This was just an idea; I've received few requests about Kai centric story. Not sure yet how long this will be.
Chapter 1
The hour of the ghosts
Portland, Oregon, 1982
"It's alright, little one. It's alright… Can she hear me?"
"I'm sure she can, Mr. Parker. You should keep talking to her, hold her hand. I think she would feel safer knowing that someone is here with her."
"Yes… Thank you, nurse. Dawn? Dawn sweetheart? Please open your eyes."
Joshua Parker felt a sting in his heart when he looked at his 6-years-old goddaughter lying on the hospital bed. Her small body was badly bruised and she had just lost her parents. Eric Weller, Dawn's father, had been a very powerful warlock and the respected member of the coven, even though he had married a non-witch. He had also been one of Joshua's closest friends; they had known each other since childhood.
"Dawn?"
Joshua waited until the nurse had left before casting a healing spell. Slowly Dawn opened her eyes.
"Mommy?" she murmured sleepily.
"No, sweetheart, it's me, Uncle Joshua."
The girl blinked her eyes few times, she looked disoriented.
"Where are mommy and daddy?"
Joshua sighed tiredly and touched her hair. He couldn't bring himself to tell the poor girl the ugly truth. She was just a little child for heaven's sake.
"They… They have gone to the better place."
The girl looked confused.
"But…Where? Why didn't they take me with them?"
"Because….because it's so far away, sweetheart. They wanted you to stay here; you'll be living with me from now on. It'll be fun; you'll have two sisters and three brothers. You remember my children, don't you? Jo, Malachai, Melissa, Joey and Patrick? You've played with them."
Dawn nodded after a moment of consideration, she was still confused. Joshua forced a calming smile on his face and touched the girl's cheek.
"Everything is going to be alright, little one. I'm going to take care of you. I promise."
3 years later
It was almost midnight when Dawn sneaked down the stairs. The whole Parker household was sleeping, or at least so she hoped. She only had a small flashlight with her; she didn't dare to turn on any lights. The cellar door… She swallowed, trying not to lose her courage. It wasn't too late to turn back and go back to bed… No, she needed to do this. It was almost midnight, the hour of the ghosts. Her heart was pounding like a drum when she opened the door. The other children didn't come here, they were afraid, although Joey would have never admitted it. Not to mention Uncle Joshua had strictly forbidden them to play in the cellar.
Melissa had said that the cellar was haunted; she had once seen a ghost. That hadn't scared Dawn, on the contrary. Ever since she had understood what death meant, she had wanted desperately to learn more about it. She wanted to make sure that her parents were alright. Her memories of them were fading, although she had pictures, but she remembered how much she had loved them. She never talked about them with anyone, she didn't want to.
Uncle Joshua was always kind to her, but he was away from home a lot and Aunt Teresa often seemed tired and absentminded. Jo helped her mother with the younger children a lot, although she was only 13. Melissa was 11, Joey almost 10 and Patrick 7. Unlike loud Joey, Patrick was a quiet and calm boy; Dawn enjoyed spending time with him. Then there was Malachai… Dawn couldn't explain it, but she usually felt nervous when he was near. He spent a lot of time in his room though; he didn't usually play with his siblings, even though Jo tried sometimes to talk him into it.
He had never paid much attention to Dawn and she was happy about it. Uncle Joshua always used a certain tone of voice when he talked to Malachai. He sounded cold and harsh. Jo was always ready to defend her twin brother and Joey idolized him. Dawn took a deep breath before stepping out into the dark staircase. She wanted nothing more than to turn back, but she couldn't. The old stairs squeaked under her steps, her hands were shaking violently when she tried to hold on to the flashlight. Finally she reached the cellar and waited.
"Hello?" she said with a shaky voice. "Mr. Ghost? I would like to speak to you, please. Are you here?"
She didn't get any reply, but she didn't give up.
"Hello? Is someone here?"
She let out a scream when the lights were suddenly turned on.
"What are you doing here?" Malachai's voice asked, he was standing on the stairhead.
"Nothing," she muttered after she managed to speak. He had scared her half to death. She didn't have time to say anything else when he marched down the stairs.
"Really?"
"Uh huh," she murmured a flush was rising in her cheeks. "I should go back to bed…"
"I don't think so," he huffed and blocked her way. "Answer my question. What were you doing?"
"Nothing," she repeated, she wasn't looking at him.
"Fine. I guess you don't mind me telling about this to everyone then…"
"No! I mean…" She knew she would be in trouble if Uncle Joshua would hear about this, he had told the children to stay away from the cellar.
"Yes?" Malachai asked smoothly.
She forced herself to look at him.
"Could you please not tell anyone about this?" she pleaded.
"That depends," he hummed. "What were you doing here?"
She swallowed and decided to tell him the truth. Hopefully he would understand.
"I… I was looking for a ghost."
He raised an eyebrow, looking genuinely curious.
"A ghost?"
She nodded.
"Melissa said that she has seen a ghost here and I thought… I was hoping to speak with my mom and dad."
He was quiet for a moment; the corners of his mouth were twitching.
"That's just…pathetic. They're dead, you can't speak with them."
Dawn flinched, like he would have slapped her. She tried to get past him, but he grabbed her arms.
"Let me go!" she shouted, her eyes were filling with tears.
"Hey, hey, calm down," he hummed. "Look, I'm sorry, that was mean."
There was curiosity in his eyes when he observed her face, a tear rolled down her cheek.
"You're sad," he stated. "Why? It has been three years already."
She stared at him; she couldn't understand how he could ask something like that.
"They were my mom and dad."
"Yes, but can you honestly even remember them anymore?"
"That doesn't matter," she muttered.
He kept observing her, like she would have been some riddle he tried to solve.
"That doesn't make any sense," he stated.
"You would be sad too if you would lose your mom and dad," she muttered.
He looked thoughtful for a moment before replying.
"No, I don't think that I would be."
She stared at him disbelievingly.
"How can you say that?"
He shrugged.
"I doubt that they would be sad if I would die, so why would their death make me sad?"
"But… They're your mom and dad…"
He snorted and waved his hand.
"I'm bored with this conversation. And I still haven't told you my price."
"What?"
He smirked.
"If you don't want my father to know that you broke his rules, you'll have to do something for me."
Dawn was confused and a little scared.
"What?"
He smiled and leaned towards her.
"It's very simple. Close your eyes and don't make a sound, no matter what happens. Do you understand?"
She was really scared now.
"Malachai, please…"
"Shh," he hushed her. "Do you want me to keep your secret or not?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Close your eyes," he said, his tone was almost warm. "I'm afraid this will hurt, but not too much. I'm confident that you can take this."
She was shaking, trying to plead him to let her go, but that only make him angry.
"I said close your eyes," he snapped and grabbed her chin.
Tears were coursing down her cheeks when she obeyed. The pain started almost immediately, but his hand covered her mouth before she could scream. She couldn't understand what was happening; it felt like her insides would have been ripped out. She was shaking and sobbing when he told her to open her eyes. He was staring at her very strangely.
"Your mother wasn't a witch, was she?" he stated.
She couldn't answer, her legs couldn't hold her and she would have collapsed if he wouldn't have caught her.
"Easy now," he stated and lifted her up. "Now listen to me very carefully. I'm going to take you to your room and you're going to go back to sleep. If you ever tell anyone about any of this, I swear, I'll make you wish you would have died with your parents. Do you understand?"
The fear and weakness had paralyzed her, but somehow she managed to nod. He smiled at her and gently touched her hair.
"Good girl, Dawnie. I think that I'm starting to like you."
