"Ow," Kaz muttered, wincing as he noticed the shards of wood stuck into his back. He reached around, pulling them out and tossing them to the side. They hadn't done any real damage, so that was one less thing to worry about. "You okay?" he asked Vaughn, a look of concern on his face as he looked down at him
“I’m fine, the pills are working. Don’t worry about it,” Vaughn assured quickly. He sat up a bit more, the pain now more of a dull, fading one. He turned his head to look at Dylan with a questioning expression before he looked over at the strange rock. “What the hell is that..?”
Avery woke up to the loud crash the reverberated through the house. She looked around the room, wide-eyed and her memory a bit fuzzy about the events from earlier. A shadow-formed fox lay on the bed next to her, clearly Dylan's work. He must have been there, then.
Oh, gosh. What did I say?
What had just happened? She wished she knew. If only she could get up and walk on her own, but even she knew what a bad idea that would be with the gash in her side.
"Don't know. Thought it was a smudge on my glasses when I first saw it," Kaz laughed, wincing as the small wounds in his back made it slightly difficult to move. He took a tentative step towards the rock, frowning at it
Dylan remembered the sun stone incident, but this was nowhere near as grand or as obvious as that. It seemed to almost fade in with the dust arund it, and even when the air was clearer, it looked almost natural. If anyone saw this in the wild, they would easily mistake it for a normal rock and forget about it.
"I guess it's just a meteor," he said, kneeling next to it, "A rather inconvenient meteor, but a meteor nonetheless."
"I don't think so…" Kaz said slowly, taking a few more steps towards the stone. He reached out, his fingertips barely brushing it before he went rigid. He fell silent for a long moment, and the rock seemed to melt away to reveal a shimmering stone. A stone that seemed to fly to Kaz's hand, causing him to almost fall backwards. He panted heavily, his mind beginning to cackle. I know something that you don't, it teased in a singsong voice
With a weary sigh, Avery leaned back against the headrest of the bed, closing her eyes again. She reached over and pet the fox by her side, slightly surprised to notice that it felt like it had actual fur but having somewhat expected it. Dylan knew what he was doing when he made it, that's for sure.
What to do, what to do? What could she do, other than lay there?
Maybe she should try to walk on her own.
No, that was a bad idea.
Was it really, though? What other choice did she have?
She could call for someone to come help her.
But she didn't want to bother them.
She was injured, how else was she going to get around if she didn't have help?
Ugh, why did logic have to be so… logical…?
Vaughn frowned heavily as he watched Kaz and the stone. “I don’t think you should have touched it, you don’t knwo where it’s been,” he said, words laced with concern. He swung his legs over to rest his shoes on the floor, blinking a few times to clear the blurriness that was stuck around the edges of his vision.
"Oh, Kaz definitely should have touched it," came a voice, similar to Kaz's despite the lilting tone. Kaz, or what had possessed him, stuffed the stone into his pocket. When he turned around his eyes were pitch black save for the actual eye, which had become a whitish-violet. A single, small black antler was beginning to grow from the side of Kaz's face, and he flashed a fanged grin at Vaughn. "Kaon, at your service," he said, doing a small bow
Dylan backed slowly up the stairs, with the intent of reaching Avery without alerting the… thing.
"Oh, please. You simple-minded bacteria are worthless to me. I wouldn't waste a single volt on you," Kaon drawled, glancing over at Dylan before stretching. "Ah, it feels good to be out of Kaz's mind, though. You have no idea how boring telling him to just off himself gets."
“Kaon,” Vaughn spat. He knew exactly who that little bastard was. “Dylan, go get Avery,” he said slowly, getting up from the couch. “Kaon, what did you do with Kaz?”
"Aww, he remembers me!" Kaon laughed, a hand to his chest theatrically as he walked over to Vaughn. "The power surge knocked Kaz out, so I'm here to replace him until he gets his mess together. So don't worry your pretty little head, baby," he said, emphasizing the nickname as he ran a hand gently along Vaughn's cheek
Dylan ran up the stairs and burst into Avery's room. She was awake, laying on the bed still, petting the fox.
"We need to leave. Kaz has gone crazy."
"I'm not crazy, god damn it! He's a half demon, you imbecile!" Kaon called irritatedly from the first floor. He could see their electrical signatures clearly, and the way they were fluctuating in fear was beginning to irritate him even though he usually enjoyed scaring people
Vaughn’s jaw clenched tightly at Kaon’s words, and he batted his hand away from his cheek. “No touching. You’re lucky you’re a part of Kaz. If not, I swear to god I would kick your ass,” he threatened in a dark tone.
Surprised at his abrupt entrance, Avery blinked at Dylan a couple of times, her hand hovering in midair. She shook her head and rested her hand on the fox again.
"Kaz what now?" she asked, her voice somewhat sore. "He…went crazy? How so?"
"No you wouldn't," Kaon said smugly. "If I were a separate person, something tells me you might like me a little better. After all, I can give you far more than a few sappy kisses and a heartfelt guitar solo," he drawled, leaning dangerously close to Vaughn's face. "And something tells me you didn't know when we were together and I was half in control."
A strange feeling formed in Vaughn’s chest. What was it? Disgust, most likely. He age a pained noise, putting some distance in between him and Kaon. “Shut up, just shut the hell up. And oh, I would definitely waste no time in ripping your little throat open,” he hissed. Just distract him until Avery and Dylan can get to safety, and until Kaz gets back in control, he told himself, breaths shuddering.
"You know, he gets all the good ideas from me. I tell him what he doesn't want to hear, and then to spite me he goes and does all the sappy shit I know you'll love. And you know why? Because I'm attached to this bumbling fool, and he would have drank himself to death if I hadn't gotten him together with you," Kaon snapped. "Just because he treats me like a parasite doesn't mean I am one."
“You getting him together with me?” Vaughn said with absolute disbelief and a harsh laugh. “You are so full of it! I know that you tell him terrible things, so yes, I believe you are something like a parasite.”
"Oh my god!" Kaon growled exasperatedly. "I may act like a bitter tick that whispers in Kaz's ear, but the imbecile has no idea what he's doing! I help him as much as I hurt him. He would have slit his wrists eons ago if I hadn't told him he was a worthless piece of shit who was too pathetic to do it. Reverse psychology, you moron."
Dylan gestured downstairs, where they could hear Kaon's voice.
"That's how. He's a half demon, and that side just came out. We need to leave. Can you walk?"
Avery's eyebrows shot up as she heard Kaon and Vaughn arguing.
"I– I think so," she said, gently swinging her legs off the bed. She set her feet on the floor and tried to stand, but she wobbled a little. With a small grimace of embarrassment, she whispered, "I might need a little help."
“He is not worthless or pathetic! Yes, he hasn’t hurt himself in a while, as far as I know, but your words are still doing enough damage,” Vaughn spat in anger. His hands unknowingly clenched into fists as he grew frustrated and furious.