Addicted

179 Colby's POV

I was quiet for a second, thinking about it. My worst memories are pretty bad. The actual moments had crippled me into someone that I hated.

Reliving the moments forever...well, that didn't sound very pleasant, but I was willing to risk it.

"Anything for her."

She would be so pissed if she knew what this might cost me. Well, if she remembered that she cared about me anyways.

That tore a streak of pain through my chest, that caused my breath to hitch...and that's why I was willing to do it, but first...

"Aza, is it possible to just compel her to remember? Before I go through all of this, is there an easier way? Would the Council know of anything? I'm asking you first, of course, because I know that you'll know and I don't want the Council digging around if they don't have to."

I knew that he didn't want to involve the Council, since his so called clan would be at fault for all of this. I didn't care about his clan, or what they did.

I only wanted Millie and Elias.

"There is only one record of someone trying to compel someone else to remember what they had been forced to lose, that I can recall. It wasn't pretty. It was a case similar to yours, only the roles were reversed. The man was human, and the pretty young girl vampire fell in love with him. She didn't want him to be mixed up in her dangerous life, so she compelled him to forget. Unfortunately, his memories came back, but she didn't know anything about the One legend so she just thought that she did it incorrectly. She got a more experienced vampire to do it for her, wiping her love's memory of all things involving her. She couldn't seem to let him go, so much that she felt as if she were going mad. She tried to uncompell him, thinking that she would bring his memories back and just keep him safe. It ended up making the man go crazy, spending the rest of his life in an asylum where he never stopped ranting about vampires and things that go bump in the night. It's said that she visited him every day, until he died. Then she took her own life, stabbing a stake through her heart, and having a trusted friend stab one through her brain afterwards. It's a very sad tale. Like Romeo and Juliet. I do hope that your love story ends differently Romeo."

I closed my eyes, feeling sadness for the couple that he was speaking of.

I couldn't imagine the pain that they both must have felt.

"It will. I'll make sure of it. Thank you for your help old friend. I'll be in touch about the poison. I appreciate it Aza."

"Of course, my friend. I wish you well. On another note, you may pick up Millie tomorrow. I think that I should maybe teach her a lesson in obeying orders first."

A wicked grin crossed my face, despite everything. "I'll be waiting for your call."

We said our goodbyes and I disconnected the call, feeling a little more optimistic about the situation. Now I just had to get Chloe to trust me again, to convince her to do the ritual with me. That might prove tough.

Of course, she had fallen for me when I was an asshole to her, so if I were nice, maybe it would happen faster this time. I would keep trying no matter how long it took. I dialed Mike up again to check on her.

The call with Aza took longer than I thought it would.

"Hey Mike, how's she doing?"

"Hey Brother, everything is quiet here. She got a little upset earlier, started looking for her cat again. Actually cried herself to sleep, but other than-"

"What the fuck?! She was crying about Prissy and you didn't call me?!"

"Colby, calm down. We both know the cat is fine. I didn't see the point in calling you unless it was an emergency or something. Chloe is okay."

I huffed out a breath, feeling anger that she was upset, hurting, and he didn't let me know.

I knew that I was being unreasonable but I just felt so helpless.

"I'm bringing the cat over. I'm driving but I'll be there soon to relieve you guys."

I hung up the phone and gathered up Prissy, nuzzling her against my neck before putting her in the carrier. I couldn't bring everything because it would look suspicious if it all just magically reappeared. That made me think back to her apartment.

Sam and I had brought most of her things here, so how had she not noticed that her apartment was empty? I was too upset when I went to see her to notice anything. I took the carrier to my car, and drove to her place.

Deciding that scaling the walls wasn't an option with Prissy, I took the elevator. The poor baby already missed her Momma, so I wasn't going to subject her to the fear of hanging four stories above the ground, swaying in a carrier. When I reached Chloe's apartment, I pulled out the spare key that I had swiped from her place, and quietly unlocked her door.

It squeaked as I pushed it open, entering the room. Guess I didn't fix it as well as I had thought. I closed the door quietly behind me, and set the carrier down to let Prissy out.

The black cat wound herself around my legs for a moment, before she walked away, investigating her old home. The place looked different. There were new photos hanging on the walls, still inspirational quotes but not the same ones.

Still artsy photos but slightly off key from what Chloe would have chosen herself. I made my way to the balcony, sensing that Mike and the others were out there somewhere.

Sure enough, when I slid the door open, he hopped down in front of me.

"You guys can go. See if you can find Elias. He was with Millie when I spoke to him. Find out what's going on with him, if possible. Talk to everyone you can."