I thought Dominic didn’t have any other family. Ah, fuck. Who are these people? Dominic must’ve taken away my memories of them, Thomas thought. Is there some way I can get them back?

“Don’t be like that, Dominic, come on. This is your special day. Let’s not talk about business.”

“And remember, Celine, if you go after Thomas, then it’s all off, understand? And don’t think that just means I stop helping. I have a Civ now, which means I can make things a lot harder if you betray me.”

“I won’t need to hurt him since you took away his memories of who we are, right?” Celine asked, gesturing to a cabinet.

Is that where my memories are hidden? I have to get in there somehow, but I don’t know how to do it without these people seeing me. And it very much seems like they don’t want to see me.

Thomas could see Aria pour out another glass of wine. There was a woman with long and crazy red hair standing next to her, and the two were both fixated on the staring contest that had erupted between Celine and Dominic. Aria was so fixated that her glass began to overflow, and she yelped in embarrassment at the mess she had made. A noise that seemed to have snapped the two out of their staring contest. “Don’t worry about it, Aria. I got like four bottles. Why did you all get me wine anyways?” Dominic asked as he grabbed some paper towels and began to wipe up the mess. “Do you guys think I’m an alcoholic or something?”

“No, it just seems like the responsible adult gift to get people.” the girl with the long red hair answered.

Fuck. I forgot the wine I had bought for him at home, Thomas thought. I need to make a distraction for them somehow so I can get to that cabinet. Thomas had sent a phantom hand up to the balcony and began to tap on the glass. The four people inside turned around from their conversation to see Thomas’s phantom hand tapping on the glass and waving provocatively.

“You said his memories were gone, Dominic.” Celine hissed.

“Well, he probably figured out something was wrong. He isn’t an idiot, after all,” Dominic answered. Thomas’s eye and ear had exited from under the couch and were behind the group, slowly hovering just above the ground as he made his way towards the cabinet.

I need them to get away from the damn cabinet, Thomas thought as he floated just out of their view.

“I say this with love, Dominic, but you have shit taste in men.” the red-haired one growled as she clenched her fists.

“How can you possibly say that with love?” Dominic answered.

Thomas’s phantom hand raised its middle finger towards the red-haired one—the one Thomas thought would be the most easily angered. Then, he heard a shriek of fury as a dozen red wires shattered the glass door and wrapped around Thomas’s phantom hand, slicing it into thin strips as it dematerialized. That should do it.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Where is he? I’m going to fucking kill him!” the red-haired one yelled.

“Please don’t do that, Rosemary.” Dominic shook his head.

“Dominic, do you know the kind of problems he’s created for us? The kind of problems he’s created for Dad? We’re your family Dominic, he’s just some guy!”

“He’s not just some guy, Rosemary. And I won’t let you touch him.” Dominic clenched his own fist and took an intimidating step toward Rosemary.

Aww. I’m not just some guy, Thomas thought. I need to keep them going, though. They still aren’t far enough away.

“Heyyyyy, let’s not get in another fight.” Aria chuckled nervously, putting her wine back down on the table.

“Butt out, Aria,” Rosemary snapped.

“Hey, that’s not nice. And for the record, Rosemary, I think you’d really like Thomas if you met him.”

“I have met him, and he tried to kill me. He’s tried to kill Celine too—and Dad. Does that not bother you?” she asked, turning her gaze towards Dominic. “Even if you don’t want him dead, does it not bother you that the man you say you love so much has tried to kill your own father?” Rosemary took a step toward Dominic.

“Maybe it should bother me that my family is a group of thieves and murderers, huh? I love you, Rosemary, and I love Dad too, but if your activities invite conflict. That isn’t my fault.”

“Is that what you think about Mom, too?”

“Don’t fucking say that!” Dominic shouted, charging at Rosemary, who quickly dodged out of the way, sending Dominic toppling over the couch. Rosemary laughed.

I have to get up there. I don’t know who these people are, but they seem dangerous and unstable. Even if Dominic is erasing my memories, I need to protect him, Thomas thought, filling his hands with energy.

“Don’t get cocky, Dominic, just because you have a Civ now.” Rosemary jeered as Dominic stood up.

“You know I didn’t want what happened to Mom to happen, Rosemary. You know I loved her.” Dominic was starting to cry.

Aria turned to Celine. “Celine, what the hell are you doing? You have to stop this!” Aria whispered.

Celine took a sip of wine. “Cut it out, both of you,” she commanded in that harsh tone of hers. The two stopped staring each other down. Dominic looked away. “Rosemary, apologize.”

“What? But he started it!” Rosemary whined.

“It’s his birthday, and you were being inflammatory. That’s not how we behave to each other. Now, apologize and give him a hug.”

“I have to hug him now, too?”

“I don’t want to hug her!” Dominic yelled, pointing at Rosemary.

“I said hug,” Celine commanded again. The two figures reluctantly walked over to each other and meekly embraced. “Now apologize.”

“I’m sorry,” Rosemary said.

“For what?”

“I’m sorry I implied that you didn’t love Mom . . . and said I wanted to kill your boyfriend.” Rosemary rolled her eyes.

“Now, Dominic, say you forgive her.”

“But I don’t forgive her. She rolled her eyes!” Dominic complained.

“Look, do you want to spend all night giving each other the cold shoulder or do you want to get drunk like it’s a real birthday party?” Celine asked, taking another sip of her wine.

“. . . Drunk. I forgive you, Rosemary.” Dominic rolled his eyes the same way Rosemary did, and the two let go and walked back over to the table. Thomas had been climbing up the side of the building as fast as he could when he heard the two diffuse their conflict.

But . . . I already climbed so high up, Thomas thought, looking down about a hundred feet at the ground below. That’s disappointing. Should I just go back down or what? No, I need to get my memories back. But they still aren’t distracted. Thomas continued to climb up the tower, holding himself up by the window sills.

Then, through his phantom eye, Thomas saw Celine and Rosemary walk up the stairs while Dominic and Aria kept talking. Thomas followed them intently with his phantom eye and ear. “Thomas is still around here somewhere. He might have seen who we are,” Celine whispered to Rosemary as they walked down the hall.

“Now, you want us to go kill him?” Rosemary asked, shocked. “After you made me apologize?”

“I’m not saying that, I’m saying we need to protect our identities. He can create those weird eyes and whatnot, which means he may’ve seen us already. And if he’s seen and heard us, he might know about the location of our new warehouse.”

New warehouse? Is this important info for me to know or something? Also if they know how my Civ works, then we must have battled in the past, Thomas thought.

“So, you’re saying we need to find him and get Dominic to erase his memories again?”

“Exactly. But we don’t know where he is.”

If these guys find me again, then I won’t know how to fight them unless I have my memories back. And if I don’t get them before I need to make my escape, then I might never get them back. I have to act now, Thomas thought, sending a single phantom finger up to the apartment in order to open the cabinet. As long as Rosemary and Celine are upstairs, I might be able to grab whatever’s in that cabinet without creating a distraction.