Eight months.

It's been eight months since Kai had convinced Annora to 'train' with him.

They would slip off into the woods when no one was looking, which considering the Parker's distrust of their eldest son and expectations of their adopted daughter, had proven difficult.

But they managed, and to the outside world Kai would seem almost devoted to the girl even Rosanne seemed almost convinced but Joshua watched the boy even more closely.

Annora would follow the boy around, much to Kai's annoyance and eventual rage filled happened in his bedroom the first time, she had been jabbering on about something he didn't care to listen to while he was trying to study, re-reading the family grimoire for the thousandth time. She was just making so much noise and seriously pissing him off so he just grabbed her, lifting her into midair and shaking her frail little body as he screamed "SHUT UP! WHY WONT YOU JUST SHUT UP!"

Kai didn't even blink as he absently dropped the girl to the floor and calmly returned to his studies "Now... Go away."

And she did, Annora ran crying from the room and locked herself away for almost a week. Kai had tried in vain to repair the damage he'd made with his little outburst. I mean he'd actually apologized, yeah he didn't mean a damn word of it but still... He even made her spaghetti and meatballs, that she would plead for nightly, left it by her bedroom door only for it to grow cold and attract flies.

God he hated being the good guy, it was frustrating as hell. Plus the glares he was getting from the rest of the coven were more than a little irritating. What with his brothers, Joey (15), Reese(12) and sister Gretchen (9) making jokes about how much trouble he was in for upsetting the 'spare' kid. Jo, their parents and Eloise(17) did nothing but glare disapprovingly. And obviously the twins were two so unless it involved candy or cartoons they didn't really care.

The only moment of relief from all the judging he got was when Pickles, Gretchen's flat faced tabby cat, had scratched up Annora's leg when she's been studying rune's with their father.

So he left, he needed to get out, let off some steam...

He spent half the night at a club, dancing along to the strobe light and blending along with the crowd of noise, getting both guys and girls to by his drinks, even almost beat a guy to death in the toilets when they dude put his hands on him after assuming that because Kai accepted his fruity cocktail that he was interested. Kai would probably have let it go if the freckly ginger hadn't been so pushy and rude.

After all there was no excuse for poor manner's.

Then after that he found the prettiest girl in the place and convinced her to take him home with her. Her name was Natalie, no, no, Nicole... Kimberly?

Whatever, she was hot and Kai wanted her, and Kai always got what he wanted.

Her apartment was small and crappy and covered in girly frilly shit, but the sex was good and she had pork-grids.

Always a plus with pork-grinds.

She wanted the cuddle afterwords and Kai actually let her. He was in an almost good mood. The next morning was pleasant, she made him pancakes with to much flour in the batter but he ate them regardless. The pretty blonde smiled and laughed with him over breakfast, then he noticed her necklace, it was a realistic gold bee with diamond lined silver wings, sparkly and pretty.

"I love your necklace." his voice was velvet smooth followed with a bite of crappy syrup covered pancake.

The girl beamed in delight at his seeming interest as she cups the pendent with her well manicured fingers "thanks, it's one of a kind, my parents got me it for my graduation, I know they usually do the car thing but I still had my Mini from my sweet sixteen. God, I remember when I saw this thing in the store, cost a small fortune and I just knew we couldn't afford it but somehow they still got it for me. Pretty awesome right?"

He resists the urge to roll his eyes as his fingers glide over the sticky crumb covered knife on his plate "right. So your pretty sentimental with it then?"

She looked at him in confusion, obviously she was attached to the thing. "well yeah..."

He smiles so charmingly as he stands "and it looks so pretty on you, you know I have a little sister who loves those things to, well shes adopted. But anyway she'd kind of mad at me and that would be the perfect thing to make her smile. She really loves Bee's."

The tension fades at Kai's cheery tone as he walks to stand behind the girl, seductively moves her blonde locks to place a kiss behind her ear, causing her to giggle "well the store's gone but I'm sure we could fi..."

She didn't get to finish her sentence, even her word as the syrup stained knife thrust into her back. She looked up to Kai's blue eyes in horror gripped agony as she gasped for air "Annie will really love that necklace."

He shrugged his almost apology with a smile as his hand pushed the blade deeper into her back. An inch to the right she'd have lived a few more seconds, to the left and she might have even survived, but Kai wasn't that stupid.

He unclasped the necklace with a first prize grin before putting it into his pocket, humming along as went into the kitchen to grab the half bottles of Vodka and Tequila before pouring it over the bed out into the hall and over the kitchen table, emptying the last over the poor girls corpse as he smiled flicking out a oven match onto the table before leaving the apartment "thanks, I had a great time."

He doubled back as the fire started to engulf the living room with a chuckle "i almost forgot." he snatched up the half bag of pork grinds and strolled away from the flames, fingering the necklace in his pocket with pride.

After the fire trucks arrived at the burning apartment Kai decided to get a cab, the scene had lost its interest to him. When he arrived home he paged Jo to come outside with some money because god forbid he kill anyone in front of the house, his parents would throw a fit.

People are so sensitive.

He didn't even acknowledge his twin as he ran past her until turning to ask "have you seen Annora?"

"She sulked off into the clearing, Kai where have you been, Kai?"

"Just having a good time Sis, you should try it." he gave her a smirking wink before skipping off to the clearing.

Annora was sat on an old stump in her favorite creamy yellow dress, her crimson curls hiked up high into a ponytail by a pearly white ribbon. He noticed a stick floating in midair over the child's shoulder and smiled "your getting better at that."

Her head turns only slightly, to glare over her shoulder. Obviously still angry with the siphon. She was used to his angry glitches, he had them a lot, but this was the first that it had been directed at her. She'd felt so alone since coming to the Gemini Coven, she always knew she was different, that she was never meant to have all the power she possesses, but she has it and it scared her sometimes. Kai hadn't always been nice, but he had been accepting and he wasn't really mean either or afraid like the others.

So yes she was angry, she didn't understand why her parents had done what they did, not really and she was now living in a strange place were she was expected to be and do all these things she didn't understand either. It was hard, but Kai was there to and like her he didn't seem to fit in. She just wanted a friend...just someone.

"Go away!" she glared with her arms wrapped tight around her chest, the stick flying just a foot or so from Kai's face. He chuckled and knelt beside her, fishing around is his pocket "now is that anyway to behave, come on Annie-bee, I got you a present..."

He sees interest twinkle in her eyes before he dangles the necklace over his knuckles. She all but snatches it from his hand, a face splitting smile spread over her face as she inspects the golden bee. "Oh Kai its so pretty!"

"Does that smile mean I'm forgiven, huh?" he rubs his knuckles over her blushing cheek before she throws her arms around his neck.

A sly smile came to the boys face as he used the embrace to steal a hit of the child's power, if it hurt she made no mention of it. The sensation of her magic coursing through him was like cool lemonade on a splintering hot summer day, refreshing and soothing.

He pulls back from the embrace to place the necklace over her head, it sat low on her chest but she'd grow around the trinket. He then almost tenderly pushed a stray curl behind her ear with a smile "interested in getting some ice cream and watching me beat Joey at Dr. Mario?"

"You never beat him." the girl laughs.

"With you as my cheerleader I will, and if that doesn't work I always have a bat in my closet." they laugh together as he takes her hand to walk back home. The little argument forgot as they skip along the tree line.

Neither looking back to hear the deaf cries of a a flat faced tabby cat as its insides pooled around it, almost as though the intestines and lungs where poked out of the creature with a stick to make an appeasing pattern, half its face all but melted away and each and every claw ripped from its paws.

Poster's were put up for Pickles before the week was over and Kai actually won that game of Dr. Mario against his brother.

So yeah, silver linings.