me and the devil - kai parker

35

An uneasy feeling started to set in Madelene's stomach as the third hour Kai was gone rolled around. It sure wouldn't have taken such a long time to get Chinese takeout from around the block, even if there was a line.

She bit her lip as she looked at the muted TV that had been playing Jersey Shore episodes with bright lighting and people with too-dark fake tans partying through the entire duration of the show. At first, she was watching it, curious of what television had to offer in 2013, but after half the episode of slang she didn't understand and too much screaming, she muted it, leaving the apartment silent, in an eerie ambiance state.

Her gaze fell from the big screen onto the smaller one laying on the coffee table in front of her. She took it in her hands and quickly searched the contact list to find Kai. She pressed on his name and waited while the signal sounded out loudly for a bit too long.

"Hi! This is Kai, Oh, look at that, you missed me. Bummer, right? Well, you know the drill. Leave a message after the beep, byee"

Then came silence and finally the loud beep meant for leaving a message, it startled Madelene, taking her out of a state of almost trance as she stared blankly at her hands.

"Oh um- Hi, it's Maddie, why is it taking so long? Call me back, I'm a bit worried, uhh...ok bye"

She quickly pressed the red button to finish the call and sighed, her stomach scrunching a bit with embarrassment at her own words. Standing up, she moved to the window, pulling back the curtain just enough to peer outside. The street looked the same as always—dim street lights casting long shadows, cars parked along the curb, and a few people walking by, unaware of the knot twisting in her stomach.

It wasn't unlike him to do this, but it also made no sense in her mind, what could he possibly be doing in Mystic Falls that would take this much time and had higher priority than food? Not many things in life were higher on a list than a good meal for Malachai Parker.

Madelene couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Her heart started to beat a bit too irregularly. She picked up the phone again and stared at Kai's name in her contacts, debating whether to call him again or maybe try someone else who might know where he was, but then again he had no friends, just enemies in this town, and that small fact made her stressed even more.

With a heavy sigh, she walked over to a single bookshelf that stretched from the floor all the way up to the ceiling, it was filled with variation of things. Some action figurines from the 90s, comic books, a few DVDs, quite a lot of dusty, leather books that were grimoires, and other magic-related books. There was a wooden box with a silver lock that left room for a key hidden behind one of the rows of books, and then a city guide for Whitmore and surrounding towns.

Madelene took out the city guide and rummaged through the pages until she found a map. It covered quite a big area, she ripped it out of the book and placed it flat on the kitchen counter. She opened one of the drawers and took out a knife, slicing the skin of her palm without a single wince. Blood spilled over the map as she chanted quietly.

"Phasmatos trubum, nas ex viras sequita saguines ementas asten mihan ega petous"

She recited the words over and over again, yet the blood did not move, it kept showing Mystic Falls on the map.

Madelene started at the paper in confusion, it didn't even move an inch, pooled over the Salvatore Boarding House. But it wasn't possible, everyone who lived there hated him and had no good intentions whatsoever.

She quickly took out her phone and dialed Damon's number, but it went straight to voicemail as well.

"Fuck," she whispered under her breath, her palm landed on her forehead as she thought of words to say "Hey um...This is Madelene by the way, are you with Kai? I wouldn't think you are but I did a locator spell and he seems to be at your house, not to sound like a stalker or anything, so um...just wondering, is here there? It's fine if he is I just want to know... Anyway call me back please if you can...I'm worried about him"