A/N: I've been working on the draft of this chapter for way too long and it's finally time to share it with you. I really hope there are still people reading this story after being so long without any new updates. A lot happens in this chapter, so if you feel confused, rest assured that all your questions will be answered in future chapters. Hope you enjoy :)

P.S Have you watched the leaked episodes of season 5? if yes, what are your thoughts on them?

"It's a great idea, darling." Enzo reassured me with a gentle squeeze on my exposed shoulder.

"Isn't there anything else left to try?" I asked trapping my bottom lip between my teeth.

"We have tried everything, yet your powers still remain dormant." A sigh of annoyance. "I swear in all my years of doing this, you are the first one that is having such a difficulty with getting in terms with your inner darkness."

"It's not like I'm not trying." I crossed my arms and knitted my brows together. "I've done everything you've asked me to."

"I know…" He flashed me a patient smile. "And now you are going to try one last thing."

"What happens if I fail again?" The loud creaking of the old door getting opened by two servants almost drowned the sound of my voice.

He didn't look at me while saying, "We'll see."

I followed him into the hall, which as always was dark and cold. You could feel the pain and despair that had been inflicted in this room. Feel the traces of darkness that the ones before you had left. It was quite perfect for its purpose.

In the middle of it, shirtless and with his two hands tied on a wooden post was Larry. The moment he saw me his eyes lit up and a smile flickered on his lips. "Hey, Pipes."

The fact that he was happy to see me despite knowing what I was there for, felt more sickening than the thought of hurting him in the very near future. "Hey." I managed weakly.

"Larry here is a very brave and loyal boy." Enzo said, handing me a sharpened, shiny blade. Despite having held it countless times, it still managed to feel foreign and heavy in my hands. "He volunteered to let you hurt him in order to help you get your powers."

The color drained from my face and the slices of bread I had for breakfast threatened to come out as I approached him. "And why do you think that hurting Larry is going to be different?"

"Because unlike your previous victims," It was such an ugly word; perhaps because it was the truth. ", you actually know him. Care about him."

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, half-hearted.

"Whatever you feel like. I decided to let you improvise on this." He announced, his lips twisted in a cruel smile, as he sat down on his self-made throne. Evil son of a bitch. There were no words to describe the hatred I felt for him. Maybe I should hurt him, see if that brings out the darkness I have hidden in me.

With a surprisingly steady hand, I carved out a diagonal, straight line on Larry's chest. He flinched and a low hiss escaped his lips. I stared at the deep red liquid that was flowing down his toned abdomen. Even though I'd never seen him shirtless back when we lived in the village together, I'm sure he didn't use to be that well-built.

I waited. Nothing. I didn't feel any different. I didn't feel powerful. I met Enzo's expectant stare and simply shrugged.

"Hurt him more." He growled, clearly unsatisfied with the results of his little experiment. Good.

I created a twin line, making this one deeper than the previous, marking Larry's chest with an X. I took a few steps back to look at him. At my victim. Blood oozed out of his fresh wounds. In the real world, cuts like that would leave a scar. But in our case, they would be gone in seconds under the touch of a gifted healer.

Do you trust me?

I had only been able to pass telepathic messages a few times during practice with Alex and found it quite a difficult thing to do. But, when Larry nodded slightly, his brows knitting together in shock, every self-doubt I had faded away. Gripping at my dagger hard, I stabbed Larry in the abdomen. A growl slipped out through gritted teeth as I twisted it before removing it with a swift move.

There was blood. Too much blood. Flowing out of Larry like a crimson river. Dripping off the dagger I was holding. Covering my hands.

It was the only way, I told myself while watching Larry's face, twitching in pain. The only way to convince Enzo that I wasn't what he expected. That there was nothing he could do to get me to access my powers. I had gutted someone I cared for and wasn't affected by it. At least, that's what I made him think.

It felt like centuries passed before Enzo spoke. "So…?" He inquired, raising from his throne.

"I don't feel different." I said, doing my best to look bored and indifferent while everything inside me willed me to scream. "Since your experiment has clearly failed, I'm I excused?"

"Not yet, darling." He clicked his fingers together and the two servants that were standing in the shadows, waiting, rushed to unshackle Larry. "Take him to a healer."

I watched as they had to drag his almost lifeless body out of the room, leaving a trail of blood behind them. "Get cleaned and meet me in my office." He commanded with a harsh voice he had never used on me before.

….

"You said that what I did was our last chance."

"Yes. Yes, I did."

"Then why am I here?"

With a wicked smile, he replied, "Because I lied." I saw him open a drawer and take out a small vial containing a strange looking liquid. "This is our last chance."

"What is it?" I asked, leaning forward to get a better view of what he was holding.

"A serum of some kind." He said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "Don't worry. It tastes good." He purred and I instinctively pushed my back against the chair I was sitting on as if I could get away from Enzo.

"Y-you want me to drink this?" My voice cracked as I eyed the mysterious serum.

He opened the lid for me and I gulped. "Don't be afraid. It will only do you good." Enzo said soothingly while approaching me. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course." I lied and took the vial from his hand. "After all, I promised I would do anything to activate my power."

My answer seemed to satisfy him as his smile was the last thing I saw before emptying the liquid in my mouth.

I was on fire. I couldn't breathe, couldn't scream. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I burned in the pit of unending pleasure. It was the best feeling in the whole universe, I decided when the effects started fading away, allowing me to start thinking again.

I opened my mouth, but Enzo was faster. "Go rest, darling. Activating your powers like that can be… overwhelming." With shaking limbs, I got up and made my way to the door. I was almost gone when he added, "If you start feeling different, come to me. Immediately." An order that I knew I was going to disobey before he even said it.

…..

After what felt like centuries of lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling, I heard the door creak. Enzo had instructed me to rest, but I couldn't even keep my eyes closed for more than a few seconds. I felt alive. I could hear my steady heartbeat, I could feel the flow of my bloodstream.

I thought my power had been awakened when I managed to sent a telepathic message to Alex. I had felt powerful when I got inside her mind. But compared to what I was feeling now, those instances were only a taste of what I was capable of doing.

Everything I felt was heightened and I was experiencing an out of this world combination of emotions. It started with the basic ones: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. I studied them on myself, so I could understand them better on others. Anger was red, pain was green, fear was purple, happiness was yellow, sadness was blue and surprise was a mix of them all. It didn't take long for me to understand that the colors had little meaning, that they were just the first layer and weren't really what set the emotions apart. What I started focusing on, what I started trying to understand was their distinct smell.

But eventually, I grew tired of messing around in my head. I needed to experiment on someone else's emotions. I needed to feel how they felt. I was hungry for it like a human is hungry for food. The logical part of my brain told me to go to Enzo since he would know how to help me control it. I quickly crossed out that idea. For the first time in my life, I was going to be reckless. I was going to have fun. And just when I needed her the most, the face that haunted my dreams and nightmares, decided to pay me a visit.

"Hey, Pipes." She said quietly, walking in and closing the door behind her. "Are you okay?" She asked, sitting on the edge of my bed and reaching for my hand full of concern.

I was about to reassure her that I had never been better, but I choked on the words when my eyes met hers and hunger consumed me. From the first moment I laid eyes on her, I thought Alex was beautiful. But now, as I looked at her with my newly acquired heightened sense of emotions, I realized that beautiful wasn't enough to describe her. Alex was… everything anyone could ask for. She was desire in human form and she was mine. And I wanted her. Gods, I wanted her.

"Kiss me." I breathed out and before she could respond, I pulled her on top of me and crashed our lips together. The kiss was hungry, desperate. More, more, more.

She was surprised but didn't object. We kissed more passionately and her hands started exploring my body, leaving a trail of fire behind them. I only wore a flimsy nightgown that stopped mid-thigh, yet I felt like too much skin was covered.

"Pipes…" Alex said too slowly as I tried to wiggle out of it. "I don't think we-" The smell that came out of her was a strange mix of lust and something I could yet define.

I silenced her with a kiss. "It's fine, Al. I want it. I want you." I leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "So, so badly."

"Piper, baby…" She sighed, rolling off me. "Trust me when I say that there is nothing I could want more than this, but not now."

"Why?" I whined, giving up on my attempts to get rid of my nightgown. Hungry. I was so, so hungry. And her keeping her emotions under control did nothing to help my situation.

"I don't know what happened to you, but you are not acting like yourself." Alex explained, running a hand through my hair affectionately.

Annoyed, I pulled away from her touch. "Is it out of character for me to want you?" I was able to read what she was feeling, yet I couldn't read her. I couldn't explain her behavior.

"We are not supposed to rush this." She said soothingly as if talking to a child. "Your first time is supposed to be special and-"

"I am so officially tired of this." My heart was beating so impossibly fast, I felt dizzy. "You always being the sex goddess and me being the helpless child."

"Pipes-" Alex started saying and reached for me, but I cut her off, yelling Leave me alone! in her mind, just to show off. "You've been getting better" She observed. "Have you been training?"

"Get out of my room, Alex." I could finally feel the anger radiating off her and it was so powerful it shook me to the core. I wanted that. I didn't care if she screamed at me or if she kissed me, I just wanted to feel her raw emotions.

"I don't know what happened to you, but we are going to have a serious talk tomorrow." And with this threat of hers left hanging in the damp air, she turned her back to me and stormed off the room.

I rolled my eyes and fell backward on my bed. Despite not regretting a thing I said or done, a faint voice in my head warned me that I wasn't acting like myself. I tried to make it shut up, but not unlike the buzzing in my veins, the craving, I couldn't.

I hadn't fully realized where my feet were taking me until I found myself knocking on Larry's door. Alex wasn't willing to give me what I wanted and he was the closest second I could get.

"Piper..?" He asked in a sleepy voice, running a hand through his disheveled hair. I couldn't help but notice how good he looked, standing shirtless a few inches away from me, with a puzzled yet adorable look on his face. "Is everything okay?"

"No." I replied honestly and stepped in, moving past him. "But I was hoping you could make things better." I said in a sultry voice that wasn't mine. The buzzing was getting louder than I could handle. My newfound power was demanding to be let out to play.

"W-what?" His breath hitched when I placed my cold hand on his chest. His face and stature gave the impression that he was confused, uncomfortable even. But I knew better. I could smell the lust radiating from him. And unlike Alex, Larry had clear and pure emotions, inviting me to taste them. Without a warning, I assaulted his lips with a hungry kiss. They weren't as soft as Alex's and he was certainly not as skilled as the Queen was, but it would do for now.

I felt every second thought, every doubt he had faded away as he placed his calloused hands on my thighs and picked me up. He wasted no time in carefully letting me down on his bed and climbing on top of me. He started by worshipping my neck and the emotions he was feeling were oh so powerful. It was as if I was feeding on them. His lust and passion sated mine, in a way I couldn't explain.

I was consumed by his kisses, which were getting lower and lower, but not enough to not sense pure anger getting closer to us by the second. The door was opened so violently that it was a miracle it didn't shatter in pieces.

At the sight of her, loose raven-black hair and emerald eyes full of rage, he immediately rolled off me, putting a healthy distance between us. "My q-queen." He stammered, bowing his head.

But Alex didn't hear him. It was as if he wasn't in the room with us. "Come here." There was violence in her voice but I could feel something else too. Under the dominating rage, there were embers of pain.

"Alex-"

"I said come here." I didn't obey because of her icy tone or because I was scared of what she would do to me or Larry. I obeyed because the pain I felt growing in her was threatening to shatter me.

She grabbed my arm and yanked me, hard enough that it was impossible to get away from her, but soft enough that it didn't really hurt. I let her guide me down the hallway in silence while trying to send calming feelings to her.

"Stop that." She barked out, after a few feet.

"Stop what?" I asked, genuinely clueless.

"Trying to soothe me with your little powers."

I wanted to lash out at her, show her that my powers weren't as little as she believed, but I just said, "Okay." I was tired and my head hurt so unbelievably bad. All those emotions in such a short notice… It was as if I had eaten too much and now felt bloated.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She finally shouted at me. "Did you go to Larry to make me jealous? Were you willing to give away your first time like that to prove a point?"

"I went to Larry because you denied me." I meant to shout back at her, but instead, my words came out in a tired, croaky voice. "Which reminds me, how the hell didn't you know where I was?"

"I had a guard monitor your moves." She admitted and sighed. "Your behavior scared me, Pipes. It continues to scare me."

"There is nothing to be afraid of." The hallway started to spin and Alex's figure became blurry.

Alex's lips were moving, but no sound came out of them. "What?" I asked before my vision bent and started falling.

A/N: So..? Did you like it? Was it worth waiting for? Any ideas on what should happen next? Feedback is highly appreciated and motivates me to write more.