by Rue Volley
“Concentrate, Josh!” I yelled at him.
“Sorry… it was funny,” he muttered.
I searched, sifting through. Suddenly I felt a heavy weight on my chest. Johnathan's memory of his parents floated in. I could see Elie standing in their house, staring at me.
“You will go to Barrington, Johnathan, it is a hard school to get into. I had to pull some strings to make this happen for you, you should be grateful. How do you expect to succeed, when all you have now is a public school in a nowhere town? Your father wants you to handle business for him in the future, our family's future. That does not include staying here for a little girl, with no background. You need to grow up.”
I cringed. I knew she was talking about me, ‘no background’? Ha, she had no idea who I was, or what Johnathan was either. I sucked in my breath. I could see myself leaning down to him, I came back up, with blood on my mouth. I could feel my heartbeat speeding up.
Josh groaned. “Stop... Rue, stop,” he said.
I wanted to, but I needed to break through to his memory of the day they stripped Johnathan of his memory of us, of me. My hands were sweating and I started to feel nauseous. Suddenly, I could see them both clearly in the woods. Josh stood up and looked down at Johnathan.
“Are you sure?” he asked Johnathan.
Johnathan kept his eyes toward the ground, he was on his knees.
“I don't love her. I thought I did but it was a glamor.”
My heart stopped in my chest, I felt a black hole fill it. I let go of Josh and stood up, stumbling back from him. I tripped and fell on the floor. I tried to catch my breath, but everything was spinning in my head, his lips, the taste of his blood in my mouth, the words, “I love you” echoing in my head. Josh stood up and came to me, he knelt down and put his hand on my shoulder. I brushed his hand off of me and pushed myself up.
“I don't believe it,” I whispered.
“I'm sorry, you saw it yourself Rue,” Josh said gently.
The way he said it, like I was being consoled at a funeral, made my stomach turn. I put my hand over my mouth and ran out the front door. I barely made it off the front porch before I bent over and hurled in the grass. I purged everything I had in my stomach and I fell to my knees. I raised my hands to my face and a river of tears came. I sobbed until I felt like I had nothing left. I was trying to catch my breath and I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and Sam was by my side. She put her hand on my face and I sobbed some more. She knelt down next to me and I grabbed her, burying my face in her shoulder. She had her arms around me, holding me close to her.
I pushed back and whispered, “How could he say that...? He said he didn't love me, that it was a glamor that's all Sam. It can't be true, it just can't be.”
She touched my face and her hand felt cold against my skin, I must have been burning up... I felt like it, in a fire of disbelief.
“Rue, Johnathan has a human heart, it is difficult for their kind to separate with what they know. Humans are very sentimental. They bond with their families. We bond, but we are able to move on much easier. Perhaps it was all too much for him, after you both fell into the mirror.”
“He would never leave me, Sam,” I muttered.
She smiled at me. “You won't even consider that this is what he wanted to do, then?”
I looked at her and at my hands. “I know that he loves me, I know he does.”
She grabbed my hand. “Well, you are truly a protector Rue. We always think we know what is best for others.”
I had to think about that for a moment, then I shed the small pull of guilt of letting him make his own choices, maybe I should have respected it, but I could not. I was sure that he lied to himself to allow his memory to be taken... right?
“We need to find him Sam. How long has he been gone?” I asked, a mission blazing in my mind.
“He left two months ago Rue. We have not heard from him since.”
“Good God! I didn't know how long I had been out, Theodore did not say,” I said, shocked.
“Yes... over four months this time, but time is of no concern to us, we don't really count the days Rue. Eventually you will do the same.”
I stood there wondering how I could lay still for so long. “Did Josh feed me this time?” I had to ask, I was hoping that he didn't.
“No… you refused, you said you hated him,” she said.
“Wow, okay… so what did I eat?”
“Nothing... nothing at all,” she said, as she looked at me strangely.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I don't remember.”
“Huh,” she said.
“Well... I don't care how I went four months without food. I don't, we have to find Johnathan.”
Sam started to walk towards the porch, with me in tow. “Have you thought of what you will say when you find him?” she asked me.
“Oh... well, I will give him memory. He'll see that what he did was unnecessary and he will come back with us,” I said, hoping I was convincing not only to her, but to myself.
“Okay, well let’s eat and then we will go on a hunt. Your first real hunt Rue.”
I smiled, feeling all the grief just seeping away from me. I knew when I found him the real work would start, but for now, the thought of finding him was the most important step. After that, I would wing it.
Yep… wing it... oh crap.
We walked back into the house and Josh sat still on the couch. I could tell by the look on his face, that he had no idea what I was going to say. I looked at him and to Theodore and Kai.
“We are going to find Johnathan, then he's coming back with us,” I said, with a matter of fact tone.
Josh stood up and looked at Sam. “I thought you went out there to make some sense to her, Sam?” he said, obviously irritated.
Sam put her arms up. “Really...? Okay, well you tell her ‘no’ Josh. Go ahead!”
Josh looked at me and I crossed my arms. He shook his head.
“Girls,” he muttered.
I ran upstairs and changed into my warrior gear. I stood in the mirror, looking at myself for a moment. I looked completely normal, my eyes looked like they had a fire lit in them. I held my hands at my sides and breathed in slowly. I could feel the core swirling deep in the earth. The tingle started in my feet and pulled all the way to my head. I opened my eyes and looked into the mirror. Blue swirled around me and I lifted my hands up, blue wrapped my skin like a mist. I moved my hands back and forth and watched the blue trail from it, but it never broke off, just laced the air like a tail behind a kite. I looked at myself one more time, and spoke out loud, “You do love me, and I will find you.” I wanted to believe that, I really did.
When I bounded down the stairs Josh stared at me. “So... you geared up I see.” he said with little emotion in his voice.
I looked down at my outfit and back up to him. “Yeah… thought maybe I needed it.”
“It's not really needed… not unless we run into trouble.”
“Well, I feel like we already have trouble Josh. I don't know what is going to happen when I find him and give him his memory back.”
“You?” he asked.
“Yeah, why not,” I said, as I grabbed an apple from the kitchen and took a bite out of it.
He laughed, it annoyed me. “I don't think you will be able to, Rue… sorry, but it's complicated.”
“Really…? Well, you said you threw his memories away, and I found them so…”
Josh interrupted me. “Tell her Theodore, before she does something crazy.”
I looked at Theodore, who had been way to quiet. “What Theodore? What is Josh saying?” I said as I sat down on the chair and took another bite from my apple.
Theodore looked at Josh and then to me. “Well.. .Josh may be right my dear. Taking memories is a messy business, but giving them back is a dangerous proposition. If Johnathan did not want them, if he truly wanted to forget, then he will fight it and he could end up a bit on the crazy side.”
I stood up and walked to the kitchen, tossing the apple core into the trashcan. I got a bottled water and stood at the kitchen window, staring out into the yard. The trees were starting to change colors and a few leaves had fallen to the ground. I watched the wind push them around. I chugged half the bottle of water and without turning I said, “No... he's going to come back to me.”
Josh walked into the kitchen. “Are you one of those girls who has separation issues?”
I set my bottle down and you could hear the crackle of plastic, as I gripped it in my hand. I sighed.
“No… no it's not like that at all, Josh,” I said without looking at him. “I know he did it because he thought he had too, but I will not let him, I can't.”
Josh turned to walk out. “Well you better be prepared for the other outcome, just in case. I'm not going to kidnap anyone for you.”
I turned to watch him walk away from me. I wanted to come back with something witty, but the words just laid stagnant in my mind. I knew there was a chance that we would find him and I could change my mind. Maybe he's happy now, maybe he has a new girlfriend. Maybe he had repaired his relationship with his family, and didn't want this… god knows I didn't. Maybe Josh was right, maybe I just felt abandoned. Maybe I just said goodbye and I didn't want to have to again, but I didn't even get the chance to… with him. I don't accept decisions being made for me. I was going to decide this, since I don't feel like I ever really had a chance to before.
Sam and Kai came out wearing their gear. I smiled at them both. Sam nodded and Kai started to grab food, putting in into his backpack. Sam put her hands on her hips. “What are you doing?” she asked him.
He didn't even look at her. “Getting some snacks… I get hungry.”
She sighed. “That's why they have gas stations and grocery stores, not to mention restaurants.”
He laughed. “Well you may have money, but I don't... so I am grabbing some stuff.”
“Whatever,” she said, as she waved a hand at him.
She leaned over to me and whispered, “He doesn't like it when I pay for things. He does not understand that money is abundant in my family, we've had plenty of time to take advantage of wealth.”
I smiled at her and looked at Kai. I could understand, we had never had a lot of money, but we never took a handout either. He probably felt weird about having them there, basically taking care of us, especially since he obviously liked Sam, a lot.
Everyone piled into Sam's car and we headed to Johnathan's house, maybe they thought that I could pick up his trail there. We pulled up and a “for sale” sign was staked in the yard near the road. I looked up the path and saw leaves piled along it, it didn't look like anyone was taking care of the grounds. I got out of the car and started to walk. Josh jumped out, he leaned into the car.
“You guys stay here... I'll go with her,” he said. I looked back and Josh flashed up to me. I stared up the lane, flashing back, to when I told the urban legend to Sara... seemed like a lifetime ago. Josh stood next to me staring up the lane too. “Well… what's the plan?” he asked me.
“We are going in. I hope nobody's there,” I said.
He grinned. “Sweet… a break in, I love it.”
I looked at him. “No… I just need to find his energy, so I can follow it. Hopefully there is enough here to lead me somewhere.”
He held his hand out in front of him. “Well… children first,” he said.
“Ha Ha... if you think I am a child, then you are a dirty old man Josh.”
He laughed at that one. Truth was... I didn't want to hate him, although I could, for what he had done.
“We need to get this done,” I said, as I flashed towards the house. I reached the porch first. I held my hands up to the glass and peeked in. It looked like there was furniture, but it all had sheets over it. Josh tapped me on the shoulder and I jumped. “What?” I asked.
“I found a way in Rue... follow me.” He jumped off of the porch and walked around the side of the house. I followed him, not wanting my only option to be breaking the glass on the front door. He led us to small back door, he reached for the doorknob and went to turn it. “Wait,” I said.
“What...? Not losing your nerve are you?”
I grinned and tilted my head. “You just live to annoy the crap out of me don't you?”
He bit his lip and turned the door opening it quietly. Then he yelled in… “Anyone here? We are breaking in!” at the top of his lungs. I smacked him on the arm. “What the hell?” I said to him.
He started to walk through the house at a pretty good pace. He yelled back to me, “Yeah…you will just rock at giving him his memory back! You don't even know how to read the energy in a house to know that it is vacant.”
I ran up to him and started to look around. “Sorry… I didn't know,” I said, as I rounded a corner into their large living room.
“What? No come back on that one Rue?” he said, slightly curious as to why I didn't really respond, I was sure.
“Nope you’re right,” I said, as I started to walk through, looking at all the furniture covered up.
“Huh? No way… did you say that I was right?” he said, as he scanned the room too.
“Yep, sure did.” I lifted a sheet to reveal a large Victorian couch. “You were right and I was wrong… end of story.”
“Wow… I think I liked it better when you refused to say you were wrong,” he said, as he lifted a sheet from the wall, uncovering a huge grandfather clock. “Huh,” he said out loud and I walked to him.
“What?” I said, as I peeked around him to see it.
“Oh… it just looks like someone stopped the time, like there was a death or something,” he said, not realizing that I would probably go into panic mode.
“What do you mean? Someone died?” I said with a little too much excitement in my voice.
“It seems that way… look,” he said. He stepped aside, so that I could see that a black sheet had been placed over the clock, under the white one.
“What in the world?” I asked out loud.
“Don't know… you find Johnathan's room, maybe he left something behind that will open up a trail to you. I'm going to search around and see if I can find anything.”
“Okay,” I said.
I left him downstairs and headed towards the second floor. I reached the top of the stairs and stared down two hallways, one to the right and one to the left. All the doors were closed. “Of course,” I muttered to myself. I decided that I would go right. Don't know why, just did.
I started to walk down the hallway and came to the first closed door on my left. I stood still before it, seeing if anything made me feel his presence... nothing.
I opened it anyway and looked around. There was a huge bed in the middle, pressed against the wall. It had sheer white netting draped over it. I scanned the room and came to the conclusion that it must be Sophie's room. Her shelves were stacked with creepy porcelain dolls and pictures adorned her walls of friends... so many from our school. I walked along them and there she was… in her cheerleading outfit, last year’s prom, with her brother, and then one I did not expect at all. One with her family and Caine was sitting in the chair by their fireplace in their living room downstairs. Sophie was holding his hand. I grabbed it from the wall and felt a tingle of vibration in my fingers. I stood there looking at it, when I heard a huge clatter come from downstairs and I dropped it on the floor, glass shattering around my feet.
I ran to the top of the stairs and called down to Josh, “You okay?”
He flashed up to the bottom of the stairs, with a huge smile on his face.
“I think I just broke something expensive down here”
“Be careful Josh!” I yelled down.
“Whatever…” he said, as he flashed away.
I grunted and went back to my detective work.
I don't know why, but I reached over and shut Sophie's door as I passed her room, I guess I was just being polite, even though I was clearly i
ntruding. I kept walking and came to another room and opened the door up. This room was grand. The bed was three of mine put together. It was also draped, but in crimson. I walked in and it smelled like fresh flowers. I looked to the vanity and there were four vases of roses sitting on it. I walked up to them and saw where there had been cards attached to the little green holders, but the cards were all missing. I looked around and saw more pictures, on a huge dark wood dresser. I walked up to them and started to look at each one. Baby pictures. I picked up the third one over and stared at a little boy, blonde hair, dressed in dark clothing. He was sitting on a bench in a garden… the one outback, I assumed. I looked closer and knew it had to be Johnathan looking back at me. My heart fluttered, he looked the same as he had in the library, when I met him the first time, just as pretty, fair skin, pouty lips… sad eyes. I stared at him, wanting to pull him right out of that picture. I turned the frame over and undid the latches holding it in. I removed it and held it in my hand.
Awesome, now I'm a thief too, oh well, at least I'm not destroying things like Josh downstairs. I heard another loud bang downstairs and heard a “Sorry” off in the distance. I sighed and rolled my eyes, I wasn’t even going to ask this time.
I finished looking through the pictures on the dresser and pulled the largest one out that sat behind the others. It was the same picture as the one in Sophie's room, with Caine sitting in that chair. I opened that one up too and took it out. I rolled both of them together and slipped them into one of the straps on my thigh, being careful not to crush them in the process. I walked to the window and could see out into the woods. From this height, the trees looked smaller. I imagined how it would have looked as a child here, everything so large, them so small.
I turned around and headed for the door. I stopped, when I saw a sheet covering something very large in the corner of the room. I walked up to it and pulled the sheet off. A huge mirror stood before me, large enough for two people to stand and see themselves in it, no problem. I reached out to it and felt a humming on its surface. I quickly took my hand off of it and stood there, wondering what the hell Elie had this here for. I started to feel a bit uncomfortable in the room, like I was trapped on an elevator and I backed away from it. I looked over at the roses and walked up to them. I didn't know when they had left here, but the smell was strong in the air...so I touched one. The petal fell, well... maybe longer then I thought. I picked it up and it still felt like it had some moisture left in it. “Huh,” I said to myself.
