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"Iliana?" I hear Cate's voice and snap my head from staring off into space as I try to control my breathing.

"Hmm?"

"Hey." She smiles, brows slightly furrowing. "We were waiting for you down stairs babes, you okay?" She bends down to my side.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I nod, composing myself, and lying through me teeth. "Just wish I could remember, well, anything." I sigh.

Cate brightens. "Yeah, like what you and Jordan did last night, you nasty bitch." She nudges my shoulder while elbowing me in the ribs and I groan, hanging my head down.

"Cateee." I hiss, looking back up at her.

"I don't kiss and tell, but you should. Spill." Her gloved-hands fold together together as she looks at me dead in the eyes, giving me an encouraging nod. Oh, my goshhh, just kill me now. "Is Jordan fast, slow, big?" She smirks, firing off so many questions at once my brain spins. "Did you scissor and bone at the sam-"

"Oh-kay." I rush out, inhaling sharply. "Cate, I don't remember a single fucking thing from last night."

"Nothing at all?" She asks, resting her hand on my arm gently. I lean my head on her shoulder, grasping through my memories of the past couple days.

I remember blowing off the Hailey Miller interview... and Tek Knight, fucking Tek Knight, being on campus. Marie and I were talking... about—

Ow, FUCK! A sharp pain stabs through my brain, everything running fuzzy and blurring together.

"Nothing. From yesterday, or the day before that actually." I mumble.

"Neither do I." Her voice cracks. "Andre either." I chew on the inside of my cheek. What the hell is going  on? "Should we try Marie?" She asks. "Andre and I walked in on her waking up in the bathroom."

I blow air out through my nose, sending messy strands of hair flying and I throw hands up. She seemed extremely scared a bit ago, and said she didn't remember but...

I nod. Guess Marie can tell us if she remembers anything at all since we, uh, didn't exchange much. I'm desperate at this point.

"Yeah, she said she was going outside for some air." That seems to be the only thing I know right now.

She stands first, helping me to my feet before holding out her arm. I loop mine through and we head downstairs.

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"Marie?" Cate calls out as we step outside, Andre and Jordan right behind us. We find her and a blonde I think is her roommate...? walking off.

"Oh, you go. I have to shower and put on actual clothes." The blonde motions down to herself.

"Okay." Marie nods to her before turning around to us and the girl takes off.

"Did you, uh... did you black out last night?" Andre asks her.

Marie looks taken aback. "I, uh, I don't think that's really any of your business." She answers embarrassed and I hold my hands up to let her know I didn't tell them. Who has the time?

"Marie, we all blacked out." Cate tells her.

"It, uh, wasn't just you and I." I tell her, looking over her head my eyes connect with Jordan's. They look at me sheepishly before scooping up an energy drink and taking a long sip. Great.

Great, great, fucking great.

"And not just the party." Andre continues. "The-the past few days. Think about it. Goldie and I blew off our interview with Hailey Miller." He turns to look at me, hopeful. "But I don't know why."

"I don't either." I nod in agreement causing his shoulders to sag slightly.

"I remember Tek Knight being here, I remember talking to him, but I don't remember why." Cate adds.

I huff, getting really annoyed with all this shit already. It's literally maddening.

"There was a kid just now." Marie rushes out and I look at her puzzled.

"Huh?" I raise a brow.

"He acted like he knew me and Emma. Iliana too." She points at me.

"What kid? Another student?" Cate questions.

Marie frowns. "I can't remember the name he gave." She pauses in thought. "I-I've never seen him. He freaked us out."

"Well that's no fucking help." I mutter out sigh.

"Unless you have and forgot." Jordan jumps. "What'd he want?" They glance at me.

"Yeah, what'd he want." I wave my hand at her to continue. Knew me? That's not weird at all... Lot's of people act like they know me, usually crazed and weird fans. But knew Marie and her roommate too?

"To save us. Frommm, someone at the school, from the school itself." She says, confused. "He wanted Iliana to remember something..." She trails off, not seeming to remember, ugh! Marie! Please be useful!

"What the fuck?" Cate lets out as Dusty steps outside and I scoff, causing Jordan to spin around.

They grab his arm causing whatever's in the blender he's holding to spill.

"Fuck you do to us, Dusty?" Jordan snaps out forcefully.

"Hey, woah." Marie jerks back. "He's just a kid."

"No, he's not." I roll my eyes.

"Dusty's not a kid. He's, like, 28." Andre explains.

"Yet I still got a dick like a hairless caterpillar." Dusty spouts off. "Fuck my life."

"Eugh." I curl my nose up turning to Cate. She looks down at her phone, upset. "What is it?" I ask her.

"I think I know who did this." She says. Jordan shoves Dusty back as we all move closer to her and she angles her phone to Andre first to give him a glance before fully turning it to Marie, Jordan, and I. "Rufus was here last night." She shows us a TikTok of Rufus talking to someone at the party, pointing off in the distance.

"Oh, fuck." I mutter, clicking my tongue as the memory of me standing in the middle of his room, melting his skin appears in mind.

"What?" Andre looks up to me.

"I may have melted the skin on his arm." I shrug, smirking proudly. "No biggie."

Cate's head rears back as Andre's eyes widen.

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ᴍᴇᴀɴᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴏɴ ᴄᴀᴍᴘᴜs... ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏᴏᴅs...

𝟹ʀᴅ ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴ ᴘᴏᴠ

"He nearly killed my family, Indira." Dr. Cardosa stresses to Shetty about Sam. "He's far more trouble than he's worth, and Golden Boy is dead anyway. The point is, I'm done with Sam. He's not my problem anymore. I'm tired of babysitting psychopaths." He declares.

Shetty uncrosses her arms. "Babysitting psychopaths is literally your job." She tells him.

"Those kids found out about him, including his own sister." Cardosa raises his voice at her.

"Those kids have been handled." She says calmy as Cardosa glances over his shoulder to make sure no one heard his outburst. "They won't be a problem." She assures him.

"Come on." Dr. Cardosa dismisses. "You know it's just a matter of time before they find out about everything else we're doing down here." He worries. "I am this fucking close," He pinches his fingers together, "To perfecting the virus, a viable way to control them for good. But if they discover that?" He shakes his head. "I'm not paid nearly enough to die for this shit."

"So you want a raise?" Shetty nods.

"No, that's not what I..."

"So why don't you tell me what is is you want? Because we both know you're not going anywhere." She snaps, confident in her words. "Cutting up Supes and seeing how they tick is a skill that won't quite shine on your LinkedIn profile." She shifts, turning to the side.

Dr. Cardosa looks down, taking off his glasses. "I want what I've been wanting for the past few years. I want Golden Girl." He states. "She's one the most powerful Supe's to ever exist. She has no idea what she's truly capable of. She hasn't even begun to grasp her fullest potential." He shakes his head in awe before continuing "And I want the girl. Marie. Her abilities are some of the rarest I've ever seen. She too doesn't understand how powerful she really is. They're both the perfect subjects, could speed up my timeline tremendously."

"They are both special." Shetty nods, turning back to fully face him. "But no. You're not the only one interested in Golden Girl and Moreau. That's why Golden Girl was sent away to film her little movie. She's already cemented her spot in The Seven and the only person keeping the money for all of this afloat. And Moreau has a benefactor, and because of that they are both strictly off-limits." She tilts her head down. "For now." She adds before clicking away.

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𝟶ʙᴜᴛᴛᴇʀʙɪsᴄᴜɪᴛ𝟽 sᴘᴇᴀᴋs!

Heyyyyy!! Welcome backkkk !!

Okay, I HAD to give Cate & Iliana a bestie moment <3
They're so cute & there HASN'T been enough of our baddie blonde duo, so had to give them one before... ya know... 😔

Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!! Giving y'all a HINT on Iliana's powersss, bc she truly has not even BEGUN to scratch the surface for what I have planned for her & her powers yet hehehe ;)

Also writing this chapter hurt my head so badly of trying NOT to write/give too much away of what I know that Iliana doesn't know bc their memories were wiped & ugh, I'm ready for everyone to remember again lmao.

Anywaysss, see y'all in the next part, mwauh!!