Three✧*。

"You already knew," Vi said. She looks upset. Worried. She starts talking to herself but, we can still hear her. "I can't believe it. I told you so much. Justin's going to kill me." She disappears.

"Jake," I say. "What the hell is going on?"

Jake ignores me and starts to dial a number on his cellphone.

"I need your help," Jake says to the person on the phone.

He starts making his way to the door. Before he gets to the door, I run to block it with my body.

"You're stupid if you think I'm going to let you walk through that door without telling me exactly what the hell is going on," I say, with all the seriousness I can muster.

"Get out of my way, Hunter," Jake says.

"No way," I say.

"If you want to know what's going on so bad, then you need to follow me," he starts. "Which won't happen if you don't get out of my way."

I move out of the way and follow him into his car. The ride is silent. We end up at his house.

"Come on," he says.

I forgot how big his house is. We enter his house to see his uncle Michael who is his guardian like me and my aunt. That's one of the reasons we bonded.

"Jake what the he..." He starts then, he notices me. "What is she doing here?"

"You're not supposed to know about any of this," Jake says. "I'm sorry I dragged you into it."

That's when I realize. "You're Eradicators, aren't you?"

They remain silent. "What the actual fu-"

"Don't believe anything the creature might have told you, Hunter," Michael says. "We're not the bad guys. Come with me."

Jake and I follow him into their basement which I have been in a hundred times.

"Are you going to kidnap me or something?" I ask.

"Shut up," Michael says.

I scoff.

He brings out a button from his pocket and presses the buttons. One of the walls of the basement split open revealing what appears to be a huge command center. Like the ones in those futuristic action movies. There are weapons on the walls, a huge screen, and a table at the center.

"Look here," Michael says. He's sitting at the table. He points to the screen. It's showing a world map. "You see that?"

There are red dots all over the screen. "Yeah."

"That's every Eradicator," he says. "I'm sure the creature said we kill just because we believe they shouldn't exist. That's part of the reason but, it's not the whole truth. Some mythical creatures may seem beautiful and sweet. Some may seem ugly and mean. But, one thing you can always be sure about is that they're all dangerous. Every single one of them. Some might mean well but, if you give them a chance, it won't end well."

"It's a nymph," Jake says. "A forest nymph."

"What?" Michael says. "They're all supposed to be dead."

"A caretaker has her," Jake says. "She's the last one."

"Well, then," Michael says. "You're in luck, buddy. You finally have your first mark."

"Mark?" I say, still confused. "Can someone explain to me what is going on?"

"Jake here," Michael says, slapping Jake's back. "Is going to kill the nymph."

°°°°°°°

Micheal spends the rest of the evening explaining the best way to kill a nymph.

"Nymphs are not immortal but, they live long."

"How long?" I ask.

"A thousand years," Jake answers.

"That's good, buddy," Michael says, slapping him on the back again. Jake looks pleased. I smile at that fact.

"Do you know how old this nymph is?" He asks.

"She's 202 years old," I say.

Michael looks surprised.

"She told us her life story," I say.

"Okay then," he says. He points to the screen which shows pictures of what I assume are different nymphs. "Nymphs are very simple creatures to kill. Which is why I assumed they were all gone. When nymphs go through metamorphosis, their life is bound to a single plant. Pure breed nymphs are very playful and childlike. Not very smart. They are very timid and choose to hide over fighting always."

"I call BS," I say, quietly.

"What did you say?" Michael says.

"I said I call BS," I say. I look at Jake. "Come on Jake. Back me up on this. The nymph we met is the exact opposite of everything you just said. She chose fighting over hiding and is definitely not timid."

"She's not a pure breed," Jake says.

"Huh."

"I was describing pure breeds," Michael says. He looks like he's losing patience.

"Sorry," I say, slightly embarrassed.

"She completed her metamorphosis on her eighteenth birthday so, I think she started when she was seventeen," Jake says. He turns to me. "It takes about a year for a nymph to go through their complete metamorphosis."

"Looks like someone's been studying," Michael says. "Now that I know she's not a pure breed, I can help a little better."

He turns to the screen which changes to a normal woman.

"Turned nymphs are a little different. Especially when they were turned after the age of sixteen," he says. "They already have a somewhat fixed personality which can contrast with a nymph's usual personality. It doesn't matter though. Their metamorphosis changes them. They might still have bits and pieces of who they used to be but when it all comes down to it, they are still nymphs. Timid and non-aggressive."

The image on the screen changes to the same woman in nymph form.

"But, she said she fought the guys who came to kill her," Jake says.

"She most likely just used her powers to avoid them until help came," Michael says. "That's the most nymphs can do. Pure breed or not. One more thing to know about nymphs is that they have the most significant trait of their favorite animals. They call them their comfort trait."

"Like Vi has deer antlers," I say.

Michael grunts in response.

"What makes nymphs so harmful is the ability to charm people. And it's not just like a lot of people like her, it's that they love her. They're willing to fight and even die for her. She can control her charm, which is why you're okay. Killing a nymph is easy. All you have to do is destroy the plant that holds their life," Michael says. "You said she has a greenhouse. It's probably there."

"So, what? Are we going to take some strong, state-of-the-art herbicides or something?" I ask.

"I," Jake emphasizes. "Am going to take something a lot stronger than a herbicide. A lot more magical."

"Really," I say. "What?"

"Vinegar," he says.

I'm a little disappointed. "Well, that's disappointing."

"It rarely takes actual magic to kill magical creatures," Jake says.

He walks upstairs to his refrigerator and opens it. He brings out a bottle of vinegar. He walks to his cupboard and brings out a spray bottle.

"I'm coming with you," I say.

"Like hell, you are," he says.

"Hey," I say, firmly. "You dragged me into this. You should have broken into the house on your own but, you didn't. So, you're going to accept my help whether you like it or not."

Michael walks into the kitchen. "You should accept her help, Jake. You might need a human shield if the Caretaker catches you."

"I know you're trying to scare me but, it's not working," I say. It's working.

"Here," he says. Handing Jake a gun. "It's silent."

"What about me?" I ask. "I'm going to need something too."

He opens a drawer and brings out a long wooden spoon. He hands it to me.

"You're kidding, right?" I say, unamused." At least give me a knife."

Jake chuckles. I scoff.

°°°°°°°

The next day, at school, Danny is the first person I see. I'm about to look away when I see him kissing a girl. I check to see who the girl is and it's the one person I didn't want it to be. It's Vi. She's not closing her eyes like you normally do, she's looking directly at me. I can feel my hand clench into a fist. My breathing is getting shallow. I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry," Jake says. "She'll be dead by tonight anyway."

At lunch, I sit with Jake and his boyfriend, Will but, all my attention is on Vi. She is at my former seat flirting with my ex-boyfriend and I swear she keeps giving me the scariest death stare. My fist starts to clench and I squeeze my chocolate milk carton.

"Are you okay?" Will asks.

Jake looks at me with a half caring, half annoyed expression on his face.

I fake a smile. "I'm fine. Just tired."

"Okay," Will says. He gets up. "I'll go get you another chocolate milk."

I watch Jake watch Will walk away. He has this look of love and pride on his face. The kind of look that will make you know instantly that someone's in love. Danny never looked at me like that.

"What?" Jake says.

"Nothing," I say.

"You need to get your anger under control, Hunter."

"She's stealing my life," I almost yell.

"She's charming them," Jake says.

"How do you know that?" I ask.

"Her eyes are violet," he says.

I look over to her. Her eyes are light brown. "No, they're brown."

Jake hands over his glasses. " Try these."

I wear them and the whole cafeteria's color scheme becomes brighter and more whimsical. I look at Violet and her eyes are bright purple.

"What the hell?" I say.

"They detect magic," he says as I hand over his glasses. "Since it's hypnosis magic, the knowledge that we're being charmed will keep us from being charmed if we don't want to be."

I look over at Vi's table. She's fixing Danny's hair. Her face barely two inches from his. He leans in and kisses her. I might have imagined it but, for a second it looked like she was going to pull away but, she didn't.

°°°°°°°

After school, Jake and I go to my house and watch Vi's house. We took vinegar and some weapons from his house. He still made me take the wooden spoon. We watch her car pull up to the driveway. A man who I assume is her Caretaker opens her door for her. He has tanned skin and brown hair. It takes about two hours for him to go out and according to Jake, it would be a few hours before he got back.

We climb Vi's fence and luckily Vi isn't at her greenhouse. We sneak into her house through the back door.

"Stay behind me," Jake whispers.

We hear humming coming from upstairs.

"She's in her room," I whisper.

Jake grunts in response. We go up the stairs as noiselessly as possible. Vi's door is open but, she has her back turned to us. She's putting on a sweater. Jake signals that I should turn around. We sneak back to the backyard.

"Why did we go upstairs?" I ask.

"She was wearing her clothes," Jake says. "Which means she's been here already."

We sneak into the greenhouse and search around.

"How would we know which one?" I ask. I then stumble upon a violet in a glass box. "Nevermind. I found it."

I try to touch it. "Stop!" Jake whisper-yells. He brings out a glass breaker and uses it to break the top of the glass. He then sprays the flower with vinegar. It starts to shrivel up almost immediately.

"How..." I start.

"The less questions you ask the better, Hunter," Jake says.

We hear loud coughing from Vi's room. It must be working. Jake looks happy.

"We should go," he says.

We go back to his house and tell his uncle the news. He congratulates Jake, giving him another slap on the back. We celebrate but, it doesn't feel right.

"This doesn't feel right," I tell Jake when his uncle goes into the kitchen.

"You have to remember she's not human," Jake says. "She's very dangerous."

He thinks I'm feeling guilty about killing her.

"That's not what I mean," I say. "I know nymphs are supposed to be easy to kill but, don't you think this was a little too easy. I mean she wasn't just any nymph. She was the last one. Do you actually think the Caretaker would be so careless that he would just leave her home alone if there wasn't at least a backup plan if something went wrong?"

Jake looks worried. "I'm sure she's dead," he says. "Once a person becomes a nymph, their entire life is linked to their plant. If it dies, they die. But if you're worried, just wait till tomorrow. If she doesn't come to school then, we'll know you're just being paranoid."

°°°°°°°

The next day, Vi doesn't show up to school. I feel so relieved. Jake gives me an 'I told you so' look. We don't see her for the rest of the week. Not even near my house.

Jake, Will, and I spend the weekend doing things Jake and I used to do before Danny. Will and I get along so well. My life is finally going great.

The next day at school, Jake and I are walking to the library for our study period, when I smell something familiar. The woods. I start to panic. I look around the hall and all I see are the people I normally see. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"What's wrong?" Jake says.

"Something's not right," I say.

"Let's just go to the library," Jake says. "Maybe you need to sit down."

We arrive at the library and my whole world comes crumbling down. I see her standing right in front of us looking better than she did before. Vi.

"It can't be," Jake says.

"Sorry to disappoint," Vi says, smirking.