Not That Kind Of Witch • Kai Parker #1

21: witches play dirty

Valerie had been kicked out, thrown to the wind. After the more than awkward confrontation between her and Jo it was unavoidable. Jo's eyes had locked on to her and Valerie had recognized the internal battle taking place within her. Jo had eventually given in, asking, "How is-Has Kai changed? Well you wouldn't know that, because you didn't know him before. But is he-"

Slapping a firm hand down on her shoulder, Alaric whispered to Jo. Valerie peered up into Alaric's disapproving gaze and monitored the room. She stuck out like a saw thumb. Bonnie and Elena were perched on one of the small cushioned chairs, only really meant for one person. Damon was lounged on her other side. She was sandwiched between him and Jo.

The tension in the air was palpable. Slowly raising to her feet, Valerie avoided Jo's pleading stare, "I'll just... go for a walk."

Maneuvering around the many ottomans and chairs in Alaric's front room, she exited his apartment. All of their eyes drilling into her back. Scuffing her feet, Valerie chastised herself. What had she been hoping for? That this world would be stood waiting, warm and welcoming arms wide? Her transition into normal human doings was ailing her.

Pressing the elevator button, she had no time to feed into her realization as the doors pinged open almost immediately.  Stepping into the elevator, Valerie pressed for the bottom floor and looked down at her twisted feet. She hadn't known how to reply to Jo's questions. Hadn't even known if she should have, so in the end she'd settled for awkward silence. Well done, Val.

Peering up into the metallic receding doors of the elevator, Valerie frowned. Remembering the last time she'd been stood, watching her own reflection. She'd had fun that night. She'd felt surprisingly whole compared to the hollow emptiness she was currently feeling.

Exiting Alaric's building, she nodded to his doorman and froze out front. Just froze. Basking in the setting sun on her face, Valerie couldn't believe what she was thinking. She missed the prison world. She had no one here. Her friends and family had mourned her, buried her. The only friends she'd thought she could rely on didn't-weren't her friends.

Rubbing the pre-existent tears from her eyes, Valerie felt ashamed to say she missed Kai. Her only life-lines in the entire world were upstairs planing on how to stop or even kill him and he was all she could think about.

Rolling down her sleeves, she placed her hand in her back pocket. Frowning, she pulled out a cold ring. What in the world? Strolling through the park, she hurried her pace to exit the blanketing shadows. Stepping into the sun, she held the ring up.

It was silver and large, it had an unknown language chiseled on the inside and shone in the dampening sunlight. Knowing how much witches loved Latin, she supposed it was that. She also came to the realization that she was one of those witches. The ring... the ring she found in Kai's outhouse. She'd completely forgot to tell him about it. It clearly wasn't what they'd been looking for but it didn't belong to her.

Holding it tight in her palm, she took in her surroundings. The yard was totally empty now, shadows fled across the grass. Not a single person in sight. Rationalizing with herself, she agreed: it was highly unlikely any of her friends would be strolling through campus at this time of night.

Making her mind up, she headed for Whitmore campus. She needed coffee goddamnit and coffee she would get.

Slipping the ring on to all of her fingers, the large silver band dwarfed each one of them. It was obviously a man's ring. She theorized it must have been Kai's or his father's.

Stepping on to the official campus grounds, shivers raced across Valerie's flesh. She was supposed to be here, studying, making mistakes and living life. Her friends were all probably chilling in their dorms, not a worry in the world.