The fights we had with these DAU children were starting to grow boring. As much as I wanted to crush them all, especially Dex, they were almost too boring of prey to hunt. It almost seemed like a waste of time.

That was why I just stood there, a flat look on my face as the five teenagers stared back at me. Tom was at my side, Carmine and Striker standing behind us. This was becoming all too familiar.

We were in some kind of abandoned warehouse this time, the same type of boring setting like always. A place where no humans would see us; a place where we could do as much damage as we wanted to because no one was coming anywhere near anytime soon. This routine was growing boring. I was itching to destroy them just so we could move on to something else.

"This is getting repetitive," I drawled, my arms crossed lazily over my chest. "This needs to be our last meeting or I'm going to go mad."

"Too late," Auden muttered to no one in particular, and Lena hit him so I didn't have to.

"This can be the last time we meet if you just come back with us, Violet," Dex pleaded, but this meant nothing to me. "They're lying and manipulating you!"

"Are you still trying to convince Violet of your lies?" Tom grinned, his hand patting down on top of my head as if I was a child. I almost hit him, but decided against it. "When are you losers going to get it? It's not going to work."

"You're the one that's lying!" Kristie shouted, though she was still too scared to take a step forward.

"And who calls people losers anymore?" Aiden commented, but he was easily ignorable. He seemed like the kind of guy that'd do just that anyway, but no one commented on that.

"But I'm not going to let you take Violet anywhere, because we've been having a lot of fun back at our headquarters," Tom teased, and I could feel him delicately playing with my ear with his fingers. I swatted at him, but of course this didn't make him stop. "But you know, it's too bad Violet heals so quickly..."

Our opponents looked confused, and even I had no idea why he'd said this. Dex seemed more bothered by the fact that Tom was touching me, but I decided to ignore that and focus on whatever Tom was getting at. I didn't know what he was getting at, but I knew that with Tom, he had some conniving plan up his sleeve.

"Because you can't see them anymore, but yesterday..." Tom smirked, his arm snaking around my shoulders and tracing patterns against the skin on my neck, his lips suddenly in my hair. "I had her marked all over."

And there it was.

He drew out the last words as he continued to trace against my neck, kissing the side of my head as if he had any right to. But as angry as I felt by him touching me, that was nothing in comparison to the look on Dex's face and the way his body went completely rigid.

"Did you hurt her?" Kristie demanded before anyone else could say anything, as dumb as she always was. But the rest of them knew exactly what Tom meant. Even I did. And if I could feel anything else other than anger, I probably would have felt embarrassed that he was announcing this in front of everyone.

Dex took a threatening step forward, Lena grabbing onto his arm to stop him from moving any farther. We all knew that he was strong enough to keep going if he really wanted to, but Lena's presence beside him seemed to calm him ever so slightly. And for some reason that only pissed me off even more.

"Now, we should get started, yes?" Tom grinned, clapping his hands together as if this was some kind of well-planned get together. He turned toward Dex, cocking his head in my direction. "I think I'll leave my girlfriend to you. Give you some time to talk."

Dex took one last menacing step toward Tom, who only laughed before he immediately sprung into action, knocking an off-guard Lena off her feet and to the ground. I almost laughed at just how ridiculous our opponents were. Why wouldn't they have their guard up at all times?

Suddenly, Dex was right in front of me, and I cursed myself for not taking my own advice and getting distracted by something else. I took a step back, wanting to be nowhere near him, but he was persistent. Grabbing onto my wrist, his grip was tight. He wasn't going to let go unless I made him.

"Violet, please," he pleaded, the desperation in his voice making my skin crawl. "Snap out of it, baby. This isn't you."

"What makes you think you can call me that?" I growled, ripping my arm from his grasp and pushing him back farther away from me with a quick flick of my wrist. "I'm not falling for anything you say anymore. You can stop pretending because it's not going to work!"

There was nothing I wanted more than to just crush him right then and there, that fake look of concern and compassion on his face mocking me. When would it be enough for him? When would he be done tormenting me?

"Violet, I don't know what you've been told, or what exactly they did to make you like this, but nothing they told you is true," the brains of their group now spoke up, but I didn't even turn to look at him. I couldn't take my eyes off Dex. It was like our eyes were glued to one another's.

"Anthony's right, Violet," Kristie decided to add, though it wasn't like her opinion mattered to me in any way. "They're lying to you."

"No," I spat, finally tearing my gaze away from Dex's haggard eyes to scowl at all of them. "You're the ones who are lying. They've done nothing but help me, and make me stronger. They're the ones on my side. They're the ones who are my friends."

It may have been true that I couldn't stand any of them, but Tom, Striker, and Carmine were the closest thing I had to friends; the closest thing I had to family. But even if I didn't like them, it wasn't like I liked VAKAD at all either.

"She's gone completely crazy," Aiden announced, and Lena moved to hit him until Anthony grabbed onto her arm to stop her. "Why can't we just leave her and let her be? Clearly this is what she wants!"

I almost laughed in his face. What kind of leader was this, that talked in such a way? The more time I spent with them, the more I saw that they were completely useless. How were they ever supposed to work together when this was how they acted in front of their enemies?

"Will you just shut up for once?" Lena shouted at their supposed leader. She then turned back toward me, her blue eyes pleading. "Violet, will you snap out of it already? This has gone on far enough!"

"Do you really think that if Dex can't get through to her, that you will?" Aiden snapped at her.

Lena looked as though she was going to attack Aiden herself until Anthony held her back again. "Romantic love isn't the only important love, jackass!" she spat. "But I know you wouldn't understand that!"

I didn't understand why they were arguing with each other, but it wasn't like I cared. They were supposed to be fighting us, yet they were arguing with each other like children. How were these people our enemies? There was nothing threatening about them. They were just a bunch of kids.

Before they could continue bickering, Anthony quickly grabbed Lena and dashed away, just dodging an electric blow form Tom as he shot back toward them. This seemed to snap the fighting teens back into reality.

"This is boring," Tom called out, an over dramatic yawn following. "I want to fight. So let's get this started!"

He went for Lena again, but this time she was ready. Jumping out of the way, she flung icicles at him from the tips of her fingers, which he was able to easily dodge. Anthony sprung after them to join the fight, clearly not wanting Lena to face him alone.

Carmine and Striker went after the remaining two, Carmine speeding after Aiden while Striker practically pounced at Kristie. Soon they were all enthralled in their own fights, leaving me all alone with the one person I did not want to be left alone with.

"Are we really going to fight right now?" Dex now asked me, as if he was dumb. What else was there for us to do? "Is this really how this has to be?"

I glanced over at Carmine, who was in the middle of a fist-fight-with-fire with Aiden. I glanced over at Striker, who almost seemed as if he wasn't even trying to actually do any damage to Kristie as she gave her all. Was this his way of teasing her? I didn't even bother looking at Tom, because I knew he was having no trouble dodging and attacking Lena and Anthony, even when he was fighting them by himself.

And that left me with Dex, something I wasn't very surprised with. He just stared at me, not moving or talking, and just the look on his face was enough to piss me off. Why was he the one I was always left to fight?

"I don't want to fight you, Violet," he sighed. "I just... I can't anymore."

"Chickening out?" I laughed, my head cocking to the side as I grinned at him. "I thought you were tougher than that."

He stared me down, which was the reaction I was expecting. "I can't fight you anymore," he said. "I just.. can't. Not you."

His reasoning pissed me off. He didn't want to fight me, but I wanted nothing more than to fight him. And I was going to get what I wanted.

He suddenly placed his hands on my shoulders, and I wanted nothing more than to push him away from me. Before I could, however, he spoke.

"Violet, look at me," he pleaded, his grip tight on my shoulders. "Please, snap out of it. You're stronger than this. You can fight this."

I was about to shout at him, but stopped when I really looked at him. There was something about the look in his eyes that shook me to my core. The last thing I ever expecting was to be affected so deeply just from a look. What kind of affect did this guy have on me?

I found myself choking over my own words, unable to say anything for a moment. All I could do was stare at him, feeling more confused than anything else as I tried to fight it.

"Stop..." was all I was able to say, struggling to break eye contact with him.

But Dex wasn't going to give up. He wasn't going to give up fighting, and he wasn't going to give up on me. No matter how vicious or violet I was, he was never going to give up on me. Because he...

"I believe in you. You can do this." He looked me dead in the eye, completely sure of himself as he confessed, "I love you."

It was like those three words were the switch I needed. I stared at him, my eyes wide and my mouth agape, trying to register the words he had just said to me. It was like all the anger I'd felt vanished, being replaced with nothing more than fear and confusion. Why was he saying this to me? Was he just trying to trick me? No, he couldn't have been... Because Dex and I... were in love with each other.

My head was throbbing, a million different things rushing through my mind. "Dex..." I whimpered, stumbling slightly.

This was first time that I, the real me, had spoken in what felt like years. "Dex, I'm..."

I was scared. I was sorry. I was supposed to be the good guy; I was supposed to be strong enough so that I wouldn't be affected by something like this. But now I was acting the way I said I never would.

I wasn't strong enough. I could feel myself slipping back to how I'd been, the angry and evil Violet I was so afraid of. This wasn't what I wanted. I didn't want to hurt my friends. I didn't want to be angry and bitter. I didn't want to go back with Tom and Striker and Carmine. I just wanted to go home. With Dex.

"Fight it, Violet," Dex urged, his hands now on either side of my face. "I know you can do this. You're stronger than this!"

He was wrong. I wasn't stronger. Because no matter how hard I tried to focus on him and what he was saying, I felt myself slipping back. And the harder I tried to fight it, the more my head felt like it was splitting in two.

"Just... shut up!" I cried, snapping out of whatever trance I had been in and grabbing onto his arms and pulling them away so I was no longer in his grasp. "Stop lying to me! I'm sick and tired of your lies!"

I threw his arm back, the snapping sound of the bone in his forearm and his shout that came with it sounding like music to my ears. He pushed back away from me, cradling his now broken arm in his intact one.

"Violet, you have to believe me," he pleaded, taking a step toward me like an idiot. "Stop this! I meant what I said! I'm in love with you!"

My head was throbbing; it felt like it was going to explode. Why did his lies affect me so much? Had I cared that much about him before he destroyed me? Why couldn't I remember anything?

"I'm so in love with you," he whispered, and it sounded so soft and genuine that I almost believed him. "I've been going crazy these last couple of weeks without you. I've been terrified thinking about what you might be going through. You have to believe me when I say this! I love you!"

He sounded so desperate, so terrified. Any girl would believe him, and I wouldn't blame them. But I knew better.

I was going crazy. I felt like I needed to remember something, but nothing was coming to mind. My hands tangled in my already messy hair as I tried to get the pain to stop. I just wanted the pain to stop.

"You have to believe me," he continued. "You have to believe me and fight this!"

"Stop!" I finally screamed, unable to take anymore. Raising my hand up above me, I brought Dex up with it so that he was now dangling up in the air above me, my focus solely on his throat that I was now crushing with my mind, my fingers curled as if they were actually wrapped around his throat.

Finally, at least one of his teammates seemed to realize what was going on once he began to gasp for the air I was stealing from him.

"Violet!" I could hear Anthony shout from a ways away from us. "Stop! You're going to kill him!"

But that was what I wanted. I was so tired of feeling all this pain and anger whenever I even thought of him. Once he was gone, that would stop. It would have to stop.

None of his teammates were able to come to his rescue since they were too busy dealing with their own fights, my own teammates not allowing them to get away. I could see the life draining for him as I continued to squeeze. This was all about to end.

Kicking and struggling, Dex tried everything he could to try to break from my invisible grasp, but there was nothing he could do. He was growing desperate now. He was dying.

"Violet," he choked, grasping at the hands around his neck that weren't there. "I'm... sorry."

I was about to laugh at his attempt to apologize, but I wasn't even given the chance. I soon realized he wasn't apologizing for anything he may have said or done in the past, but for what he was about to do. His leg suddenly swung up, his foot smashing against my jaw full force. Caught off guard, I flew back, dropping Dex onto the ground in the process.

I could hear him gasping for the breath I had been keeping from him, but that seemed to be the only sound I could focus on. I tried to sit up but found it impossible as the searing pain shot through my skull.

My vision blurring, my entire head felt like it was pulsing. He hadn't held back; he'd used his full strength. And even though I knew I couldn't blame him for that since I was moments from killing him, I still couldn't help but grow angrier.

I scrambled to my feet, but this seemed to be too much for me too soon as I stumbled over and back onto my knees. Suddenly I was seeing double, then triple, then quadruple. I could feel myself slipping into black, but I refused to go down. I couldn't let them beat me.

"I won't... lose..." I muttered, attempting to push myself up enough to crawl. "I can't..."

But I just couldn't handle it any longer. My arms gave out underneath me and I collapsed onto the ground, the last thing I saw before blacking out being Dex using the last of his own strength to crawl toward me.

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I know this took way too long. I'm really sorry, guys. And I know I always say that because updates are usually pretty late, but this one was way too late.

I've been having a rough couple of months. This chapter was really hard for me to write because of Dex finally confessing his love for Violet. It's just really hard to write about love when you're not feeling it. I just feel like that kind of love doesn't exist so it's hard to write about something I don't believe in. Hopefully that'll change because how the hell am I supposed to write romance novels if I don't even believe in the thing I'm writing about?

I have so many ideas for future stories, and I can't wait to share them with all of you. This is still what I want to do for a living. I'm just hoping this sad feeling will go away. And hopefully soon.

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! <3