me and the devil - kai parker

29

Madelene sat on the cold, creaky floor for what felt like hours, her mind full of anger, pain, and confusion. The dim light from the moon outside cast shadows across the room, making everything feel even more suffocating. She tried to steady her breathing, but every inhale was ragged. Every time she tried to calm her nerves, a new wave of tears would choke her down.

She was exhausted, yet couldn't make herself fall asleep. Every time she tried, her brain would repeat the fight with Kai over and over again like a broken record, his words digging deeper and deeper each time reminding her that she meant absolutely nothing to him, he was not capable of feeling any emotions, yet her brain always tricked her, telling her, this time would be different.

She was just a chess in his game, he used her how he liked, how he found the most useful, and she was stupid enough to let him do it every time. It made her wonder if anything was ever genuine between them, lines got so blurred she wasn't sure of her own emotions anymore, and everything started to just feel numb. Pain was the new normal, betrayal was not unexpected anymore.

She glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table—4:03 AM. The glowing red numbers taunted her, reminding her that sleep was as elusive as peace between her and Kai. She couldn't stay in that room any longer. The walls were closing in, suffocating her with memories. She needed air, space, anything but this four-walled tacky prison.

Without making a sound, she slipped on her shoes and wrapped a jacket around herself, more for protection than warmth. She slowly opened the door, the creak of the hinges sounding like a scream in the stillness of the night. The cold air hit her as soon as she stepped outside. She looked back, around the room that looked almost untouched to make sure nothing got left behind before slamming the door shut.

The parking lot was eerily quiet, bathed in the soft glow of a single streetlamp. It wasn't nighttime anymore but the sun did not rise either, it was a weird limbo in between, during this time the worst things always happened to people. The only sound was the distant rustling of leaves and the occasional chirp of a cricket.

She looked around, taking in the empty lot. Her eyes landed on a familiar car parked directly in front of her door— the same car that now housed the man who had nearly broken her tonight. She hadn't expected him to still be here. She had half-hoped he would have driven off, leaving her alone like he did so many times before.

But there he was, slumped in the passenger seat, head resting against the window, his expression softened in sleep. Every time his shallow breath hit the window, fog coated the glass. Even now, in the vulnerability of unconsciousness, there was a tension in his posture, as if even his dreams refused to let him find peace. Madelene worried that as long as the Gemini coven existed, her included, he wouldn't ever find it. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, and for a brief moment, she was reminded of the times when she had watched him sleep in her childhood bedroom, laying next to him, breathing in the same pattern, molded together, and felt something close to affection.

Madelene's heart twisted painfully in her chest. The sight of him like this, defenseless and almost innocent, was a cruel reminder of everything they had lost—everything they had never truly had. She took a few hesitant steps forward, closing the distance between the car. Each step felt like walking on broken glass, sharp and painful, but she couldn't stop herself.

She stopped just outside the car, staring at him through the glass. He looked different in sleep, the hard edges of his personality softened, and the lines of anger and frustration smoothed out.

Her hand lifted, almost of its own accord, to rest against the window. The cold glass pressed against her palm, a barrier between them that she was grateful for. She wasn't sure what she would do if she touched him right now—whether she would shake him awake and scream at him or collapse into his arms and beg for something she didn't even have the words for.