The first thing I noticed was how freaking cold it was outside.

We had to wait outside in line for fifteen minutes, and the small dress I was wearing did not help me against the cold at all. Kristie, of course, did not seem bothered by this at all in her little pink dress.

“This should be fun,” Kristie smiled at me, though I couldn't help but disagree. “It'll be so much fun to spend time with you! We never really get to have time with just the two of us. So it'll be fun! Girl time!”

She was way too excited for this, but I said nothing and just continued on my way inside the club once the bouncer let us through.

The inside of the club was everything I was expecting it to be. It was dark, only lot by florescent lights, and very loud with pounding music. I didn't know why anyone would actually want to be in there.

I was surrounded by sweaty bodies, which made me feel very uncomfortable. Kristie, as always, was not bothered. She even seemed to be enjoying herself, somehow. She did seem like the kind of girl that would like this type of thing, so I wasn’t very surprised.

I knew we were here to try to find Lynx, but I didn’t see how we’d be able to find her when the room was so dark. The strobe lights did not help whatsoever, even though they should have. And people were moving around so much that if we did find Lynx, we’d lose her right away.

Within three minutes of being inside the club, someone already came up and asked Kristie if she wanted to dance. She looked at me, as if asking if it was okay, but I only waved her away. I was sure that he would not be the first to ask her to dance that night.

I continued to look around as Kristie had fun. I could tell that I was going to be the only one doing any work on this mission because Kristie was going to be too busy dealing with all the males. I was really glad Aiden wasn’t here.

When I saw a familiar mane of wild, orange hair, I snapped my head in that direction to see that it was who I was thinking of. I practically yanked Kristie away from who she was dancing with to show her that I had found her.

“There's Lynx!” I cried out over the music, hiding behind moving people as I watched Lynx at the bar. “Kristie, look!”

It was easier than I thought it would have been, though I knew I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her or else I would lose her. I let go of Kristie and slowly made my way toward her, knowing my redheaded teammate would follow me.

But when I turned back toward Kristie, I was cut short by what I saw. Three guys were surrounding her, all laughing with her and obviously flirting with her, though she was completely oblivious about that.

I was not going to just stay in here and watch her stupidly flirt with guys while not even realizing what she was doing. Completely forgetting about the mission, I turned on my heal and started off. Kristie could deal with Lynx for all I cared.

I pushed my way through dancing parties and right out the door, though I soon realized that I did not exit out of the front door, but the back door instead, so I was now in a dark alley behind the club. That just made everything so much better.

“Ugh!” I groaned loudly, kicking over a trashcan without even thinking twice about it. “What's wrong with me, huh? Am I not pretty enough? Am I not special enough? Why is it always her?”

I always knew that I was jealous of Kristie. I was jealous of her looks, I was jealous of her hair, and I was jealous of all the attention she always got. She wasn't the only girl on the team. She wasn’t the only girl on the planet. I was here, too!

I wasn’t invisible. That was Dex’s power, not mine. I might not have been breathtakingly beautiful like Kristie was, but it wasn’t like I was painful to look at. Especially when I was all dressed up like this.

I remembered the look Dex had given me when I had entered the RV. The look he gave me when he kissed me. I didn’t really understand it, but those were the kinds of looks Kristie got all the time. She was so used to them that they were probably normal to her.

“You shouldn't doubt yourself so much,” a new voice now said from the shadows, causing me to nearly jumped ten feet into the air.  “You really don't give yourself enough credit.”

“Who's there?” I demanded, looking around to see who was there. I saw no one.

When Hank came out from the darkness, I let out a breath. I was afraid that it was Malicius sneaking up on me. I could breathe easily again when I realized that it was just Hank.

“You shouldn't be jealous of Kristie,” Hank now told me, but I knew he was only saying this to make me feel better. “You're a very pretty girl too, Violet.”

“Thank you, but…”

“Do you think you're not pretty?”

That question made me stop and think for second. Honestly, I didn't know how I was supposed to answer that question. Because I didn't know the answer.

“I don't think I'm ugly, I just…” I just didn't know I was supposed to say. “I just don't think I'm as pretty as Kristie.”

Hank frowned. “Violet, you're a very pretty girl. And I'm not just saying that to make you feel better.”

I didn't say anything in response to this. I wanted to thank him, but I couldn't find my voice. Because I didn't know if I really believed him or not. He was my mentor; wasn't it his job to make me feel better?

“Kristie was born with intense beauty,” Hank explained to me, but I didn't think I really wanted to hear it. “She looks like this because this is one of her powers. She's not just a shape shifter. One of her ancestors had the same power of beauty and it was inherited by her.”

“I don't see how that's a power,” I grumbled, sitting down on a sturdy cardboard box. “It has nothing to do with anything. She'd be useless if it wasn't for her shape shifting powers. There's no way she would be on the team if her only power was this intense beauty or whatever.”

Hank side and sat on a trashcan across from me. It was a little strange that we were having this conversation in a dirty, dark alley in the back of a club, but I didn't say anything about this. “Beauty can be a very... helpful power. But then, at the same time, it can be very… troublesome.”

I shook my head. “I only see the troublesome part.”

Hank laughed, leaning over and patting my knee. “Of course you do,” he smiled. “It can be more troublesome than it is helpful. So far, it's only been troublesome. It's distracted Aiden, and even Anthony and Dex at some point.”

At the thought of Dec, my stomach twisted a little bit. I didn't know how we were supposed to act toward each other anymore. I had never kissed anyone before, so I didn't know how you were supposed to react after the fact. It kind of scared me. Actually, it really scared me.

Hank smiled when he saw my reaction to the mention of Dex. “You saw the way he looked at you tonight, right?”

“What about it?” I asked. “He was just looking at me.”

“How naïve,” Hank sighed. “You'll get it eventually.”

Get what, I didn't get the chance to ask, because we were then interrupted by a low, rumbling laugh through the darkness that made my skin crawl.

“How cute,” the interrupter laughed. “A little bonding moment toward a mentor and a pupil. Is Nay aware of the blossoming relationship between you and your pupil? You know that's against the rules, Hank. You could get kicked out of the DAU.”

“Get your head out of the gutter for once, Mal,” Hank smiled wryly at our enemy.

Malicius only chuckled, making chills shoot up my spine. There was just something about Malicius that made me feel very uneasy. But then again, I had that same feeling when it came to Lynx.

“Well, you can’t blame me for thinking this way, Hank,” Malicius now started lazily, slowly strolling closer to us in the dark. “I mean, even after everything you and Nay have been through, you’re still not together with her. I’ve always wondered if it may be because you have another woman on the side.”

Hank’s fists were clenched at his side. “Malicius…”

“And to find out that it’s your pupil!” our enemy continued, completely overdramatic. “That’s even worse! I don’t think that’s ever happened in the history of the DAU! What will the Director think?”

“Shut up!” I shouted, picking up one of the trashcans with my powers and throwing it at him. He easily lifted a piece of the earth from below him and blocked it. “Stop spouting out false things!”

“If they were false, you wouldn’t be acting to harshly,” Malicius continued, that disgusting smirk on his face. “Oh, what will poor Anthony think?”

“There’s nothing going on between Anthony and me,” I growled, my hands balled into fists, ready to throw something else at him.

Malicius smirked. “What will Dex think?”

I had nothing to say back to this, because I had no idea how Dex would react if he learned that something was going on between Hank and me, even though there was absolutely nothing going on. I didn’t even want to know Nay’s reaction to this false accusation.

“I was just being nice to her, Mal,” Hank informed him now, sounding very sarcastic when he used Malicius’s nickname. “I guess you don’t understand because you’re incapable of being nice and don’t understand how it works.”

Malicius did not seem insulted; he actually seemed kind of proud. Obviously being nice was not a requirement to be a part of Redrum.

Suddenly, I heard screaming. And then, more screaming and crashing came along with it. I then realized that it was coming from inside the club. Without even second thought, I raced inside to see what was going on, Hank right behind me, leaving Malicius alone in the dark alley.

Honestly, I didn't know what I was going to see when we got inside. I expecting to see all the humans running and screaming, but I was not expecting to see the room engulfed in flames.

“This is why I shouldn’t leave Kristie alone!” I groaned, wanting to pull my hair out in frustration.

I looked around, but the flames and the running humans were too distracting for me to find who I was really looking for. At the front of the club, there was a large window so people could see in and out. Without even thinking twice about it, I raised my hand and sent one of the couches crashing through the window, giving them another exit to escape from.

Hank nodded at me. “Good job,” he praised.

I never would have thought that I would have been praised for being destructive, but it wasn’t like the rest of the club wasn’t ruined anyway. I might as well destroy it a little more if it meant saving lives.

“Do you see Kristie anywhere?” I asked him, trying to look around the flames. It would have been really nice to have Aiden there with us right then. “I can't see her!”

I couldn't see Lynx either, and that worried me even more. She was like a cat on the prowl… literally. She could have jumped out and attacked at any time, and she had the upper advantage because I was sure she had started the fire.

Hank shook his head as he looked around the room. But there were too many people, running and screaming as they tried to get out of the club anyway they could.

Finally, I looked up onto the bar and gasped when I saw both Lynx and Kristie. Kristie was unconscious, blood running down her temple as she hung over Lynx shoulder. 

Lynx then saw us, winked, and jumped, still holding Kristie. Being agile like a cat, she was able to leap over the flames and land right in front of the back door to the club. He then exited, still holding Kristie, and Hank and I bolted right after her.

The alley was no longer secluded, now that people were filing out of the back entrance to escape. But I could see Lynx hop up over the back fence, so Hank and I followed right after her.

Malicius was waiting for her on the other side. He looked so smug, both of them did, and it made me sick to my stomach.

Kristie was hanging lifelessly from Lynx’s shoulder. They were practically the same size, but she was able to carry Kristie with ease. Even I wouldn’t have been able to do that.

“Put Kristie down, Lynx,” Hank ordered, though I knew she wasn’t going to listen to anything we had to say. We were going to have to be forceful to get our point across. “Just leave the girl alone.”

Lynx laughed. “And why should I? This is part of my job, Hank.”

Hank didn’t’ have anything else to say to this, because he knew it was true. Just like it was our job to capture Lynx, it was her job to capture us. And now that she had gotten one of us, she wasn’t going to let her go.

“Make sure to tell Aiden that we have his pretty little girlfriend,” Malicius grinned, enjoying this thoroughly. “I wish I could see his reaction, but imagining it is good enough for me.”

I bit the inside of my cheek at the thought of Aiden. I couldn’t think about him right then, because I knew he’d freak out if I didn’t get Kristie back. I had to get Kristie back.

“Leave Kristie alone!” I shouted, taking a step forward. “She did nothing to deserve this, so just put her down!”

Kristie was the most innocent one on our team. She wasn’t the brightest, and that made her innocent and pure. Though she was beautiful, I didn’t think she even realized how beautiful she really was. And I kind of pitied her for that.

“Think positively about this, Violet,” Malicius now started with the same wicked grin. “With Kristie gone, you’ll be the prettiest girl on your team.”

Lynx snorted. “You’ll be the only one, but that’s good enough, right?”

I felt embarrassed at the fact that Malicius had overheard my entire conversation with Hank. It was about a private and delicate subject for me, and the fact that our enemy had heard it made me feel even more self-conscious.

“See you around, Vi,” Lynx cackled, hopping up onto the rock along with Malicius. He then raised his hand, and the rock went up with it before taking off into the night.

I was frozen, for only a moment. I couldn’t believe that this had just happened. It didn’t feel real. I actually thought I was going to wake up in my bed and look across the room to see Kristie sleeping soundlessly. But I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

“We have to go after them!” I cried, jumping up right off the ground, ready to fly off after them. I might have not been super secure with flying yet, but I’d figure it out as I went along if I had to. But I couldn't move after Hank grabbed onto my ankle. “What are you doing?”

“Having both of you get lost and kidnapped by Redrum is not a smart idea,” he advised, though I didn't think that letting Malicius and Lynx leave with Kristie would be a smart idea either. “We need to go back to the DAU and inform the others.”

He was so calm about this, and I just didn't understand how it was possible. Kristie had just been kidnapped. How could anyone be calm about that? I was freaking out!

I could hear sirens in the distance. Fire trucks, to come put the fire out. It probably would be the best idea to leave.

“Violet,” Hank now said to me. “Come on. We have to get back as soon as we can.”

I was practically in a daze as he led me back to the RV as quickly as our legs would carry us. But I still couldn't believe that we were just leaving her. I couldn't believe that he was just letting her get kidnapped. We knew who took her, we knew she was hurt, so why weren't we doing anything about it right away?

It had all happened so fast. I still didn’t think that it really happened. It was just… so… quick. She was there, and then she was gone. I was with her, and then she was dangling from Lynx’s shoulder like a rag doll.

I understood that we needed to talk to Nay. I understood that we needed to inform the rest of the team. But was that really a good idea? Aiden was going to go completely ballistic. He acted like Kristie was the only other person on the team, so how was he going to react when he realized she was gone?

I pushed this thought from my mind. I didn’t want to think about how Aiden was going to react to all this. I’d cross that bridge when I got there… in about fifteen minutes.

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I've been waiting to write this chapter for a while. :)

Aiden's not going to be happy...

No Dex in this chapter, but... yay for Malicius and Lynx? I actually really like them for some reason, even though they're evil. I seem to like villains a lot. xD

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :D