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"Keeping an eye on her?"

Jackson faintly registered Kai's voice next to him, his eyes focused entirely on a blonde woman dancing with her friends. Reluctantly, he shifted his gaze to the Parker, who was idly stirring the straw around his drink, bullying the cherry that was bobbing around the orange liquid. He could detect a mixture of amusement and resentment in the siphoner's tone, both of which garnered nothing but annoyance within Jackson. His teeth grinded against each other, forced to somehow hear Kai's humming despite the loud music playing in the club, the song bouncing around the establishment and reverberating in his ear drums.

This childish pestering couldn't be a part of Kai's mysterious master plan - the least he could do is look the part of a sociopathic strategist. Then again, Kai did manage to successfully trick Jackson and his friends by playing the part of the wayward damsel who needed rescuing. A wolf in sheep's clothing; or more, a dragon in a damsel's dress. His boyish charm was nothing but a trap for those who underestimated Kai. Jackson wouldn't need to be taught this lesson again, now that his eyes were wide open.

To play the game, Jackson would have to learn from the best. Like chess, Jackson would have to bait Kai with the king in order to set the ambush. An oblivious, feeble king that was ripe for the picking. The king in question was a young, dark haired woman around Jackson and Kai's age. On the dance floor with her friends, she was dancing and hollering out the song, occasionally bursting into a fit of laughter. Definitely a little drunk. Jackson wished he was drunk too, so that he could actually enjoy being in the club with his ex boyfriend, the Beaumont Stalker.

"Who is she?" Jackson asked, glancing over at the woman momentarily. "Why is she so important?"

There was a slow, wolf's grin curving Kai's lips. "Questions, questions. My shrike is curious. Why do you wanna know so much?"

"Because we've been sitting here for nearly an hour watching her and my ears hurt from the loud music."

"Maybe if you went out dancing with me more instead of burying your head in a book, you'd be able to adapt better."

Kai hardly sounded resentful over Jackson's past behaviour. He was playing with his food, trying to gauge Jackson's motives. A pawn was played on the chess board. The Campbell simply shrugged, casting his gaze elsewhere. He wasn't going to let Kai know his intentions until it was too late.

"Maybe I should leave and give my attention to someone else," Jackson feigned thinking. "Maybe Jo? I certainly would like to have dinner with her."

It was a metaphorical version of sticking his fingers into an open wound. The siphoner's smile melted, leaving a sour expression behind. If looks could kill, everyone in the entire establishment would drop dead. And this anger Jackson had was entirely unfamiliar, but it felt surprisingly good. A relief from the constant pain he's suffered with for twenty three years. 

"I never got why Jo liked you," A bitter smile was on Kai's face, while he stirred his drink. 

Jackson shrugged. "I just happen to be a good fuck."

A mirthless chuckle came from Kai's lips. "Can't argue with you there. But there's more than that. It's no secret you used to follow her around like a lovesick puppy before I finally got your attention, and lured you off track. I mean, if you ever had dreams of having a wife and a slew of annoying brats. But it really makes a twin wonder. Did she like getting attention from a guy that was for one, taller than her? Was she touched by your humanitarian streak and your concern over the welfare of animals? Or was it just your fancy voice and your fancy ways?"

"You might be the first person who called my drinking habit fancy."

"Hmm, you wanna know what I think?" He lifted the glass to drink, then settling it back on the table. "I think Jo loves herself a bad boy just as much as I do. Someone capable of doing really bad things... like killing a parent or two. She killed our mom by shoving her down the stairs, and you killed your parents in a house fire you started. See, I think you're full of shit, Jack. Especially when you claimed to prefer one night with her over ten with me. You think you're better than me, but you'll always search for me in every sexual conquest."

There was a bad taste in his mouth as Jackson glared at Kai. Was it possible to have a bad taste from words? He didn't really care to know. No, he was much more interested in trying to tell the Parker that his whole world didn't revolve around him. Though it would fall on deaf ears... and he wasn't quite sure he himself believed it. The only relief he got was how much Kai had taken his words to heart.

Kai sat back, with his stupid smug smirk. "Now, for answers. She's a witch. From your coven. Weird, right? As a Gemini, a Lux witch in Oregon makes me suspicious, soooooo... I had to investigate. I mean, what's a New Orleans witch doing all the way over here? And why not bring another Lux witch along for the ride? Figured you'd be useful to lure her."

"Using me as a pawn in your stupid bloody game? I get nothing out of this, except having to suffer in your presence. Haven't you punished me enough?"

The siphoner feigned pity, tilting his head. "Oh, cry me a river. I didn't know you had such a hard life." 

The sarcasm in Kai's voice made Jackson mad, to say the least. The Campbell grabbed a fistful of the Parker's jacket, jolting him forward to hiss: "You have no idea what hell I've been through, you privileged bastard."

Kai seemed to appear unfazed, though Jackson could see the rampant, restless rage simmering behind his pale eyes. Like a wildfire left to consume a forest. Years of Kai's familial resentment charged the air around them, but the witch refused to back down. Jackson had a right to say that he suffered ━ he lost his parents far too early in an incident he caused, he experienced entire gaps of amnesia of his childhood, he couldn't stop throwing himself at any person he could get addicted to, he couldn't stop his alcoholism despite the pain it brought on other people. He had never been safe in his own mind, and Kai only exploited that for his own gain. 

"I know what real suffering feels like," His voice was playful, but Jackson could hear the gritty undertone clear enough. "And while we're making our intentions known... if you try anything to backstab me ━ and I mean anything ━ you'll know what real suffering feels like too. I could gut you right here, leave you with a smile, and no one would know. It'll be just you bleeding to death, while everyone else ignores you. No amount of screaming for help will save this little altricial songbird."

Glaring at Kai, Jackson's lips twitched, his body yearning to make Kai another missing persons report. "I'm not afraid of you."

"No? You should be," Jackson felt a sharp point poke at his abdomen. Fear spiked in Jackson's chest. He knew the Parker carried a pocket knife on him almost always, though he never fully registered Kai's lack of qualms on using it on the Campbell. "I wonder if you could survive a kidney removal before an ambulance gets here. Maybe your appendix? A lung?" He leaned in, hot breath fanning Jackson's lips. "Your tongue? Can't have it wagging to the wrong people... can't have it in someone else's mouth either. I'd apologise for being wildly possessive over you, but I'm really not sorry."

Panic flashed through his body in waves of heat as Kai lightly drifted the blade along his skin, under his shirt and slightly above his pants. Jackson's fear must've shown on his face, because the siphoner cracked a delighted grin. "God, you look sexy when you're scared."

The disgust on Jackson's face elicited a chuckle from Kai. "Oh, don't look so repulsed! You want me; you need me. Without me, you'll never tap into your potential as a witch."

"You promised me you would teach me spells. You've only told me a few," Jackson growled. 

"Because she's the key to enhancing your power. She gets a witch like her, you get stronger, I get what I want, everyone's happy. Domino effect," He paused, his eyes lighting up as the song changed. "Now I don't know about you, but I'd hate to die to that other song. Always hated Madonna." He pulled the knife away from Jackson, reverting it back to its folded form and putting it back into his pocket. "C'mon, dance with me."

The new song in question was Bon Jovi's You Give Love A Bad Name. He adored Bon Jovi and the song was so terribly relatable to Jackson, it was ridiculous. The urge to get drunk and scream the lyrics like the witch and her friends was getting stronger, though he managed to tamper the desire down. He needed to focus, keep his mind on the game at all times. He needed to play the part of bait and get closer to the witch, keep the appearances of partnership with Kai up. Then, lure her outside so that he could kidnap her and escape before Kai caught on. 

Kai pulled himself away from Jackson's grasp, flashing him a smirk before walking towards the dance floor, before getting consumed by the crowd. The Campbell lingered at the table, unsure of his next decision. Should he follow Kai? The Parker went in the opposite direction of the witch, who was now alone on the dance floor while her friends sat at a nearby table. The opportunity to get close to her was perfect ━ too perfect ━ but he couldn't help but think about how serious Kai was with his threats. It was fascinating how Kai's knowledge of entomology and ornithology was corrupted. He had no trouble imagining Kai trapping insects and small birds with his slender hands, each finger acting as bars of a cage, before torturing them with deadly dissections and callous curiosity. 

Fear was twisting his gut, making him second guess his plan. Kai wouldn't spend an entire year getting close to Jackson and murdering the people around him so that he could tap into the Campbell's power only to kill him. Although that was the difference between them: Kai couldn't shake the obsession he had over Jackson, and he got over his dependence over Kai in less than a month. For better or worse didn't quite mean for good or bad. And he had become something much, much darker. He couldn't recognise himself in the mirror.

And plus, Jackson had a couple tricks up his own sleeve in case Kai tried to eliminate him. He left the table and made his way to the woman dancing by herself. The Campbell was not afforded the ability to lack shame like Kai, so having to pretend to be drunk while dancing made his body burn with humiliation. But he would much rather feel a little mortified than end up six feet under, courtesy of one homicidal Parker. He just had to pretend he wasn't on the perpetually spinning roundabout; pretend that he was far away from here.

The woman brightened upon seeing him, which was a bit of a relief. He'd like to think that he had his height and looks to thank ━ and his accent that everyone infuriatingly found so quaint and posh. Or fancy, as Kai said previously.

"You live around here?" He asked, hoping that she wouldn't find it odd and escape before he could say anything more. 

"Ooh, are you a tourist?" She grinned. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Maybe I'd like help getting to know the town. And it wouldn't hurt getting it from you," He smiled. "Answers for answers."

She grinned. "Well, I'm not from around here. I'm from Louisiana, if you couldn't tell by the accent. Antoinette, and you?"

"I'm charmed," He smiled. A very blatant sidestep that should alarm anyone. Well, anyone sober. "What brings a Louisiana girl here?"

"Came up to see old friends, but I certainly don't mind making new ones too. Where's your friends?"

Someone bumped into his back and he refrained from the urge to turn around and glare at them. "Erm, I was here with one other and they've been outside for quite a while. It's getting a bit worrying."

"You think they've been...?" Kidnapped? Assaulted? Jackson fought the impulse to scoff. Kai would probably have their tongues torn and strung around their neck before anyone could try. The thought made him sick with fear. "Let me come with you. I have... a sneak attack trick."

He feigned a doubtful look at her, which made Antoinette straighten, eager to prove herself. It was admiring how stupid people could be. She moved past him, pushing through people to get to the other side of the bar, where the exit door was. The Campbell followed her as she pushed open the door and marched outside, frowning when no one else was residing in the dark alleyway. Antoinette turned to Jackson, only to find him standing in front of the door, smiling. 

"I know you're a witch and you think that protects you, but didn't anyone ever warn you about strangers? Or more, strangers who are also witches?" He shrugged. "For shame. It was too easy, really." 

Antoinette scowled. "Let me back in and stay away from me, and I'll forget this little stunt you tried to pull."

"Can't do that, Annie."

Jackson glanced over at the new voice behind Antoinette, watching the dread dawn on the woman's face as she turned around. Two witches against one suddenly didn't seem to be looking good for her. 

Kai grinned at her. "Hi."

She opened her mouth, her palms raised. Though before she could begin a spell, Kai latched a hand onto her wrist, his touch glowing a soft red. He knew that cry of pain from Antoinette meant that Kai was stealing her magic bit by bit. It had only been a couple moments before he pulled away, muttering a spell under his breath with a hand held over her kneeling frame. She took a ragged breath and slowly got to her feet. But when she opened her mouth to snarl out a spell, no sound came out. It was as equally surprising to her as it was to Jackson. 

"What..." She seemed even more so surprised that she could still speak. "What did you do to me? Why can't I make an incantation?"

"An age old riddle. I made the recent discovery that it's a kinda hard to force a witch to do something," Kai circled around her, in Jackson's direction. "Witches are, like, annoying. Either they'll fight back with spells and whatnot, or over-charge you for shitty service, or trick you into going insane so that you'll help carry out their evil tasks. But then I was introduced to someone with selective amnesia and I figured, why don't I just induce selective amnesia? So, Annie, I rigged it so that every time you try to say a spell, you'll forget."

He was to Jackson's left now, his back facing the Campbell. Jackson took a small step in his direction. "As much as I'd like to take the credit for thinking up such a totally awesome spell, I was inspired by my partner in crime. The mind is such a fascinating thing."

Jackson's right hand drifted to his pocket. "Couldn't agree more."

With one fluid move, the Campbell pulled out a pocket knife that he had saved for this specific occasion, practically engraved with Kai's name. Like Van Helsing's stake, whittled and  sharpened with his burning resentment for Dracula, then wielded by Quincey. The Parker turned, and Jackson didn't waste time clamping his left hand onto the Parker's right shoulder and thrusting the blade into Kai's abdomen ━ on the lower left, just above his jeans. 

A hiss of pain was squeezed from his throat, eyes wide in agony and shock. It was only made worse when Jackson pulled the knife out. Shaky hands made wild grabs at Jackson's arms, though his body was failing to keep the Parker upright. Blood seeped through the woven fibres of his t-shirt, threatening to ooze through the gaps of his fingers. Jackson guessed that being stabbed again in the exact same spot by the exact same person would do that to a person. Kai sunk to his knees with a mixture between pained groans and a twisting expression. A myriad of emotions ranging from rage and hurt. 

It was a Judas kiss that burned and bled. Antoinette and Jackson stared down at Kai; staring at the droplets of red staining the concrete ground. Then, the two witches glanced up at each other. Her trembling frame, wide eyes and parted lips were enough of an indicator that she was terrified of him, and had he been the man that he was a month ago, he would be terrified of himself too. 

With a warning look, Jackson slowly shook his head, cautioning her against running away. But he couldn't do anything more when the door swung open again, with two men exiting to have a cigarette break, judging by the pack in one man's hand. They took in the scene: a bleeding man on the ground, a frightened empty handed woman, and an unharmed man with a bloody pocket knife. Race wasn't helping the situation either. 

Jackson acted on pure fear alone. He jabbed his pocket knife into one man's neck, a spurt of blood from the man's mouth just narrowly missing him, before pulling it out. It was like a fountain of overflowing red spraying out from his severed carotid artery. The other man broke into a sprint, shoving past the Campbell and trying to make a run for it. But the flick of Jackson's wrist magically wrenched his head to one side, and he fell with a snapped neck. 

A moment of silence fell upon them once more. Jackson let out his own shaky breaths, his gaze flickering between the bodies on the ground, before settling on the Parker. Kai was on his back now, weakly shrugging off his jacket to try and make something like a gauze or a tourniquet out of it. It was possession, the way Jackson stepped towards the siphoner, pressing a boot down on one of his arms to prevent him from helping himself. 

Kai glared up at him, and between shallow breaths, growled: "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What I should've done," Jackson swallowed thickly, to stop himself from retching. The two dead bodies around them were overpowering his mind. "I might not be as intelligent as you or Jo. And I don't know psychology as well as you do. But even I can agree that you're right ━ the mind is fascinating. For one, emotional shock can go on for either hours or weeks. But what happens when the shock is gone, and all you have is the hurt and pain?"

"You're gonna be fucking roadkill. I swear to God, I'm going to gut you like a deer and taxidermy your dead body for a punching bag━"

Threats from Kai were halted when Jackson kicked at the Parker's side. Kai gasped, his face contorting with anguish, hurtling out curses at the witch above him. He only let out soft sigh and stepped back. 

"This happens. Whether you live or die here is entirely up to your abilities." 

"You're gonna leave me here to rot? Alone?"

He paused to consider his words. "Well, I suppose you have those two to die with."

Kai could barely turn his head to see the bodies on the ground. His breathing was quicker now. "Don't do this, please. I'm sorry if I hurt you. Or for everything, I'm sorry for everything I did to you. Just... don't leave me here."

"Can't have you meddling in my business," Jackson smiled. "Sweet dreams, gorgeous." 

Jackson grabbed the car keys from Kai's jean pocket and jingled them over him. He walked past, grabbing Antoinette and pulling her away from the alleyway and to the street. Kai's screams quickly faded with each quick step, though sound was renewed again with Antoinette's winces. He realised that he was walking too fast for her to keep up, reluctantly slowing down his walking pace. 

"Are you gonna kill me too?" Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. 

His question was an afterthought in his mind. "Why do you think that?"

"Because you just killed three men in under two minutes."

When they got to Kai's car, Jackson turned to Antoinette. "And you'll be better off with each of their deaths. Particularly the one I stabbed first; he doesn't make idle threats."

She stared at him with horror. "You expect me to be grateful that you killed people?"

"Yes, actually. Otherwise you'd be on his kill list," He opened the passenger door. "Now get in the car."

She remained there, staring at him with wide eyes. It was an odd sight, but not unreasonable. Before he could repeat himself, she tried to break into a run, though barely made it several feet when he scooped her up and dragged her back towards the car. The thrashing was an inconvenience, sure, but eventually he got her into the passenger seat, blocking the space between the car and the car door to prevent her from trying to escape again. 

"Fuck you, asshole!" Antoinette snapped. "What do you want from me?"

"Finally, she has the sense to ask," Jackson leaned against the car, head tilted slightly. "I know you're a Lux witch. And I know you're going to help me become a better witch. I'm an eager student."

"Or what?" She crossed her arms. "You can't make me do anything I don't wanna do."

"Darling, believe me when I say that I will grind your bones to dust. That is, if you refuse to help me," He nudged his head in the direction of the alleyway. "I might've saved you from him but that doesn't mean you're safe from me. So I suggest co-operating, please."

With tears in her eyes, Antoinette turned away. Jackson stepped back, closing the door and making his way around to the driver's seat. Too many things to do and not enough time. There was a flight to catch and a road trip to New Orleans, and he couldn't waste another moment lingering in Portland. He had to get out of this fucking place. 

The ball of mass in his chest burst into a kaleidoscope of butterflies that fluttered around his ribcage. A kaleidoscope that he shared only with himself. And for the first time, he felt a a spark of something like hope.

It was beautiful.