Violet didn't remember when or where she fell asleep. All she knew was that she was watching their pillow fight and then after that...nothing. It felt quite peaceful at first but then she was suddenly sucked into a dream. Shockingly, this one was completely new.
"Welcome home Aiden." A beautiful woman smiled brightly from the kitchen.
A tall handsome man popped out from the hallway. "Oh hey kiddo, you're back. How was that barbecue with your classmates last night?"
There was no response. Suddenly, their faces grew dark. "Are you okay?" the woman asked strangely.
Violet wanted to turn her head to see what they were staring at, but something was restraining her. She could only focus on their reactions.
"Oh my god," was all the man could say before everything went black.
The scene had changed. Immediately, Violet sensed something was wrong. She could feel terror and distress. There was shouting and things being thrown. The woman and man were injured on the kitchen ground holding each other.
"Aiden," the woman whispered in between her sobs.
To her right, Violet was startled to see a slightly younger version of Aiden. His eyes brushed over the couple as if nothing was wrong. Emotionless, he walked towards them with an odd look on his face.
"We're your parents. Don't you recognize us?" the man shouted, leaping up to protect his wife.
Aiden stared at them blankly but stopped dead in his tracks. That got his attention.
The man stepped forward bravely. "I don't know what's happened to you or why you're acting this way, but I know you're still my son."
Tears began to roll down Aiden's face. "I-I'm sorry." The desire was overwhelming. He couldn't hold it in much longer.
"Aiden? What happened? What's going on? You can tell us anything," Aiden's mother insisted.
He wanted to stop but it was impossible. Soon, his mind would block out all humane feelings and thoughts. "It hurts, it hurts."
"What hurts?" his mother asked.
His breathing increased rapidly. "You guys should get up and leave."
They didn't move an inch.
He glared at them. "Now!" That was all he managed to shout before he snapped. His mind shut down and he could no longer hear their voices. All he could feel was the strong need for blood to fulfill the hunger devouring him. It was like a fire blazing throughout his body, waiting for something to put it out. He needed something and he could smell it inside the two people in front of him.
And that's when he lunged for it. He jumped and messily drew his mother's blood as she cried for help. His father tried to pull them apart, but Aiden was too strong. Annoyed by the disruption, he spun and snapped his father's neck on the spot. The woman screamed at the sight of her husband and then closed her eyes to whisper prayers. After a while, her lips stopped moving and she fell to the floor. Aiden wiped his mouth clean and stared at the dead bodies before him. It didn't register into his brain until a minute later. That was when he began shouting.
"No, no. This isn't real. Mom!" His eyes began to water. "Wake up!"
The shouting shifted to bawling uncontrollably once he realized there was no use calling for them. They were dead. He had just killed his own parents. He felt angry, no, angry didn't describe it. He wanted to punish himself. Why did he do that? What had he become? The rage circled his thoughts until suddenly, he felt hunger again. It was returning as if reacting to his emotions.
"No," Aiden whimpered. "No more." He went on his knees and tried to contain himself.
"If you want it to stop, come with me." A blonde woman stepped into view.
"I told you. I don't want to come with you," Aiden mumbled.
"I'll take you to Phoebe and she'll explain everything. She'll train you to get used to your new abilities," said the woman.
"I don't fucking want them. Turn me back. Bring my parents back."
"Unfortunately for you, I can't do that. Just say you'll come with me and I'll stop the hunger."
As badly as he wanted to refuse, he knew he would lose it if he didn't accept her offer. She was the one who turned him against his will and he almost wanted to kill her. But he refused to do that. No more killing. He just wanted it to stop. "Fine. I'll go."
Violet woke up with the worst feeling possible. It was similar to how she felt with the cabin incident but this was worst. It was on an even deeper level. She couldn't handle it. Someone shook her. Startled, she yelped at the sight of Aiden in the dark.
"It was you, wasn't it? You were in my dream," Aiden whispered harshly.
Violet moved back. "What was that?" The feeling was slowly disintegrating and everyone else was still asleep.
"It was just a dream. We were sleeping near each other and somehow, that allowed a connection to come through. Anyway, you weren't supposed to see that." He wiped his forehead of sweat. "Just forget it, alright? It's just a stupid nightmare I get."
"Was that a memory of yours?" Violet asked.
He shook his head. "Like I said, it was just a stupid dream. Go back to sleep and don't ever speak of this again." He moved his blanket and pillow away from her and turned around.
"I feel like you're lying."
There was no response.
Violet continued. "Is it a reoccurring dream?"
"Stop asking questions like you know what's going on."
"But maybe I do," she said.
As expected, he didn't reply so Violet flipped her body around and her eyes fluttered shut. She knew she wouldn't sleep. The morbid dream kept returning and grabbing her attention.
Aiden killed his parents. And for some reason, she felt upset about it. It was almost as if his emotions were mixed with hers. The rage, distress and sadness had transferred to her.
It was hard to take in, so she crawled to Aiden, waking him up. "Make it stop," she whispered.
He blinked his tired eyes and stared at the confused girl who was shivering. "What?"
"I-I can feel it. I feel it all at once."
"Relax. It's just an illusion made by the dream."
Violet shook her head. "I can't just calm down."
He sighed. "Well I don't know what else to do."
"Just try and-"
"What's going on?" whispered Colton from across the room.
"I don't know," Violet replied, drawing deep breaths.
"Hold still." Colton came in between them and traced his fingers over her temples. "You're okay."
A strong, warming energy began to flow through her entire body starting from the tip of her head down to the bottom of her toes. In an instant, she felt better. Her emotions cooled down and the memories of Aiden's dream were distant.
"What were you two doing?" Colton pulled away and stared at them, crossing his arms.
"Nothing happened," Aiden mumbled.
He glared at Aiden with doubt before double checking with Violet. "Is that true?"
She nodded. "Nothing happened. I think I had a weird vision that's all." She didn't know why she was lying but what she experienced felt like it was not meant to be spoken of. It wasn't even her own dream to tell.
He stood there in silence. "Okay well, go get some sleep."
When the clock struck eight in the morning, they prepared for the day ahead of them starting with their new disguises.
"Okay we need new names," Em said. "I'll be Sam."
"Then call me Carly," Colette said while grinning.
"Alright Carly, I'll be Freddie," said Delsin. "We're the ultimate trio."
Riley rolled her eyes. "You guys are so childish. I think I'll choose Lizzy."
Colton said, "I'll be Jimmy."
Aiden waved his hand. "Call me Donovan."
"Haven," said Violet.
"Phoebe advised us to go check the dark alleys in the area," Colton announced. "Everyone ready?"
"I don't know about this," Em said. "The Silvers usually meet up in places like that."
Colton scooped out his car keys. "We'll just have to be careful. It'll be okay."
The area they were in felt like a ghost town and there were only a few people present. The streets were dirty and filled with litter and trash. It reminded Violet of the alley where she first met Aiden. They hadn't spoken since last night but he would make eye contact with her once in a while.
Riley let out a scream. "Another rat!"
"Shh!" Em whispered.
They've been searching up and down each alleyway only to find nothing but rats and dumpsters.
"There's nothing here," Riley claimed. "Why don't we just look somewhere else?"
"Patience," Colton replied. "We need to look closely."
"How much closer do we need to search? This is wasting our time," Riley argued.
Colton sighed and shot her a glare. "Look around. You're the only one complaining. Maybe it's you who's wasting our time."
"So this is my fault? Look who's talking. I'm the only one speaking up because I know whenever our so-called 'leader' is making shit decisions."
Everyone swallowed their breath while the tension between the two began to increase.
"You know you can leave if you want. Who am I to stop you? If you really think you're better off, then go right ahead. You can go ditch us for something better since you believe you know everything." He blinked a few times. "Go join Victor's group. I bet you'd fit right in."
Riley's eyes darkened and dropped to the floor. "Shut the hell up."
He shrugged. "It was all you. You started it."
Em squeezed his arm. "Colton, stop."
Riley began to breathe heavily. "I hate you." Tiny teardrops rolled down her cheeks as her hands flew to her head, digging her nails into her scalp. She was angry.
"Riley, it's okay. You need to calm down. I'm right here. I've got you." Em's arm resting on Riley's shoulder. "Don't give in. Control it. Please."
Colton turned around to face everyone else. "We should leave them be for now and continue."
"You guys can go. I have this under control, " Em calmly said.
Violet couldn't help but stare at him. She would've never expected those words to spill out from his mouth. They were way too harsh and vile for who he was.
"Ignore it. They're not their usual selves," Colette whispered. "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. I think it's under control."
Violet whispered back, "Okay."
They started to march off in the opposite direction leaving Riley and Em behind.