My mouth was still agape as Norah hopped out of the car. “This is our house!” she exclaimed. “Can I show her my room, mom?”
“Calm down,” Kate replied with a smile. “She’s only coming in for some dinner.”
“But why can’t she stay with us?” Norah replied. “It’s much nicer than a stinky hospital!”
The thought of going somewhere foul smelling was less than ideal, but I hardly wanted to impose on this selfless woman who’d already come to my aid – whether I’d required it or not.
“You are such a kind girl,” I said, “but your mother is right. I need to try and figure out what to do since I cannot recall who I am. Staying here would only be a burden to you, and I couldn’t do that.”
“Mo-om!” Norah bellowed. “Tell her she can stay. She wouldn’t be a burden!”
Kate smiled again and gave me a knowing look. The innocence of a child was refreshing and I seemed to like Kate and Norah more with every passing moment.
“Let’s just get dinner for now,” Kate said as she reached to her side and opened the car door.
Having seen the lever Kate used to open her door, I did the same, and followed them inside. The house was small compared to my castle, but, when Kate slid her hand across something on the wall, bathing the room in light, I could not help being astounded by what I saw. The walls were smooth and white, all perfect angles, and the floors were nearly completely covered with a soft, pale rug. The rooms I could see from where I stood were filled with furniture and other things; things that I could neither name nor imagine a purpose for.
Norah ran into another room and picked up some sort of wand. Pointing it at a dark mirror on the wall, she brought it to life, and we were suddenly watching other people through the glass. I nearly fell over and Kate had to help steady me.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I couldn’t hide my confusion. “What is that magic?” I whispered.
Given what I was seeing now, I was back to wondering if I had in fact entered a world of magic. I’d never been a believer before, but the witch had clearly done something to me, and she could have brought me into a world with such power. How could I be the judge of what was possible given how little I knew about everything that was going on?
Kate looked at me, the concerned expression back on her face, and said, “There’s no magic… It’s just a television. Your memory is really playing tricks on you. It probably doesn’t help that you haven’t eaten. Let’s get some food.”
She led me into what she claimed was the kitchen, but it looked completely foreign to me. She opened a cupboard and pulled out what I recognized as bread, but it was wrapped in something clear and shiny. Then, she opened another door and my breath caught in my throat. After the ‘television,’ I wasn’t about to accuse her of more magic, but I could not believe what my eyes were seeing. There were more lights inside the door, but more astounding than that, it was cold, far colder than the room; winter air flowed from inside the door. Kate pulled lettuce, tomatoes, and some other food from the vast array of items stocked inside, then shut the door and the cold air was once again completely contained.
As she put together sandwiches, Kate filled the silence by asking me a few questions about myself. The truth was that I could have answered them had it not been for my secret, but as it was, I played ignorant.
“Do you remember your last name, Emily?”
“No,” I said.
“What about where you’re from?”
I shook my head.
“Can you remember anything about your family?”
My thoughts lingered for a moment on my parents and I didn’t have to pretend to be sad. I sighed. “I look at you and Norah, how much you love each other, and I hope I have someone out there, but I don’t know. I have a terrible feeling that I’m all alone.” Kate looked so distressed by my words that I quickly changed the subject. “Where is your husband?” I asked.
I was surprised when Kate laughed bitterly.
“You mean Norah’s father? I’m afraid he’s long gone. We lived together for a few years but never actually got married. After Norah was born, he found someone younger and prettier.”
“He left you to raise his daughter alone?”
“Yeah,” she said, “it’s hard. I mean, I know single mothers aren’t uncommon these days, but I still feel like I’m robbing Norah of something, even though it was David’s fault.”
“What kind of man would abandon his family?”
“Oh, Emily, you’re very sweet,” Kate said with a sympathetic smile, “you really don’t know this world at all, do you? Men leave women and children all the time. I have a whole group of women I hang out with in the exact same boat as me. Men suck.”
I was glad she thought I was sweet, but my mind was pulsing with anger. Some things had clearly changed drastically in this strange time. Kate had spoken of both living with a man outside of marriage and bearing his child so confidently, with no shame at all, that I must believe these things were not the taboo in this place that they were in mine; however, one thing had not changed at all. Men were still the same disgusting, selfish creatures that they’d always been. In less than a day here, I had encountered a lecher intent an assaulting me, and learned of this David who used Kate and then left her to fill the bed of his next target.
I could feel warmth coursing through my veins the more I thought about it. A deep desire to find her former lover and rake him across a pit of coals teased me from within. Knowing that I wouldn’t need to stop with him only made the rush even stronger. This world was more in need of me than I could’ve ever imagined.
“That’s not fair,” Kate went on, oblivious to my murderous musings, “Joe is a good guy. There are some out there.”
“I’ve never met one,” I replied before I could catch myself.
“You remember something?” Kate asked excitedly.
“No – not really,” I replied, trying to recover. “I just have a feeling that my experience has been much the same. I don’t exactly have a good taste in my mouth toward men for some reason.”
“Perhaps one hurt you, and that’s why you can’t remember anything. I do hope they can help you figure out who you are.”
‘It was no man who did this to me,’ I thought to myself.
“Perhaps,” was my reply. “What do you think they’ll do with me if I just can’t remember anything?”
Kate gave me an honest look and said, “I don’t know. I would imagine they’ll make sure you’re taken care of until they can find out where you’re from.”
I nodded. Not knowing what was going to happen was getting under my skin. I liked control, and I didn’t have the faintest idea what to expect. Everything in this world was foreign and I was in no position to make any plans until I was able to get more of my bearings.
As Kate got up and collected our dishes, I noticed a very realistic painting on the wall and underneath the painting was a diagram of numbers.
Seeing me looking, Norah, who had just skipped into the kitchen, said brightly, “do you like our calendar? I picked it.” She pointed to a square and said, “I get to go to a birthday party in six days.”
As my mind began to understand what I was looking at, I noticed that the calendar indicated that this was the year 2020. It had been more than two hundred years since I’d encountered the witch during my escape, and yet, I wasn’t any older. Magic was the only explanation.
“You look utterly exhausted,” Kate said. “We should probably get to the hospital, but if you’d like to rest a bit first, we can go later. Honestly, they’ll probably have a million questions for you, and it might be a while before you can get any decent rest once you’re there.”
“Are you sure that isn’t too much trouble?” I asked, touched by her hospitality and compassion.
“Of course,” she replied. “I’m a good judge of character and I can tell that you’re a good person.”
It was hard not to laugh at her comment. I wonder
ed if she’d still call me a good person If she knew the real me. Probably not, although maybe in her position she would understand my unique mission.
“Well I cannot thank you enough,” I said, “If there is anything I can do to help, please just let me know.”
Kate insisted that I was a guest and walked me back into the room with the television. I saw that the people within the frame who had previously been moving were now perfectly frozen. No one so much as blinked or breathed. Norah picked up the same wand she had used earlier, and the people began moving and speaking again.
“Is there something you want to watch on TV?” Norah asked politely, offering the wand to me. I shook my head. She pointed the wand back at the TV, and the people abruptly changed, then changed again. Finally, Norah said, “I think you’ll like this show. You can sit by me on the couch.”
I sat down upon the very large, comfortable chair, and did my best to imitate Norah. She seemed very relaxed as she stared at the TV, so I struggled to keep my awe to myself. I realized that it was like a stage performance. It was entertaining, and I wanted to keep watching, but my eyelids grew heavier and I soon fell asleep. When I woke up, the TV was dark and Norah was no longer there.
“You’ve been asleep for two hours,” Kate said as she picked up a few things from the table. “Norah went to bed so you might as well use my guest bed and get some good sleep. We’ll get you to the hospital in the morning.”
I was surprised to find that I was still exhausted, so I didn’t argue at all. Kate showed me to her guest quarters, and I laid down in what was the most comfortable bed I’d ever known. It took me no time at all to drift back off into my slumber, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in that same room with the sun shining brightly through the window.
I could hear noises from outside the door and when I stepped out, a smell hit me that brought an instant growl to my stomach.
Norah shouted from her seat at the table as I entered the kitchen, “Good morning, Emily!”
“Good morning,” I replied.
“I hope you slept well,” Kate offered with a big smile. “You’re just in time for breakfast.”
She set some eggs and meat in front of me that smelled unlike anything I’d ever had before. There was a sweetness to the meat that I wasn’t accustomed to, but it was very good. I cleared my plate, and when I looked up, I saw that I had eaten much faster than Kate or Norah.
“You must have been really hungry,” Norah said with wide eyes.
“I guess so,” I said, my cheeks coloring a little. “That was delicious.”
“I’m glad you liked it,” Kate replied with another sweet smile. “Anything coming back to you at all?” she asked.
“No.”
I didn’t enjoy lying, but there wasn’t any other choice. I could pretend I was without my memory and have them try to help me, or I could be honest and tell her I was frozen in time for many generations, and I’d most likely be considered insane and locked away.
“Well, we should probably get on our way pretty soon then,” Kate said.
She seemed a little sad, and I realized that I was too. I’d only just met these two ladies the night before, but they were my only link to this world, and they’d been so kind and compassionate towards me. I really didn’t want to leave.
I insisted on helping clean up after breakfast and Norah showed me where things went. When we were done, Kate offered me a sweatshirt since it was a cooler day, and we headed back out to her car and then on to the hospital. I was even more fascinated with my surroundings in the daylight, but Norah kept up a conversation the entire drive and I didn’t want to ignore her. It was clear that she was sad about having to say goodbye to me. The feeling was very much mutual. I’d never been one to befriend others too quickly, but there was something about Kate and Norah that I felt drawn to. My servants had been well paid to take care of me, but these people had nothing at all to gain from helping me. I couldn’t think of another person who’d ever done anything for me out of a purely selfless motivation.
Not knowing what to expect once we arrived, I readied myself, going over my story in my head and doing my best to make sure I didn’t say anything that might cause them to question my story about amnesia. If I said anything about my past, it was likely that no one would believe me, and I’d be stuck on the defensive. I was also trying to figure out where I might end up staying while they went on chasing after an identity that I knew could not actually be found. Would there be a home for me to stay in? Would they make me stay in the hospital? Would I be left to fend for myself in a world I knew nothing about?
I hardly had any time to consider the matter fully as Norah continued to talk my ear off. She was, in her own way, processing much of the same information that I was, but answering her questions hardly allowed me time to fully dwell on the options in front of me. Kate hushed her daughter a few times, perhaps sensing that she was making me a little bit uncomfortable, but it was the situation, not the sweet, innocent girl, that was causing my anxiety. Before I knew it, we arrived in front of a large building with a white cross on the side. It was not what I’d expected at all.
The hospitals I was used to were little more than well centers for the poor and hopeless. I’d expected a modern version of that, but what I found was something different entirely. It was clean, well-managed, and had more people inside than I knew from the entire village nearest my castle. There was a roomful of people waiting to see doctors, but rather than appearing to be near death, as I had expected, many of them did not seem to be visibly sick.
We approached a woman behind a desk and Kate spoke to her for a moment in a quiet tone. The woman slid something in my direction. I started at it blankly, not knowing what she expected me to do with it; it appeared to be a stack of papers.
Noticing my hesitation, Kate gently reached for it, saying, “Let’s fill these out together.”
I gratefully watched as she took what appeared to be a flower from a bucket on the desk, and began to write with it. Apparently, I was supposed to fill out information about myself, but aside from writing the name ‘Emily Lynn,’ Kate left most of the sheet blank.
When we were done with the papers, the three of us sat down where the other people were waiting. Norah leaned her head on my arm. Kate gave me a look of apology and was about to say something, but I waved her off. In my previous life, I had not had much contact with children. Even when I when I had been young myself, I had always been somewhat uncomfortable around them. I looked at Norah. I felt the solid weight of her head pressing against me and smelled the sweetness of her hair. I smiled, in spite of the situation I was in. We seemed to share a connection. That meant something, and I didn’t want to shrug it off.
None of us spoke as we waited. More people shuffled in and joined us in our waiting; periodically, a name would be called and someone would leave. There were TVs on above us and they all had different shows on at the same time. I was trying to figure out how all that worked, but it was more than I could process in the moment. Kate pulled something from her handbag and a screen, not much different than the TVs, came to life at the swipe of her hand. Looking around, I noticed that many of the people in the room had the same or similar objects of their own. How had I not noticed before? It was why the room was so quiet. Everyone seemed lost in their own little world.
I spent the rest of the wait stroking little Norah’s hair as she stayed snuggled up next to me like I was a dear aunt and not a stranger she’d only met the night before. Kate finally put her handheld TV away and looked over at her daughter who had fallen asleep on my shoulder.
“She gets very attached. I hope it doesn’t make you uncomfortable,” said Kate with a smile.
“Not at all,” I replied genuinely. “I think it’s sweet. I’ve never had anyone I was close to, and you have both been so kind to me. You must be a very good mother.”
Kate blushed a little at the compliment. “I don’t know about that, but I do the best I can, despite her fath
er’s influence.”
“I thought he was gone?” I asked, my interest piqued.
“Not completely. He left me, but he still does the bare minimum for Norah. He pays for his share and takes her on the days he’s supposed to, but that’s it. He has no real time for her, even when he has her, and he sets a terrible example for her. He’s been dating since we separated and brings all kinds of women around. He left me for his secretary, but that ended as soon as it began, and since then it has just been a meat market for him. He’s the most arrogant man I’ve ever met, and I have no idea what I ever saw in him to begin with.”
“It sounds like you’d both be better off without him,” I said, wondering if that would be offensive or alarming.
“It would if I still got the insurance money,’ she said. “Sadly, if I kill him, they won’t pay me.”
I didn’t really know what she was talking about, but she was clearly not overly concerned with his wellbeing. I looked down at Norah leaning on my arm, wondering what kind of man could have such a sweet daughter and not give his very all to provide her with the best upbringing. From what I knew of Kate, I felt that he must be someone truly stupid to have left such a beautiful and loving woman as well.
I was about to say something else when I heard them call my name for the third time. Emily Lynn hadn’t registered the first few times, but it seemed to click in both my and Kate’s minds at the same time. She picked Norah up so that I could stand. The young girl rubbed her eyes and asked if it was time to say goodbye.
“Not yet,” Kate replied. “We need to go in with her to help answer any questions they have. Once we’re done with that it will be time to head home.”
Norah’s mood darkened as our final goodbye loomed ahead of us. A woman led us back through some heavy doors to a curtained off bed where I sat, with Kate and Norah in a couple of chairs beside me. I wasn’t sure why they’d relocated us, because we just continued to wait for another length of time. At least here, with a measure of privacy, we had a better discussion.
Evil Unbound- Death's Mistress Returns Page 4
