Bonnie

Bonnie got a concussion during her first year of cheerleading. Someone's cartwheel went wrong, and Bonnie had gotten kicked in the face so hard that she went blind for a few minutes. She was fine, but she had no idea how she'd gotten from the school gym to the emergency room.

Meeting Kai was like that. One minute, she was standing in the parking lot, swallowing back sobs as the body of her asshole history teacher was rolled away, and the next she was driving home with Hallucination Man rifling through her CDs.

"Ri-han-na," he said slowly.

"Ri-anna,"Bonnie corrected.

"Whatever. Is she any good?"

"Yes, but—I'm sorry, whoareyou?"

"I told you," he said, flashing her a smile. Bonnie didn't trust it—that was a salesman's smile, and she wasn't sure she'd like what he's selling. "I'm Kai."

"What do you want from me?" she asked quietly.

"I think the better question is whatyouwant fromme,"Kai said, flicking on the CD player. "You're the one who brought me here."

"No, I didn't," Bonnie said overUmbrella.

"Sure you did. You're a Bennett, aren't you?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" She switched off the music.

"I was listening to that!"

"We're here," Bonnie said, and pulled into the driveway.

"As for what it has to do with anything," Kai said once she'd parked. "You're a Bennett. You know, royalty among witches." He slipped out of the car. "Prison Worlds need an ascendant and Bennett blood to be opened. You broke my coven's signature spell like it was nothing."

Please, please let Bonnie have heard that wrong. "Prison World?" She asked cautiously.

"Relax," Kai said blithely. "I've done my time, and since you're the one who broke me out, you don't need to worry about a thing."

Fuck. First witchy juju nonsense, then hallucinations, and now escaped great,Bonnie thought with despair.

"You gonna let me in?" Kai asked, leaning against the door. Why the hell did he have to be so tall? He was intimidating enough without looming over Bonnie like a goddamn grim reaper.

"What will you do if I don't?"

He tapped his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "Well, let's see. I could just suck out your magic and break into your house, but that would be really unpleasant for you. Think dental surgery on muscles. I'll ask again:are you going to let me in?"

Bonnie swallowed, and opened the door.

Kai

"Holyshit!"Kai said in delight. "What kind of TV is that?"

"Um…a Sony?" Bonnie said hesitantly.

"It looks like it came out of a spaceship," he said reverently. He'd never seen a TV screen sothin."Wait, are those DVDs? Fancy."

"Look," Bonnie said, fiddling with the hem of her skirt as Kai inspected her movie collection. "Don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here?"

"You're the one who broke me out, Bonster. Ooh,Jurassic Park.I saw that in theaters."

"How did I break you out?" She asked in frustration, and Kai paused. "You don't know," he asked.

"No!"

"Are you telling me you broke the spell my family has spent centuries perfecting by accident?"

"I guess?"

Kai laughed. A loud, full-bellied laugh that had him leaning against the wall. "I can'twaitto see my dad's face when I tell him that," he said at last. "What kind of training do you have?"

"None. Grams didn't bother telling me I'm a witch until this summer, and she only said I'd be getting premonitions."

Kai stared at her incredulously. "Late bloomer, huh?" He said girl is gonna be fucking terrifying when she grows into her own.

"I have no idea what's going on," she said miserably.

"Your parents probably thought you were a dud," Kai said as he ran his fingers over more titles. Some were familiar, and some were as alien as the TV. "Some families are like that—if the gift skips a generation, they'll either dump the kid in foster care or make them wish their parents had given them up."

"That's awful."

"That's life. Sometimes I wish my family dumped me on someone else and saved me all the bullshit."

"But you have magic, right?" Bonnie asked. "You did that thing in the dream—"

"Nope," Kai said, wiggling his fingers. "I'm a siphoner. Can't produce any of my own magic, but I can suck it out of other people and use it for myself."

Was it a risk telling this to a Bennett Witch? Maybe, but her grandma had clearly been neglecting her education, so if worse came to worse Kai could easily drain her and hit the road.

"So, like a phone?"

"Like a what?"

"You know," Bonnie said, flipping out the tiniest phone Kai had ever seen. "A phone. They don't make their own power, and you have to charge them so they'll work."

You know what? It was better than being called a fucking leech again. "Sure." He glanced at another title and froze. "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,"he mumbled. "They madeanotherStar Wars movie? I have to see this—"

Omake
"Brokeback Mountain. Wouldn't have pegged you as a western fan."
"Funny you should say that—"