Cuffs off, cuts on, all I had to do now was wait until I used my powers again to see if it worked. I wanted to keep the cuffs just in case but I didn't want to steal from Tess. I put them back with the chains.

I wiped a tear from my eyes, my leg still stung a lot, and grabbed the phone. I tapped on the number that Tess called me with. It rang and rang until finally someone picked up. The other end was silent.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Chloe?" It was Simon.

"Simon? Why do you have Tess' phone?"

"She left it on the counter, Tess is with the adults looking for you."

"Where?" I asked.

"Through town, motels and stuff. Where are you?"

"Safe," I said. "Is everyone ok?"

"From that earthquake? Yeah, just freaked out. No one saw it coming."

So they didn't know I was the cause of that.

"How's Derek?" I asked.

"Staring me down ever since I said your name," Simon chuckled lightly. "Dad had to give him a sedative before he killed someone."

"Shut up," came from the background.

There was a jumble of sounds.

"Chloe?" Derek's voice came through. "Where the hell are you?"

"In a safe place," I repeated. "I'll come back when Aunt Lauren is gone. I'm not going to let her separate me from you guys."

"If its so safe then Simon and I can hide there with you."

I sighed, I had to be honest, "No, you guys can't see whats happening."

"What does that mean?" Simon asked. They must have put me on speaker.

"That means she's started changing," Derek growled. "Chloe I'm not going to ask nicely again."

"Is anyone else home?" I asked.

"Don't change the subject."

"Because if there isn't," I continued. "And you guys wouldn't be followed..."

I still didn't feel a hundred percent but I didn't feel the change coming back right away. I could put their minds at ease at least.

"We are alone except for Matt," Simon said. "He's trying to stay out of it all cause he thinks your decisions are your own."

"Go out to the front yard, pass the driveway to the edge of the property, and into the tall grass a ways. I'll meet you guys there."

I hung up before they could say anything else and put my bloody shirt on. I should have asked them to bring one. I looked down at myself. Tess wasn't lying when she said changing changes your human form. I had a little bit more curve. Or maybe it seemed that way because the soaked shirt was clinging to my skin. I looked like a victim in a murder movie scene. I still had deep cuts from scratching myself before the change.

I unlocked the door and cracked it open an inch. Listening for the boys. I only had to wait two minutes before I heard footsteps approaching. I hesitated on revealing myself until I saw it was the boys.

"Chloe?" Derek's voice was noticeably worried.

I pushed the door open and stepped out. A quick glance around made me sick to my stomach. The ground was torn apart, the earth was wide open in parts of Tess' yard.

They spotted me and rushed over, Derek picked me up and kissed me like he hadn't seen me in months. If it weren't for Simon, he probably never would have stopped.

Simon tapped him on the shoulder, "Ok lovebirds. Let's get in before someone sees us."

We quickly got inside, Simon shut the door behind us.

"This is where you've been?" Simon asked.

I nodded, "Its Tess' safe haven for werewolves."

Derek's grip around my hand tightened at the mention of Tess.

"Derek," Simon cautioned. "Don't hurt her, there's already a lot of blood."

Derek let go and inspected me.

"What happened to you?"

"I'm fine."

Derek didn't believe me, he shot me an angry look for keeping secrets but didn't push it further for now. He was just grateful to have me. I looked over the boys, they both seemed sleep deprived but okay. I sat down on the floor and the boys followed suit. Sitting close like they were worried I would vanish again.

"Here," Simon said and took his shirt off. Handing it to me, "You need a clean shirt."

I was surprised by the gesture but thankful.

"Are you sure?" I asked, taking it.

Simon nodded and covered his eyes. I couldn't help but smile, he could be kind and goofy at the same time. I glanced over at Derek who was averting his gaze too, looking down at his hands. I switched shirts quickly and looked down at his hands too.

"What did you do?" I asked him.

Simon opened his eyes to see what I was talking about. Derek's hands had little cuts all over both sides of his hands.

"Tore apart a railing," Derek said.

I gently picked up his hand and studied it for any splinters. Derek's eyes were on me the whole time, making sure I really was here. Not a figment of imagination.

"What did I miss?" I asked.

Simon shrugged, "The short version is there was a lot of screaming. Dad and your aunt think everyone's better off separated. Tori vanished shortly after you did. No one knew what happened to you. Derek," he glanced up at his brother before continuing. Derek didn't stop him. "Went off the deep end for a bit and Dad sedated him. He's still coming off it a little, I think."

"What happened here?" Derek asked.

I shrugged, not saying anything.

"Chloe," He growled.

I growled back, "I don't want to talk about it."

"That bad, huh?" Simon asked.

I looked down, fiddling with the edge of the shirt.

"The uh..." I didn't want to say it.

"What is it?" Derek asked.

"Um, the earthquake," I said.

They waited for me to continue.

"Was my fault," I didn't look up from the shirt. "My powers got out of control."

"You let your powers get out of control?" The old grumpy Derek was starting to come back.

"I didn't do it on purpose," I tried to hold back tears.

"Derek," Simon warned. "Watch yourself."

"Are you okay now?" Derek asked.

I shrugged, "I took measures to contain it in the future."

"Good," Derek took my hand.

Simon smiled at me, "We're glad you're safe, but don't do that again unless you're taking us with."

"I had no idea Tori was going to do that," I admitted. "So uh, what happens from here? Are you guys hiding out with me or are we running?"

Nobody said anything for a minute. Derek was the first one to speak up.

"I don't know how long we could stay holed up here before we ran out of food or got found. Tess can't be the only one who knows about it."

"You want to run from Dad?" Simon was shocked.

"No, from her aunt," Derek replied. "She can't come in demanding we split up. Regardless of what Dad thinks. Besides, has his judgements been in our best interest lately? He tried to hide my father from me."

"We'll come back to Kit and Tess when my aunt caves," I proposed.

They both nodded, "It sounds like a better plan than being sitting ducks."

We stood up and Simon spotted some blood dripping down from my thigh onto my knee. I shot him a look before he could say anything. Simon nodded and zipped his lips. We walked to the door and peeked outside. No one had come back to the house yet.

We stepped out and quickly darted back towards the house. Derek insisted being in the front so he could scope things out. I think he knew how useless I was right now.

We stepped inside through the porch door, Matt was watching the television.

I dramatically gasped, "You're using an electronic device."

Matt turned around and smiled, "You caught me. Lauren called and said to turn on the news, that Edison Group's building you kids took down; is in shambles again. Apparently an even worse earthquake hit them."

I ignored the look Derek was giving me out of the corner of his eye.

"That's awful," I frowned, "I hope everyone is ok."

Matt shrugged, "I turned it on to find out. Care to join?"

"Thanks for the offer," Derek butt in. "But we're in the middle of something."

Matt nodded. The boys started towards the stairs when Matt caught my hand. I felt something be pressed into my palm as I turned around. Matt let go of my hand and turned back to the television.

"Coming?" Simon turned around.

I nodded and took the steps by two to catch up. Boys went to their room, I walked down to my room. What on earth was I going to bring? Tess had got me so much with her planning on me staying. I stepped in and shut the door behind me before looking down into my palm. Matt had given me a piece of paper with a phone number written on it. I stashed it in my pocket next to the phone.

To my surprise, my backpack laid on my bed with an envelope in the side pocket.

"Everyone's leaving notes today," I commented to myself and opened it.

Inside was cash and a piece of paper.

Chloe, I packed this bag for you in case you come back while we are gone. I thought you could use all the help you could get. You've got my number in case you need anything more. Don't worry about your stuff, you're room will stay untouched until you get back. Tess.

I folded it back up and put it inside the middle pocket where I would have less chance of losing it. I turned around to find Derek in the doorway.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm fine," I walked up to him. "Is now the time? They could be back any minute."

Derek blocked me from leaving the room. "Yes it is. You need to talk about what happened."

"Later."

"Now," Derek wasn't budging.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to live through it ok?" I spat. "And I don't know if I will ever make it through."

I squeezed between a stunned Derek and the door frame.

"Chloe..."

I walked over to to the boys doorway so Simon could hear me.

"So how do we plan on booking it? If we walk we could risk running into them."

Simon nodded at Derek, "He's got that covered."

I looked to see Derek holding a set of car keys. I wanted to argue about none of us having a license but kept my mouth shut.

"Let's go," I said before Derek could corner me again.

I walked past them and back down the steps. Matt nodded to me and I mouthed back 'thank you.' We stepped out the front door and I looked back at Derek. Waiting for him to point out what vehicle. Derek hit the button and the headlights of Kit's car lit up. I picked up my pace so I could get the backseat first. Knowing the boys they would try to be courteous and give me the front passenger but I needed my space right now after saying that out loud. The reality was finally hitting me full force. I really might never make it through and have to suffer through partial changes putting everything around me at risk when my powers lose control.

I slid in the back, set my backpack down beside me and shut the door. Simon said something to Derek outside before they got in, Derek in the drivers seat, Simon in the passenger. The moment I headed the engine roar to life I slid down onto my back. Derek's eyes flickered between watching where he was driving and me through the rear view mirror.

Simon scolded him, "Focus on driving, the last thing we need is to be pulled over." Simon turned around to look at me, "You're not fine, are you?"

I buried my face in my arms, "What do you think?"

I thought back to the feeling of my bones breaking, my muscles moving, the feeling of being torn apart from the inside. I wished that I grabbed the cuffs just in case.

I pulled the phone out and dialed Aunt Lauren's number. It rang once before she answered.

"Lauren," she stated.

She probably thought I was a business associate or something.

"Hi," I said.

"Chloe? Baby where are you?" Her voice softened.

"I'm not coming home until you agree not to take me away."

"You kids have a toxic relationship. You'd be better off without them."

"I don't care," I said honestly. "You get all of us or none of us. That's how we work."

"Come back and we can discuss it," Aunt Lauren tried.

"No discussion. Call me back when you've made up your mind; all or none."

I hung up.

"That was stupid," Derek commented.

I shrugged, not the stupidest thing I'd done lately. Besides, they needed a way to contact us if they changed their mind.