wall, the sound of wood crashing practically echoing through the room. Kai glances at me and tilts his head.

"What?" I breath, when he doesn't look away.

"Your hands are shaking," He tells me, a small smirk pulling at one side of his lips. I hadn't noticed until he'd pointed out and immediately feel embarrassed at being so startled by his actions.

I get to my feet, shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans and walk over to the bed used to be, surveying the bare wooden floor.

"There's nothing here," I huff, feeling my frustration growing with every failed search.

"Which means we can mark my father's bedroom as totally useless," Kai shrugs, heading for the door. "Just like the bathroom, the living room, and the kitchen."

"We didn't check the other bedrooms yet," I point out, following him into the hallway. "Like yours."

"Right, cause that makes sense," He laughs. "Leave the key to open the lion's cage inside the cage with the lion."

"Lions can't use keys," I roll my eyes. "And technically, neither can you, considering you don't have any magic. At least, that's what your family would think."

He shakes his head, not bothering to consider my words. "Let's check Liv and Luke's room first."

I press my lips together in a tight line, hesitantly walking after him down the hall until we stop in front of a door that was slightly ajar. Stickers were plastered onto the door to spell "Luke and Liv", with Luke in green and Liv in blue, the "and" being a mix of both colors. The gesture radiated innocence, making my heart ache at the fact that they'd gone through so much as children, mainly because of the man standing next to me.

"I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you were going to kill them, especially considering the fact that they were kids," I speak my thoughts aloud, shaking my head in disgust.

"I don't discriminate," Kai shrugs, kicking the door further open.

I immediately shove past him, entering the room with no intention of wasting time until we find the Ascendant. The tension Kai instilled in me fades slightly at the sight of where Luke and Liv spent a part of their childhood. Liv's bed was against the wall to the right of the room and Luke's was to the left, their names on their white headboards in  the same stickers used for the door. Childlike drawings of stick figures and smiley faces where pinned in random places on the light blue walls.

Above their drawers, which stood in the middle of the two beds, was a window partially covered with white curtains. I walk towards it, finding myself with a perfect view of the Parkers' backyard. A fairly large pool dominated most of its space, with pool noodles and floats scattered throughout it.

The entire house, with the exception of the blood stains spattered throughout the house, seems to be the environment for the perfect family. It's a wonder how someone like Kai grew up here.