by Rue Volley
My mind raced as I looked at everyone I cared about lying still on the slabs. The fire licked around the slabs in a horseshoe shape. I lunged at her and knocked her to the ground. We rolled together across the floor. I grabbed at the blade in her hand, she gripped it tightly, but in my fury I wrestled it from her. I held it out in front of me, looking like a wild animal, I am sure.
She stood up and grinned at me. “What do you plan to do Rue?” she asked, still calm. It pissed me off.
I ran over to little Rue on the slab and started to pull her off of it. She felt like she weighed a hundred pounds, until I had her in my arms. She lay lifeless against me. Elin stepped forward with the first look of fear I had seen from her.
“Put her back!” she yelled at me.
I pointed the blade at her. “I don't think so Elin,” I said.
“You have no idea what you are doing Rue, put her back!”
Elin dropped to her knees and held her stomach.
“I don't think you care about anyone here but yourself,” I said.
“No... no, that is not true,” she said, as she seemed to be getting weaker.
I looked at Rue, her small face so angelic. She had her eyes closed, like she was taking the most pleasant nap. I raised the blade above her and brought it down into her chest. Elin cried out, I looked at her and a red pool started to form in her chest. I looked back down and Rue was gone, the blade was wedged into the white stone floor. Elin continued to groan and cry out. I stood up, the floor had started to shake violently, I ran to Grace and pulled the ring off of my finger and placed it on hers. She opened her eyes and placed her hand on my face. “Rue,” she whispered.
“I love you Mom,” I whispered back. I hugged her and looked over to William, who had sat up. He jumped off of the slab and ran to us.
He hugged me. “Rue…! I love you, I always will,” he said.
The floor continued to shake violently, pieces of the ceiling had started to fall all around us. I held onto my Dad with my hand in my mother’s.
William grabbed my arms and pulled me back. “You have to take Johnathan with you now Rue... run!” he yelled at me.
“Come with me… please!” I yelled back. We all ducked as stone fell all around us.
“No Rue, you can only take one. Take Johnathan and run now,” Grace said to me.
“I… I can't leave you both here!” I yelled at her.
William cupped my face in my hands… “Rue, listen to me. We cannot leave but both of you still can. Leave now. We will always be with you little one, we love you.”
Tears had started to stream down my face, I looked over to Johnathan's body and let go of my parent’s hands. If I wait any longer, we might never be able to leave here... ever. I fell onto Johnathan's body as the floor swayed. I felt him groan under me. He opened his eyes and had a look of happiness for a split second until he realized the room was crumbling all around us. He sat up and yelled at me. “This way!”
He grabbed my hand and we started to run, he was pulling me along and I looked back for a split second and caught a glimpse of my parents facing each other. My dad had my mother’s hands up to his mouth and they hugged each other as I lost sight of them, from the falling rubble.
I kept running with Johnathan until we reached the tree door and he jumped through, pulling me out with him. We both fell until we hit water and I lost his hand. I tried to push myself upward, but I felt it pulling my down. The pressure made my ears pop. My lungs started to burn and I felt a blackness enveloping me.
Suddenly I felt a hand grip my arm and jerk me forward. I had my eyes closed and I opened my mouth, but could not get any air. I felt a hard thump on my chest and I started to cough up water, I was rolled on my side and felt heavy thumping on my back. I sucked in air, it burned and I coughed, blinking my eyes. I looked up and Josh sat over me with a terrified look on his face.
“Rue?” he yelled at me.
I coughed up more water, and started to push myself up. I looked over to see Johnathan sitting up, Theodore leaning down to him. I looked on the ground next to me and saw the mirror, with a crack at the top, where Johnathan had broken it with his head. Sam lunged forward and came down on it with a blade, shattering it. I blinked a few more times and shook my head. I wanted to talk, but when I opened my mouth to do it, my throat burned. I held my hand up to it and talked anyway.
“How long were we gone?” I said, as I tried to clear my throat.
Josh brushed my hair behind my ear and I closed my eyes, remembering my Mother.
“You just fell in, I thought I'd have to jump in after you!” Josh said.
“What?” I said in disbelief.
“Minutes, Rue, at best,” he replied.
Chapter 12
Who I Am
The last thing I remembered was the fact that Josh told me that we had been gone for minutes. My mind swirled at that point and I felt like I had to lie back down. I could hear voices and I don’t think I even realized that someone had picked me up and carried me. It's a curious thing, when you feel your will leave you. I had flashes of memory, but I kept letting it get away from me. I would settle on that chair, with Rue sitting in my lap, grinning about the explanations I would give her about the multiple books she had given me to read to her. Slowly, these thoughts left me one by one. I didn't know how, but I gladly surrendered them. Eventually, I started to blink my eyes and I rolled onto my side, stretching my arms out with a yawn.
I looked over and saw Theodore sitting in a chair in my room.
“Hello…” I tried to say. My voice cracked and my head felt like I had taken cold medication.
“Ahh…” He stood up and leaned over my bed. “Are we going to stay this time?” he asked me.
“I… I don't know what you mean,” I said, as I rubbed my head.
“Well, seems you had every intention of leaving us… in ‘there’.” He tapped my forehead with his finger.
“What?” I said, as I pushed myself up into a sitting position in my bed.
“Oh, dear.” He walked over to my window and looked out.
“How long Theodore?” I said with my eyes wide… “How long have I been out this time?”
He turned back to me, “Well… school has started… in fact we are somewhat through the year.”
“What!” I said. I started to pull my legs off of the bed and touched my feet to the ground. He walked to me, offering a hand. I looked at it and waved it off.
“I've slept more than people do a whole lifetime,” I said as I rubbed my thighs. He sat down next to me.
“You are so stubborn, little one. You did not want to give me the memories, but over time I started to get them one by one,” he touched my arm
“I didn't give you anything Theodore. I remember everything… well, everything up to Josh telling me that we had been gone only minutes but that was not true. I'm sure you saw that.”
He had stood up with surprise on his face. “You remember?” he asked.
“Of course I do… I own it, Theodore. I must have just let you see, that's all.”
“But I thought that I was taking it from you! It was a burden, weighing you down Rue.”
“No… not a “burden” Theodore.” I pushed myself up and took a couple steps towards my door. “My memory is not a ‘burden’…it's who I am,” I said.
“Curious,” he said, as he crossed his arms. “I don't think that I have ever seen anyone like you, Rue Volley.”
I turned around and walked up to him. I placed my hand on his head and closed my eyes. I felt energy flow easily from my hand to his body. He grabbed at my arm and I opened my eyes to stare into his face. His face relaxed and he had a slight grin.
“You… you are welcome Rue,” he whispered. “How? How do you know how to do that?” he said to me.
I lowered my hand. “Rue taught me, she knew a lot of things that I did not know I could do, but she gave the knowledge to me through touch mostly.”
“Where is everyone at Theod
ore?” I asked.
“Oh... well Kai and Sam are at school. Josh is probably out making sure that the protection spells are holding.”
I stood there… waiting. “Where is Johnathan?” I asked.
“Oh,” he responded, without wanting to explain any further.
“Oh…? What exactly does ‘oh’ mean Theodore?”
He started to walk out of my room and I followed. “You need to expand on that… like right now.”
I followed him down the stairs and he still didn't say anything. He stepped into the kitchen and pulled out a pan.
“You have to be starving,” he said.
“Umm, actually no, not really… I… I don't care about food Theodore, tell me where Johnathan is.”
“He asked us not to tell you.”
“What?” I said, as I sat down at the kitchen table.
He turned around with that look on his face, the one where someone doesn't want to tell you something. Maybe he didn't think he would have to, but I had successfully retained my memory and now he had too.
“After you two came back through the mirror, Johnathan stayed. He sat by your side for quite some time and then one day, he came to me and asked to be removed him from this. He wanted me to take his memory, to send him back to his family. I protested. I knew he was upset about you, he felt responsible. I guess he had come to realize that maybe you would be better off without him.”
“Without him? I don't understand… are you saying that you did it for him Theodore?”
“No… no I did not, but he found someone who would. He went to Josh and he agreed to do it. So Josh stripped him of everything concerning us and you, Especially you.”
“Oh my god, I have to go to him Theodore!”
“Well… that may prove to be a little hard to do.”
I felt my heart flutter. “Why?” I asked.
“He asked that Josh put a protection on him, one that would make it virtually impossible for us to track him down.”
I pushed myself up, all my strength started to return to me. “Well… we will see about that,” I said as I headed to the stairs. I bounded up the stairs and grabbed the first clothes I saw in my closet. I returned downstairs just as Josh entered the front door. I stood there staring at him, with hate in my eyes.
Josh looked at Theodore… “I thought you said that she would not remember,” he said calmly.
“Yes, well... we should not be surprised, it is Rue after all, Josh.”
He walked up to me and looked down. “You need to understand that he asked me… begged me Rue.”
I stood there and I didn't even realize that I had slapped him across the face, before I felt the slight sting on my hand. He stood there and I watched the red start to form on his face. He bit his lip and blinked a few times.
“I would say that I don't believe it... but it is you Josh. In fact, I'm not even going to ask how you could do that for him. You know he was probably so upset. I don't even know what he experienced while he was there with me. I didn't see him until the end.”
“I know what happened,” Josh added. He stood his ground in front of me.
“Okay… well?” I put my hands on my hips.
“He spent the whole time with his family and with you Rue. The happiest he had ever been.”
“Awesome, so you got to see that? Did you ‘feel’ it too?”
“Yes… I did, part of the deal when you strip memory, good or bad, you get to absorb it forever,” he said, without a change in his face.
“That is sooo like you. What, coming in when I'm taking a bath not enough for you? How dare you take that from him, from me Josh? It doesn't belong to you.”
He ran his hand through his hair and cleared his throat. “Listen, I didn't offer. He wanted it Rue! He said that he wanted you to have a life without him. He felt like he was the reason that you had been hurt over and over.”
“And that's when you say, ’No Johnathan, it is not your fault, you are blaming yourself for things that you could not possibly control’.”
“Huh…” he said.
“Oh my god…’Huh’ is all you got?” I asked, with disgust in my voice.
“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” he grinned. Big mistake.
“You are the biggest ass, I swear to god. We will find him… and you will fix him… I'm not asking you. I'm telling you, Josh.”
Josh turned to Theodore. “Looks like a road trip,” he said.
I swear to god, sometimes Josh just lives to make everything a thousand times harder than it has to be.
Theodore stopped chopping up his vegetables. “I don't know how easy it is going to be to find him, under a protection spell Josh.”
Josh looked at me. “We will find him, I think Rue will lead us right to him.”
He smiled at me and I pushed him aside.
“If we don't find him Josh I will make your life a living hell, for the next hundred years.”
“Only a hundred? Really?” He laughed out.
“You are lucky that I need you to reverse this or I'd knock you out and duct tape you to my bed.”
“Oh... really?” He said, with some sarcasm in his voice.
I spun around to him. “Don't even think about it,” I said as I pointed a finger at him.
“I don't know. It sounds like I might make out better, if I just refuse.”
Kai and Sam walked in the front door. I must have looked like I was about to stab him with a blade.
“Holy shit Rue!” Kai yelled out. He flashed across the room and grabbed me up, in a huge bear hug. As he swung me around I could see that Sam had a concerned look on her face. She looked at Josh.
“She remembers everything doesn't she?” Sam asked him.
Josh nodded, as he rubbed the back of his neck.
“Oh, that's great Josh!” She headed towards me and placed a hand on my face. I looked into her eyes, really wanting to cry, but refusing to give in to it. She turned to Theodore. “Why did you let her wake this way?” she asked him, with force in her voice.
“I didn't ‘let her’ do anything Samantha. It seems that Rue does what she wants, I have no power.”
She turned her head back to me. “You okay?” she whispered.
I nodded. “Just pissed Sam.”
She grinned and pushed my hair behind my ear. I closed my eyes for a second, remembering my mother’s touch. I quickly dismissed it.
“We need to figure out where he is first,” I said. “I'm assuming he wanted to be completely removed from the glamor here.”
Josh sat down, taking a bite out of a plum. “Yeah… his whole family is removed from it. Whole new thing, I told him to imagine it and I would make it happen.”
“Well then you should still have a memory of where he chose to go,” I said.
“No… I purged it... sorry.” He kept eating. I swear I could hear him chewing. I walked over to him and took the plum out of his hand and threw it into the trash.
“Hey...! I was eating that!”
I leaned down to him. “Oh… I'm sorry, when I went to sleep I had a boyfriend and now he is missing, with no memory of me. You can eat later.”
Josh grunted and Sam came over to him and sat down at the table across from him. She smiled. He crossed his arms. “What?” he said.
“It's nice to see you shut up for once,” she muttered.
“Listen, all I did was do what he wanted. Why am I the bad guy here?” he asked everyone, as he swept his hands out.
“I will remind everyone that I did say ‘No’ to him.” Theodore had something bubbling on the stove, it smelled amazing, but I was trying my best to keep my focus on this ‘Josh Sucks’ moment.
“I know you did Theodore.” I stared at Josh. “Thank you for not doing it for him.”
“Really? Okay Rue, here… let me show you how he felt!” Josh stood up and held out his hand to me.
I stood up against Sam's protesting. We walked to the couch and we sat down across from each other. I held my
hands out to him and closed my eyes… “I want you to give it all to me,” I whispered.
“You can't handle me,” he whispered back. I peeked with one eye and he had his eyes closed, with a smirk on his face. “I want you to focus Josh, slow your breathing.”
“I know. I’ll show you Rue, just relax, I'll show you.”
“No, I don't think so Josh, you threw some away, I am going to take this from you. Just relax,” I said, calm in my voice.
“I doubt that you... ahhh!” Josh yelled out, as I felt his memories start to flood my mind. I felt his hands heating up on mine.
“Jeezus Rue... take it easy!” he grunted out.
Memories started flooding my mind, they were so jumbled. I squinted my eyes involuntarily. I kept searching for Johnathan, weeding out all the crap in Josh's head. Flashes of me started to well up and I was hoping that we were getting to the point, but no. I walked through Josh and I first meeting, his constant intrusion into my bedroom, when I fought him. I sucked in my breath, the feelings he had for me were overwhelming at this point. I had to push on, finally flashes of Johnathan started to filter into view. It was blurred and fuzzy, conversations broken. I tried to find him, tried to understand why he would go to such an extreme, and then I saw it. Josh and Johnathan in the forest, fully clothed, blades drawn. The wind was blowing the leaves around and from the look on Johnathan's face, he was tormented. The conversation started to become clear...
“I have asked Theodore, he has refused to do it. I need for you to make this happen Josh.”
Josh sighed. “You know this is final…”
Johnathan ran his hand through his hair. “I know, I can't do this anymore. I want for her to be safe, I want a normal life.”
Josh laughed. “You will never be normal but I can make it seem that way.”
Johnathan laid his blades down on the ground. “Just get it done.”
Josh walked towards him, light started to glow in his palms. He knelt down and started to scratch symbols into the ground. He finished the circle.
Everything started to go frame by frame in my mind. The memories were not coming in any order. Small bits of conversation welled up and faded. I got a quick flash of a cherub and I bit my lip.
