Chapter Six

"One triple chocolate sundae with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, flake, chocolate sprinkles, and cocoa dusting." Victor announced, placing the dessert in front of me. I grinned up at him and took the spoon he offered me. He sat down with his plan vanilla ice cream and tucked in, watching me with amusement as I ate all of my toppings first.

The ice cream parlour is deserted, so we'd claimed a comfortable booth in the corner.

"Looks like you're the only one crazy enough to want ice cream in January." Victor commented, smirking at me.

"It's never too cold for ice cream, Vick." I said, "Life lesson number one. Besides, you agreed to it."

Victor shrugged, "I'm deciding where we go on Saturday, it seemed only fair to give you this one."

I leaned across the table and whispered, even though there was no one to hear us, "Where are we going on Saturday?"

"Someone needs to teach you the meaning of the word 'secret'." He told me.

I collapsed back into my chair with a sigh, "I hate surprises."

"Everyone hates surprises, that's part of human nature. We always want to know what's going to happen. It's probably a survival technique from evolutionary times, so that we could prepare and be able to ward off any threats." He saw my raised eyebrow and stopped, "Sorry."

I shook my head, "I like it when you geek out. It makes me feel intelligent just listening to you."

"Regardless," He said, "You will like this surprise."

Saturday marked our month anniversary and Victor had insisted on taking me somewhere, I just wasn't allowed to know where.

"It's only two more days, Ava." He said when he saw me pouting. That trick never worked on him. He must know every trick in the book, working for the FBI, which is why it was so easy for him to get information out of me, but impossible for me to get it out of him.

"It's fine." I told him, "I just won't tell you my secret."

He raised an eyebrow, "What secret?"

"I'm not going to tell you." I said, sticking my tongue out.

"You don't have a secret." He said.

"Oh, don't I?" I asked, "Okay. If you say so."

"Ava," He said, smirking, "Your tell is so obvious your nose might as well be growing."

I pouted again, "Tell me what it is."

He shook his head, laughing, "And lose my advantage over you?"

I took a bite of ice cream, "Maybe I'll just have to recruit Misty to make you spill all of your secrets."

"Whilst I'm sure she'd love to fly all the way over here just to be at your beck and call, I think the FBI would have something to say about me giving away all of their secrets." He told me.

"Secrets like what?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow, "It's not like I'm going to tell anyone, Vick."

"You know I can get life imprisonment for giving away classified information." He said.

"Oh, come on, it's not like you're selling it to the Russians." I said. His eyebrow rose again and I rolled my eyes, "Whatever, but one day I'm going to have the biggest, juiciest secret ever and I'm not going to tell you."

We finished our ice creams and layered our coats back on before venturing out into the cold night. It hadn't snowed in a few days, but it still lay on the ground and hung in the air, chilling our skin. Victor took my gloved hand and held it as we walked down the street. Victor had left his car outside my apartment and we'd walked half a mile down the road in search of ice cream.

"Can I at least know when you're going to pick me up on Saturday?" I asked.

Victor laughed and shook his head, "I'm just going to turn up and surprise you."

"Why?!" I demanded.

He smirked, "Because I love to see you pout like that when you don't get your own way."

"You're mean." I told him.

"Only to you." He responded with a wink.

We reach my apartment block and stop outside the door, holding hands and not wanting to let go.

"Goodnight, Ava." Victor said.

"Don't I get a goodbye kiss?" I asked.

Victor pretended to be shocked, gesturing to the busy sidewalk around us, "In front of all these people? What will the neighbours say?"

"I can fix it." I told him. I blink at the streetlights and they go out, plunging the street into darkness. I step towards Victor, my voice hushed, "Now no one can see us."

Ignoring the chattering around us as people tried to light their way with their phone screens, our lips lock in a goodnight kiss. Pulling away reluctantly, I turn the lights back on.

"Finally," Victor said, "A use for your gift that doesn't involve broken glass and electric shocks."

I roll my eyes at him, "I'll see you in two days."

He grinned, "If the suspense hasn't driven you insane by then."

He jogged away to his car and I watched him drive off before going up to my apartment, taking a shower and going to bed.

-o.O.o-

Saturday rolled around, eventually. I got up early, which was very out of character, to get ready seeing as I didn't know when Victor was going to turn up.

The knock on my door came at ten o'clock; three sharp raps.

"Come in!" I called from my bedroom, where I was applying an extra coat of lipgloss. The door didn't open, so I chucked the gloss back into my make-up bag and ran to the door, pulling on a shoe as I went. I opened the door, "Didn't you hear me-"

I stopped because there was no one standing in the doorway. I looked down the hall, confused. Then I looked down and saw a cream envelope on the doorstep. I crouched and picked it up. Inside the envelope is a map of Denver, with an 'x' marked on a building at the corner of Main Street and 8th Avenue. I couldn't think what the building was, but I was confident I could find it and it was only a ten minute walk from my apartment.

I slipped on my other shoe and grabbed my coat and bag before slipping out of the apartment, the map still clutched in my hand. I jogged most of the way, excited to find out what Victor had planned. I reached Main Street and walked along until I found 8th Avenue. Right at the intersection was a flower shop. I looked around, but I couldn't see Victor. I checked the map again, confirming that I was at the right place. The 'x' lay right in the middle of the flower shop, so I went inside.

There was still no sign of Victor, only a young woman sat behind the counter, writing out cards for the flowers. She looked up at me and smiled, "Ava Lawrence?"

I nodded, confused, "Yes…do I know you?"

The woman shook her head, "Your boyfriend said you'd be stopping by. He said to give you this."

She disappeared into the back room for a second and then reappeared holding a bunch of roses. I smiled and took the bouquet from her. A note was attached, which I pulled out and read. It was an address.

It seemed Victor was sending me on a treasure hunt.

I thanked the woman and left the shop, typing the address into my phone as I went. An hour later, I'd visited three more locations, including a bakery to pick up a cupcake which I'd already eaten on the way. The wrapper of the cupcake had given me an address which led to an apartment block, which I now stood outside.

I scanned the buzzers next to the door, reading the resident's names. I stopped when I stumbled across my own name, written in block capitals; 3B - AVA.

Deciding that this had to be the next clue, I pressed the button and heard the buzz, then the click of the door opening. I climbed the stairs to the third floor then walked along the hallway until I found 3B. I didn't get any response when I knocked, so I tried the handle and found the door to be unlocked.

The apartment was dark, the curtains drawn, so I flicked the lights on. Sitting on the couch, grinning right at me, was not Victor, but Damon.

-o.O.o-

"Damon." I said with a glare.

"Ava." He returned with a smug smile, "I see you followed my clues. Clever, weren't they?"

"I don't have time for this, Damon." I said, turning around to leave.

"I'm only asking for five minutes." He said, "And then you don't ever have to speak to me again if you don't want to. But you will, when you hear what I say." I hesitated, glancing at the door, "Ava, I promise. This is important. Just hear me out."

Relenting, I went and sat opposite him on an armchair. I looked around the apartment, "This is where you're living now?"

"When I'm in Denver I crash here." Damon said.

I crossed my legs underneath me and pulled a cushion onto my lap, "Why did you bring me here?"

"I know that you don't remember a lot of our childhood." Damon said.

"I remember enough." I cut in.

"No," Damon said, "I don't think you do. Ava, it's time you remembered everything."

I stood up, "You brought me here to trick me. To make me remember everything. I forgot for a reason; we had a deal."

"Sit down, please." Damon said, "I know you don't want to remember, and I can't force you, but this is important."

"I don't want anything to do with this, Damon." I said.

"Your parents really need our help." He said.

"Whatever mess they've got themselves into, they probably deserve it." I said.

"Do you remember Mickey Hannigan?" Damon asked. I nodded, but I only remembered him weakly, remembering that his family and mine didn't get along, "Some bad shit went down a few months ago, and your parents cost him a lot of money. They've taken your parents, Ava. They're keeping them somewhere and doing God knows what. I need your help breaking them out of there."

I shook my head slowly, "Damon, I don't do that kind of stuff anymore. I told you when I left, I don't want anything to do with that life ever again."

"I've seen them." Damon told me, "It's patchy, because they're unconscious a lot of the time, but I get through every now and then."

Damon had the ability to tap into other people's brains and see the world through their eyes. At any given moment he could see what you were currently viewing, no matter where you were in the world. If he was to be believed, he could see what my parents were seeing in captivity.

"They're torturing them, Ava, and it's only a matter of time before they kill them." He leaned forward in his seat, "I know you don't want anything to do with them, but you can't let your own parents die."

-o.O.o-

I left Damon's undecided. I told him I needed time to think and that I would contact him when I was ready. I'd convinced myself that I didn't want anything to do with my family, or my old life, ever again, but Damon's words kept ringing in my ears.

You can't let your own parents die.

Could I?

I looked down at the scrambled piece of paper that Damon had given me, clutched in my hand. It contained the address of his brother's apartment; my other cousin, Finn.

"Just think about going to see him." Damon had urged, "Once you know everything, you might find the decision easier."

Finn's savant gift was the ability to manipulate memories. He could make you forget, or remember, your past. When I'd walked away from my family, I'd made a deal with him and he'd wiped most of my memories of my family, leaving only the basic framework. I'd wanted to forget it all, but now Damon said I had to remember.

Maybe it was time to remember.

My hands shook as I smoothed out the paper and read the address of the apartment that was right here in Denver.

I pulled out my phone to search the address. I had a text from Victor, asking where I was. I'd completely forgotten that I was supposed to be meeting him, or that it was our anniversary. I'd left Damon's in such a gaze, locked in my own little crisis.

I sent him a quick text back;

Sorry, Lindsay had an emergency. Let yourself in, I'll be there in an hour.

I hated how easy it was to lie to him, and how Damon being in my life was already making me revert back to the person I didn't want to be. For a second I considered tossing it all, leaving Damon and going back to my life with Victor; my happy, normal life.

But a deep part of me knew that this was too important. I couldn't ignore it all and pretend it wasn't happening. I couldn't fool myself into thinking I wasn't wondering what I'd forgotten about my past that was so important now. I had to get my memories back, and then I could make a decision, with a clear, informed head. I had to go and see Finn.

A/N: Heya :) Not much to say here this time...but thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter, I appreciate every one of them! Hope you liked the chapter and I aim to get another up soon so stay tuned! :)