Buried in Sunshine

by Matthew Fish

  Just as Emma is about to put the car into drive, a chime announces itself from her purse. She quickly digs into the purse and retrieves her cell phone. A small notification on the bottom says that she has received a text. It is from Ethan.

  Emma. I am so sorry. I do not know what to do or what to say to fix this. If you do not want to hear from me any further I completely understand. I did. I do care about you. I am so confused. Again, I am so sorry for what my father did.

  “Do you text?” Emma asks as she hands the phone over to Justine.

  “Doesn’t everyone?” Justine asks as she reads over the message.

  “I…don’t know how?”

  “Sorry,” Justine says as she unsuccessfully attempts to hide a small chortle of laughter. “I can text for you.”

  Emma puts the car into drive and sighs heavily. “What should I say?”

  “This is the son of the guy who tried to kill you?”

  “Yes,” Emma says begins to drive away from Justine’s apartment. “He’s also kind of my boyfriend.”

  “Oh,” Justine says in a whisper. “That is…difficult isn’t it—well it looks like he doesn’t hate you. This is the guy that you and Julie were talking about…right?”

  “Yes,” Emma says a she attempts to think of some kind of response to Ethan’s message. “I was so sure he was going to hate me.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong though…”

  “I confronted his father, I told him that I’d tell Ethan about the affair—“Emma begins as she takes a turn and heads out of the city. “I was angry. I was pretty cruel. I set him off—he wouldn’t have attacked me or committed suicide if I had been a bit more compassionate.”

  “But…” Justine says as she looks blankly at the phone. “He was a murderer.”

  “He must feel so alone right now,” Emma whispers.

  “If you still care for him,” Justine begins as she touches the screen to keep the phone from going into sleep mode. “He probably needs you.”

  “I do…” Emma says. “I just feel so guilty.”

  “I’m writing that you’re sorry for what happened and that you care for him as well,” Justine says as he quickly thumbs through the on screen text.

  “Ask him if he blames me?”

  “I’m sure he doesn’t,” Justine says as she shakes her head. “I’ll add it. Is there anything else you would like me to add to this?”

  “Just that I really like him,” Emma says as she feels an overwhelming sadness. “That I’m sorry for his loss…that should be all.”

  “Sent,” Justine says as she hangs onto the phone.

  A few minutes later the phone chimes back.

  “What does it say?”

  “Can I see you?” Justine reads from the screen.

  “Ask him to come to the house,” Emma says as she nods once.

  “Right now…?” Justine asks as she types in the message.

  “Yeah,” Emma says softly. “I think I can do something that will prove that I’m not crazy, if that makes any sense. If I can do it—then I want you both to see it. Maybe with your help, and Ethan’s help, I can stop this from happening. I mean, I hate to drag you into this.”

  “Oh well if it means the end of the world,” Justine says as she sends the text message. “You can count me out—burning to death sounds like a wonderful idea.”

  Emma lets out a short burst of laughter. “I’m serious.”

  “I know,” Justine says as she nods and places Emma’s phone back into her purse. “Promise me one thing though—“

  “Alright….”

  “If this doesn’t work out, and you don’t find what you want—or expect,” Justine says as she changes her demeanor to one of deadly seriousness. “That you will come with me and see Dr. Riley.”

  “I promise,” Emma says as she nods once. “I thought you believed me though?”

  “I do,” Justine says reassuringly. “We just can’t rule out that…”

  “It’s all in my head.”

  “I’ve been there,” Justine says. “All in your head can be quite a powerful thing. When you don’t know what is real or not—what I went through when I was recovering felt real. I don’t really have any validation that it was—so you have to be open to the possibility that this is not what you think it is.”

  “I understand,” Emma says. Of course she doubts whether or not this is real—but after everything she has seen she believes. That would be the hard part though, wouldn’t it? I mean what seems concrete and completely real to her could be just that—only real to her. After all, Justine did not see Hope either time at the pier. “I get where you’re coming from. If nothing works here—I’ll know.”

  “That’s the only condition I ask,” Justine says. “Otherwise count me in with my full support.”

  “I appreciate it,” Emma says. It has been longer than she can remember since she last had a friend. In a way, all these terrible events have left her feeling more alive than they have in forever. She only wished that there was no strange end of the world scenario attached to this reawakening.

  *

  “Where is it?” Emma asks as she searches the kitchen.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “That necklace you sold to me—the one that was a gift for a friend,” Emma answers as she finds the kitchen table bare. Perhaps the police took it along with the note.

  “It’s here,” Justine says as she pulls up the yellow glass necklace from beneath the leg of one of the kitchen stools and hands to Emma.

  “Thank you,” Emma says as she holds the shimmering glass piece in the sunlight.

  “Is this what we are here for?”

  “This is part of it.”

  A knock on the door brings a feeling of dread to Emma as she hesitates. The last time she opened up the door she was attacked.

  “Are you alright?” Justine asks, noticing the look of dread upon Emma’s face.

  “Yeah,” Emma whispers.

  “I’ll answer it,” Justine says as she heads for the door. She places her hand on the doorknob.

  Emma takes in a heavy breath and attempts to calm her nerves as the door opens. To her relief, although she does not know why she expected something sinister—Brian was dead, Ethan steps into the doorway. He looks tired, like he has not slept.

  “Hello,” Ethan says as he curiously looks upon the new face.

  “Justine,” Justine says as steps aside. “I’m a friend of Emma’s.”

  “Emma…”

  “Ethan,” Emma says as she nods.

  Ethan rushes over to Emma, taking her by surprise; he places his arms around her and squeezes her tightly against his chest. “I’m so sorry about what happened—I was on my way here after I got your message, but then the hospital called and said that you had attempted suicide, you only had four contacts on your phone—so I rushed home to tell my father and…”

  “I’m so sorry,” Emma whispers. Although she is happy to see Ethan, she feels awkward in his arms. “I’m sorry about your mother—“

  “I had no idea, I swear, that my father was capable of doing anything like that,” Ethan says as he becomes choked up with emotion. “I can’t believe he tried to kill you. I can’t believe…they’re both gone.”

  “It’s my fault,” Emma whispers as she backs away.

  “Don’t say that Emma,” Ethan says as he attempts to reach for her, but she continues to back away.

  “I confronted your father about the affair—“Emma says as she gets it all off of her chest. “He begged me not to tell you.”

  “Of course he did, he did not want to be shown for the murderer he was.”

  “I was not nice,” Emma admits sadly.

  “You should not have been,” Ethan says as he shakes his head. “Why do you blame yourself for this?”

  “We’re good at it,” Justine adds from the corner, and then coughs as though she is attempting to hide the fact that she said anything at all.

  “There�
��s something I need you to see,” Emma says as she holds up the glass sun necklace. “The idea to tear down the wall—the letters from your father…I didn’t find these things on my own. Not even the hidden room with the broken concrete.”

  “Who showed you?”

  “There is something happening that I don’t understand,” Emma begins as she heads toward the spiral staircase. “There is more than one version of me, they’re different—they have their own personalities. They are the ones that told me what to look for, what to do.”

  “Different versions of you…?” Ethan asks skeptically. “Are you alright Emma?”

  “That’s what we’re here to find out,” Justine adds as she follows behind Emma as they begin to ascend the staircase.

  Ethan shrugs his large shoulders as he reluctantly follows up the stairs.

  Emma leads Ethan and Justine to her old attic room. The sun shines in brightly through the window and frames the worn couch in a brilliant beam of sunlight. She paces around the room for a moment. Is she crazy for thinking that this is even possible? She fears that ultimately she will end up just looking foolish and that she will have to take Justine up on that offer to go and make a visit to Dr. Riley—perhaps, that is what she really needs. The idea that she can do something strange, that she can show Ethan and Justine something she, herself, barely believes, seems absurd to her. Still, she has to try.

  Emma places the necklace upon the couch. Its yellow glass sun glows brightly and refracts against the wall painting it yellow in wide sun-shaped swathes. She then gets to her knees. She does not know exactly what she is doing, but she begins to concentrate.

  “What are you doing Emma?” Ethan asks.

  “Shhh…” Justine whispers as she jabs the tall man in the ribs. “Just let her do this.”

  Emma does not know if Justine has said this because she believes Emma, or if she just wants to get this over with because she believes even a negative outcome will somehow be of help. Emma wonders if this is true. Hope said that he had power…however, she gave no direction. Emma was doing all this just based on the pure assumption that she could.

  “Elizabeth,” Emma whispers. “I need you back.”

  Emma watches the glass necklace intently. A few moments pass and the doubt begins to grow even larger within her. “Elizabeth—if you can hear me, return to me—follow the sound of my voice. I am so sorry. I should have done things your way. Please forgive me and return.”

  After a while passes and nothing happens, “Ethan lowers himself down and whispers to Emma, “Who is Elizabeth?”

  “She is someone who looks just like me,” Emma whispers, realizing how crazy that statement sounds. “She is the one that helped me to become better.”

  “Where did she go?” Ethan kindly asks as he places his and on Emma’s back.

  “She disappeared, the day that your father…”

  “She just disappeared?” Ethan asks.

  “I know that you probably don’t believe that she was real,” Emma says as she lets out a frustrated sigh and places her hand upon the sun-faded sofa. “I am not crazy—she was here…I mean I may be crazy, but there is no way that I could have known the things that she did.”

  “You’re not crazy Emma,” Ethan says as he rubs her back gently. “I think that with all that’s happened, neither of us is going to be the same—I swear I saw my mother last night as I was driving. When I looked again it was an old guy in a wheelchair. The mind…it can play a lot of cruel tricks on you—especially when you’re hurt.”

  “We don’t have to go and see Dr. Riley,” Justine concedes as she rests against the wall and folds her arms. “I did believe that something was going to happen—if it makes you feel any better.”

  “Thank you…both of you,” Emma says softly as she runs her hand against the warm surface of the couch. She runs her hand against the smooth glass of the sun charm and thinks of picking it up and giving up. However, a thought comes to mind. Emma remembers nearly falling from the stairs and Elizabeth saying ‘stop’—that was enough to keep her suspending in the air. When Alexis confronted Brian and forced him she used single word commands. Could it really be that simple? Could she have the same power? Emma closes her eyes and places her hand out in front of her.

  “Return…” Emma commands.

  As Emma opens her eyes she sees the familiar girl dressed in white. She begins to cough loudly and shake as though she has just come in from a frigid winter day.

  Ethan falls back and lands upon his rear as he quickly backs away in shock. “What the fuck am I seeing?”

  “It’s real?” Justine asks from her place in the corner of the room. Her voice does not carry the same sense of shock as Ethan’s—merely more of a sense of amazement.

  “I did it,” Emma whispers as she places her hand into Elizabeth’s.

  “Where was I?” Elizabeth asks.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Emma says as she helps Elizabeth into the direct beam of sunlight overhead. “You’re back now. I won’t let you disappear permanently, I promise. I’m so sorry for being so angry. I had no idea it would hurt you.”

  “You brought me back?”

  “I had to,” Emma says as she smiles happily.

  “How did you do it?” Elizabeth says as she shakes her head. “How much time is left?”

  “Three days…and I just commanded that you return, and you did.”

  “Am I crazy?” Ethan asks as he watches the two girls that could be twins talk about things that he does not understand at all.

  “In this room,” Justine adds with a little laugh as though she is more amused than troubled by this turn of events. “We’re probably all crazy—but if you’re asking if this is really happening, it is.”

  “I’m going to…” Ethan begins as he places around the room with one of his hands rubbing against the side of his head. “I need to step out of the room—I’ll just be right outside the door. I think I may pass out, or wake up. Who knows at this point?”

  “I’ll step out with you,” Justine says, “I have a feeling that these two have a bit to discuss.”

  Emma places her arms around Elizabeth and embraces her tightly. “I will never let my anger get the better of me again.”

  “I know what Alexis has done,” Elizabeth says as her eyes lower down to the ground and a single tear escapes from one of her sparkling blue eyes. “She’s gotten more powerful. I didn’t understand why you blacked out that day—but I think I do now. She’s trying to become more dominate than the rest of us.”

  “Did I disappear?”

  “No, but you went very cold,” Elizabeth answers as she lets out a heavy sigh. “The more powerful she is allowed to be—the more likely it is that we’ll disappear--that even you will disappear with the sunset.”

  “How do I stop her?” Emma asks. The thought that their roles could be reversed terrifies her.

  “Remain stronger than she is,” Elizabeth says as she looks into Emma’s eyes. “You have power—but it doesn’t mean you should use it to hurt her. Find out what she needs.

  “Isn’t she our enemy?”

  “We’ll never be able to stop her from taking over if we consider her to be.”

  “But after what she did to Ethan’s parents…” Emma whispers. She does not want Ethan to overhear that one of her clones had murdered his parents. In his already troubled state it would probably drive him over the edge.

  “You have to forgive her.”

  “I can’t forgive her for hurting Ethan like that—or the mother, even if Brian Metcalfe was a murderer, his family did not deserve to suffer,” Emma whispers as she narrows her eyes into slits as the thought fills her with anger.

  “It’s this idea that we need to hurt each other in order to get even, to get revenge, that will cause this to not end well. You could probably destroy her if you wish. You probably have that kind of power—will it bring back Ethan’s mother though? Will it make his suffering less? When you went into that office and showed no comp
assion towards Brian, how long did it make you feel better about yourself?”

  “Not very long,” Emma says as she begins to realize that her hatred towards Alexis might be just as well suited for herself.

  “You have to forgive yourself as well…”

  “I don’t know how,” Emma says as she shakes her head and buries her face against the side of the warm couch. “I don’t think I’ve ever been able to.”

  “Before the end comes,” Elizabeth whispers as she places her hand upon Emma’s head and gently runs it through her hair. “You will have to learn to.”

  “What does it all matter though…?” Emma says as she keeps her head against the warm cushioning of the couch. “We’ll all disappear soon. Why do we have to spend these last days sorting things out—is this just some kind of game? I mean does it matter who has the power when the sun comes to take me—to take us all?”

  “Everything has to end,” Elizabeth says as she continues to stroke Emma’s head. “It’s what we do with the last of our time that matters. You can choose to do nothing, but know this—Alexis is hurting. Probably more than any of us…”

  “Will it change anything though? My friends…it’s unfair that they have to die.”

  “Would you sacrifice yourself to save them?”

  “I would…”

  “Heal us,” Elizabeth whispers as she draws close to Emma. “Help Alexis…the smallest change can alter the course of the future. I appeared here, hating you and expecting you to hate me as well—but I had to care for you—it was my job. You changed my opinion about you by becoming my…friend. You rescued me from that empty darkness…that void of nonexistence and brought me back. You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I did,” Emma whispers. “I promised you that I needed you. I had to keep that promise.”

  “Then I would ask you to truly cast aside your anger and promise me that you will help Alexis—she needs you. She may try and cast you away. She may even try and harm you, but although she does not know it, she desperately needs you.”

  “I’ll do it for you,” Emma says as she slowly raises her head.

  “Do it for you,” Elizabeth says as she smiles.