The moment I opened my eyes, the only thing I could focus on was the searing pain in my forehead.

I sat up, turning to look into the mirror on the wall to see the quarter-size gash on my forehead, scabbing over but nearly completely fresh. It took me a moment of staring at it before the fight from the night before finally flooded back to me, my blood boiling at the thought of it.

I pushed myself up, ready to jump out of bed and find anyone who could tell me why the hell this injury was still there when it was supposed to have gone away in only a few hours. I didn't know if I had been lied to or if something else was going on.

Before I could even get off the bed, however, my door was suddenly opening to reveal Striker, creepy grin and all. It immediately made my skin crawl, stopping me from moving any farther.

"Good morning, Violet," he greeted me, coming inside and closing the door behind him even though I didn't tell him he could come in. "I see you're awake now."

Something about the way he said this bothered me, as if he'd been coming in to periodically check that I had woken up. It sounded like something he would do, but just because it wasn't surprising didn't mean it wasn't creepy.

Striker was in no way unattractive, but his creepy behavior was what ruined it all for him. I had no interest in him, and yet here he was in my room. It took all my control not to chuck something at him.

"What do you want?" I demanded, not even pretending like I was okay with being near him.

He smiled at me, that same sickly smile I was so used to seeing. It never ceased to make my skin crawl. "I just wanted to visit you," he answered, slowly making his way toward my bed. I was ready to throw something if I needed to. "Can I not visit you, Violet?"

"Nope," I blurted without even thinking.

He simply chuckled, but I could see the annoyance behind his eyes from my answer. I couldn't have cared less; only being blunt would get the point across to this man. Even then, he'd still may try to ignore it in favor of his own crazy narrative.

"Look, Violet. I'll cut right to the chase," he began, and I knew nothing I wanted to hear was about to come out of his mouth. "I think it's obvious how I feel toward you. And I think it's obvious that you feel the same way."

I nearly choked on my own saliva. "Excuse me?"

He began moving toward the bed, and I found myself scrambling up and practically skidding on the floor away from him. He seemed surprise by my sudden movements, but then smiled at me. He found this amusing.

"I think you should just stop playing hard to get," he shrugged, and all I could do was just stare at him, mortified. "It'll make everything much more easier."

He reached for me again, and with a million disgusting scenarios flashing through my head, I found myself swinging my hand and bringing my dresser closer, bashing right into him and shattering into pieces. He stumbled, but didn't fall. All I could do was stare at him.

I had plenty of furniture in my room to throw at him if I needed to. I didn't want to know what he was planning if he was able to get his hands on me. I didn't even want to think about it.

"You're going to fight this, are you?" he growled, and I was surprised to see a trickle of blood drip down from his mouth. Though the dresser hadn't appeared to do much damage, it seemingly did. "You should be doing everything I say. You should be following all my orders."

I didn't understand why he was saying this, but I didn't even care. I wanted him away far, far away from me, and I'd make that happen if I needed to.

Striker laughed without humor, wiping the blood from his chin. "Must be because you're an Ender," he deduced. "We're going to have to find a way to fix that."

"I think you should leave," I warned.

He didn't move to leave. I knew he wasn't going to go without a fight, and I really had no patience for him at that moment. I was still angry over the fact that I still had a gash on my forehead, but it was obvious that Striker was not the person I was going to be getting any information out of without giving him something I didn't want to in return.

"Fine," I finally decided, shrugging by him and swiftly out the door. "If you won't leave, I will."

He didn't try to stop me, probably because he could tell that I should not have been messed with at that moment. I was already angry enough when I woke up, and now dealing with this from him put me in an even worse mood. He was well aware that I could take him down if I really wanted to, and this wasn't something he'd been expecting.

I made a beeline down the hall toward Tom's room, knowing he was the only one I'd be able to get real answers from. He had been the one who told me that I healed quicker in the first place.

As if he could tell I was coming to see him, he slipped out of his room, smirking when he saw me bounding toward him. He glanced at the gash on my forehead, his smirk disappearing for a split second before it adorned his face once more.

Without even thinking twice about it, I slammed him right into the wall, furious. This seemed to take him by surprise for only a second, but then he seemed to be pretty into it once he started smirking at me again. I really wanted to smack that smirk off him.

"What the hell is this?" I demanded, gesturing up to my forehead. "You said that I heal quicker than a regular super human because I'm an Ender. Unless I cared about who hurt me. So why is this still here?"

Tom let out a sigh, running his hand through his golden hair as if he had been expecting this to happen. This gesture angered me even more, because it felt like he wasn't taking my question seriously. He never seemed to really take me seriously, and it almost made me feel like I was being treated like a child.

"I was afraid of this happening," Tom began, looking off down the hall to make sure no one else could have been listening. "I didn't want to have to tell you this, but I guess I have no choice."

I scowled at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Dex gave you that injury, right?" Tom questioned, and at the sudden mention of this name, my fist clenched at my side as if it was a reflex. "So you're probably confused over why you still have that."

"I asked you, didn't I?"

My patience was wearing thin. He wasn't even trying to beat around the bush, but anytime that particular DAU member was mentioned, it was like I couldn't even control my emotions. Was I about to find out the reason behind that now?
"Before you came here, you were... close with him," Tom began, and my stomach dropped. "At least, you thought you were."

"Elaborate," I demanded, slamming his shoulder against the wall. He barely even flinched.

"He was just using you," Tom continued, and just these few words were enough to freeze me in place. "For what? We don't really know. Your body? Your power? Could've been both, could've been something else. Point is, when he saw that he wasn't going to get what he wanted from you, he tossed you aside. Said you were ugly and nothing but a monster who would never be loved by anyone. Then he attacked you, and that's how you ended up here."

By the time he was finished talking, my whole body was shaking. It felt like my blood was boiling, and like my whole entire body could burst at any second. Ugly? Monster? I didn't even care about the physical attacking part. It was the words he said that made me want to tear him limb from limb.

I pushed away from Tom, surprising him as he continued to lean back against the wall. I stood there, staring at nothing, shaking. It could have been seconds later, or it could have been hours, before I lifted my fist up, throwing it right at the wall.

Before I could make impact, however, Tom reached out and grabbed my fist, stopping me from connecting from the wall. Neither of us knew what damage I could have caused, and the way he recoiled slightly when I hit him told me how much power I had behind that punch. I was rarely ever able to get a physical reaction from Tom.

"Move," I growled, trying to rip my hand from his grasp, but failing. "I'm either going to hit the wall or I'm going to hit you."

"Are you sure you want to hit me?" he suddenly smirked again, and now I was being whipped around so suddenly I was the one being pressed up against the wall, one of his arms resting above me and the other resting on my hip. "Or would you rather kiss me instead?"

Still furious, I only scowled at him. "Why would I want to anything as disgusting as that?"

"You can't remember, can you?" he grinned, his hand moving to play with my hair. I didn't move to stop him. "You can't remember when you liked me?"

That sounded absolutely ridiculous. How could I like someone that got on my nerves the way Tom did? Sure, he was attractive, but that didn't change that negative feeling I felt in my gut. Something was just off about this guy.

But I didn't care about that, or the past that Tom and I may have had that I couldn't remember. All I could focus on was the boiling anger I felt toward the one DAU member that had torn me apart without a care in the world. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

"Save your anger for when you actually face Dex," Tom advised, changing the subject back to what we had been talking about. I glanced up at his hand to see that it was turning purple. He ignored it. "You'll be able to get your revenge on him. He'll pay for saying those things to you."

I said nothing, breathing in and out in an attempt to try to calm myself. Tom was right; there was no point in getting angry then. I needed to save it for when I was face-to-face to Dex once again. Then he'd pay.

Tom grinned at me when he saw that I was beginning to calm down. As angry as I was right then, it was nothing in comparison to how I would feel when I finally faced Dex again. I hoped that that would be soon.

"I heard a crash from your room earlier," Tom now informed me, trying to change the subject, though this wasn't one that would make me any less angry. "What was that about?"

I'd nearly completely forgotten about what had happened only minutes before. It seemed so unimportant now that I knew the truth about my relationship with Dex. It explained why I felt the way I did every time he was mentioned, and why my injury didn't go away as soon as it usually would. Unrequited feelings.

"Well?" Tom smirked when I didn't answer him right away, lost in thought.

"I'm gonna need a new dresser." I glanced away from him, almost feeling ashamed, but not really. "I kind of threw mine at Striker."

Tom's eyebrows shot up.

"He was coming onto me!" I defended before he could even say anything. "He was being creepy and I wasn't going to let him actually do anything to me!"

I thought Tom would be angry about this, but soon he began to chuckle. And then that chuckle almost immediately turned into a laugh and I shockingly found myself laughing along with him. It was a little crazy to think that I threw a dresser at a man making unwanted advances at me.

"Wow," Tom snickered, covering his mouth with his hand to try to hide his laughter. "I think that's the first time I've seen you smile since you've been here. And before that, even."

With those words, I found the faint smile I had on my face falter. Why was I laughing with him? I didn't like him. Yes, he was mentoring me and helping me figure out how to use my powers, but there was still something I couldn't stand about him. And even though I couldn't figure out what it was, that feeling was still there.

"You don't have to worry about Striker. Much," Tom seemed to think out loud, and it was his little add-on at the end that failed to make me feel better. "He doesn't actually like you."

"And here I was, thinking he was in love with me," I snapped back sarcastically, and Tom smirked at my sass. "But it's still confusing and creepy how he acts toward me."

"Striker likes you, not because of you," Tom explained, trying to think of how to word this properly. "He likes you because you look like your mother."

I blanched. "Striker had a thing for my mother?"

One thing I hadn't asked about since I'd woken up had been my family, and I realized then that I had absolutely no memory of them. Why had I never even thought about that before then?

"Striker has a thing for someone who had a thing for your mother," Tom went on to explain, shrugging as if this was the most boring story he'd ever told. "He thinks that if he's able to snag you, the person he really wants will finally view him as a worthy love interest."

I guess it made sense, in some sick, twisted sort of way. It was weird to think that there was someone here that had been interested in my mother at some time, and it made me uncomfortable just to think about it. Maybe this was why I never even thought to ask about my family before then.

"He really is a creep," was all I seemed to be able to say on the matter.

Tom nodded. "It's true," he agreed, rubbing his chin. "But t's not really surprising that he he has an ulterior motive for being so attracted to you."

I couldn't help but glare at him. "Are you saying that someone has to have some kind of ulterior motive for being attracted to me?"

Tom's smirk only grew, leaning down so close to me that our noses nearly touched. I tried to back away, only to remember that I was up against a wall. With his arm pressed against the wall above me, I had a clear escape path, and Tom knew this. But yet I stayed put.

"Do you think I have an ulterior motive?" he grinned.

He moved in closer to kiss me, but I wasn't having any of it. I reached up, placing my hand over his mouth and pushed him away from me so that he was no longer as close.

"If you had an ulterior motive, that'd have to mean that you were actually attracted to me," I scowled, not moving my hand from its spot. This didn't stop him from smirking like he always did, pushing his way back toward me so we were nose-to-nose again. I was caught so off guard that I moved my hand, and he used this opportunity to his advantage and leaned in even closer, pressing his lips to mine.

I didn't have much of a reaction, at first. I lifted my hand to slap him, but he easily clasped his hand down onto my wrist, slamming it up against the wall, successfully pinning me there. His other hand moved to my hip, all while I just stood there, motionless.

It was almost like I didn't know how to kiss. I couldn't remember a time that I ever had before, so it wasn't like I had anything to think back on. Had I kissed Tom like this before? Had I really liked him like he said I did?

Obviously fed up with the fact that I wasn't responding, his hand suddenly went up the back of my shirt. I gasped, and he used this opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth. Without a second thought, I nearly bit down on it, causing him to finally pull away and just stare at me incredulously.

"What the hell?" he snapped.

"I don't want that!" I spat back.

"You're supposed to kiss me back," he advised, moving his body even closer to mine. "That can't be too hard for you, can it?"

It felt like he was challenging me, which was not how I wanted to feel when it came to kissing a guy. Why did he want to kiss me so badly, anyway? Was this just to get under my skin?

He moved in to kiss me again, and I didn't try to stop him. I spent a few more seconds still, but slowly found myself actually kissing him back once I realized he really wasn't going to let up.

It was weird. It definitely wasn't something I was used to, but to be fair, I didn't know what I was used to. This didn't seem right, and yet I was doing nothing to stop it. I was kissing him back like this was something normal.

His hands moved to either side of my face, bringing me even closer to him. Not knowing what I was supposed to do with my hands, I simply placed them against his chest, assuming that was the best place for them. I definitely wasn't moving them anywhere south.

When his tongue found its way into my mouth once again, I still had no idea what I was supposed to do. Fighting the urge to chomp down on it, I tentatively moved my own with his. It wasn't something I was used to at all, but it wasn't... bad.

Finally, after what felt like forever, he moved his mouth away from mine, trailing kisses down my jawline until he finally got to my neck. This was not a feeling that I was used to at all, and I found myself biting down on my lip to stop myself from letting out any type of sound. Tom didn't seem to like the fact that I was silent, so he bit down on a partially sensitive part and I let out a yelp, unable to stop myself.

I couldn't tell you how long we were there for. Honestly, I didn't want to even think about it.

His hand moved under my shirt, brushing against my bare stomach as he slowly inched his way up. I was now very well aware that I was just in my pajamas. And yet, for some reason, I didn't stop him.

"This is horrifying," a new voice suddenly cut in, and I jumped at the sound and turned to see Carmine standing there, scowling at the two of us. Tom merely rolled his eyes at her. "Couldn't you two at least get a room?"

Tom glanced over at the closed door to his bedroom that was only a few meters away. "I mean, we could."

Carmine couldn't even stand to look at us. "Disgusting," she muttered, walking back into her room without looking back at us.

I watched her leave for only a moment before remember where I was. Finally snapping out of it, I pushed myself out from between Tom and the wall, finally able to breathe again.

But now that I was free, I came face-to-face with a mirror hanging on the opposite side of the wall. And all I could see were the multiple purple splotches peppered on the side of my neck. Like I was infected.

Tom laughed when he saw them, flicking my hair out of the way for a better look. "Those'll be gone in a couple of hours," he predicted, leaning over so his mouth was right by my ear. "But boy, do I have to brag about this."

He nipped at my ear before straightening himself up and turning away. I gaped at him as he started down the hall, waving at me over his shoulder.

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I want to start writing a little more passionate scenes between characters like I used to (not smut though that's just too uncomfortable for me) but doing it between Violet and Tom made me so uncomfortable. So if it's awkward, that's why.

The song attached is obviously about Violet and Dex, not Violet and Tom. Also I am Mamma Mia trash if that wasn't obvious already

lol if only Dex knew what was goin' on at Redrum headquarters man

I had such horrible writer's block for this chapter because I just wanted it to be over so I could get to the next one. That's why it took me even longer than it usually does. But now it's finally over and I can move on to what I've been waiting for.

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! <3