Tempted | Kai Parker

sixty nine: frozen

Kai's POV

The sun was just starting to lower in the sky, as I burst out of the apartment, hurtling towards Andie's car as fast as I could manage. Under normal circumstances, I would've taken my own, but I'd snatched her keys first, and I was hardly going to waste any time fussing about what car I was driving. Not when I knew my best friend might be suffering at the hands of my bastard of a father.

The whole time I was in the car, my foot was rooted to the floor, pushing the acceleration of Andie's small car to its limits. I flouted whatever stop signs and red lights I could, and eventually came skidding round the corner into Mill Lane, what was only about ten minutes later. Although even minutes seemed far too long. It felt like days.

The road was almost desolate, and it was right on the edge of town. In fact, I remembered wondering if it was even technically still inside Mystic Falls. Not that it mattered. There were a few shabby looking houses running along the street, which may not even have been in use, and a play park which looked like something you might see in a horror film. You know, like in that chilling moment when the rusty old swing set begins to move by itself, letting out an almost human-sounding shriek with each movement. Creepy. Although, not any creepier than father dearest, I thought. Perfect place for the old bastard to set up his torture HQ.

105 Mill Lane, I quickly found out, was a disused factory of some sort, stationed right at the end of the road. Again, fucking perfect for Joshua. What was more over the top than utilising a whole factory for your sick little games. The old man always loved a touch of the dramatic.

Not wasting a second, I abandoned the car outside of the factory, and quickly scouted around the building looking for an easy entrance. Round the side of the dusty grey building, just past some trash cans, I managed to find a doorway.

The door itself was grey like the rest of the building, and was made of a sturdy metal. I gave it a quick nudge but wasn't surprised to find it locked. Thankfully with magic, that wasn't much of an issue.

"Dissero." I muttered, focusing my energy on the silver lock positioned below the door handle.

Instantly the door popped open with a gentle click, and I carefully pushed it far enough open that I could slip in the building, trying to be as quiet as possible. Considering Joshua had explicitly told Andie not to tell me, and told her to trade herself in, I imagined seeing me arriving wouldn't go down too well. Better to go unseen. As far as possible, at least.

The building was dingy, smelling of damp and mildew, and the air dense with dust particles, which all became disturbed with any movement. The place was mostly empty, except from some old equipment which had been abandoned and left to rust by the looks of things.

Luckily there seemed to be a fair amount of pillars for me to duck behind and slip through stealthily as I tried to scout out the area. Normally, I would've just called out for Caroline, but that would've given me away. And if I wanted to beat Joshua, I needed the element of surprise. Still, I flexed my fingers, ready to fire a few spells out at any given moment.

The further into the building I creeped, I started to become sure I could hear some whimpering. With a few more steps I was certain. It was shadowy, and I was positioned behind a big stone pillar, but I could definitely hear someone wincing. Little yelps of pain, that sounded almost muffled. I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to move into the open and find out if I could see Caroline.

With my heart thumping against my ribs, I side stepped away from the safety of my pillar, and immediately found myself staring at a figure who appeared to be tied up onto a chair. Nothing new for Joshua, there. Although I was relieved to only be seeing one figure and not two. He'd clearly taken a break from whatever hell he was putting her through.