Jon silently unlocked the door to his house, memories of a tearful goodbye burning themselves into his mind. He'd promised Karyn he'd come back, that he would fix things. And he meant it. He'd intended to delay this, to come up with a plan, to be sure of the result. But after tonight. What Mikey was doing had gone beyond childish mistakes. This was monstrous, and now that the fear had mostly passed, Jon was angry. No longer caring about stealth, Jon stormed upstairs and opened Mikey's door. He hadn't even bothered to lock it. Probably a bad sign.
Mikey shot up out of bed. "Jon! What are you doing?! Don't be stupid. I can mess you up again!"
There was the stone. Right on his dresser. Not even hidden. Another bad sign. But Jon had gone too far to stop now. In two long strides he was there, and reaching for the stone...
PAIN
Jon stifled a scream, managing to reduce it to a moan. The stone burned. It glowed red hot, wisps of smoke had begun to waft up from the carpet on which it landed. Finally, as the rock returned to its original color, Jon dimly heard childish laughter through the searing pain in his hand.
