Extraordinary Mistakes II - Blood Ties

Erased

"What's the plan here?" Emily asks.

"You three will stay. Have everything prepared for us to return. Have everything prepared to leave if necessary," Rachel says.

Emily and Ánh nod.

"What? We're going!" Abigail looks at Ánh and Emily, looking for their support.

"No. We," Rachel asks for Megan to come nearer them, "are the ones going."

"You are walking into a trap..." she looks at Rachel, who turns her back instead, "you all know that, right?" Abigail focuses on Megan's eyes. How they remain soulless.

"They haven't busted our door down. There's a chance that Alex erased everything about you. Maybe they haven't seen yet you two willingly coming here. If you go there now, everyone will know that it was a lie," Rachel says.

"And I need to be here to control everything and help out where I can make a difference," Ánh smiles at Rachel.

"We can help!" Abigail shouts.

"We need to bring them back. The pain they have suffered is enough. We'll put an end to it!" Rachel elevates her voice without shouting.

"They'll have no problem killing you both. That's probably their plan. Not catching you. Kill you. Will you use Megan's ability to kill them if you have to?" Abigail scoffs.

"We don't kill." Rachel looks at Megan.

"This is a suicide mission!" Abigail turns her back and walks toward the door. Turns back and faces them, "just run those odds, Ánh!"

"No, Ánh. Please." Rachel shakes her head and takes a deep breath. She softens her voice, "we have to do this. I know you won't understand it, but this is our fight, always has been. Tomorrow, we'll go to the black market to find a mental controller so I can erase our memories. In case we are caught, you'll be safe!" Rachel smiles and looks at Megan, who nods, "and tomorrow night, we attack."

Megan leaves the house. Emily and Abigail leave the basement and head to their room. They start packing. Ánh stays a bit longer in the basement, trying her best to find any information about the perfume factory that can be useful. Rachel goes to the living room and sees Alex's books.

What a peculiar taste. She sees all the psychology books he has, about egocentrism and putting one's first instead of the greater good. They couldn't be any different.

I have you to thank. I wouldn't know how to read if you hadn't taught me. Whenever he visited, Alex always brought a book with him. He had the patience to pronounce each word slowly so she'd repeat it. They were lucky to have each other. The heirs of the Five.

How quickly it all changed when she turned seven. How her parents focused more and more on her training. How they started using Alex to read their enemies' thoughts. Their support for each other would be less frequent. The love remained and deep down, even if it was never said, they both knew that they had each other's back.

Looking back, it's hard for Rachel to pinpoint the exact moment where their love fell apart. Maybe if she hadn't blamed him for not standing up to Matthew and letting him kill her friend Andrew. Maybe if she had forgiven him, understood that standing up to Matthew isn't something that everyone can do. Alex had that limitation.

Maybe if that resentment didn't linger when she killed Matthew and Amanda, and Alex hated her for taking them away from him, maybe if that resentment wasn't there, she would've made an effort to apologize to him. She would've done everything for him to forgive her.

She would've told him that she had his back and he would've said the same to her. Maybe. Instead, she let him be. Never apologized, and the resentment grew. Instead, she threw his way, every chance she had, the blame on Amy's death.