Reminiscence {Book Two of the Vengeance Trilogy}

Chapter Six: Bottom of the River

Elliot designed the elaborate plan in his head within minutes. I had to deliver any and all information about Tom's plans to Elliot so that he could have the advantage. On top of that, I had to protect Caroline and sabotage any moves Tom tried to make while still convincing him that I was on his side. Depending on whether or not Tom made me take an oath to his pack, communication could become a problem. Being in another pack would break the telepathic link that I had with everyone here. Elliot's solution was simple; someone would meet with me every night at midnight at his old house, So long as no one, especially me, fucked up, then the world would be rid of Tom's existence within a week. It was so close, it was almost too good to be true.

"Okay, so that's the new plan. Does anyone have anything they would like to add?" Elliot asked the group and in an instant, Melanie's hand shot up into the air. Shit, I thought to myself. Of course a meeting wouldn't go completely in my favor. The minute Melanie told me that Caroline had been having dreams of Elliot, I knew that Emmet would take it and run, just like he had with the news about Peter.

"Caroline told Ciara and me that she was remembering your voice," Melanie told him. Elliot's expression immediately darkened. Any time someone brought up Caroline, he got uncomfortably quiet. It was as if it reminded him that if he were to look at her now, she would have no clue who he was.

"Melanie, that's impossible. She can't be—" Elliot started to brush her off, but she was quick to interrupt.

"Well, I'm not lying. She had a dream and apparently she heard your voice telling her that she would remember everything soon. She's starting to get curious about why she can't remember anything from last summer," Melanie snapped back. Elliot was quiet for a moment and the only sound that filled the stale air was the crackling embers of the fire.

"Okay, I'll head into the city with you and Danny. Once she falls asleep, you can let me in and I will make sure she doesn't remember anything," he said, exhausted with the topic of the conversation. The room swiftly fell back into the stale silence. No one dared to say a word. Even Declan was keeping his mouth shut and his mind reading powers to himself. Although everyone in the room was quiet, I wanted to argue.

Caroline's memories were altered because of a vision that Emmet had back when we had lost Tom's trail. That asshole was at fault for all of this. In his vision, everyone was safe, but Caroline didn't remember anything that happened. She didn't remember us, or Tom, or anything else about the world of vampires. No one liked the plan, but no one argued with it either. If you told Elliot that killing the queen of England would protect Caroline, then he would do it. I seemed to be the only one who remembered that the future was always subject to change. Sure, everyone was safe now, but we were going on six months since we had left her. Sure, now we had a plan to take Tom down now, but there was plenty of room for failure. Not to mention that Caroline's brain was filling in the gaps that shouldn't be filled.

Elliot was good at what his ability allowed him to do. I had seen him erase people's memories to the point where they wouldn't even know how to speak. I've seen vampires with the power of possession who can't work their way around the human mind like Elliot can. Four out of five times, Elliot could rearrange someone's memories without having to make physical contact. I'm pretty sure that if he messed around enough, he could drive anyone completely mad.

"So, if that's all I think we can call it a night. We can take a light break. I think we have enough information from Danny to deserve it. I'll be back in a few hours," Elliot said, and one by one, everyone began to disperse and move around the room. I saw Melanie and Collin make their way over to Declan, probably so she could play messenger again. I noticed Collin's arm securely around Melanie's shoulder, as if he were ready to pounce at any moment. I knew that Collin couldn't trust Declan as far as he could throw him. Turns out he has a brain underneath that mop.