"Jonathon was startled," Holiday continued. "He grabbed her and pushed her into Helen's bathroom, shoved the dresser against the door, and sent Helen after me. I got Burnett here as quickly as I could."

"I didn't hurt her," Jonathon said, stepping up on the porch. "I probably should have handled it differently, but I swear, I didn't hurt her. I'm sorry this happened."

Kylie looked at Jonathon. His shirt had stains of blood, Helen's blood, she told herself, not her mom's blood. Following him up the steps was Derek.

"Here's what we have to do," Burnett said. "It's called erasing."

"No," Kylie said, instantly being reminded of her emotions and her fight with Selynn.

"It's not a bad thing," Holiday said. "Erasing means that the memory is removed from her mind. It won't hurt her. But the calmer she is, the easier it is and the more successful it will be. And right now she's not calm. I think if you talk to her, you can calm her down."

"Talk to her? She saw someone drinking blood from an IV tube. What am I supposed to tell her that will calm her down?" Kylie asked. "Oh, don't worry, Mom, they're just vampires?"

Holiday looked Kylie right in the eyes. "She's worried about you now more than she's scared," Holiday assured her. "Just let her know you're fine and then Derek will come in-"

"Derek?" Kylie swung back to look at Derek. "Why Derek?" Something that looked like guilt clouded his eyes.

"We've recently discovered that Derek has the gift of erasing," Holiday said.

Derek nodded and for a fraction of second, Kylie wondered why Derek hadn't told her about his new gift. She thought they shared everything. Then her thoughts went back to her mom. "But if he's new at this, then ... what if he messes up?"

"He won't mess up," Burnett said. "He's practiced on me numerous times."

Kylie looked back at Derek. She didn't know what all went into erasing someone's memory, but the idea scared her. "Don't you have someone with more experience?" Much to Derek's credit, he didn't appear offended by her request.

"He's on another case right now," Burnett said. "And the sooner we take care of this, the better it is. If we wait too long, he might have to remove more data from her mind. It could require he remove hours before what happened. Obviously, the less memory time that we have to remove the better."

"Is it at all dangerous?" Kylie looked at Holiday for the answer. Holiday shook her head. "When it's done soon enough, the biggest side effect is a headache and confusion at the loss of time."

Kylie looked back at Derek. "Promise me you won't mess this up."

"I won't," he said. But was that doubt in his voice?

"What do you have to do?" Kylie asked.

"Just touch her," he answered.

Kylie nodded. She remembered Daniel's assurance that she should trust them, and she stood up. "Okay. I guess." Then she heard her mom start screaming again. She looked at Burnett. "Nothing better go wrong."

"Mom," Kylie called to her mom five minutes later from behind the large dresser that Jonathon had moved in front of the door.

"Kylie?" her mom screamed. "Oh, baby, are you okay? Tell me you're not hurt. Tell me these crazy people-"

"I'm fine. I'm going to get you out, okay?"

"Hurry, baby," her mom said. The rawness in her mother's voice told Kylie her mom had been screaming and crying for way too long.

"We've got to get out of here. There are some very bad people here."

"It's okay, Mom," Kylie said.

"Hurry, baby. Hurry before they come back."

Burnett motioned that he planned to move the dresser and then leave. Derek nodded. Then Burnett, with one hand, pushed the heavy piece of furniture out the way and, in a flash, was gone.

Her mom yanked open the door and flew out, wrapping her arms protectively around Kylie. "We gotta get out of here!" She spotted Derek and pushed Kylie behind her. "Stay away," her mom yelled.

Derek looked at Kylie as if he was unsure how to proceed.

"It's okay, Mom." Kylie's heart broke when she saw her mom's tearstreaked face. "This is Derek. He's a nice guy."

"I don't trust him," her mom said. "We can't trust anyone here. I just want us to leave. Now." Clutching Kylie's arm, she started moving toward the door, keeping herself between Derek and Kylie as if in protection. Unsure what to do, Kylie stopped moving. She couldn't let her mom walk outside. If her mom was freaking out with just Derek, she would surely lose it if she saw Jonathon and Burnett.

"Mom, Derek is a good guy. He's going to help us leave," she lied. "Aren't you, Derek?" Kylie looked at him.

"Yes ... Mrs. Galen. I'm going to help you and Kylie get away."

Her mom looked at Derek and back at Kylie. Panic shone in her eyes, but she didn't jump back when Derek took a step closer.

"Let me get the door," Derek said. He moved in and when he did, he reached out and touched her mom's arm.

Kylie hadn't known what to expect when a person's memory was erased, but when her mom's eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed in a dead heap on the floor, Kylie screamed.

Shaking, and still in mid-scream, she dropped down beside her mom to make sure she was still breathing.