The Forgotten

by Bishop O'Connell

  Before long, Wraith couldn’t stand the feel of being stared at. She drew in a deep breath and opened her mouth—­

  “What happened?” Ovation asked.

  Wraith looked up in surprise. “What?”

  “It might help,” Geek said, and offered a kind smile. “If you want to tell us what happened to your friends.”

  She looked from one face to another. She probably owed them that much at least. So she recounted the events at the mega-­mart, the chase through the streets, the snatchers in the squat, and her striding.

  “You’re sure they didn’t get away?” Geek asked. “SK and Fritz, I mean.”

  Wraith shrugged. “Maybe, but I’m sure they got Shadow.” She sighed and had a vague recollection of Shadow’s voice, and pancakes for some reason. “Well, as sure as I am about anything.”

  “Maybe she did too,” Con said. “And if you all agreed to leave—­”

  Wraith shook her head. “They wouldn’t have.”

  “Well, I can’t speak for your friends,” Ovation said. “But we all know the snatchers are real.”

  Everyone looked sad and Sprout cuddled closer to Ovation.

  “What if I am crazy?” Wraith asked.

  “What if you aren’t?” Geek asked.

  Wraith opened her mouth, then closed it. She had never considered the question from that side. It was actually more frightening.

  “Tell us about Shadow,” Ovation said.

  Wraith furrowed her brow. “Why?”

  “Don’t think about it, just tell us about her,” Ovation said.

  “She’s Sioux, and a fifty, but not a faerie changeling. I think her father was a Native American spirit. She can collect light then release it.” Wraith chuckled. “She’s my smoking buddy, and she’s always hungry.”

  “She’s real.” Ovation said. “If she wasn’t, there would be holes in your memories of her, and you would need to stop and think about how to fill any gaps. But you didn’t need to do that.”

  Geek nodded.

  Wraith blinked. “You really think so?”

  “I do. I could see it in your eyes,” Ovation said. “Not to mention, you didn’t talk about her in the past tense. You said she is, not she was.”

  Wraith thought about that and smiled.

  “What about SK and Fritz?” Geek asked.

  Wraith smiled more. “They’re more in love than anyone I’ve ever seen. He’s a smartass, tall and thin. Fritz is tiny and German, still has her accent.”

  “Are they fifties too?” Sprout asked.

  Wraith nodded. “SK’s mother was some kind of mountain faerie, Fritz is part tinker Kobold, kind of like a gremlin.” She could see her friends, all the details, and remember their voices. She started to feel better, a little bit anyway, less disjointed, more solid and real.

  “Thank you,” she said after a moment.

  “Well, maybe you’re not a complete nutter,” Con said.

  Wraith let out a long breath. Hearing a declaration of sanity from someone else, such as it was, was like seeing a ship from the shores of a deserted island. She fully expected to see that ship drift away. But until it did, she enjoyed the long absent sensation of hope.

  “I think you’ve just been through something . . . something really bad” Ovation said. “I’ve seen it before.” He looked at the others then back to Wraith. “You don’t end up on the streets because of anything good, and they’re not the best place to escape the darkness in your past.”

  “Besides,” Geek said. “We can’t all be imagining the snatchers.”

  “Exactly,” Ovations said. “Isn’t there something in science about the simplest answer being the right one?”

  Wraith nodded. “All things being equal, the simplest answer is typically the correct one. It’s called Occam’s Razor.”

  “So what’s more likely?” Ovation asked. “You’re imagining your friends, and just happen to be suffering some memory loss, or you’re blocking out some terrible event in your past?”

  They all ate in silence as Wraith tried to find holes in Ovation’s logic. She was still trying when everyone was ready to get some sleep.

  Sprout offered Wraith and Toto a spot on the floor in her room. Wraith accepted, more reluctantly than the dog.

  “Don’t worry,” Sprout whispered as she cuddled close to Wraith. “You’re not alone anymore. We’ll find a way to help you. Ovation is really good at helping ­people.”

  Wraith just wiped her eyes and listened to the silence.

  She sat on the ledge, not entirely sure how she’d gotten onto the roof of the old factory, took a drag of her cigarette—­which she didn’t remember lighting—­and stared at the skyline. The buildings and Space Needle were so close, it felt like she could reach out and touch them. It was a glittering palace, right at her fingertips and a million miles away, all at the same time. She envied the ­people living in it, and their blissful ignorance. They didn’t know about snatchers, or suffer from lost memories.

  “Can’t sleep?” a voice asked from behind her.

  Wraith barely managed to keep from flinching. “No.”

  “Mind if I join you?” Ovation asked.

  Wraith bit her lip and shrugged. “Free country.”

  Ovation stepped onto the edge of the roof and lowered himself down next to her, legs dangling in the empty air. He smiled and looked out at the city. “I think it’s only so beautiful when it’s far away. That distance keeps you from seeing the dirt and grime; all you see is the shine and sparkle.”

  Wraith tried not to notice how close he was. His hand was resting on the ledge, less than an inch from hers, and their legs almost touched a few times as his swung. “I guess.”

  “When’s the last time you slept?” he asked. “I mean really slept?”

  Wraith opened her mouth to answer, but stopped and thought about it. She felt tired all the time, and had for as long as she could remember. She just sighed and shook her head.

  “That long?” he asked.

  “I honestly don’t know. It’s kind of hard to explain.” Wraith took a long drag from her cigarette and savored the faint burning in her throat before blowing out the smoke. “Besides, you wouldn’t understand.”

  Ovation chuckled. “If you explain it like you did your teleporting, then you’re probably right. But you could try.”

  She laughed, but there was no joy to it. “If you did understand, it would mean you were crazy too, or lying.”

  “I don’t think you’re—­”

  “Don’t.” She looked at him but avoided his eyes. Instead, she took a final drag and flicked the cigarette off into the open air. It tumbled like a red comet to the ground below. “You don’t know. I don’t even know anymore. Not for certain anyway.”

  Ovation furrowed his brow. “Know what?”

  “Anything!” She ran her hands through her hair. “I have all these thoughts in my head and they all make sense to me, but I know they shouldn’t.” She didn’t mention the quantum information, the constant floating numbers and symbols she could pull together. She assumed that all slingers saw them and she didn’t want that assumption ruined. “They could be memories, or I could be quantum leaping from place to place and suffering horrible hallucinations and delusions as a side effect.” She gritted her teeth and gripped her hair. “Damn it, it’s like a dream within a nightmare, and I just want to wake up. I need to wake up, and I can’t do that sleeping. You don’t see. No one does. We’re all sleeping through it and never see the forest for the dreams—­”

  Firm hands gripped her shoulders.

  Wraith tried to slow her breathing. “See what I mean?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I don’t know what’s real, what I remember, or even what I’m saying.”

  “I’m real.”

  “You have no idea how much I want to believ
e that.” She stood and started to walk away as she lit another cigarette.

  Ovation was right behind her. “Maybe I don’t understand, but that doesn’t mean I can’t listen.” He put a hand on her shoulder again and she didn’t shrug it off. It felt like centuries since anyone had touched her. Hell, as far as she knew, it might’ve been.

  “It wouldn’t be so frustrating, if I didn’t know it wasn’t always like this. I used to be normal. At least, I think so.”

  “What, you think the rest of us weren’t?”

  Wraith looked at him. Thinking back, she could almost remember Shadow and the others telling their stories. She fought to remember the words and found even the faces of her friends were growing distant. That really hurt.

  “You can’t think about how things used to be,” Ovation said. “My parents freaked out when I started showing signs of my ability.”

  Wraith had to remind herself to breathe when he stepped closer to her. She was keenly aware of his hand still on her shoulder.

  “They took me to doctors who gave me all kinds of meds. I got sick of it and left one day.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t long before I found my way here and met up with Con. He doesn’t talk much about his time before. We found Geek and Sprout about nine months ago. He was kicked out when he started the Change, and Sprout was left at a mall for the same reason. The point is, we all have our own baggage to deal with. But for what it’s worth, I just keep reminding myself that everything in the past helped to shape who we are now.” He smiled. “And I think that who you are now is pretty cool.”

  Wraith’s throat was dry, and her heart rivaled that of a startled bunny. “You don’t even know me.”

  He reached over, took her hand in his, and squeezed it. “We’ll help you find out what happened, to you and your friends.”

  “Sure, you and the others are going to take on the snatchers to find my friends? Risk your lives, or probably worse, for ­people you’ve never met, just for what? Charity?”

  “Not Sprout, no way am I letting her get involved,” Ovation said. “But I know Geek will want to help, and despite all evidence to the contrary, Con is a decent sort. He’s itching to get out of the shadows and take the fight to the streets anyway.”

  “I don’t even know for sure what’s right or even real. There are things I’m convinced are right, even though they aren’t, and there are so many holes—­”

  “Maybe you do have some holes in your memory,” Ovation said. “You’re clearly packing more power than any dozen slingers I’ve ever met, but it doesn’t mean you’re crazy.” He squeezed her hand again. “It doesn’t mean your friends aren’t real.”

  “Come on.” He pulled her toward the door leading back down into the factory. “You need to get some sleep. We’ll tackle this again in the morning. Besides, if Sprout, or that bear of a dog of yours, wakes up and you’re gone . . .”

  Wraith chuckled and followed him.

  Ovation didn’t let go of her hand until they reached Sprout’s room and Wraith had settled in between the little girl and Toto. “Get some rest,” he whispered. “And remember, you’re not alone in this. Not anymore.” He smiled, then walked silently out of the room.

  Sprout made a sound and Wraith wrapped her arm around the little girl, who snuggled against her in response. After a moment, Wraith closed her eyes, and for the first time that she could remember, sleep was waiting for her like a friend.

  Chapter Ten

  Even in sleep, Wraith felt something was wrong. A darkness was growing that threatened to consume her. She had to wake up, to get away. Somewhere deep inside she knew she couldn’t go far enough to escape. Her only hope was to get help. Her friends could help her push the darkness back, but—­

  She felt reality shift around her. As if she was experiencing quantum superposition—­existing in more than one place at the same time. Then, like a rubber band pulled and released, she felt her quantum state snap back, collapsing into a single—­

  “You can’t sleep here,” someone said in a low tone.

  There was a nudge to her shoulder and the sound of a spinning coin settling on the table. Wraith opened her eyes and looked at the waitress for a long moment. She was young, her sandy blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her name tag said Sarah. Wraith imagined she was normally pretty, but the dark circles under her pale blue eyes said she was probably working a double shift, and it wasn’t the first time.

  Wraith blinked and looked around the coffee shop. When had she gotten here? Hadn’t she just been somewhere else? Her mind was a jumble, and she couldn’t make the pieces come together.

  Sarah whispered. “If my boss sees you sleeping, he’ll toss you.” She refilled Wraith’s coffee mug. “So long as you’re awake and paying, even if it’s just a cup of coffee, he won’t say anything.”

  Wraith opened her mouth, to ask where she was, but all that came out was, “Thanks.” When the smell of the coffee hit her, she absently added several creams and lots of sugar to the warm liquid without ever looking at the cup.

  Sarah furrowed her brow. “Are you, um, waiting for someone?”

  Wraith looked up at Sarah and nodded. “Yes,” she said. “That’s it, thank you. I’m waiting for my friends. They’re coming to help me.” Something about that didn’t seem right. “I think this was our backup plan.” Wraith saw the quarter on the table, picked it up and without knowing why, spun it. Drifting numbers and symbols encircled the coin and revolved with it. Every second or so, a number or symbol would fly off and be replaced by another. Wraith took a large swallow of coffee, the taste of it like a lifeline to something real. Pieces began to come together. “Yes, that’s it. I’m waiting for my friends.”

  “You look hungry. I think we have some soup left.”

  Wraith’s mouth watered, but she shook her head. “No, thanks. I’ve only got a ­couple dollars, and I’m saving that for coffee and your tip.”

  “Well, the soup isn’t exactly fresh, but it’s warm.” Sarah smiled. “We’d just throw it out.”

  Wraith forced a smile. “Thank you, that sounds great.”

  “I’ll bring some extra crackers too,” Sarah said, then headed off.

  Wraith lit a cigarette, glad you still could in Texas, and drank more coffee, looking from the still-­spinning quarter to the clock. Three thirty in the morning, and every second that passed sucked away a little more hope. The coffee shop was nearly empty, just a group of mundy street kids five booths down. They kept staring. Wraith tried to ignore the feeling, but it was hard. She knew they saw her as different, a freak among freaks.

  “It’s lonely at the bottom,” she said to no one in particular.

  Wraith rubbed at her still-­healing wrists as she chain-­smoked her way to her third cigarette, always one eye on the ever-­spinning quarter. Sarah returned with the promised soup and crackers, refilled the coffee, and gave a wan smile. It made her tired eyes shine. Wraith’s spotted an origami rose poking out of her uniform shirt pocket. It looked like it was made from a crisp bill.

  “I’m sure they’ll show up soon,” Sarah said.

  Wraith ate a ­couple spoonfuls of soup and looked to the door just as Shadow, SK, and Fritz came in. The trio made a beeline for Wraith. She let out a breath, snatched the quarter from the table, and slumped back against the seat.

  The trio moved around Sarah and slid into the booth, Shadow next to Wraith.

  “You guys want some coffee?” Sarah asked.

  “Thanks, but we’re not staying long,” SK said.

  “Okay. Well, be safe.” Sarah set a check on the table and walked away.

  “Eat your soup,” Shadow said. “We really do need to go.”

  “I’ll help,” SK said. He grabbed her spoon and began eating.

  “Me too,” Fritz said and began opening a packet of crackers, sliding another packet to Wraith.

  W
raith hugged Shadow tight. “How did you slip the snatchers?”

  Shadow hugged back just as tight. “After you got away, they called for another van, but didn’t put the hood back on.” She nodded at Fritz and SK as they devoured the soup and crackers. “I saw them before the snatchers did and made a supernova of a strobe light.”

  “And in the confusion,” SK said, “I held them in place while Fritz, my brilliant and beloved tinker, snuck in and popped the locks.”

  “Holy crap,” Wraith said in a whisper.

  “Ja,” Fritz said. “We’re amazing, it’s true.”

  “What happened after you got away?” Shadow asked.

  “I went back to the squat and fell asleep waiting for you,” Wraith said. “I woke up when—­” She shook her head, trying to untangle the memories. “I’m not sure what happened after that.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Shadow squeezed Wraith’s hand. “You’re safe, that’s what matters.”

  Wraith nodded. “For now. But I can feel the darkness coming—­”

  Shadow touched Wraith’s cheek. “We’re here, Stretch, and together, and we can beat anything.”

  Wraith smiled and nodded. “Well, whatever happened, I do know Toto helped me get away.”

  “And where is Herr Mutley?” Fritz asked, her accent warping the w in where into a v sound.

  “Under protest, he’s waiting behind a Dumpster out back. I had to bribe him with extra treats to stay,” Wraith said, not really remembering that, but knowing it was right.

  “Sorry it took us so long to find you,” Shadow said.

  “We didn’t want to risk going back to the squat,” SK said. “We’ve been using doors all day, moving all over the country to make sure we didn’t have a tracking spell on us.”

  “We waited until we were certain it was safe before we used the coins,” Fritz said.

  “Kudos again on that idea,” SK said through a final mouthful of soup.

  “The burden of a genius,” Wraith said, then shoved some crackers into her mouth. She was still proud of herself thinking of the coins, mostly because it was so simple. She’d enchanted a penny, a dime, a nickel, and a quarter. Each would point to only one of the others.