by Wendy Owens
Gabe wiggled in his seat a little. Sitting still had never seemed like such an impossible task than it was right now. He had been begging Michael to wipe Sophie’s memory since he returned home from Iron Gate and now it actually seemed like he might get his way.
Standing up and walking over to the fireplace, Gabe stoked the embers and wondered when Michael would return. Though it seemed like he had left to meet with the council of elders hours ago, Gabe knew it had actually only been about thirty minutes.
“Hey man,” Uri’s familiar voice called out from the doorway. “How you holding up in here?”
“As good as can be expected I suppose. Any word?” Gabe chimed back.
“Last I checked he was still with them,” Ur replied.
“I really don’t see what choice they have. They have to say yes, right?” Gabe asked, desperate for his friend to agree.
“Gabe, are you sure this is the right thing to do? If Michael is this worried about it, maybe we should listen to him,” Uri urged.
“Uri! She tried to kill me. You know she loves me. What is in that cell isn’t her anymore. I have been down there every night to be with her, to look for some trace of who she was and there is nothing. Do you really want her to keep living like she is?” Gabe attempted to reason with his friend
“No, of course not,” Uri looked down at his hands wondering how Gabe could be so sure it was the right thing to do.
“Boys,” Michael said, acknowledging Gabe and Uri as he entered the room. Gabe noticed Michael didn’t seem to be healing as quickly as he normally did and his skin was still pale.
“Hello, sir,” Uri replied.
“Sir,” Gabe added, staring at Michael intensely, waiting for some indication of the decision.
Michael said nothing as he walked over to his desk. He moved behind it and glanced at a stack of papers on one of the corners. Frustrated, Gabe could wait no longer.
“Well?” Gabe asked, making his way to the large desk.
“Well, what?” Michael said, looking up from under his narrowed brows.
“Oh come on,” Gabe said throwing up his hands. “Are you going to wipe her memory or not?”
“Gabe, one last time, you understand that if we wipe her it could fracture her reality. She may end up worse off than she is now,” Michael explained.
“I seriously doubt that,” Gabe retorted. “I’m not sure there is anything worse than what she is right now.”
“Well the elders have all agreed, against my better judgment. We will wipe Sophie’s memories.” Michael’s words were full of worry. Though Gabe could sense the worry from Michael, he himself was overcome with excitement. Darting behind the table, he threw his arms around his mentor’s torso, even surprising himself by the outburst of gratitude.
“When?” Uri asked in an almost whisper.
“Haim is bringing her now,” Michael replied.
“Wait, what?” Gabe yelped. “What do you mean Haim is bringing her?”
“Don’t worry. She has been placed into a catatonic state and Haim is bringing her here to my office to conduct the procedure.”
“Just like that?” Gabe felt a swirling conflict of emotions. Suddenly he was consumed by the fear of what might happen if he was wrong, a thought that had not crossed his mind until this moment.
“Are you sure?” Michael asked, sensing his student’s shift.
Concerned the debate would all begin again and Sophie may not get the procedure, Gabe reassured Michael of his choice, trying to sound as confident as he could.
“You both are welcome to wait in the hallway during the procedure, but I must have complete silence during it and no distractions,” Michael rattled as he continued flipping through some papers. Then below his breath Michael added, “I can’t mess this up.”
Gabe could see the pressure this was putting on him and he wished he could help lessen the burden.
“You’re going to do great,” Uri reassured Michael as he walked to the door.
Michael said nothing, still focusing on the words that covered the pages in his hands.
“We will be right outside,” Gabe added following Uri.
Gabe followed Uri out into the hallway. They both leaned against the wall and it was obvious the situation was weighing on the boys minds equally.
“Do you think it will all be all right?” Gabe finally asked, no longer able to mask his growing concerns.
“I don’t know, I really don’t know,” Uri replied looking down at the rock floor so intensely it appeared he was studying it.
In the distance the boys could hear the shuffling of feet. They both looked up in silence and watched as Haim and Sophie came into sight. Sophie walked slowly, her head hung low, and her feet almost dragging behind her with each step. Haim followed close behind, one arm outstretched, his hand on Sophie’s shoulder, guiding her to Michael’s office.
Nobody spoke as the two reached the doors and entered. Gabe wanted to grab hold of Sophie’s hand, but he knew it was not his Sophie he would be talking to. A few moments later Haim walked out and joined the other two. All three leaning against the wall in silence.
Though all three boys thought the silence was long and awkward, not one knew what to say to the other. At last, after about ten minutes, Gabe could not take it anymore. He needed something to reassure him before he went mad and ran into Michael’s office.
“So how do you think it’s going?” Gabe asked.
Haim leaned forward and looked over at Uri. Both shrugged their shoulders as if they had no idea how to respond and continued in silence.
“Have you seen this performed before, Haim?” Gabe questioned in hopes of a better scenario than what Uri and he had witnessed in Iron Gate.
“Nope,” Haim replied without making eye contact.
“All right then,” Uri added, also trying to fill the uncomfortable void.
The three fell silent yet again for another length of time until at last they heard Michael beckon from the room. All three burst into the room as quickly as possible, nearly tumbling over one another. Sophie sat on the sofa; the back of her head was all that the boys could see.
“Wait. Stop there,” Michael commanded. “I just need Uri.”
“What?” Gabe gasped. How could he need Uri’s help with anything to do with Sophie and not his?
“Can the rest of you wait in the hall for now?” Michael requested.
“Of course,” Haim said, grabbing hold of Gabe’s arm and pulling him back into the hall.
As the door fell closed, Gabe pleaded with Haim, “Wait, I should be in there, this is Sophie we’re talking about.”
“If Michael says he needs Uri, then we should do as he says,” Haim insisted.
“But-- ”
“Gabe! Do you want Sophie back? Then we do what Michael says,” Haim interrupted.
There was nothing Gabe could say. He knew Haim was right no matter how much he wanted to be at Sophie’s side. A few minutes of silence passed between the boys.
“Why do you think he needed Uri?” Gabe finally asked.
“I don’t know,” Haim replied flatly.
“Do you think that’s a good sign?” Gabe continued to prod.
“I don’t know,” Haim said again, slightly agitated from the questioning. Before Gabe could ask the next question that was on his mind, Haim added, “We should just wait until their done.”
Gabe let out a huff and stomped over to the wall, leaning against it and sliding down to a seated position on the floor. Haim followed suit and sat down next to Gabe.
At least thirty minutes had passed before they heard Michael’s voice again. The two boys leapt to their feet and rushed into the chambers. Gabe looked around wildly, but saw no sign of Sophie. Uri sat in a side chair, staring into the fire.
“Where’s Sophie?” Gabe asked panicked.
“Sleeping,” Michael replied, wiping his hands on a towel near his desk.
Gabe rushed to the back of the sofa. Peeking over the edge, h
e saw Sophie fast asleep. Her skin had a pink hue to it and there was no trace of the black veining any longer. Gabe wished he could see her eyes.
“Is she all right?” Gabe asked.
“Yes …” Michael said, hesitating for a moment. “And no.”
“What?” Gabe asked, feeling his stomach twist from Michael’s words.
“Sit down, Gabe, we’ll explain,” Michael commanded gently, motioning to the remaining chair. “Haim, can you carry Sophie to the infirmary for observation? I’ve cast sleep on her so you will need to carry her. I’ll fill you in later.”
Gabe stood still, unable to move as he watched his friend pick up Sophie’s limp body. For the first time since he returned home she seemed to be at such peace. Gabe smiled; he was certain she had to be better than she was. She already looked so much better, Gabe was sure of it. Gabe watched Haim and Sophie until Haim was completely out of the room. Only then did he walk over to the empty chair and sit down.
“She looks so much better Michael, thank you!” Gabe exclaimed.
Michael said nothing. He walked to the now empty couch and took the seat closest to Gabe.
“The demon is gone, right?” Gabe asked, anxious from Uri and Michael’s behavior.
“Yes,” Michael responded. “There is no trace of that evil left in her.”
“So she’s all right,” Gabe reaffirmed.
“Not exactly,” Michael replied.
“What’s going on then? Why did you need Uri?” Gabe questioned.
“Sometimes, if a subject forgets too much, a familiar face can jog their memory. My hopes were since Uri was her closest friend for so many years it would bring something back of those early days,” Michael explained in a solemn tone.
“Wait, what? She doesn’t remember anything?” Gabe parroted, confused.
“She didn’t even know who I was!” Uri cried.
“Uri,” Michael said in a calm voice, causing his student to reel his feelings back in quickly.
“So what does that mean? How do we make her remember?” Gabe inquired, curious as to what the next step might be.
“We don’t,” Uri added, staring into the fire once again.
“Huh?” Gabe felt utterly lost at this point. “How much doesn’t she remember?”
“It was a complete wipe, unfortunately,” Michael replied.
“What does that mean?” Gabe attempted to clarify. “She doesn’t know who she is?”
“It means she doesn’t remember any of us,” Uri added.
“She has no memories before her ninth birthday.” Michael revealed.
Gabe felt his chest began to ache. His worst fear had come true. Sophie had no memory of him or of their relationship. Then suddenly it dawned on him. Her ninth birthday. “Does she remember her mother’s death?”
Michael simply shook his head, glancing down. “She’s very confused. She remembers the party and that they were supposed to go pick up the cake. Then nothing. My guess is, when I did the wipe, the evil was attached to some of her most horrifying memories. I had to go so deep; there wasn’t any way to separate the evil from those events. It’s like it was feeding off them.
“Did you tell her?” Gabe asked.
“What?” Uri snapped. “That her mother is dead and now she is stalked by demons. No Gabe, we glossed over those points.”
“Uri!” Michael snarled, this time more forceful in his point.
“What? He’s the one that pushed us into this,” Uri argued.
“Uri, leave now,” Michael commanded. “You’re upset and I don’t want you saying anything you don’t mean.”
“Whatever,” Uri mumbled as he hopped up and skulked out of the room, huffing several times as he glared at Gabe.
“I didn’t know,” Gabe sputtered, his voice quivering.
“I know, Gabe. There was no way for us to know how Sophie’s mind would have reacted,” Michael said, trying to reassure his young student.
“So what do we do now?” Gabe asked, ready to take on the challenge of returning Sophie to her former self.
“Well,” Michael said pausing, trying to judge how to state the next part as delicately as he could. “You can’t tell her anything of your relationship. You have to understand from her perspective, she is about to have her ninth birthday party and at any moment her mom is going to come and pick her up.”
“So how do we get her to remember?” Gabe asked.
“We don’t,” Michael stated plainly.
“What?” Gabe gasped.
“Those memories are gone. A wipe is just that, Gabe. It wipes all memories away. While we managed to wipe away the imprint the demon left on her mind, all traces of Rampart Manor are gone, as well.”
“I don’t understand, she can’t stay like this. We have to do something,” Gabe pleaded.
Michael reached out and touched Gabe’s arm in an attempt to comfort him. “I will work with her, explaining who we are and eventually break the news to her about her mother when I think she is ready. In the meantime, you all should do your best at becoming her friend again and gaining her trust. Can you do that?”
“Yes, of course, whatever I need to do,” Gabe replied.
“Look, don’t worry about Uri,” Michael added. “Sophie and he have been friends for a long time so this is hard on him, too. He’ll get past it, all right?”
Gabe nodded standing and walking to the door.
“And remember Gabe, no mention of your and Sophie’s relationship to her,” Michael reaffirmed.
“Gabe, wake up!” Uri’s voice filled the room as he ran to the bed, shaking his friend wildly.
So startled by the abrupt wake up call, Gabe could hardly catch his breath. “Huh? Who? What’s going on? Is Sophie ok?” he sputtered.
“Yeah, yeah, she’s fine but you’re about not to be,” Uri said, grabbing hold of Gabe’s wrist and pulling him from the comfort of his warm bed.
“Come on man. What’s going on? I’m in my boxers, can’t this wait?” Gabe pleaded after discovering Sophie was in no danger.
“Here,” Uri said grabbing the nearby robe and tossing it in Gabe’s direction. “Michael will be here any minute, put it on.”
Gabe slipped the robe on as he stretched, still trying to process what his friend was saying. Rubbing his eyes he yawned and asked, “What do you mean Michael?” Gabe outstretched his arms, releasing himself into a bigger yawn as his feeble attempt to tie his robe close gave way.
“Just what I said, he’s on his way.”
“Lay on the bed,” Michael commanded as he entered the room carrying a small, dark brown leather satchel.
“Michael!” Gabe shrieked as he scrambled to close his robe again. “What are you doing here?”
“Uri didn’t tell you?” Michael asked rushing up to Gabe. In an instant Uri and Michael were pushing Gabe back onto the bed.
“I just got here,” Uri defended himself.
“Just relax,” Michael told Gabe. He then walked around to the end of the bed and tossed the leather satchel onto it. Gabe tried to sit up to see what was happening but Uri pushed him back down. “Secure his hands.”
“Just lay down, man,” Uri stressed. Before Gabe could comprehend what was happening, still groggy from just waking up, Uri pulled out a set of plastic hand ties.
“Seriously, this isn’t funny,” Gabe said becoming agitated. In another moment Uri had Gabe’s hands secured to the bed post.
“What’s going on? I mean it. Someone better tell me now!” Gabe insisted, staring at Michael as he untied a string on the satchel, allowing him to unfold the hidden pouch of tools.
“Oh my God! What are those for?” Gabe cried catching sight of all the shiny silver instruments. Michael pulled out a scalpel and a long syringe with a tube on the end and began to make his way back around to where Gabe was laid out.
“No, wait, what’s going on?” Gabe began to squirm.
“Hold him still!” Michael commanded.
Without a moment’s hesitation,
Uri climbed up on the bed, sitting on Gabe’s legs. “Please stop! What are you doing? Please don’t do this!” Gabe was now screaming in hopes someone would hear his pleas and come to his aid.
Michael swooped in with great purpose, wielding the scalpel like a master. He hovered over Gabe’s stomach for a moment, feeling around with his hand, pressing in various spots. Ignoring Gabe’s cries Michael at last found the spot he had been searching for and pressed the scalpel into Gabe’s skin.
Gabe watched in horror as his blood began to spill from the wound. Looking up briefly at Uri’s face, Gabe was then consumed by darkness.
Squinting his eyes, and licking his dry and crusted lips Gabe returned to consciousness.
“Are you sure you destroyed it?” Gabe heard Michael’s voice from across the room.
Then Uri’s in response, “Positive, there was absolutely nothing left of it.”
Gabe tried to move and realized his hands were now free. He did his best to move slightly as not to arouse the attention of the men who had just assaulted him. Gabe ran his hand down to his stomach, tracing the fresh bandages with his fingertips. In that moment he realized it hadn't been a dream as he had hoped.
“Do you think they were able to pin point a location before we got it?” Uri asked.
“I really have no idea,” Michael replied. “All we can do is hope not for all our sakes.”
Gabe opened his eyes, trying to focus on where the voices were coming from.
“He’s awake,” Uri said rushing to Gabe’s bedside.
Instinctively, Gabe threw up his hands as if to protect himself.
“Stay away!” Gabe cried.
“Gabe,” Michael said approaching the bed as well. “It’s ok, calm down.”
“It is so not ok!” Gabe cried out. “You cut me!”
Michael slightly smiled, nodding his head. “I had to.” He then moved in closer.
“I mean it. Stay away from me!” Gabe shouted, crawling backwards in his bed, grabbing his fresh wound and wincing from the pain of the movement.
“Will you listen to him, idiot,” Uri pushed, aggravated by his friend’s response to them.
Michael lifted a hand as if to ask Gabe for a moment to explain. Keeping a safe distance away from the two, Gabe sat silent, listening.
