Ok so you know the deal, if any of the characters are out of character let me know so I can try and fix it for next chapter. Please R&R and I hope you enjoy the chapter, I'll try and update weekly now my exams are over.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Darkest Powers or its characters unfortunately, their all property of Kelley Armstrong.

Two

Walking out and closing the motel door quietly I tried to think of where Simon might be, usually if he was not with his Dad or Derek he would be out back somewhere, sketching or something. That was the first place I looked, through the small garden, but no sign of Simon. I tried to be inconspicuous, as I had to blend in now, it wouldn't do to be recognised by someone when everyone else was nowhere to be seen. Aunt Lauren and Tori were out driving as far away as possible so that they could use my bank card for one last withdrawal and so that Aunt Lauren could empty her savings account at the bank as well. Mr. Bae said it would help if everyone - The police and the Edison Group in equal measure, believed me and Aunt Lauren were together for two seperate reasons. One, my Dad would know that I was safe with Aunt Lauren, a withdrawal from my cashcard and Aunt Lauren withdrawing her savings from the bank in the same area? Too big of a coincidence. When she doesnt return to her apartment, they'd put two and two together along with the fact that Aunt Lauren wanted to raise me when my mum died and assume she'd kidnapped me. It wasn't the ideal way to let Dad know I was in safe hands but it would have to do for now. Reason two, the Edison Group would know that no matter the circumstances Mr. Bae would go underground, meaning no use of credit cards, sim cards or anything that could be traced back to them at all, no matter what level of desperation they were in for money or supplies. They would assume that me and Aunt Lauren were doing this with just the two or us, believing that the group had been split up. This would help us in the future as they wouldn't know who was with who exactly, as they couldn't be sure who Tori had ended up with, if either of us. This trick wouldn't last long though. Eventually they would realise that we knew there was safety in numbers and had remained together, but for now they wouldn't be looking for all of us in one area, and that was enough.

On my search for Simon I thought about things. My old life was gone, that couldn't be denied, it seemed like a pleasant uneventful dream these days, almost like an alternate reality. It was hard to believe that I used to be so naive, so innocent. When me and Derek were together that night we escaped from the Edison Group, we did more than just kissing. We talked. About our future. About what had happened. With him I could be honest about how I felt, we had more in common than anyone else now, we had both killed.

"You didn't want to, you didn't mean it, but he would have if he'd gotten the chance." Derek growled, holding me protectively.

"Yeah I know b-but-"

"No buts Chloe! Do you think all of us would be here now, together, if it wasn't for what you did? For what you had to do? If you hadn't done what you had things would have turned out alot differently, Davidoff, well I knew he wasn't going to let us all live, whether we'd done what he'd asked or not."

"W-what do you mean Derek?"

"It doesn't matter, just trust me when I say he had no scruples on the matter of killing. He'd already killed Liz, Brady and that Amber girl, what makes you think because he said he wouldn't, that he truthfully let Simon, my Dad and me go? People who knew the truth about the experiment and what it had done to certain supernaturals? I could smell the calculation coming off of him, he never intended to let anyone leave that building, alive or dead."

What Derek had said was true, I knew it but still it didn't matter. I'd killed a man, he may have been a bad man and there may have not been any other choice at the time but still, I was the one who'd killed him. And I would have to deal with that, no matter how deserved his death was. But Derek was right, it was either us or him, and if I had to go back, I'd do it all again, exactly the same.

It didn't take me long to find Simon after that. I knew there were only a couple of places he could be, and if he wasn't in the garden out the back of the motel, I was willing to bet he would be at the front by the big oak tree. He'd taken to sitting there, where nobody could see him without purposefully looking of course, working on his comics. Or, as I sometimes saw, not. Sometimes he would just sit there, taking a breather from it all I guess. Derek hated it when Simon sat there, as he put it, "What if someone see's you? Or even worse what if they see one of us there with you? Or saw Chloe? We don't need people seeing us Simon!" I understood what he meant, he was worried, he still hadn't gotten used to not having to look after us all on his own. And he didn't want to risk anything, not after all those close calls. We had all learnt there was nobody that we could trust anymore, but Derek more than any of us. I walked quickly over to Simon, and seeing he was staring into space, I waved my hand in front of his eyes to catch his attention. It worked. He looked up at me with a small, nervous smile and said,

"You got my note then?"

"Yeah Simon, I did. Whats this all about? You said you needed to talk?"

"I do, there's nobody else I could talk to, share my thoughts with, except you. Tori is... Well. She's not exactly trustworthy and I doubt she would have noticed what I have anyway. Same with Lauren." Seeing me wince at that he quickly apologised before continuing, "What I mean't was that there's nobody else here I trust except for you. And it involves you too."

I had no idea what Simon was on about, so I had to ask, "What do you mean Simon? What involves me? Whats going on?"

"It's Derek, and Dad. Their hiding something from me. They've never kept me in the dark before, not about anything. Anything important anyway. And I'm worried Chloe, I'm really worried. Whenever I walk into that motel room, they'll both go quiet, or they'll talk about some silly, mundane topic. Derek I think, realises I know their keeping something from me, but he still wont tell me what. I even tried asking him about it earlier when Dad went out to get lunch, and he said it was nothing. That I was imagining it all. But I know I'm not. I just wanted to see if you'd noticed anything strange going on with him too? Anything at all?"

I had noticed that Derek had been quieter lately, more reserved. That him and Mr. Bae had been talking a lot in private, but nothing like what Simon was talking about. It would seem that I'd been too wrapped up in my own issues to notice all of these things. No wonder Simon had wanted to talk to me about it, he must be going out of his mind with worry.

"He's been pulling away, just a little bit. I thought it was because he was still getting his head together after everything that had happened with the Edison Group, but now I'm not so sure. Are you certain about all this Simon? Maybe it just seems that way because of everything else thats happened?"

"Trust me Chloe, whenever I enter a room its silent, or you can just tell their being falsely cheerful. Dad even asked me to go out a couple times, to get some exercise he said, but I know it was because he wanted to talk to Derek without me there."

"Well I don't know what to say but I-" It was only then that I noticed it, the death scene. I'd been so focused on finding Simon, then my conversation with Simon that when I looked up and around me I only just saw it. Simon noticed me tense up straight away.

"Chloe whats wrong, what is it?" He grabbed my arms and turned me to face him, capturing my full attention, "What did you see?" Turning my eyes to his pinched, worried face, I took a deep, shuddering breath before speaking,

"Over there, by the parked cars, theres a woman and a little baby girl. She's arguing with what I think is her husband, then she throws her wedding ring at him and turns to walk away when..." Taking another breath as the tears started to stream down my eyes I continued, "When he grabs a gun out his pocket, shouts something at her, and when she turns he shoots the baby, then shoots her. He then walks over to them, and shoots himself in the head. Then it all starts again, over and over and over, they fight, she turns away, so he shoots them both and then himself..."

"Oh my God Chloe I'm so sorry, if I hadn't asked you to meet me-"

"No Simon! It's not your fault, I w-would have s-s-seen it eventually."

It was then that Simon pulled me into a hug, as soon as he saw the first tear glide down my cheek. He whispered calming, soothing words to me, but all I really wanted was to go see Derek. Have Derek hold me and tell me it was all going to be ok, not Simon. As bad as that sounds that was what I really wanted.

"It's ok Chloe, it's ok. I'm here for you, no matter what or whenever you want to talk."

Taking a deep breath I opened my eyes and thats when I saw him looking at us, face indescribable, eyes cold, body tense. One word came to my lips then, and only one word was spoken before I saw him turn and walk away from us both.

"Derek."

Ok so I hope you guys enjoyed that! Let me know! Next chapter will probably be in Derek's point of view, let me know whether you like the idea or think its a bad idea in the review, I always enjoy reading them, let me know what you thought!