Daybreak, BK 4 of the Lightwalkers

XIX - Jon

I stared at Remi across the table. My mind felt fuzzy as the drugs continued working their way through my system. I couldn't believe I wasn't still asleep. Remi looked like some sort of actor from an action movie. The dyed red spiked hair, his leather jacket, and the earrings that traced their way up one ear all added to the effect, though it looked like one of the rings had been ripped out.

There was also a sensation I couldn't place, something about Remi that resonated with that cold power inside of me. He was different like the vampires or werewolves were different. But he wasn't either of them. Leaning back against the booth cushion, I let the thought go for now and fought the urge to close my eyes and go back to sleep.

"You really know Seth?" I asked again, pulling the coat on me higher over my shoulders against the chill.

"I do."

"Is Seth okay? How did he get away from the vampires that attacked us?" I wanted to know everything. I wanted to see him. I needed to see that he was okay.

Remi grinned at me. "I'm not sure, he never told me exactly what happened."

He had an English accent and a way of phrasing that made me think of Batman's butler, Alfred. It completely clashed with the punk rock-grunge style that he wore. Remi's eyes shifted over my shoulder to the bar. It was hard not to focus on the hushed conversation that was happening behind us.

"How'd we get out of Michaela's then? You were there for that, right?"

"Yes, and Seth. He's on his way to meet us here before we head out to a safe house-"

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

Remi's comment was interrupted by the guy with the blonde and green hair who was standing by the bar with Carrie, but he quickly stormed past our booth and out the back door. I turned and looked back at Carrie.

She'd braced her arms on bar, her head down so that her hair was hiding her face.

"I wonder what that was all about," Remi whispered.

Shrugging, I resettled myself back in my seat, feeling more than conflicted about Carrie. She'd helped Lan and Michaela keep me in the mansion. She'd been the one to drug Kain before I got control of my body at dawn, so that I'd sleep all day. The thought of Kain made me search for him, but my mind was quiet. "I don't understand, Carrie was one of the guards that kept me at the mansion. Why is she here?"

"She was our person on the inside," Remi said. He stretched a little in his seat, shifting his legs under the table. "From what some of the others told me. I don't think it would have worked as smoothly as it did without her help."

Kain didn't know we'd escaped, he couldn't have or else he'd be all over that. That left me with a bad feeling that sunk deep in my chest. What the hell was I going to do come nightfall?

I didn't feel strong, and frankly, I was terrified over what Kain would do when he realized we weren't at Michaela's. Would he run back to her? Or would he go off on his own? Thanks to Michaela and whatever the hell stone she put on my forehead, Kain had complete control over my body at night. What if he hurt someone?

A hand touched my shoulder and I looked up. Carrie was sliding into the booth next to me, a glass of water in her other hand. When had she walked back across the bar?

"How are you feeling?" She set the glass down in front of me and brought her hands up to my face. The heat of her skin was almost too much, it burned and I pulled back. She dropped her hands, a frown forming on her face.

"What about Kain?" I whispered. "What are we going to do once the sun goes down?"

"Kain?" Remi asked.

Carrie glanced across the table at Remi, but she couldn't hide how her skin had paled. She was afraid of what Kain might do, too.

"Me," I said, a little louder, "when the sun goes down."

Remi narrowed his eyes at me, almost as if he were having a hard time understanding.

Carrie shifted in her seat, like she was trying to get comfortable. "I mentioned this to Tuari, but the best I can tell is, it's like Jon's got a split personality. He's himself during the day, but at night, Kain takes over." She glanced at me. "What do you think he'll do?"

I fidgeted with the zipper on the coat, buying myself some time to think. What would Kain do? "I don't know. He wasn't exactly thrilled to be under Michaela's influence. Without her here, I'm not sure he'd show the same amount of restraint that she insisted he had."

Remi's sigh caught my attention and I looked up to see him shaking his head. "We need to get back to Nick's, he'll be able to handle any issue with Kain, I think. Let me make a couple of calls, if they're still too far out, we'll just have to meet them at the safe house. They can give me directions to get back."

He slid from the booth, pulling out a phone from his pocket.

"I have more of the sedative, too. We can try and use it tonight, but I'm not sure how well it'll work in the evenings." Carrie said.

Remi nodded, already dialing a number.

"I don't want him to hurt anyone, especially Seth. But how are we going to handle him? I can't control him." I grabbed at my arms, hugging tightly to keep myself from shaking. There was no way I'd be able to control a monster like Kain.

Closing my eyes, I felt the tears escape even though the last thing I wanted to do was cry. I'd thought that if I could just get out of the house the nightmare would end, but I had forgotten about Kain. There was no way I could escape him, and if I couldn't find a way to control him-

Carrie turned to me, hushing my growing hysterics like Mom used to sooth me after I had nightmares as a kid. I would have resented it, the being treated as a kid, but at that moment I needed the comfort. Kain would wake up sooner or later and then the real challenge would start.