Dare to Love

Disclaimer: Don't own a thing

A/N:

Chapter 38 (Forget this Memory)

Due to being closest to Chloe's home, Kelly and Martin decided to venture out to see the girl. Art and Mala joined them with nothing else to do. It was now the 1st of October, the party had been great fun for the family, and church was a good follow-up. Martin hadn't really talked about his uncle visiting him at the park, he'd nearly forgotten the whole experience altogether. There really wasn't much to say, considering the conversation. His uncle was gone, simple as that. Nothing more, nothing less.

What he did want to do was talk about the future, he wanted to figure out where they were going on this path. He still wanted to finish his college off at Sviederbach University, and he did talk about that with his family. They seemed happy with it. Granted, he was working his way towards a master's degree now, already having finished the four year part of his schooling. "I have a bachelors in criminology, do you guys think I really need to keep going?"

"All you can be with that is a police officer, and maybe a few other things," Art replied from the back seat. "Criminology is the study of the criminal mind and behavior, most criminologists have Doctorate degrees." This was true, and it seemed like a lot of extra school. He was almost disheartened, but he knew what he wanted to be in life. "Now the whole reason you're going to Sviederbach University is what? The cultural classes?" He turned left onto a country street and let out a heavy sigh, Art had a point. The reasons he was at SU were not the best.

"Well…yeah, part of it. I mean my dad's family had me going there because of what was going to happen, but I chose that university because of the cultural stuff." Mala lifted her head from Art's shoulder and spoke up, joining in the conversation.

"Martin, how much thought have you really put into the future?" He glanced at her through the mirror, almost wincing at what was close to being uncertain at this point. He'd been doing his best to think about the now and in the moment. "Also here's the stats, Art you're incorrect in this case." Art started muttering as Kelly snickered. "Martin, a degree in Criminology is good to get you to being a police officer, corrections, forensic science technician, probation officers…I just looked all this up by the way." She lifted her phone up and smirked triumphantly.

"Great, so forensic science technician as always sounded like something I wanted to be."

"You could be a Forensic Psychologist," Kelly replied. "I know that you might also need a master's in psychology to go with it." There wasn't a big worry with that, since psychology basically came with criminology. "Those guys tend to work in criminal profiling, jury consultants, prison psychologists…"

"I can't see myself being anyone's psychologist." Art snickered and Mala slowly shook her head. "I think I could also be a private investigator too?" The others checked with Mala's phone and confirmed his question. In all honesty the best thing he wanted to do that he could do was go into being a forensic scientist working crime scene investigations. "I'm not worried about where I'm going career-wise, guys…"

Kelly looked to him and leaned back in her chair. "I think what Mala was saying, was you need to think more about where you want to go in the future. What's necessary? Where are you going to be? Do you really need to go to Sviederbach University if you've lived in America all your life? Your family's here, my mom's here in America…can you really afford to be an ocean apart from your family now that you've found them? Moreover, do you want to be a whole ocean away from them?"

"Aunt Marna said they were all planning to move somewhere, but I didn't get a chance to talk to them about it. It was Aunt Marna, Uncle Michael, Grandma and Grandpa. If they do move anywhere, I kind of want to go with them." The whole family had been making preparations to move, where to, he wasn't sure. He was only asked in passing, but Aunt Marna said they'd discuss it later. "They implied it wasn't a big deal, so I don't think it's anywhere like out of the country or anything, but it made me think of Dakota's offer."

"The house out in the country?"

"Yeah. Though, she said it was about forty minutes out of the way. Off of Steger Rd, somewhere around Cunningham LN, has anyone been out there?" Everyone shook their heads and Martin shrugged, they'd probably check out the mansion later on. It was definitely outside of Chicago. "Anyway you guys are right, I guess I should start thinking about the future…I never even thought of the fact that all my friends are overseas at this point."

"Not necessarily," Mala replied. He raised an eyebrow and Kelly looked back at the girl with a subtle smile. "Art says he might move back here, but nothing's set in stone yet. It all depends on how I feel about the Bransfords, I guess. Art says he doesn't want to leave me."

"I know the Bransfords were planning a move to Sviederbach, and Ander's with Aveline now. Karin and Frankie are your aunt and uncle, have you even met them yet?"

"No, I'm still a little nervous about it, but I'll do it."

"If I can meet my family, and Kelly can meet her mom, I'm sure you can meet your aunt and uncle." Mala laughed and Martin pulled into the driveway. He really wanted to ask Chloe what she thought of moving into the country. The woman was a witch, she probably had ways of seeing the house without taking the full trip out there.

Upon entering the house, they found Chloe once more working on making a pie. She glanced up at the group and grinned, "Hey I'm making a fresh pie for later." Instinctively he pointed towards the already-made pie on the counter. She looked over at it and shook her head. "That's the toxic one." Chloe pushed her pie into the oven and removed the oven mitts. "So, how are you guys enjoying family and all?"

"Martin's family is great!" Kelly chimed out.

"They really are." Martin leaned against the counter, setting his forearm on the surface and glancing towards the bad pie. The corner of his lip titled up into a smirk. "How many bodies do you have buried under your house, by the way?" Chloe's lips formed a circle and her eyebrows lifted up.

"You want an honest answer to that?" He slowly lifted his head up, flinching a second. She said it with such seriousness in her voice that he didn't think he wanted an answer. Art laughed while removing his hands from his pockets, he glanced down and gasped out.

"I forgot I had this thing in here." He was holding up the SD card from Martin's old phone. "The card from Martin's phone, you don't want it for when you guys buy Kelly's phone do you?" Chloe swiped the card away from him and instantly broke it between her fingers. "Why'd you do that?"

"That phone had a tracer, didn't it? You know how you install a tracker onto a phone? You install it onto the SD card. Physically onto the card." Chloe tossed the bits into a trash bin and the group stepped away as she read from her spell book, setting the contents of the trash bin on fire.

"I didn't know that…"

"It's all right," Martin replied, mildly shaken upon hearing the news, "Nothing's happened yet. I don't think Uncle Eric knows about the tracker either, he just randomly showed up at the lake yesterday." Kelly meshed her brow and Martin shrugged his shoulders while the others eyed him with concern. "Nothing happened, he simply told me goodbye. I gave him the PO Box number that I rented for him to send the home movies he wanted to send."

"Sure you're all right?" Kelly asked, moving over to him. He gave her a smile and nodded, feeling better than he'd felt in a very long time.

"My cousins were there. Jack, Josh, Sarah, James and Isaac, they all made sure everything was fine. It's funny, my family's been really…therapeutic for me."

"That's the way it should be," Chloe quelled the fire in her trash bin and gave Martin an approving nod. "It's a good thing that you've found your family. Now, I hear you've got yourself a new girlfriend as well, Martin?" He started to blush as Kelly's grin stretched from ear to ear. "I hope you're taking good care of her."

"We're learning about it," Kelly marveled, "I can't think of being with anyone else. You know, Dakota offered this mansion out in the country, about forty minutes outside Chicago." Chloe hummed and walked over to her kitchen table with a literal crystal ball centerpiece. The others followed her, all eyeing the ball. "Really Chloe?"

"What?" Chloe smirked and put her hands to the crystal ball. "Tell me the address."

"It's the one house on Cunningham LN, off the corner of Steger Rd."

"Okay." Chloe spoke into the crystal ball. Everyone waited for an image of sorts to appear within the ball, but much to their shock and awe, the image floated on a cloud above the ball. Much like a hologram. Chloe laughed and leaned towards the right. "Bet you didn't expect that!"

"Can't say we did." They sat at the table and looked up at the projection. The outside of the house was a beautiful crème-colored two story Victorian mansion that resembled a castle in Ireland. Kelly gasped and pointed at the screen, "Martin it looks like my grandparent's house! When I was a girl, mom would fly us over to Ireland to visit her parents, and they had this really beautiful house and yard…" Martin smiled at the nostalgic tears welling up in Kelly's eyes, now more than ever he wanted to make her happy. Perhaps this house would be perfect for her and her mother.

"It is a beautiful home," he replied proudly. The image showed the beautifully decorated interior. The walls were brown and there was a stairwell immediately before the front doors, it went up and separated in two paths on the second floor which had white railings that overlooked the first floor. The room to the right was a dining area with one long table. Adjacent to that room was a living area with a long sectional couch and a television in the corner of the room beside a fireplace.

On the opposite side of the house was a large kitchen and then a ballroom area. Both areas had a hallway that ran in between both rooms, and a bathroom in the middle of both hallways and a closet door in front of the bathroom doors. Upstairs were all the bedrooms, six large bedrooms in total. Two on the eastern wing of the second floor, two on the western wing, and two in the middle.

"It's so gorgeous!" Kelly sang, bouncing up and down. Martin's heart swelled up as Art nudged him, winking about the house. He wanted to take Dakota's offer now, give Kelly that happy life. He could also talk to his Aunt, Uncle, and grandparents about the possibility of moving out into the country with them. Then, more than anything, he wanted to talk to Kelly's mom about it. The woman would surely want to be with her daughter as much as Kelly might want to be with her.

"Do you think your mom would like it?" Martin asked.

"She would love it! It's almost exactly like my Maimeó's and Móraí's home!" Curious, he raised an eyebrow and started to ask about the names. Kelly gave him a smile. "That's Irish, what I would call my grandparents when I was a young child." She moved her hands over her chest and sighed, "I wonder if they're still around…" Chloe leaned back, letting the image fall away.

"When are you visiting your mother? You should ask her?"

"Soon, I think. We've really been waiting for the rest of the Lamont's to not be a problem."

"I recommend seeing her as soon as possible, Kelly. She's been waiting eighteen years to see you, don't make her wait any longer. She isn't getting any younger."

"Yeah, and I know my Maimeó would be eighty nine around now. Móraí would be ninety." Martin's heart went out to her in that moment, he never thought of how much of a time crunch they'd be on. He really wanted to find her mom now, especially if her grandparents were still alive. He moved over to her and slowly put an arm around her shoulders, she looked up to him and smiled lovingly, bringing her head to his chest.

"We'll go looking as soon as possible, Kelly. Besides, I want to make my new girlfriend happy, don't I?" Her cheeks went red.

Of course, the moment couldn't possibly be ruined, even Chloe was smiling. Everything was slowly coming together. However, a twisted scream did ring out from behind, and when they turned, they saw Rebecca holding onto a teleportation device and glaring at them. A painful sting struck him and anger began to rise up, how dare this girl come and interfere?

"I can't believe you, Martin!" Rebecca screamed in a full rage. How did she find him? The SD Card? Art smacked his forehead and cursed. Chloe slowly leaned over her crystal ball and crossed her forearms over the top, she had an agitated expression on her face. Possibly irritated that someone she didn't know just dared to step foot into her property. "You're supposed to be mine! You didn't even show up when mommy and daddy had their accident! David's dead, Martin, did you know that? I bet you didn't!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, Rebecca? We're cousins, I will never be interested in you." He took a deep breath and clenched his eyes shut, forcing away the dark memories trying to resurface. His memories added to his anger, and in his anger, he wished to lash out, but he'd been doing a lot of stress relief practices with Art, so he had more control over these urges. "You're not screwing things up now, Rebecca."

"No!" Rebecca threw the device down and started walking to Kelly, poking a finger into her chest. Kelly began growling, narrowing her angry eyes onto the girl. "I warned you to stay away from him, didn't I? I told you not to interfere! Now because of you, everything's all wrong and messed up!" Martin did not want to see a fight break out anytime soon, so he casually pushed Rebecca back and moved in between the two girls, still taking deep breaths to keep his calm.

"Rebecca, I don't care what happens to you at this point, just go away and leave me alone. Leave Kelly alone. You have a chance to stay alive." Rebecca frowned and clasped her hands together, bringing them up to her chest. Her large oval eyes glazed over and her head shook from side to side.

"I don't want anything but you Martin, I won't live if I don't have you!" She leaned close and Martin, seeing Kelly scowl at the girl, put his hands on Rebecca's shoulders and pushed her back. The girl screamed out and slapped him across the face. His eyes went wide and the flashbacks quickly shot into his brain. He winced and staggered backwards, remembering the constant strikes he'd received from his aunt over the years. His body trembled with rage and his vision started to turn red as Rebecca screamed at him.

"How dare you push me!"

He slowly made his way over to the small couch in Chloe's house and threw himself down on the cushions, biting down on the couch pillow as tears stung his eyes. "Worthless!"

"That's enough of this!" Mala screamed out, "Grab her, Art." Rebecca screamed out in full anger as Art locked his arms around hers. Mala stepped in front of Rebecca and Martin slowly lifted his head, gazing out over the top. He finally managed to push the memories down, but was still shaking. Kelly ran over to his side and took his hand. Mala cracked her neck from side to side. "I've always wanted to do this to you, Rebecca. Since Martin is trying to tone down the anger, he can't do this, but I can and will." Rebecca raised her eyebrows as Mala clenched her fists, pulled back her arm, then shot it forward, striking Rebecca's jaw. Martin was stunned and Art was in awe as Rebecca cried out in anguish. Mala turned around and shook her hand, wincing at the pain.

"Let me deal with this," Chloe rose from her chair and politely smiled at Rebecca. "Tell me dear, I apologize, this isn't how I welcome my guests. Moreover, the ones who just simply break in or enter without permission. Art, be a gentleman and let her go."

Art hesitated before releasing Rebecca, who instantly rubbed her jaw. "Okay?" Chloe walked over to the baskets on her counter, both had the pie in the middle. Martin's eyebrow slowly rose as she casually removed the black bin of peaches.

"Let me offer you a peach, sweetie. They'll help with the pain of that punch." She put her hands around the red basket and slowly walked over to Rebecca, still with a pleasant expression on her face. "Peach, dearie?" Rebecca eyed them and slowly lifted her shoulders.

"I-I guess one couldn't hurt, I do love peaches."

"Well then try one of mine, I grow my own. They're to die for." Rebecca hesitated for a minute before taking one of the peaches.

"Thanks." Martin and the others held their breath, watching as his last remaining cousin on his father's side lifted the peach to her lips. Chloe walked over towards the counter and began to cut the pie on the table. Silence hovered in the air like a thick fog as Rebecca bit into the peach. She licked her lips and delighted over the fruit. "Oh my god it's amazing! Is that pie you have?"

"Yes, would you like to try a slice? It's made with those same peaches." Rebecca bounced over to the pie and watched as Chloe set a slice on the plate. Martin scrunched his eyebrows together as he felt a particular part of his memory beginning to grow hazy. He slowly sat up and let Kelly sit beside him. Rebecca began eating the pie and Chloe made her way to the couch, sitting down beside Kelly and Martin. "What that girl doesn't know, her fate is now sealed."

"You fed her…the bad ones?" Kelly asked with a nervous tone.

"Yes. There's an extra little twist to my pies…" Chloe looked towards the girl. Rebecca's eyes were growing dull and her face beginning to grow pale and pasty. "It's a memory wiper, but it doesn't wipe the memory of the eater. Martin, you should be experiencing a bit of haziness am I right?"

"Yeah, but what's the point?" Was he about to forget his cousin? What would this do?

"Pretty soon everyone except immediate family members will forget who she was. Erasing her from their memory. Nothing external will change, the history will remain as it was, she will simply be…forgotten. Her father, her mother, siblings, they'll remember her clear as day. To them, she will simply have vanished. You will never have to fear her again, Martin…and Kelly? I'm sorry you had to see me do this to someone…"

"It's kind of scary seeing you do this, but…I understand…" Martin could only think of how hard it had to be for Kelly, seeing one of her closest friends still killing people. Granted, it wasn't out of malicious intentions that she did so, but it still had to be hard for her. He squeezed her hand and glanced over to Rebecca. She'd stopped eating, the pie on the plate was completely gone, but her body had grown rigid and stiff. Her eyes were wide with fear and her hand was clutching to her chest like that of someone about to tear it open.

"Looks like it's about over." Chloe walked over to her spell book on the counter and sighed, "Unlike Dakota, I still have to use the book to use my spells. That's why she's so much more powerful than I am. I think it was that Alex Russo woman that helped Dakota to achieve that wizardry." Chloe began flipping through the pages, then recited a spell. As Rebecca's body fell onto the ground, she began to fade away with vapors rising into the air.

Martin put his hand to his head, feeling an unshakable pounding within his head. Try as he might, he could no longer remember Rebecca. What he did remember of her was that Uncle Maxwell had a daughter, but she never lived. He slowly removed his hand, staring out as if nothing had taken place. The traumas sustained by Rebecca were like a thing of the past now, as if he'd never seen his cousin's naked body before. As if she'd never attempted to seduce him, making him nauseous with disgust and anxiety. She was simply, gone.

"What else I can do for you, is this…" Chloe looked up from her book and grasped the edges firmly. "I can make the world forget. You can live anywhere you want, in peace, without people looking at you like some kind of criminal."

"What?"

"With one spell, I can make everyone in the world, except those closest to you…that means those involved. The royal family, Mala, Art, both sides of your family, Kelly, Kelly's friends including myself…we're the only ones in the entire world that will remember you were ever a part of this crazy plan concocted by your family. To them, you will have been the one relative that was never involved, it will have been your Aunt that started the whole thing."

"She basically did…"

"I know. You were her puppet, that's all." He felt Kelly's hand on his shoulder and looked to her for approval. Even Art and Mala were curious of it.

"It sounds like a good offer," Kelly suggested, "I know you're afraid of the judgmental people, right?" He slowly nodded, it had been an anxiety of his. He even wondered how he'd go into the criminal justice field if people knew he'd ever been involved in that crazy plot against the royal family?

"Even if they know I was forced into it, they would still…"

"Judge you? Probably." He frowned, anxious and desiring this spell. He did have his reservations though, would it affect anything else? He looked up to Chloe, still nervous and reluctant.

"Will anything else change?" The woman closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. At least nothing will change like Dakota bringing Kelly into your life. That was a catalyst change, this change will not affect you or those involved in any major way."

"Okay…then…I guess go for it."

Martin closed his eyes as Chloe began reciting the spell, he could feel his heart pounding with every word she said in Latin. It must have been an earthshattering spell, because his body was trembling. At the same time, that was likely his nerves. It ended with three simple words, all spoken in Latin. However, when he opened his eyes, it was clear that to him, nothing changed. Nothing would change, except the occasional looks that people on the street would give him. He was now the relative that had never been involved.

"Oblitus huius memoria…"

How do you feel about this chapter? What are your thoughts on what happened to Rebecca, and Chloe's helping with the memories of the world and Martin? He can live his life now in peace, without fear of ridicule