I couldn’t stop staring at my hand. The blood ran from my knuckles and onto my palm and down my arm. I then began to freak out.

Hyperventilating, I wanted nothing more than for this blood go be off of me. I wanted to forget what had just happened, what I’d just done. Why did I do this? Why didn’t I stop?

My hyperventilating only made Lena hyperventilate even more. Aiden looked from me, to her, and then back to me. He had no idea what he was supposed to do. So much for being the heroic leader.

I just kept staring at my hand. My bloody hand. I couldn’t breathe. I started to cry.

I couldn’t wipe the blood away because the last thing I wanted was to get it on my other hand. I didn’t want it to spread. The smartest thing to do was just wash it off, but I couldn’t get my body to work.

“Shh,” Dex shushed softly, placing his hands on my shoulders as he crouched down beside me. “You’re going to be alright. Everything’s okay.”

“What’s happening?” Kristie whispered to Aiden, though I could still hear her. “What’s happening to Violet?”

Aiden shook his head. “I don’t know.”

And the scary part was, I didn’t know either. I had no idea why I had responded the way I did. I was angry, sure, but I’d been angry before. Of course, I couldn’t remember a time when I had ever been this angry…

The blood felt disgusting against my skin. I looked over at the stalker, only to see his bashed-in face. I felt like I was going to throw up. What had I done? What had I done? What had I done?

I don’t even know how long we had to wait before Anthony burst through the door as quickly as his powers would let him, stopping on the other side of the unconscious stalker. A few seconds later, our male mentor ran in after him.

“Hank!” Kristie gasped when she saw our mentor. “Thank goodness you’re here!”

Nay ran in right after him, shocked by the scene before her. There I was, sitting beside a bloody, unconscious boy while I sobbed over my blood-stained fist, Dex crouched down beside me. Both Aiden and Kristie didn’t look like they knew what to do. Anthony had crouched down beside Lena, who was still crying and shaking on the floor a few feet away.

At the sight of her crying niece, a new look adorned Nay’s face. Instead of shock, she immediately became worried and even angry. She quickly composed herself and became calm once again before she approached the crying girl.

“Lena,” she started quietly as she made her way toward the younger blonde. She held out her hand. “Come out with me to the RV, honey. You shouldn’t stay in here any longer.”

She nodded, sniffing as she continued to cry. Anthony helped her up, but she immediately fell onto the floor once again. She was shaking too much to move on her own. Her legs completely gave out and refused to work.

Nay looked over at the strong boy that was trying to soothe me. “Dex,” she called out to him. “Could you please carry Lena to the RV?”

Dex looked at me before frowning at Nay, as if to tell her that he was already busy with something else. I was freaking out, but I was nowhere near as bad as Lena. And she had been through much worse.

“You can come right back,” Nay told him, as if she knew why he did not want to leave.

With one last longing look at me, he got up and delicately picked Lena up off the floor. They were out the door, Nay following after them.

“What happened?” Hank questioned, crouching down next to me. I wasn’t breathing so heavily anymore, but the tears would not stop falling.

“Violet nearly killed this guy with her bare hands,” Aiden informed our mentor, as if it wasn’t even that big of a deal, as if I wasn’t on the floor having a panic attack.

“How did you manage to overpower him?” Hank asked, looking down at my shaking bloody hand.

“I don’t… I don’t…” I started hyperventilating again, unable to finish telling him that I didn’t know how I overpowered a boy that was almost twice my size.

Dex entered the cabin, having left Lena and Nay in the RV, and when he saw that I was hyperventilating once again, he was immediately by my side.

“You’re going to be okay, babe,” he told me, soothing down my hair. “You’re going to be okay.”

He continued to stroke my hair until my sobs eventually died down. I still felt horrified.

“Dex,” our mentor suddenly said. “Maybe you should take Violet somewhere she can wash up.”

Dex nodded, suddenly helping me up to my feet. I wasn’t as shaking or wobbly as Lena had been, but the sudden movement surprised me so much that I fell forward. Dex immediately grabbed onto me.

He then led me away from the unconscious stalker, who was luckily still breathing. He took my into a room that appeared to be the kitchen, and he flipped a switch and light flooded the room.

I squinted at the sudden bright light. It seemed I hadn’t caused these bulbs to burst. At that moment, I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

We could still see Hank and our teammates from the kitchen, and Dex led me over to the sink. He flipped the water on and stuck my bloody hand underneath it.

I hissed, immediately jerking it away. Dex looked at me as if I was insane. “It’s too hot!” I told him.

He played with the handles for a few moments before putting his own hand under the stream. Deciding it was good enough, he took my hand again and placed it underneath. It was a bearable temperature now.

The blood ran from my hand and down the drain. I felt relieved to finally be rid of it.

“I can do this myself, you know,” I pouted, Dex’s hand still clutching mine as he helped wash the blood away.

He didn’t look away from m hand or stop what he was doing. “I know.”

“Explain to me what happened,” Hank ordered from my other teammates in the other room. “Tell me everything that happened.”

Aiden began to tell the story, with Anthony filling in any details our leader may have gotten wrong or missed. They told him everything, from Lena getting notes all the way up until the very moment we were at now.

“And none of you told Nay or me or any other adult about Lena getting notes?” Hank’s eyebrows furrowed in anger. “Why wouldn’t you tell an adult?”

“Kristie and I didn’t even know about it until after Lena got kidnapped,” Aiden defended, holding his hands up in defense. I couldn’t help but make a face at what I was hearing. Typical Aiden, throwing everyone but Kristie and himself under the bus.

Hank let out a sigh. “I think it’s about time we find out which of you can erase memories.”

Anthony blinked. “What?”

“If you were to ever, God forbid, get in another situation like this, I don’t want you wasting any time to get me,” Hank explained, moving to examine the unconscious boy. “Luckily, Violet knocked him out pretty good.”

Dex smiled to himself. “That’s my girl.”

“But how do we find out who can erase memories?” Kristie asked our mentor. “Don’t we need to go through some kind of test or something?”

Hank shook his head. “It’s actually quite simple, really,” he said, stepping beside the stalker and beckoning Aiden over. Our leader did as he was told.

Taking his wrist, Hank placed Aiden’s hand on the bloody forehead of the stalker. The younger boy made a face.

“Don’t even start complaining,” Hank warned him. “You’re going to have to deal with a lot worse in this business and you can go wash it off later.”

Sometimes Aiden acted like such a little girl. He tried acting so tough and manly all the time when he was really just a whiny brat. I freaked out over having blood on my hand, but for a completely different reason. Aiden just didn’t want to get dirty.

Dex removed my hand from the water, shutting it off. He then grabbed a copious amount of paper towels and began drying it with them.

“You grabbed too much,” I told him.

He rolled his eyes. “You really complain about the weirdest things.”

I said nothing more, turning my attention back to my teammates as Dex continued to dry my hand. It was strange having him do this for me, to be honest, but I knew he wouldn’t stop even if I asked.

“Now, concentrate,” Hank told Aiden, who had his eyes closed. “Really, really concentrate.”

“Concentrate on what?”

“By asking that question, you’re not concentrating hard enough.”

Aiden made a face, but shut up. He let out a breath and then absolutely concentrated.

“Can you see a clock?” Hank suddenly asked him.

Aiden made another face. “A clock?”

Hank nodded. “Yes, a round, ticking clock.”

“This is the weirdest—”

“Just answer me, Aiden.”

My team leader huffed. “No, I don’t see a clock.”

“Alright.” Hank pulled Aiden away from the stalker and now waved the shape-shifter over. “Kristie, you’re up next.”

“Are you kidding me?” Aiden demanded, assuming to forget that his now had blood on his hand. “It’s literally that simple? Why wouldn’t you just have us test it out beforehand?”

Hank ignored Aiden’s complaint. “Just go wash your hand,” was all he said.

Aiden grumbled and did as he was told, choosing to go into the bathroom instead of joining us in the kitchen.

I looked over to see Kristie was concentrating now. I never thought I’d actually see the day that happened.

“I don’t see anything,” she said.

“Okay.” Hank nodded and beckoned toward the smartest member of our team. “Anthony.”

“What’s the point of him trying?” Aiden questioned as Kristie made her way into the bathroom and Anthony made his way over to Hank. “It’s most likely going to be Violet, anyway. Not only can she fly and have telekinesis, but she also has super strength.”

My jaw dropped. “I don’t have super strength!” I yelled from the kitchen.

Aiden scoffed. “This guy’s face is broken!”

“His face is not broken,” Anthony surveyed as he looked down at the bloody face. “His nose is, though.”

This seemed to be enough proof for Aiden. “See? I doubt Violet would actually be strong enough to break someone’s nose with her regular strength! She has to have super strength!”

“I don’t think pissing Violet off after what she just did is the smartest thing you could do, Aiden,” Anthony advised. “But we’re used to you doing stupid things.”

Aiden took a step toward Anthony.”You want to end up like the guy on the floor?”

Anthony rolled his eyes. “What an original threat.”

“Will you two stop fighting with each other?” Hank snapped at the boys. “Anthony, just try it and concentrate.” He then looked over at Aiden. “You, stay over there.”

Aiden grumbled but did as he was told. Dex and I continued to watch from the kitchen.

“Now,” Hank began to the concentrated Anthony, “do you see a clock?”

It took him a moment. He seemed to be concentrated harder than he ever had before, looking as if he was searching for something. Finally, he found it.

“I… I see it!” he exclaimed, and if his eyes hadn’t been closed, I’m sure they would has widened.

Hank smiled. “Perfect.”

Aiden seemed surprised. “Oh, wow. It’s actually not Violet this time.”

Hank ignored Aiden again. “Now,” he instructed. “I want you to turn back the clock a few hours so that he forgets ever seeing you guys and your powers. Just concentrate on what you want to do, and it should be easily. Then we’ll call the cops and—”

Before he could stop, however, Anthony let out a sharp intake of breath, as if his head suddenly hurt. But this did not stop him from continuing.

“Okay, Anthony,” Hank said when he decided that Anthony had had enough time to erase the proper about. But the brainy boy didn’t stop, even when Hank told him to again. Finally, a third time, Hank shouted. “Anthony, that’s enough!”

Anthony pulled away, breathing heavily as he looked down at his hand. He seemed like he couldn’t believe that he was the one with the ability to erase the minds of humans.

Seemingly worried, Hank placed his hand on the stalker’s forehead now, not needing to concentrate as hard since he had years of practice. He saw the clock almost immediately and gasped.

“Anthony!” he exclaimed. “You erased his memory all the way back to when he was five years old!”

The brainiac did not seem bothered by this in the slightest. He simply shrugged. “Oh, I guess I did.”

“How did you even have enough time to erase so much of his memory?” Kristie asked as she came out of the bathroom.

Anthony shrugged. “I used my super speed.”

Aiden took a step away from him. “You’re a dangerous person.”

Hank let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair. “Well, we can’t call the police and report what he did now,” he said. “He’s just going to wake up and think he’s still in kindergarten.”

Anthony shrugged uncaringly. “I don’t see a problem with that.”

“What is wrong with you?” Aiden asked. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“He hurt Lena,” Anthony answered, wiping the blood away on his jeans instead of going into the bathroom to wash it off. “If we turned him in, he’d only go to juvie. He didn’t really hurt anybody, he’s the one that came out injured, so there’s no way he’d get tried as an adult. He’d be sent to juvie. That’s nothing.”

Aiden had the right idea. I’d never seen Anthony like this either.

“I think we should leave,” Hank informed us, turning toward the door. “We’ll call the police on the way back and say there was a robbery that may have resulted in someone getting hurt.”

“Well, what’s going to happen when he wakes up and starts acting like a five-year-old?” Aiden asked.

Hank looked down and examined the damage I had done to him. “They’ll most likely think he was so savagely beaten that he got brain damage,” he informed us. “Which actually looks like could have happened.”

I stared down at the countertop, not meeting Hank’s gaze as he looked over at me. 

“Well, if we’re going to call in a robbery, we better stage a robbery,” Anthony shrugged, flipping the coffee table into its side before moving to other furniture.

“You can’t just flip stuff over,” Aiden called out after him. “Don’t you ever watch crime shows? Cops always know when a robbery’s been staged! We’ve got to take some stuff.”

“We are not taking anything,” I snapped, still in the kitchen with Dex even though my hand was clean. Dex was now washing his hands.

Aiden, Kristie, Anthony, and Hank then all decided to ransack the place. They moved all around the cabin, including upstairs. But they didn’t come into the kitchen, most likely assuming Dex and I had it covered.

Dex wiped his hands, seemingly uninterested in ransacking the house along with our teammates. I was surprised, because this seemed like the kind of thing Dex would enjoy.

“At least Lena won’t ever have to deal with that asshole ever again,” Dex sighed as he threw the paper towel he was using on the floor. “He won’t even remember how to read, let alone remember her.”

That was a good thing. Anthony definitely made the right call, even if it did mean erasing nearly ten years of someone’s memory. He was obviously a dangerous person that needed to be stopped.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about how I had beaten him up so badly. The scariest part was I hadn’t even really tried. I just punched him, but he was so savagely beaten…

My face was still wet from tears, my eyes most likely red and puffy. I still couldn’t believe what I had done.

“Look at you,” Dex smirked, reaching up and cupping my face. He gently wiped away my tears. “All worried and teary-eyed. It’s okay. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

I didn’t know if I agreed or not. The fact that I had gone so insane with rage scared me. I hadn’t wanted to beat him up so badly.

Dex didn’t let go of my face like I expected him to. He just stood there, staring down at me. He said nothing.

“This is so... weird,” I couldn’t help but utter.

This confused Dex. “What’s weird?”

I swallowed. “You... being like this.”

Dex’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re being so... sweet,” I answered, feeling strange admitting this to him. “I’m used to you being so rough and tough, but now you’re comforting me and being... sweet. It’s just so unlike you.”

“Well,” he began, “maybe you just don’t give me enough opportunities to be sweet.”

I had nothing to say to this. 

“Dex, Violet!” Anthony called out. “We’re leaving!”

Dex and I pulled away from each other, neither of us moving to leave right away. We just stared at each other while our teammates left through the front door.

I looked out to see the mess they all had made. The stalker was still unconscious, but he was breathing. There was such a mess around him that I couldn’t believe it.

Dex knocked over a pepper shaker. I have him a look. 

“Might as well,” he shrugged.

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Now we know who can erase memories! Yay. :)

It's four in the morning. I should go to sleep now.

I have to go back to school in two weeks. :/

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :D