Memory Walker

by Carly Marino

  From this height, I could see the tops of the hedges. The garden was a maze and stretched farther in the distance than I had thought. A tall brick wall surrounded the outside, which I knew connected at the gated entrance. Tucked in the back corner was a rectangular glass structure that reminded me of a greenhouse. If I could just make it to that building.

  I closed my eyes and rested my head on the post. Vines that grew up the sides tickled my cheek, but I stayed there. I should’ve kept running, but I had nowhere to go.

  “Thea,” Cole said in a low tone. “Let me help you down from there. You could fall and get hurt.”

  I looked at him, furrowing my brow. “Where’s your buddy? Don’t you need him to subdue me or whatever?”

  His striking eyes smiled at me. He chuckled. “Subdue you? No, Thea. I could very easily do that myself.”

  My jaw dropped, and I glared at him. “I’m not playing games with you! Who, or what, are you people?”

  Cole sighed as he climbed the ladder. “I owe you an explanation for last night, but please come down from there first. I won’t hurt you.” He held out his hand to help me.

  “Are you kidding? I’m not touching you.”

  He dropped his outstretched arm to his side, stepped back, and leaned against the arbor. Once he was a safe distance from me, I started to climb down but stopped. “Can you turn around? This dress is kinda short.”

  He raised his eyebrows with a small smile, before looking away. I held the hem of my dress and hopped from the railing, and then sat on the bench that circled the inside of the gazebo.

  I cleared my throat. “Okay.”

  “You know, I don’t even have to look at you to know you’re blushing. I can hear it in your voice.”

  My face heated. “I’m not blushing. I’m exhausted from running away from you.”

  The grin on his face pinched in the dimples on either side of his cheeks. “Sure, ya weren’t.”

  “Can we get this over with, so I can go home?”

  “I guess we should.” He rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know where to start.”

  I groaned. “How about why I don’t remember your friends? This town isn’t very big. I should have seen them before.”

  He bit the side of his cheek. His hand massaged the nape of his neck, and he looked away from me. I studied him, wishing I could read his mind.

  He sighed. “I don’t know the answer to that.”

  I fluttered my eyelashes. “So you’re telling me that I’ve just never seen them? In the four years they’ve lived here, we’ve never crossed paths once?”

  Something about the way he looked at me, almost worried, gave me an uneasy flip in my stomach.

  He exhaled. “Nope.”

  “Nope? That’s all you have to say. Nope.” I jumped to my feet. “You know, this is crazy. Why am I even listening to you? You kidnaped me.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I saved your life. That Resparé could’ve drained you.” He shook his head. “Why the hell would you go into a place alone with a strange guy? You could’ve been killed.”

  “Drained me? Resparé? What are you talking about?” I pushed past him. “I’m getting out of here. None of this makes any sense. You’re obviously a lunatic.” I climbed down from the gazebo and stomped to the path. “Give me my phone, so I can call my aunt.” I gasped into my hand. “Oh my God, Aunt Karen. She’s probably worried sick. I’ve never stayed out all night without telling her. I have to go. Oh my God. Oh my God.”

  Cole propelled himself over the side of the gazebo, landing with a thud. In a flash, he had me by my wrist. “It’s fine, Thea. We took care of her.”

  My heart raced. I ripped my arm from his grasp. “Wha—what did you do to her?”

  Cole’s grave expression softened, and he chortled. His laughter tickled from my ears to my stomach.

  “We didn’t kill her, Thea. I changed her memory. She thinks you spent the night at Nora’s.”

  “You jerk.” I smacked his bicep, went to hit him again, and froze. “Wait—you what?”

  “I changed her memory.”

  He changed her memory? Was this some kind of sick joke? “Changed her memory? You really are a jerk. Who told you? Matt? Did he tell you I’m crazy too and spent most of high school in a mental hospital?” I flailed my arms around like a crazy person. “You better run. I might lose my mind and stab you to death.”

  Cole arched an eyebrow, and his fingers folded over his mouth.

  “This is isn’t funny. It’s cruel.” I growled and marched away. “Forget this. I’m leaving.”

  “Thea, I’m not making fun of you. I believe you.”

  I stopped. My stomach rolled over, and I took a deep breath before looking at him. “You believe me? Are you patronizing me?”

  “No, and I’ll prove it to you.” He motioned for me to come closer. “C’mere.”

  “Why? Just show me from over there.”

  “I can’t. I need your help to do it.”

  “My help? I don’t even know what’s going on. How could you possibly need my help?”

  “I can’t use my abilities in the sunlight. I need a little of your life essence to show you.”

  I stumbled. “My life essence? Can’t use your abilities in the sunlight?”

  “We can talk about all of that later. Just come over here.”

  I put my hands up. “No. This is crazy. You are crazy.”

  He sighed, slumping his shoulders, and walked closer.

  “I said no, Cole. I’ll—I’ll hurt you.”

  He smirked. “You’ll hurt me, eh?”

  I crossed my arms. “I’m not joking.”

  With a playful smile, Cole gripped my wrist and dragged me toward the arbor.

  I slapped his hand, yanked my arm, and squirmed. “Let me go. Help! I’ve been abducted!”

  “Stop squirming.” Cole laughed. “Do you want to know the truth or not? Showing you is easier. Especially, if you’re not fighting me.”

  “Fine, just get your hand off me.”

  Cole shook his head. “You’re full of surprises, Thea Scott.”

  “Why? Because I didn’t just roll over and let you drag me somewhere? I’m not weak. If that’s what you’re implying.”

  “So I’ve noticed.” He gazed at me.

  The sparkle in his eyes pirouetted in my chest. I swallowed. “Can I please have my arm back?”

  “Can I please borrow some of your essence first?” His thumb stroked the inside of my wrist.

  I sighed. “Whatever.”

  “This might hurt a little.”

  “Hurt? Why—”

  He squeezed gently. A burning sensation zipped up my arm but faded soon after. Cole released his grip on me.

  I rubbed the sore spot where he had touched. “Ouch.”

  “It won’t last long. I didn’t take much.”

  “What’d you do?”

  He plucked one of the closed buds from the vine that wrapped around the wood. “We can’t use our abilities in the sunlight unless we charge on life essence first.” He inhaled. “Yours is … stronger than I’ve felt before, and I only took a small amount, which is interesting.” Blue light swirled around his pupils.

  “What’s that light in your eyes? The guy at the club had that same thing. You’re not going to—”

  “Hurt you? No. I’d never hurt you. Ever.”

  I pressed my lips together. He’d said it without even the slightest bit of hesitation, and I believed him. How could I not? Those eyes… I coughed. “You … wanted to show me something?”

  He cleared his throat. “Yeah, and then I promise we can talk about everything else.”

  I nodded.

  “Watch.” He cupped the small, dark-green bud in his hands. His fists faded to a hazy black like a shadow on the wall. I widened my eyes. A shadow?

  “Keep watching.” He smiled, opening his hands just enough for me to peer inside.

  The bud had bloomed. I gasped. Magenta petals, deep-purple corona fila
ments that curved around a spiral, sitting atop a yellow star—the flower from my mother’s bouquet. “How did you…”

  His hands returned to normal, and the petals curled into a tiny bud. “I read your memory at the party. These were the flowers in your parents’ wedding photo, right? Infinity flowers are a symbol of eternal love to our kind. They are very special and only given to…”

  He continued talking, but I couldn’t focus on his words. I had one thought running through my mind: He had read my memory. I swayed. My knees wobbled. I had a sudden need to sit. Not caring about my short dress anymore, I dropped on the ground with my legs stretched out in front of me. I rested my forehead in my hands. “I thought—”

  “You were alone.”

  My eyes watered, threatening to spill tears down my cheeks. For years, I’d lived in fear. Terrified of touching someone, being locked up in an institution, or having my secret exposed. I wiped the moisture from my face and raised my head from my hands. “Yeah. I did.”

  Cole sat next to me and guided my chin until I looked at him. “You aren’t alone, Thea. You never were.”

  I stared at my hands. Scratches covered the inside. I didn’t care. The burning didn’t bother me. Nothing did right now. I felt … numb.

  “You’re bleeding.”

  “Huh?”

  “Let me see.”

  I hesitated and then stretched out my hand. His skin warmed mine the moment he touched me. He traced his finger along the wounds. No memories poured in, interrupting his sweet caress on my palm.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up.” He stood. “We can talk about all of this later. You can shower in the house and borrow some of Nora’s clothes.” He stroked his jawline. “If you want to change out of that dress.”

  I pulled on the hem again. “That’d be great.”

  Cole reached to help me stand. This time, I accepted. We stood for a moment, staring at each other. Something about him seemed familiar, like I’d known him my entire life. Cheesy. But oddly enough, accurate.

  He dropped my hand and scratched his head. “You all right to walk? Your feet look pretty scratched up.”

  “Yeah. I’m fine.” The last thing I needed was a piggy-back ride from Cole. I tucked a tendril of hair behind my ear. “Um—I’m sorry I tried to hit you with a fire poker.”

  He nudged me. “It’s fine. You’ve got a pretty good swing. Did you play softball?”

  I barked an unattractive laugh. “Do I look like I played softball? I’m so freaking skinny the ball would knock me over.”

  Cole shook his head with a sexy grin. “You aren’t that skinny. You’re petite. I’ve seen a lot of petite girls kick ass.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “Not what I meant.”

  I rolled my eyes and changed the subject. “Do you honestly have no clue why I can’t remember Nora or Drake?”

  He shrugged and started up the path toward the house. Why hadn’t he answered? What was he hiding from me? I watched him, unable to move just yet. So many questions swirled in my head. I swallowed, and then blurted out the most important one. “Are we aliens?”

  He stopped walking, turned around, and burst out laughing. “Aliens? No. Well … yeah, I guess. But aliens don’t refer to themselves as aliens.”

  I jogged to catch him. “I heard Nora this morning.” I studied his face, trying to read his goofy expression. “You’re joking?”

  “Why would I joke about any of this? No one’s ever asked if I was an alien before.” He stuck his hand inside one of the hedges, feeling around for something. When I heard a snap, he withdrew his arm.

  The ground shook beneath my feet, and I grabbed onto Cole’s bicep to keep my balance, my eyes widening. The walls of hedges in front of us dropped one at a time into the ground. When they vanished, dirt and grass crawled over them.

  The path now led straight to the house, exactly as it had the night of the party.

  Cole looked at me with a half-smile. “Pretty cool?”

  “Um—how about, pretty awesome. What was that?”

  “Nora and Drake come from a long line of botanists. Their ancestors studied the plants on Earth for centuries to see if ours were compatible. These are hedges from our planet. Most of the plants in this garden were seedlings that were salvaged, including the Infinity flower I showed you.”

  I bit my cheek hard enough metallic tinged my taste buds. “Planet. So … you really are an alien?”

  His gaze dipped toward me. “No, I’m an Inflexaen, and so are you. Well, in a sense, anyway.” He scuffed his shoe on the ground, sending a rock rolling in front of us.

  “What do you mean in a sense? I thought we were the same.”

  “You’re different.”

  I stopped. “I’m different? Great. So I went from being a freak to the freak among the freaks. Awesome. Just awesome.”

  He smiled. “You aren’t a freak. You’re just different. You’re part human, which is unheard of among our kind. Genetically, we can’t have children with humans.”

  “How come?”

  “I don’t know. Our anatomy is the same. I guess, we just aren’t compatible.”

  I glanced at my bare feet and continued toward the house. “Oh.” I toyed with my lower lip between my teeth. “Do you think that’s why my abilities didn’t come on until freshman year?”

  “Maybe. I really don’t know. Like I said, I’ve never met any half-human Inflexaens.”

  “Oh, right.” I nibbled my fingernail. “What about my Aunt Karen? Is she an … alien? If she knew all along, she did a great job pretending that she didn’t.” I scowled to myself. Between doctor visits and all the nights I spent crying, I’d think she would’ve mentioned something. Or at the very least made me feel a little less crazy and alone.

  “I checked her last night. She’s human, and her memory doesn’t have any indication that she knows anything. Actually, she had quite a few holes, which is probably for the best.”

  As much as I wanted to ask Aunt Karen a hundred questions, Cole was right. The less she knew, the better. “I guess you’re right. So, if she’s human, then my dad must’ve been human too. Since he’s her brother.”

  “I’d imagine.” He scratched the back of his head. “I’m just confused how this happened. But for now, we should think of it as an anomaly and nothing more. Digging into something like that before we know more about you could cause more problems.”

  I wanted to know, but I also didn’t want to drag Aunt Karen into any of this. “I agree.”

  “You’re taking this rather well. Honestly, I’m a little surprised.”

  After gathering my hair in a side braid, I shrugged. “I’m a little surprised myself. I should be freaking out, but for some reason, I’m not. Maybe it’s the shock of everything. I mean, when this whole memory-reading thing started, I knew I was different. I had to be. Did I think I was an alien? No. But I knew I was different. Whatever that meant.”

  Cole paused at the bottom of the stairs leading to the house. “It’s so unfair that you’ve felt like an outcast all this time. You’re very powerful, Thea. I don’t know why anyone would do this.”

  My gaze met his. “Do what?”

  “Nothing.” He sighed. “We have a lot to talk about. There are so many things you don’t know. About yourself, about your powers, about our world.”

  My powers? Hearing him say the word out loud made me want to run away. This new world terrified me, yet at the same time excited me. I wanted to know everything, regardless of what I’d learn. Good or bad.

  “You okay?” Cole strolled up the stairs.

  “You said that some of the plants were salvaged? Was your planet destroyed?”

  “Yeah, Inflexus was destroyed well before we were born. Our kind has lived peacefully here for a long time.”

  “What about the guy from the club? The one that tried to hurt me. He didn’t seem very peaceful.”

  Cole went to open the sliding glass door but dropped his arm. “He wasn’t trying to hurt
you, Thea. He was trying to kill you. Drain you of your powers and your life essence.”

  Terror boiled inside of me. Why would anyone try to kill me? I was a speck on our planet. Though, I’d left myself vulnerable last night. I never should’ve gone into a private room with a stranger. I chewed on my pinkie nail. But that didn’t explain why he’d want to kill me. He could’ve just taken what he needed and moved along. Plus, Cole said they could use their powers at night so it didn’t make sense. “Why would he want to—to kill me?”

  He removed my hand from my mouth and held it in his. “I think you should let some of this digest first. I’ll fill you in on the rest after you’ve changed.” Cole whispered, “And … I think we should keep that you’re part human between us. I trust Nora and Drake, but until we know more, I think it’s safer if we don’t say anything.”

  “Can’t they sense me or whatever? I mean, how did you know about me?”

  “I didn’t. Not right away. Inflexaens give off a sound wave that only other Inflexaens can feel. Sort of a soft vibration on your skin. It’s not constant, just quick enough to alert us when others are around.” He tapped on my wrist as if showing me. “Where humans have a static feel. It’s hard to explain, but I guess it feels like the air right before a thunderstorm.”

  Closing my eyes, I imagined the feeling. The thickness looming in the air and the small snaps of electricity tickling my eardrums. I loved thunderstorms. They never scared me. I’d curl next to the window and listen to the sweet pitter-patter of fat rain drops, Karen usually snuggling next to me. Hopefully that wouldn’t change now. “What about the guy from the club? The … I can’t remember what you called him.”

  “Resparé. Eraser in your language. They charge off other Inflexaens and drain humans completely. We have to charge to live on this star. Anyway, doing this leaves behind a light trace only we can see.”

  “And me? What do I give off? I mean, you said my essence was strong. What does that mean?”