Chapter Nine! And finally, as promised, Caine begins to wreck everything up via Bug! Brittney has yet to ruin things though, but it will be worth the wait when you see what happens!

I also learned that threatening people to review my story does not actually work, so I'm changing it around. I also learned that not everyone loves Drake as much as I do. So, if you DO review, just include character of choice and I will send them after you. Be aware though, the waiting lines for Caine and Drake are usually the longest, unfortunately. :(

Now, read this chapter from Caine's point of view! And yes, he is in love with himself to some extent here, but he also misses Diana. Anyway, READ! And REVIEW! :D

Caine sank back in his big leather swivel chair in the town hall where he had his office. He had started to think of it as his throne. Before the power went out, it had even been a massage chair. Caine made a personal note to throw the idiot who turned off the power against a wall. Then he remembered he had been the one who did it. Caine wondered if he could throw himself against a wall. Could he kill himself using his powers? He had heard that Hunter tried to fry his own brain while he was being eaten alive, but it had failed. Sam had been the one to burn him to ashes.

Caine wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Here he was, the king of the newly thriving Perdido Beach, thinking of using his telekinesis for suicide. He had no reason to. Sam was gone, miles away from him, not wanting to challenge him. Water was an issue, but Albert was helping to get rid of the problem. They were trying to get a piping system going, not to the individual houses, but to a main point in the center of town where they could easily get water to the hospital and where kids could come get a drink. He didn't have the group of loyal soldiers Drake had, but he had Bug and Taylor and Penny and…

There it was. That was the reason he was thinking of killing himself. He had everything he had ever dreamed of: Perdido Beach, kingship, but not Diana. She had left. Why? Why did she leave him? She had been sulking about leaving the island, but Caine had put it down to leaving the luxury for the dirty wreck that was the town. Maybe there was something else behind it. What could it be?

How could she choose Sam over him? What did Sam have that he did not? Caine felt tears in his eyes. He could not let them fall. Albert was meeting him soon, and he could not look as if he'd been crying. He could not look like a weak leader and lose the respect that others had begun to hold for him. But he knew that tonight, when his head hit the pillows and Diana was not lying there with him, he would no longer be able to hold back the tears. He would cry himself to sleep and dream of her.

Albert stepped in through the doorway unannounced, earning a murderous glare from Caine. How dare Albert disturb Caine's thoughts, the ungrateful little—

Caine tried to stop thinking like that. They had had a meeting planned for today. Albert took a seat opposite Caine and began without a beat. "There has been an influx of furs, Caine. Suddenly kids all over the place have rugs, blankets, even capes made of them." Caine raised his eyebrows.

"So?" he asked indifferently. He began to feel annoyed. Albert had drawn Caine's thought from Diana for a few animal skins?

"So," said Albert, as if it were obvious, "Who is getting and selling these furs? When I asked around, it was suspicious. No one could remember exactly. It took me ages just to find out it was a she, a relatively unhurt girl with a giant box of furs for sale. She didn't say much, but no one recognized her or questioned her being from somewhere else. One kid who had obviously been smart, had asked if she was one of Sam's people. She had said no."

"I'm still not seeing what the big deal is here," Caine snapped angrily. Albert was making no sense.

"Look, I'll try and lay it out clearly for an egomaniac like you, Caine," Albert said, equally venomous. Caine wanted to kill him, but they both knew he couldn't. Albert was necessary. "One of the furs she was selling was a mountain lion. She was unscathed, from what I hear, except for slashes on her back. There is a girl out in the woods, with a major power. She can make people forget her, do you understand how good at deception that makes her? Better than Bug, practically. Now, here's what I think. She has lashes on her back. Classic sign of meeting Drake but not Lana, correct? So, a girl, supporting neither you nor Sam. Lashes on her back. Selling lion furs. I think that makes her a candidate for being in league with Drake, doesn't it? Drake plus powerful freak on his side. Brittney has now apparently been convinced by the gaiaphage to do whatever Drake is doing, so that makes three."

Caine stared at Albert. This was bad. This was very bad. "Next time she comes to town," Caine started to say, a plan forming in his head, "arrest her. And bring her to me. I have to question her myself." Albert nodded and left the room. Caine leaned back in the chair and groaned. This was troubling. But this girl would regret whatever she had done soon enough. And who knew, maybe she would become an ally.

The next morning, Taylor bounced into Caine's office, causing him to swear. He would never get over how unnerving her appearances were. "A message from Albert," She began with a smile. "He would like to say, 'We've caught her'." Then she was gone. Caine took a deep breath. Ten minutes later, two muscled boys pulled in a girl who looked about Caine's age. She didn't struggle, just calmly stepped in front of Caine and looked into his eyes. Caine immediately didn't like her. He dismissed the two boys and sat down in his chair. He gestured for her to do the same, and she sat.

"So, I hear you've been working with Drake," said Caine. The girl continued to stare at him silently. He looked her up and down. She didn't look like a powerful freak, but she was beautiful, especially for someone who had been living in the forest. She had something in her face that resembled Sam in a way, but there was something else there too, another face that really emphasized her looks to Caine. Something about her was familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Why don't you struggle? You have been caught," Caine said, annoyed at her silence.

"Because I knew I would have to face you sooner or later, Caine. I had to meet you at some point. And I know that you cannot kill me." Caine looked at her in anger.

"You will address me as King Caine, and you would be surprised at how fast I could kill you." The girl laughed, like this was funny. Caine was completely enraged. She thought she could beat him! "I could kill you in a second. I'm the four bar! I'm the king!" The girl stood slowly and extended her hand to Caine.

"Do you see these scars?" She asked, "I marked them into my skin as a reminder of who I was after a nice talk with a person you cry over every night. She told me, and she never told you, because I threatened her with another friend of ours whom I didn't know at the time, but you knew. Now it switched. I know him, and you do not. I know you, but you don't know me. I know why she left, too, which is a reason for you to spare my life, even if you were able to take it. You can't beat me, Caine."

Caine was outraged, but he processed what he heard. Six scars.

Six bar powers.

She knew Drake.

She

Knew

Diana.

Suddenly his hands were out, hurling her into the painted cinderblock wall with as much telekinetic force as he could muster. What happened next was a blur. It was like the wall turned to jelly around her, catching her and absorbing the shock of the impact. She stepped to the ground unharmed, and Caine knew how he had to kill her. "I'll get Sam," he said. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed his brother for this. "He'll burn you to ashes while I hold you down." It was a terrible thought, but it didn't matter. She was with Drake. She had threatened Diana.

"Oh, but Sam can't kill me either, once he knows the truth," The girl said with a laugh. "He couldn't even kill Brittney, so how will his conscience let him kill his own twin sister?" Caine froze and looked at her. Then it hit him like a freight train, where he had seen the face before, why he found it so attractive. He had seen that nose, that hair, that smile, in his mirror every morning. "My name is Sarah, by the way," she said, then walked out of the room. Caine was too shocked to follow her. All he knew was that he had a sister more powerful than he was who was working with Drake.

"Bug!" He yelled, and Bug rushed in from down the hall, eager to spy on someone.

"Hi, King Caine," Bug said, "Who was that girl? I think she's crazy. She isn't Diana's replacement…is she?" he said the last sentence with a note of uncertainty.

"Follow her," Caine said, "Go see what she is doing, and report back to me." Bug nodded and disappeared from sight as he stepped out of the room. Caine fell into his chair and fainted.