STOCKHOLM SYNDROME ⇉ KAI PARKER

FOURTEEN

Princess of China

❝Once upon a time, we fell apart,
You're holding in your hands the two halves of my heart.❞

"Count your lucky stars that I'm not killing him right now, Jazzy. You better be counting them!" He shouted towards the girl who was jogging down the steps with a frown plastered on her face. She stormed into the kitchen, angrily yanking the stool from under the counter at the island before sitting on it with a sigh.

"You're only not killing him because if you did it would draw attention to us, he means something to the Salvatore brothers and they would know something was up if he showed up dead." Jasmine retorted, tucking into the meal that Kai had just placed in front of her.

"You got me there, Jazzy. When did you get so smart?" He sassily patronised the brunette who was steaming with anger whilst eating tacos.

"Am I going to die once this is all over?" Kai choked on his taco at her abrupt question but she remained unamused, Matt sparked something inside of her, she couldn't see herself coming out of this alive. Why would Kai kidnap Jasmine for months to hurt the Salvatores then just give her back in the end?

"I hadn't thought that far ahead, Jazzy." He deadpanned, calmly placing his taco back on the plate so he could engage in the conversation seriously. "You can't lie to me anymore, Malachai. You have thought that far ahead, now answer me honestly." Jasmine refused to take any of Kai's bullshit.

"Yes, I was probably going to kill you or turn you into a vampire to hurt them but if I told you that you would have screamed bloody murder." Kai chuckled trying to spark some laughter inside of Jasmine but all that he sparked was tears, Malachai hated it when Jasmine cried. It made him feel weak.

"And what have I told you about calling me Malachai," Jasmine placed her head in her hands, letting sobs out into her palms at the thought of dying. Kai had never seen Jasmine voluntarily cry so heavily in front of him and he didn't know how to react.

"Jazzy? What are you doing? Stop that." Kai grimaced at the crying girl, not knowing what to do with her. "No, seriously. Jazzy, stop." He leaned over the countertop to peel her hands away from her face. Jasmine's face was all red and blotchy with tear stained cheeks, she wiped the stray tears from under her eyes in an attempt to compose herself again.

"Kai, you've already died. Twice! I'm human, I only get one life. I only get one chance at living my life and I'm not living if I'm here with you!" She shrieked at him, her eyes glossing over with tears and all that Kai could do was watch the meltdown that Jasmine was having in front of him.

"Two months, two whole freakin' months I've had to endure with your shitty company. I've had enough, Kai. I don't want to do it anymore." She backed out of the kitchen, her eyes all crazy like and for the first time in forever Kai felt an emotion that wasn't vengeance and anger, he was worried about the girl. He had driven her insane.

"Jazzy, you need to calm down." Kai cautiously approached the girl who looked like she was about to bolt any minute despite not being able to due to his compulsion. She looked damaged and vulnerable, Kai had officially ruined Jasmine Woods.

"Calm down? I've been attacked and assaulted by magic, I've learnt that the supernatural actually exists and you want me to calm down?" She was seething, so livid that Kai thought she was going to explode with anger. "Get away from me! Stay back!" Jasmine pulled her hand from behind her back to reveal a very large kitchen knife that shined in the lamp light.

"J-Jasmine put the knife down." She had it pointing towards her gut, it was stupid really, Kai could just heal her with his blood immediately but then she had it pointing towards her heart that would kill her in seconds.

"I'm not living if I'm here with you, you want revenge? This is my revenge, Malachai Parker. This is my revenge for the torture you've put me through for these past two months."She was practically screaming now.

"Jasmine, listen to me. You don't want to do that, you really don't want to do that. Think about your poor brother when he finds out that you stabbed yourself or your parents." Kai tried to ignite some guilt in the girl but she just shook her head with the tears streaming down her face.

"If they cared about me they would have found me," the knife in Jasmine's hand was visibly shaking. Kai almost began to feel guilty about what he had done to the girl but all he could feel was anger that she was breaking the emotional barrier that Esmeralda had created.

Kai took another step forward but with that one step forward, Jasmine pressed the knife harder against her chest. Kai wasted no time using his vampire speed to rip the knife from Jasmine's hands. Unintentionally, he wrapped his arms around the sobbing girl who clung to him for dear life. She screamed into his chest, thrashing around but he held her tight in arms not letting her go.

Both their hearts were beating erratically, but he held her nonetheless and listened to her loud cries, both oblivious to the deputy that was upstairs in the locked room. "I'm sorry- I'm so sorry." She mumbled into his black t-shirt, not caring whether she stained it or not. Kai didn't say anything in fear that he would feel something, feel another emotion begin to chip away at the spell.

Jasmine was slowly smashing the foundations that built the spell that Esmeralda had cursed him with and what made it worse was that Kai didn't know if he was happy that Jasmine was breaking that curse apart. In truth, Kai wasn't scared to care anymore.

"I don't know what happened to me, it was like I was possessed with rage." The fragile girl admitted to the heretic who just hummed in response, still holding the girl in his arms. "It's okay, Jazzy. It happens to everyone." He mumbled into her hair, the feeling unfamiliar for the both of them. They had never made contact like this in a friendly manner, if he ever touched her, it would be in a hostile environment.

"Thank you for not letting me do it."

"I didn't think you would have done it anyway." Jasmine pulled away from his grip, furring her eyebrows at the heretic in front of her. "Jazzy, if you were going to kill yourself like that, you wouldn't hesitate."

Jasmine sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair in frustration. The whole scene kept replaying in her head that she was prepared to throw her whole life away and how Kai had saved her life. Malachai Parker just did something good and redeeming for the first time in his life and Jasmine didn't know how to react.

"You saved my life- you saved me!" Jasmine's stared at the boy with wide eyes, Kai grimaced at the thought of doing something good that didn't benefit him. He hated himself for showing a glimpse of change and redemption. 

"Honestly, Jazzy it was no big deal. I need you for my huge revenge plot, remember?"

Jasmine shook her head with panicked and wild eyes, something that was frightening Kai. The crazy look in her eyes, he truly believed that he had driven her to insanity. "No, no. You saved me because you wanted to, not because you need to." She assured herself more than told the heretic.

"Jasmine, I think you need a good night's sleep." Kai approached the wild girl with a syringe before she could even open her mouth to respond, injecting her with a drug to send her into a deep sleep.

He hoped that she could sleep this off.

He prayed that he hadn't ruined the only good thing in his life at the moment.