me and the devil - kai parker

38; finale

tw: extremely big content warning! lots of blood, gore, death etc! pls be mindful of that while reading. 

"Oftentimes the tragedies of my life smother me and remind me that I am unsightly and vile and cold.

But then you hold me and it and it all slips away.

And I am not flesh and skin and bones,

I am love.

Love solely to be felt by you."

May 20th, 1980 - Portland, Oregon

"Remember, magic is as much about control as it is about power," Mrs. Parker reminded them gently, walking amongst the kids of the youngest age group she taught. She sent a wary look towards her son, Malachai, as she finished her sentence. "Learn to balance both, and you'll be golden."

The class ended soon after that. Kids swarmed the small, wooden playground and played amongst each other.

Madelene Books stood in the corner, playing with the hem of her blue skirt. She observed the children playing together, and for once she wished she had the confidence to play too.

Instead, she walked over to the swings and hopped on one of them, gently pushing herself with her legs that barely touched the ground.

She watched her own feet kicking the sand as she quietly hummed a song her dad would always sing to her before bed, it seemed to calm her nerves.

She looked up at the kids and noticed Kai had lingered back as well, so she peeked at him, hoping he'd join the other kids. She noticed he wasn't very liked, and she wasn't either, but it didn't matter to her, to him on the other hand, it seemed to matter a great lot.

Suddenly a little blonde girl walked over to Malachai and pointed toward her friends, he nodded eagerly and followed the girl. Madelene smiled looking as they played, and everyone was happy, smiling, enjoying the last beams of the afternoon sun.

Then came a sharp scream, piercing through the chatter. The laughter halted. Madelene turned and saw Molly Sue lying on the ground, her tiny body limp, eyes shut tight, her face pale as winter.

"Kai!" one of the children shouted, pointing. "What did you do?"

Her eyes darted to him. Kai stood frozen, his eyes wide with horror, his hands still raised as if he didn't know how to undo what he'd done. He looked at his own hands like they belonged to a stranger, Madelene saw the fear in his eyes.

A piercing shout came out of the classroom as Malachai's mother ran towards the group. She crouched next to the little girl's body and lifted her up, screaming for help.

Madelene, still at on the swings, observed as Mrs. Parker looked at her son with disgust and anger.

"I told you not to touch anyone boy!" her shout echoed off of the woods surrounding them. "Wait till your father hears about this!" was the last thing she said before running towards the path to their neighborhood, leaving everyone behind, with the little limp girl in her arms.

And just like that, he bolted, disappearing into the trees at the edge of the coven grounds.

And withouth a second thought, she followed him.