Volume II - Episode 31 Where: Melbourne, Australia When: 1 month and 1 day after E-Day, 10:58 pm Kim and Ken stood on Victor's porch, smoking. "It hasn't rained like this in ages," Kim said, exhaling a puff of cigarette smoke and watching the wind carry it away. "Not since E-Day." They stood in silence for a little while, watching the rain fall in heavy sheets across Victor's perfectly manicured lawn. "Hey," Ken said. "Just wondering: who lit the candles on the dinner table? Was that you or Jess?" "Me. Why?" "Just wondering," Ken said, deep in thought. He studied Kim's face. It was difficult for him not to draw comparisons to Nikki - the girl he and Daniel had found in Knox Police Station a few days after E-Day. Both women practically overflowed with sex appeal, with a certain harshness to their features that amplified, rather than diminished, their beauty. They had seen and experienced things in their young lives that would haunt most other women's nightmares. And yet they had survived everything life had thrown at them - they had pulled through. There was a hard-edged, steely determination in their eyes that no amount of beatings (or time spent locked-up in a police cell without food or water) could take away from them. But while Nikki's determination was fueled by selfishness and malice, Kim's came from her infinite love for her friends. There was nothing she wouldn't do to keep Jessica safe. Nothing. And now, Ken supposed, that same protection extended to him and Victor as well. Another short silence fell between them. "Hey, let's try something," Ken said suddenly. "Grab your lighter." Kim took her lighter from the window ledge and lit it. Ken held his palm over the flame. "Are you sure?" Kim asked. "Won't it hurt?" "Yeah, it'll hurt; but it won't burn me. Try it." Kim watched the bright yellow flame twist and turn against Ken's outstretched palm. She saw him wince, and shut off the flame at once. "No, no, it's okay, look," Ken said, showing her his palm. There wasn't a mark on it. "Fire can't burn a spellcaster. See? Do it again." "Why?" "Just checking something." "Okay," Kim shrugged, flicking the lighter and watching the flame press against Ken's outstretched hand again. "But if you...OW!" She stumbled backwards, clutching at her shin. The lighter spilled out of her hand and tumbled onto the porch. She stared at Ken with disbelief. "You kicked me!" Ken didn't respond. He was standing in silence, staring at his palm with a strange mixture of pain, fear and fascination. "What?" Kim breathed, suddenly terrified. "What is it?" Ken showed her his palm. The skin was cracked and peeling, and a bright red welt was forming at the spot where she had burned him.