Emily Ashworth is just getting settled into college, making new friends, when all of sudden her entire life changes. Who would have thought, the town sociopath would be the one to help her through everything when she needed it most...
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Emily and Kai walked down the hallway of the large house, Joshua Parker following behind them. People were mingling in every room of the house. They had seen a huge marquee outside with a band playing, full of people too. "So, to what do I owe this pleasure, son?" Joshua asked, Kai turning towards him. "I just thought it was about time we caught up Dad. I mean, it's been, what, 18 years since we last spoke? Though as I remember it, there wasn't much choice in the matter on my part..." Emily could see Kai's face changing. She could feel his anger building up, making her head throb and her entire body ache. She flinched briefly, but Joshua caught it and turned to her. "Everything okay Emily? You don't look so good?" He looked genuinely concerned for her, but she knew better. He just wanted to know what was going on. "I'm fine, thanks. Just a bit of a migraine." "Well, I guess all this noise probably isn't helping. Why don't you both head up to my office, I'll meet you up there in a few minutes. Would you like something to drink while you're waiting?" He asked them both, but the entire conversation was mostly aimed at Emily. It was almost as if Kai didn't exist. She could see how life probably was for him growing up if this is what his father was always like.
"Sure." She replied. "Just a club soda would be great, thankyou." "Not a problem. Wait there a second and I'll grab you one. Malachai?" He glanced at his son, disgust clear on his face. "Sure, I'll have the same." Kai grunted. Joshua disappeared into a room leaving the two of them standing there. "You do look lovely Emily." Kai smiled. "Sorry about earlier, I get a bit nervous sometimes when I'm around pretty girls." He said quietly. That was the first time Kai had really ever given Emily a compliment of any kind, so she took it. She smiled back at him. "Your Dad seems..." "Like a complete jack-ass?" He cut in. "I was going to say like a jerk, but that'll do." She chuckled and he laughed along with her.
A few seconds later, Joshua was back with two glasses. They each took one and he led them upstairs to his office. "Take a seat. I've just got something to take care of and then I'll be with you." He said, closing the office door on his way out. "So...." Emily started. "Yea..." Neither of them were too sure what to say. Emily started wandering around the spacious office, looking at pictures on the walls. So many family photos. She recognised Jo, his twin. Two little ones with blonde hair. Liv and Luke. Several other children who's faces she hadn't seen before. She'd look at probably about 6 different photos, every one in the Parker family was in at least a couple of them, except for one person. She turned to Kai and he sighed. "Yea, so, my Dad obviously erased every memory of me after he sent me away. Guess I kind of expected that. Just here..." He pointed to a space between two photos. "...there used to be this cute little turkey handprint I made in kindergarten. Looks like that's gone too..." Emily looked over at Kai. He looked genuinely hurt. She tried to imagine Kai in kindergarten. He was probably a cute kid. She couldn't help thinking he couldn't have been a sociopath his entire life. He must have been like a normal kid for a while before something changed.
"I was about 7 when my family started cutting me out..." he began, as if he'd read her thoughts. "That's when they realised there was nothing they could do to help me. You start being able to do these things. Amazing things, and at first it's accidental and random, and then you start to figure it out... Which sounds cool, but its... it's torture. It's lonely." "But wasn't it the same for Jo?" Emily questioned. "Jo wasn't a Siphon. Jo was a Glinda. Perfect little witch who would do spells and make things float. People would clap... Oh, Josie! And I was the kid walking around like an addict. Fiending for a hit like I was on fire all the time. And they didn't understand it. So they isolated me. Couldn't even touch anyone. That screwed me up big time."
