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Ivy

The Rebel-lions hub was packed as usual. I could say this was one of the places where I felt most comfortable in the whole dimension.

Today started off weird, with me feeling overly insecure, to Ethan thinking I thought of him as too clingy. I had let Michelle's word get to me, and honestly I didn't want to. I tried my best to push her voice to the back of my mind... But it kept resurfacing, torturingly so.

Maybe there was some truth to what she said, I just have to be cautious from now on. It wasn't like I had prided myself to eating like I usually did outside of this dimension. But maybe I should tone it down, get a diet, and look more like the kind of girls Ethan liked.

This is stupid... I don't have to change myself... Ethan loves me the way I am... But why do I feel the need to make some change? Why can't I get Michelle's voice out of my head?

I could hear Ethan's voice from my head laying on his chest. His back rested on the soft red booth, while my back was to his chest, as I zoned out of his conversation with Fiona, my eyes were trained on Caramel who kept twirling her knife on her index finger, her eyes trained on the entrance, almost as if someone dangerous was about to walk in.

I wasn't really studying her, my eyes just didn't know what else to focus on, and something about the knife twirling, kept my mind transfixed on it.

It felt like that was all my mind could focus on, and even if I wanted to distract myself, I couldn't.

I knew she was twirling it in a fast motion, but as I stared, it began to move slowly, every sound around me, turned into thick and distant echoes, the air turned heavy, and my eye lids sled shut, snapping me into darkness.

When my eyes blinked right back open, I was back at my house...

Not the one from the Inc.

I was back at my home on the Outside.

The lights in my home flickered above and around me... The air was still, and the smell of fear lingered, sending chills through the black leader jacket I was wearing. 

I felt enthrilled, souless, angry, and scared at the same time, almost as if I was being forced into doing what I would never have thought to do in a million years.

I felt guilty for the thrill I felt, the anticipation tearing my heart into bits and pieces, supplying my souless form a means to bliss.

It felt like I was two different person, trapped in one body.

One was so excited, every hair at my skin rising with the thrill of sating a hunger, deep deep within me, the other part was scared, guilty, and literally just tired of living.

I raised my hand, twirling the knife on my index finger, a sickening whistle escaping my lips as I walked towards the area where I could hear the raging pace of a heart.

"Don't- don't come- don't come home! Stay- stay where you are please- don't come home." I could hear the fear in her voice, from what I suppose was a few doors away from where I was.

Her voice sounded like that of my Mom's, but it was thick with fear. Real fear.

"Mom? What's going on?" Then I heard my voice, a distance away, but I knew it was my voice.

I felt myself charging down the small hallway, reaching the door.

"Just stay where you are! Don't come home-" my feet collided with the door, knocking it off its hinges.

Then I saw her, her eyes widening in horror, and fear. My Mom stared at me with pleading eyes.

But a smirk stretched on my lips, as I held the knife steady on my grip, approaching her slowly. "You've been a very bad girl, Mel... Now, I'll have to kill your daughter too."

My Mom's eyes widened. "Please- please I don't know who you are, or what you want... But my daughter, she's innocent, don't hurt her, please."

I chuckled. "Innocent? You have no idea." I smirked. "Light out." My hand moved, the knife connecting with the flesh on her neck, her blood splattering on my face.

I watched in agony as she choked on her blood, her body dropping with a dull thud on the ground.

My eyes snapped open immediately, as I jumped from Ethans' chest, my breathing coming up short.

I felt Ethan's hand on my shoulder immediately. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked, an urgency to his voice as he pulled me up to his lap, holding my shaky body in his protective arms.

Fiona's eyes widened with worry, her whole body at alert. While Caramel just had her brows raised in question, also wondering why I just acted like I had a nightmare.

Only, it wasn't a nightmare, because I wasn't sleeping.

I was elsewhere, back in time, to the day I lost both my parents. The strange thing was, It felt like I was there, I could see everything from Caramel's mind, feel everything she felt.

I was seeing through her... I was her.

I held Ethan close, wrapping my arms around his body, and burying my head in his neck, letting his warmth calm me.

"Ivy?" He called my name softly as my grip tightened around him, not caring about the audience we had, holding him felt safe, and the more his warmth engulfed me, the more I calmed down. "Hey." I felt his finger smoothly stroke my hair.

I waited until I was calm before I raised my head reluctantly.

Ethan's soft gaze found mine. "Tell me." He said, already knowing something was off.

"Tell you? Tell us... You got my attention girl." Caramel spoke up, leaning into the booth.

"Yeah, what happened, you gave us quite a scare." Fiona added.

I sighed. "I don't know how to explain it... I was-- I was here one second, and the next, I was back at the Outside... It was like some kind of trance."

Ethan shot me a confused look. "A trance?"

"Yeah... I was back to the day my parents-- when I lost my parents... Only I wasn't with you guys, I was back at the house, and it felt like I was in Caramel-"

"Ew." Caramel's face scrunched up in disgust.

"No-- not like that... I felt like I was in your mind at that moment... I felt everything you were feeling, almost like I was seeing it through your eyes. Everything you did that day. It felt like I was the one doing it, and at the same time, it felt like I wasn't."

The table went silent.

"That can't be good." Fiona spoke up, worry lacing her tone.

My gaze fell back to Ethan. His expression was something I couldn't decipher.

My eyes moved back to caramel.

"I've never heard of anything like that... But that must have been horrible, being me, is horrible." Caramel stated. "You sure you didn't just doze off? You've been out of it today."

"I'd know if it was a dream, it wasn't... I'm sure of it." I heard myself say.

"I'm sure everything's fine." Ethan finally spoke up, sounding distracted. "I'll um--" he stopped.

We all waited for him to finish his statement.

He set me back on the booth beside him, getting to his feet. "I'll text you later." He said quickly, rushing away from the booth and out the entrance.

We all sat there in silence.

"What the fuck just happened?" I found myself asking.

"He freaked out." Caramel answered.

"Or he knows something." Fiona countered.

What could he possibly know? And where the hell is he off too? I had the urge to bolt right after him, but something came slipping back into my mind.

"Ethan doesn't like nosy girls."

I curled back into the booth, her voice clear in my head.

"I have an idea!" Fiona chirped up. "You've been feeling down since today began, and this thing, whatever it is, just added to it... How about a little adventure?"

Caramel nodded. "I think you're thinking what I'm thinking." She smirked.

I furrowed my brows, watching the two of them exchange glances.

This can't be good.

*  *  *

I was right, this wasn't good.

It had been going well when we managed to sneak into the willing sector-- well it was more like, they were sneaking me in, since this was their sector, and if I was spotted, I'd be arrested.

That, apparently was the last thing I wanted, seeing as I was sure Glory would use it to her advantage, so sure.

One thing I noticed was the tight security they had here. It was stronger than the security at all the other sectors.

Caramel's hyper active senses made us aware of the amount of security guiding each turn we took.

We were currently crouched down, few buildings from where their living area stood.

"How do we get past them?" I asked, my eyes counting exactly seven guards standing in our way.

"There's no way to get past them without getting seen." Fiona stated, also looking like she was calculating our chances of coming out of this without getting caught and punished.

Caramel shrugged. "We can take them."

"There are seven of them." I reminded her.

"So? I say we kill them, dump their bodies somewhere and run like hell." She just voiced out plainly, like she wasn't taking about murdering innocent people.

"Or, we could just acknowledge the fact that this was a bad idea, and I can easily slip back out without killing anyone." I gritted out the last two words.

"You can't go back, we've come too far. I think we should go with Caramel's plan." Fiona suggested.

I shot her a look that clearly stated how shocked I was by her response.

"Without the killing them bit." She added quickly. "We can just knock them out."

"And when they wake up?" I asked.

They both shrugged. "None of our business." They replied in unison.

"They'd see our faces, they can still come back to arrest us after gaining consciousness." I tried to reason with them.

Caramel smirked. "Well, thank God I came prepared."

I furrowed my brows, wondering what she meant by that.

I wondered no more when I saw her pulling out black face masks, with the Rebel-lions logo plastered to the forehead. "Do I even want to know why we have masks with the Rebel-lions logo?"

"Simple, for situations like this." Fiona said, putting her mask over her head. The two holes at her eye level, showcasing her blue eyes.

"I can't believe I'm doing this, I can't take on those guys." I voiced out quickly as Caramel wore her mask too.

"Well, you can stand behind like the princess, we'll take them on... Come on, hurry up." Caramel urged, her voice muffled.

I hope we don't get in trouble for this. I thought, as I put on my mask.

Caramel was the first to come out into the spotlight, raising both hands in the air. "Hey! Security people!" She yelled.

Security what now?

They all turned, their whole stance at alert, their guns pointing at her.

Fiona and I followed behind her.

My heart was literally on the verge of pumping out of my chest.

"Don't move!" One of them shouted... "Intruder!" His gaze turning towards me.

"Yeah I know right? She reeks of human." Caramel voiced out. "Put down your weapons... Let's settle this equally."

"Stand down or we'll open fire!" Another one yelled.

She dropped both her hands down, then shrugged. "Okay."

My initial thought was that, she'd oblige to their warning, but I should have known better when I saw her charging towards the first guy she could get her hands on.

She was fast, and swift, you couldn't even tell the pattern in which she moved.

The guy opened fire, but she was quick to avoid it, her hand reaching for his gun, forcefully pulling it out of his grip and smacking the side of his head harshly with it.

The guy stumbled to the groud, holding his head.

Fiona left my side, as the other men decided to involve themselves.

All I could hear was gunshots, kicks and grunts, my eyes unable to distinguish their movements.

It wasn't until I saw a man who had been long separated from his gun, charging towards my direction, did I think to pull into a fighting stance, but it was useless since he was too fast for me to even avoid, his big fist came connecting with my nose through the mask.

I was on the ground in an instant.

He pounced on me, ready to land another punch but I tried my best to arch my elbows up, stopping him from doing even more damage, cause I could already feel the taste of copper reaching the back of my throat.

He was yanked from me in an instant, Fiona tackling him to the ground, and landing several blows to his face, until he was out like a light.

I laid on the ground, the pain from my nose making me feel light headed.

"Ivy!" Fiona's voice felt echoes away from my ears. "Can you hear me?"

Her form doubled and straightened.

I managed a nod. "I think he just broke my nose." I managed to make out.

"Come on." She held out her hand for me, which I made sure to grab firmly as she lifted me up.

Caramel came rushing to us. "Everything good?"

"Yeah." Fiona answered.

"They're all down, come on."

*  *  *

I had long discarded the hoodie, leaving me with just my black sports bra as I held the cotton over my bleeding nose, my head propped up on their couch as Fiona mixed up something she called the Hidre serum. She had said it prompted rapid healing.

"Pizza arrived!" Caramel announced as soon as I heard the door shut close.

Their home was larger than mine, the living room was painted white all through, designed with beautiful furniture... According to Fiona, this was literally how the houses here at the willing were.

Caramel dropped the pizza on the centre table, going to get drinks.

The pain in my nose was excruciating.

"How's the nose doing?" Fiona asked reappearing.

"Not good." I muttered.

She took the spot beside me. "The serum's ready."

I saw her stretch out the needle, a blue like substance that almost looked like it was glowing, met my gaze. "You're gonna inject me?"

"Wouldn't be the first time." She smirked.

I suppressed a groan, giving her my hand as I looked away.

I winced when I felt the needle connect with my skin.

It was over before I could even blink. "All done." She said, getting to her feet just as Caramel returned.

"What happened to you out there though?" Caramel asked, taking her seat on the bean bag opposite where I sat as she took one slice of pizza.

I felt the pain reducing, but it was still there.

"It's almost like you lost your mojo." Fiona added as she also relaxed on the other couch at the side.

"I don't know." I sat up, picking a slice as I felt my stomach grumble in response. "My mind just went blank I guess.

I was about to take a bite from the pizza when I stopped, Michelle's voice getting to my head again.

"You're fat..."

"Guys, I think something's up with me." I voiced out, unable to keep quiet about it. "First off, do you both think I'm fat, cause I feel fat, but I can't get Michelle's voice out of my head, and it's beginning to worry me."

They both exchanged looks. "Michelle? As in... Michelle Daltimore? Ralph's sister?" Fiona asked.

"Wait... She's Ralph's sister? The girl who Ethan used to date?" I asked.

"Yeah... And Ethan never dated her." Caramel stated. "You talked to her?"

Michelle was Ralph's sister? How the hell did I not know this?

"I did... And it wasn't a pleasant conversation. I can't get her words out of my head. She asked me to back off from Ethan."

Fiona chuckled. "It'll wear off."

I furrowed my brow. "What do you mean by it'll wear off?"

"That's her ability Ivy... She gets into your head, literally controls your mind. If you know how to control it, it'll wear off sooner than later." She answered, taking a piece of the pizza.

"I remember when she told me I looked like an ape... I went through the whole week thinking I actually looked like an ape... She's so mean. Now I don't really care anymore. I can snuff the life out of her with just a move." Caramel smirked.

Fiona rolled her eyes. "Anyway, just try to block her out, and as for Ethan... Trust me, he doesn't like her. Maybe they did hook up a couple of times when Ethan was going through a phase, but he never took it serious. She on the other hand, did. She's obsessed with him."

I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Michelle was Ralph's sister.

"But you have nothing to worry about. I've never seen Ethan this crazy about anyone... Even with Lacy." Caramel told.

"Yeah... Lacy was the only girl he ever dated, although they were on and off, and I wouldn't call it a relationship... But he did care about her, a lot." Fiona added.

Caramel studied me. "You don't think Ethan likes you because of what she said?"

"It's not that... I let her words get to me. I'm going to block it out from now on... I never knew it was her powers working its way to my brain."

"Don't think about it too much... Ethan loves you... Trust me when I tell you this." Fiona reassured.

I gave her a small smile, succumbing to my hunger as I fought of Michelle's voice.

We talked for some hours until it was dark.

It was only then, I got the text from Ethan.

Murray:
Meet me at RTR. Malcolm's got some info to share.

___

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