The Remembered

by Michael J Sanford

  "Any ideas?" Ms. Abagail asked.

  "We need to get closer and see if we can find Athena and Maia. And Rozen, too," Wyatt said.

  "Whoa, I was talking about how to get back to Sanctuary before we freeze to death out here," Ms. Abagail said. "I know they have Athena and the others, but we can't just walk up there, hoping to rescue them from an entire army. Lucy, can you like, use your necklace to get us back inside the castle?"

  "I don't know. Maybe," she said.

  "Can you try?" Ms. Abagail asked.

  "No," Wyatt said abruptly. "We have to find the others. That's the whole point. Find them and kill the Lord Regent."

  "I get the big plan," Ms. Abagail said. "But right now, that's not the best idea. I'm sure they've seen the Regency from Sanctuary, but if not, we need to get back and warn them. What would you expect us to do, anyway? If the Regents don't kill us, the cold will. I'm half frozen already. We need to get back to Sanctuary."

  Wyatt gritted his teeth, once again rising to watch the Regency forces mill about like thousands of ants. It was impossible to see any detail, but he kept imagining a plume of bright red hair passing in their midst. Whether it was Athena or Rozen that he longed to see, he didn't know.

  "Fine," he said. "But it doesn't really look like there's a way around them. Not if we want to make it back without freezing to death, like you said."

  "No, I know," Ms. Abagail said. "Maybe try and get back up the hill. Back to the—my house? Back the way we came?"

  "We came because Lucy got mad at me and activated whatever weird memory-traveling power she has here," Wyatt said. "Besides, I don't think we can climb back up."

  "I can try," Lucy said, pulling away from Wyatt and looking at him with a furrowed brow.

  "No, Wyatt's right," Ms. Abagail said. "You're lucky you didn't get hurt falling down it the first time."

  "No, I meant try with this," Lucy said, producing her amulet and holding it out as far as the hempen string would allow.

  "Oh boy," Ms. Abagail said.

  "Might be the only way," Wyatt said. "Unless you want to go straight at the Regents. And that's still my first choice."

  "All right, all right," Ms. Abagail said, pinching her eyes shut and massaging her temples. "Can you do it, Lucy? Whatever you did to get us here?"

  "I don't know. Maybe," she said, examining the green stone.

  "Like, try and think about the room we left in Sanctuary. With all the food. Visualize it or something," Wyatt said. "And maybe you can just take us there. Before I...lost my power, I thought I was getting close to controlling it better."

  "I know, I know," Lucy said. "I said I'll try."

  Lucy cleared out some of the snow from around her, sat down and closed her eyes, the gem pressed between her hands.

  "Think she can do it?" Ms. Abagail whispered.

  "Take us to Sanctuary? Probably not," Wyatt replied. "But if she can just do something with that thing, then it'll be better than just sitting here."

  "I hope you're right."

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CROUCHED IN THE snow, within a mile of an overwhelming enemy force, Wyatt shivered. His breath lightly frosted the air, and his body shook as he tried to keep still.

  "Stop peeking," he warned Ms. Abagail as she looked over the edge of crisp snow for what felt like the hundredth time as they waited for Lucy to do...something.

  Ms. Abagail dropped back onto her knees and looked at Wyatt. Her teeth were chattering as she wrapped her arms around her torso. They had been lucky to have been fully dressed when Lucy swept them up in her magic, but the cold crept closer with each passing moment.

  "Can't help it," Ms. Abagail said. "This is way more than I ever expected to see in my life. There's a whole freaking army of monster-men out there."

  "And friends," Wyatt added.

  "Yeah, I know. And we'll get them all back. I mean, we got a magical girl on our side, right?" Ms. Abagail smiled, but Wyatt thought it looked forced.

  Lucy was sitting cross-legged, eyes still shut, swaying slightly, and mumbling to herself. She had been that way for at least ten minutes with not so much as a hint of magic. Wyatt wasn't holding his breath. He was merely waiting an appropriate amount of time before charging headlong into the enemy in search of his captive friends.

  "I wish I still had my magic," Wyatt said. "Then we could really get something done."

  The snow around Wyatt hissed and turned into steam, dropping him down a foot to solid ground. No sooner did he land than another ripple went out from around the hidden trio. The snow snapped and crackled, spit and sizzled.

  "Whoa!" Ms. Abagail shouted as the snow continued to boil and vanish all around them.

  Lucy squeaked in surprise and jumped into action, diving for Wyatt and Ms. Abagail. They caught her together and whipped their heads around. The snow receded in fits and starts until they were in the middle of a hole thirty feet wide. The ground was warm, the flattened grass of the previously hidden valley drying quickly.

  "Well, this is something," Ms. Abagail said.

  "But we're still here," Wyatt said. "Lucy, what did you do?"

  "It was an accident," she said. "I fell into a dream and got lost. Or a memory. I don't know. It's funny like that."

  "What are you talking about?" Wyatt asked, feeling butterflies come to life in his stomach.

  "I... I..."

  "What is it, Lucy?" Ms. Abagail asked calmly.

  "I got lost," Lucy repeated. "But...he...it...found me."

  The nervous feeling in Wyatt's gut flared into dread as the deep shadows at the edges of their snow pit began to coalesce into a single form.

  "What found you?" Ms. Abagail asked.

  Lucy didn't answer and neither did Wyatt, as they were focused on the slowly forming shade.

  "Why, I found her," the Bad Man said, standing a few feet away, his featureless form a shroud of secrets and darkness. "You're welcome, by the way."

  "What is that?" Ms. Abagail whispered out of the side of her mouth.

  "Oh, where are my manners?" the Bad Man said. It took a step forward and bowed theatrically, extending an inky hand toward Ms. Abagail as it did. "My name is of no consequence, but rest assured, I am an old friend of Wyatt and Lucy. It is my pleasure to meet you, Abagail Miller."

  Ms. Abagail recoiled and wrapped an arm around Wyatt and Lucy.

  "You're the Bad Man," she said flatly.

  The Bad Man stood and seemed to turn its back on them, though it was difficult to tell just which way it faced. "I see the newfound siblings have been speaking of what they do not know. Yes, I suppose you may call me as they do. Bad Man."

  "I won't let you hurt them," Ms. Abagail said.

  "Hurt them? Oh, my dear Abby Mae—"

  "You don't know me!" Ms. Abagail blurted.

  The Bad Man swiveled around and cocked its head to the side, its eerie smile of absence appearing. "Don't I? Little Miss Abby Mae, known to stray down a wayward way—"

  "Shut up!"

  Wyatt tore his gaze from the Bad Man long enough to catch the look of rage in Ms. Abagail's eyes. He wiggled from her grasp and shakily came to his feet in between them.

  The Bad Man took a step back and regarded Wyatt with unseen eyes. "Oh, if it isn't the great defender, Wyatt the...what was it? Mighty? And just how did that work out last time? Seems I recall lots of death at your hand. Not that I'm complaining. It was impressive in its own misguided way."

  Wyatt bit back the bile and fury that boiled in his throat. "What do you want? We're not scared of you. You're just bad memories and—"

  "Ha!" the Bad Man shouted. Wyatt felt a wash of frozen air hit his face at the outburst. "Is that what I am? Bad memories? How poetic. And just how would one defeat a creature of bad memories?"

  The Bad Man drifted to the side, slowly circling around Wyatt and forcing him to spin in place to keep sight of the creature. Ms. Abagail pulled Lucy further away and pressed into the bank of snow.

  "We remember," Wyatt said with as
much authority as he could.

  The Bad Man stopped circling around him and looked to the sky, laughing with gusto.

  "We remember!" Wyatt shouted.

  Wyatt lunged forward and punched for what he thought was the Bad Man's chin. His fist passed through the shadows, as did the rest of his body as he lost his balance and fell to the ground. The Bad Man ceased laughing and loomed over Wyatt.

  "And what is it that you remember, Wyatt?" the Bad Man said with frigidity.

  Wyatt crawled away until he felt Ms. Abagail's hand on his back. Suddenly, he had lost his courage. Was he wrong? If so, what hope did he have in defeating the Bad Man?

  The Bad Man stood, but didn't advance any further. "You know nothing and you remember even less."

  "Liar!" Lucy yelled.

  The Bad Man seemed to start at the sudden shout, but gathered itself quickly. "Ah, you were always my favorite, Lucy. And it still breaks my heart to know you betrayed me. You really should have left Wyatt alone as I instructed. After all, he killed your dear old mom and dad—ruthlessly, in fact."

  "I did not!" Wyatt yelled.

  "No?" the Bad Man asked. "You can't truly believe that. Even you, Wyatt, aren't that dense."

  "I know what happened," Wyatt shouted. "It was an accident. A car crash. It wasn't anyone's fault."

  The Bad Man began laughing again.

  "Stop laughing," Wyatt said angrily.

  The Bad Man obeyed at once, but its smile remained, tearing its head in two. "And what do you remember, Lucy?"

  Wyatt turned to his sister and saw her on her knees at Ms. Abagail's side. She was tugging on a strand of hair, eyes jumping around, unfocused and glazed.

  "Lucy," Wyatt said. "Say that you remember and that it wasn't my fault."

  Lucy looked at him and then glanced at the Bad Man. She shook her head, and the Bad Man laughed maliciously.

  "Lucy..." Wyatt said, crawling to her side.

  Ms. Abagail had an arm around her shoulders and kept shooting a glance at the misty figure nearby. "You tell that thing what you know, Lucy," Ms. Abagail whispered. "If that's how we get out of this..."

  "Lucy," Wyatt added. "You said yourself that the Bad Man's just bad memories meant to scare us. And all we have to do is remember what he's hiding from us. Then we win. Right?"

  "I don't remember the accident," Lucy shouted, pulling away from Ms. Abagail. She fought her shaking limbs and stood.

  "And there it is," the Bad Man said.

  "Lucy?" Wyatt asked. "What are you talking about?"

  She grabbed at her temples. "I don't remember the accident. You told me it happened, but I don't remember it."

  "What do you remember?" Wyatt asked.

  Lucy looked up at the Bad Man. It nodded. "Go on, Lucy, my dear; tell your darling brother what you remember. No need for secrets anymore."

  Lucy shook her head.

  "Tell him!" the Bad Man shouted.

  Lucy started, nearly fell, gathered herself, and turned to look at Wyatt. "I...I remember what you did. You...killed Dad..."

  "Lucy, no," Wyatt said. He stood and made to go to her, but the Bad Man glided toward him and held Wyatt in place, breathing its cold breath on Wyatt's neck.

  Ms. Abagail began to shout something, but her words turned into a grunt as Wyatt heard her body slam into the ground. He couldn't turn to see if she was all right.

  "You're going to want to hear this," the Bad Man said, curling an ethereal hand over Wyatt's mouth.

  Tears ran down Lucy's face, and she let her arms fall to her sides, hands clenched into fists. "You killed them, Wyatt. I saw you. First you killed Dad and he screamed. Then you...you killed Mom. I remember. I wanted to forget. I tried to put it in the magic world, but it didn't work. It doesn't work anymore. And I remember. It was your fault. I... I remember..." Lucy, looking every bit like she wanted to attack Wyatt, melted into a heap on the ground and clutched at her ears. "They're screaming! I can hear them screaming!"

  "Isn't this fun?" the Bad Man asked, releasing Wyatt with an added push.

  Wyatt collided with Lucy and sent her sprawling. He immediately reached to help her up, but she slapped his hands and scuttled away from him.

  "I wanted to forget," she said. "You're my brother and I wanted to forget. But I don't want to forget you. But you killed them. I know you did." Her back hit the far bank of snow and she stopped fleeing. "Why, Wyatt?"

  Wyatt's heart skipped a beat. His mother's words coming from Lucy's mouth. "It was just an accident," he said. "Whatever the Bad Man told you or whatever he showed you wasn't real. He can change our memories into nightmares. He twists things. Remember what he did to Ms. Abagail's mom? It wasn't real."

  "What is real and what isn't?" the Bad Man said. The creature of mist and hatred had moved to Wyatt's left and was lounging against the snow. "Does it matter? Is there even a difference?"

  "Yes!" Wyatt shouted.

  "Wyatt?" Ms. Abagail said as she appeared at his side. She was shaking her head and swaying slightly.

  He gave her only the most cursory glance before fixing his eyes back on the Bad Man. "Why are you doing this? What do you want with us? If you want to kill us, then just do it. You must have the power."

  "Kill you? Oh, I couldn't do that. And I'm not the one doing this. Whatever this is. Again, what does it matter? You're a killer and your sweet sister is...well, whatever she is—you made her."

  "You're a liar," Wyatt said, his thoughts becoming less and less cohesive.

  "Hey," Ms. Abagail said, taking a step forward, seeming to have gained her senses. "Maybe we don't know what you really are, but like you said, what does it matter? We're not backing down, and if you want one of us, then you get all of us."

  "Amusing," the Bad Man said, his tone indicating that he was anything but amused. It pushed off the snow and sauntered over to Lucy.

  Ms. Abagail launched herself at the shade. It looked as if she meant to tackle the thing, but being incorporeal, Ms. Abagail ended up diving headfirst into the snow as the Bad Man continued unabated. Wyatt knew better than to try to physically interfere.

  "You like showing us things, right?" Wyatt asked.

  The Bad Man stopped and looked at him. Wyatt could feel its eyes on him though he couldn't see them.

  "Whatever you are," Wyatt challenged. "You like scaring us by making us remember bad things, right? That's what Lucy said."

  "Don't tell me you forgot our play session, short as it was," the Bad Man said as it crouched at Lucy's side. "You know what I can do."

  Ms. Abagail recovered, but stayed where she had hit the snow, looking uneasily at the Bad Man and then at Wyatt. She must have realized what Wyatt already knew. They were powerless to stop the creature.

  Wyatt began to say something else, but forgot the words as a strong odor of gasoline seared the insides of his nostrils. He flinched and felt a hot sweat break out all over his body. Steam curled up from his arms, and despite the swirling snow he felt as if he were burning alive.

  The Bad Man grinned and turned back to Lucy. Ms. Abagail rushed to Wyatt's side, but recoiled as she touched his arm. "You're burning up," she said.

  Wyatt couldn't respond, and he hardly heard the words. Something like a forgotten dream was rising from the depths of his mind. It was just fragments at first—the scent of gasoline, the stifling heat—but more came as he stared at the Bad Man whispering into Lucy's ear. Wyatt wanted to know what it was saying, but all he could hear was the snap and crackle of a thousand fires. And he remembered. Perhaps not what he needed to, and not enough to solve anything, but Wyatt remembered the Bad Man holding him against the wall in Greenwood the night he and Lucy had sneaked out to find his amulet. He remembered the Bad Man's icy touch, and he could feel the same horror he felt then return. And as the Bad Man left Lucy lying on the snow and approached him, Wyatt remembered what the Bad Man had shown him that night.

  Ms. Abagail put herself in front of Wyatt, attempting to shield him, but the Bad Man thrust his ethereal b
ody through hers and let his face paint the back of her head in inky black mist. It smiled.

  "Why..." Wyatt managed to say as the heat faded and the sound of his mother condemning him retreated to the shadows.

  "Because you deserve it," the Bad Man said. "Every painful moment."

  Arms grabbed at Wyatt and pulled him away from the taunting shade. He stumbled, but Ms. Abagail held him fast.

  "Leave us," Ms. Abagail shouted. "Unless you have the stones to kill us."

  The Bad Man bowed deeply. "Forgive me, Abby Mae. You are right, I've overstayed my welcome. And if my darling Lucy minds me this time, this could be our last encounter, sad as that may be. But do not despair, I have let our mutual friends know where you are, so you will have plenty to concern yourself with." It straightened and held a smoky finger in the air. "Ah, there they are now."

  The Bad Man blew a kiss, smiled wide enough that the top of its head completely vanished, and then the rest of it did the same—fleeing like a fog before the morning sun.

  The ground trembled and the air filled with the thrum of leathery wings underneath the blare of a war horn.

  Wyatt stood on his toes and peeked over the edge of crusty snow. The echoing sounds told him what he'd see, but he couldn't believe it.

  "There's an entire army coming for us, isn't there?" Ms. Abagail asked.

  Wyatt turned from exactly that and knelt with Ms. Abagail at Lucy's side. The small girl had her knees pulled to her chest. She was rocking slightly and her eyes looked to be made of glass. Or ice.

  "Looks like the whole army is coming our way," Wyatt said.

  "Seems like overkill," Ms. Abagail said. "They must really want you. Or us."

  "If they wanted me dead, they could have killed me long before now. It's a twisted game to the Lord Regent. It's like he just wants to torture me. And us."

  Ms. Abagail rubbed Lucy's back and looked uneasily at the sky. "The Bad Man, too. Whatever he is."

  "I don't even know anymore," Wyatt admitted. He could still smell the faint scent of gasoline, and his skin still crawled with the memory of the memory he'd been forced to witness in Greenwood.