The Reset

Chapter Five: One Way Or Another

"DAD!"

Kai fell to a heap on the floor, blood pooling from his neck as he felt his body convulsing from the muscle spasms. His mouth gurgled blood and he coughed, feeling his vision grow dark. Damn, how long had it been since he'd felt this kind of pain? It used to feel euphoric. This just sucked.

He could feel his breath becoming shallower with each passing second, barely aware of his children grasping onto him and shaking him. He had told them not to interfere before he'd brought the switchblade out and stabbed himself in the neck with it. Their nerves were too frazzled and clearly too shocked to properly react in time. He could feel their magic all over the place.

Kai smiled as he took his dying breath, the room growing foggy and dim. The last thing he heard was the sobs of his children.

He didn't know how long he was out. The times he died and came back varied, depending on the severity of the injury. He remembered when he'd burned himself alive that it had taken himself a full day to recover. Apparently, skin cells take time to recover and, well, being burnt through to the bone probably had something to do with it.

God, he was so fucked up back then. Before Bonnie Bennett had come into his life.

Sounds were muffled in his ears and he could sense magic all around him. He had most assuredly died. But in that space of silence and darkness, Kai could have sworn that he'd heard Bonnie's voice. A soft, lilting sound that he knew that he would always fall for, time and again. He loved that woman; that damned stubborn witch of his. The only woman to have snatched his heart from his chest without warning.

Or had he given it to her long before he'd even realized he was capable of it?

Sucking in a mouthful of air, Kai sat upright, clutching at his chest as the fog around his eyes began to clear. There were sharp gasps of surprise echoing around him before several pairs of arms began wrapping around his upper body. Abigail and Lonnie both were sobbing hysterically against him while everywhere else were the palms of his other children grasping onto him - making sure that he was real. That he was, indeed, alive.

"Jesus Dad!" cried Josiah as Kai's eyesight fully returned. His son's expression was horrified but it quickly was replaced with outrage. "Fucking hell!"

His hands reached out and gently stroked Lonnie and Abigail's backs as they held onto him for dear life. Lydia slowly stood up, flabbergasted by what she'd just seen. Max and Emilio just bit their lips and stared with wide-eyed disbelief. He couldn't blame his kids. It wasn't every day that they saw someone drop dead on the floor right before their eyes. Let alone stabbing themselves in the neck.

Abigail and Lonnie pulled away from him, tears staining their faces. Lonnie's face was torn between anger and sorrow, emphasizing her seizing emotions by repeatedly slapping Kai's chest. He coughed, laughing gently as he raised his brows at his youngest child. "Hey, hey! You trying to kill me again?"

"That's not funny Dad! You didn't have to show us! We would have believed you...after awhile..."

Abigail sniffed loudly. "You're insane, Dad, you know that?"

Kai laughed outright, shaking his head and quipping a brow. "Your mom didn't marry me because I'm sane and wholesome, Abby, I can promise you that."

"What are you, Dad?" Everyone glanced up to Lydia who was still standing in shock, her arms folded tightly against her chest. Her brows were knit in anger. "Just what the hell did you do?" Kai's brows furrowed as his other children looked between Lydia and then back to him. "What have you done?! Why are you like that? Why is Mom dead and you're still alive?!"