Forgotten

Chapter Twenty Seven

Sorry again for the long wait, I've been really busy lately and that was even before Camp NanoWriMo started. It's almost summer though and then updates will be a lot more common. 

“So what do you want to know?” I asked, distracted by Zane’s fingers brushing softly along my arm.

His fingers paused for a moment, but continued when he spoke. “Why did you join the circus? It’s not really an ordinary job.”

“It was the first thing that came along. I woke up on the side of a road with no memories. So I walked along the road, not sure what I was looking for. When I came across a circus, I felt sort of drawn to it. Ally found me wandering around and I explained how I didn’t know who I was. She said she could probably get me a job as a crew member if I wanted it. I took her up on the offer and as soon as Lewis, he was the one in charge, saw me perform one of the routines, he hired me on as a performer. I had nowhere else to go.”

Zane was biting the inside of his cheek when I looked up at him. He stopped and asked, “Where were you when Ally found you?”

“New York, New York,” I replied. I loved the way the words rolled off my tongue.

He frowned. “That was the first place we looked! You must have already left when we got there… I bet we were following you around the whole time.”

“Sorry about that; if I’d known, I wouldn’t have joined the circus at all and stayed in New York.” I knew saying it wouldn’t change anything, but at least it was true. “Do you know what made me lose my memories?”

Zane hesitated, pulling me closer. “Kia and Blake say you three were ambushed while in the woods, looking for Maligns-”

“Who’s that?”

He was caught off guard. “It’s less of whom and more of a what. Maligns are a cross-breed of elves and wizards. They have all the bad genes and pretty awful personalities. They were the ones that let her into Astoria.”

I let my mind process what he was telling me before saying, “Alright, I think I understand… Anyways, we were looking for Maligns and then what happened?”

“You found them,” he answered grimly. “You were overpowered. They took you and left Blake and Kia; I guess they knew about your abilities.”

“Oh,” I murmured. If I was overpowered by a couple of ‘her’ slaves, did I really have any chance at winning against ‘her’?

“No one’s sure what they did to you after that. Theymight have put a spell on you or they might have done something else to block the memories. At least it’s fading now.”

“Yeah, maybe someday I’ll remember what they did to me after they took me.” Although now I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. Like Ally said ‘sometimes forgetting is better than remembering.’

Zane and I stayed up on the roof, silent for a little while. And then I spotted a small light which made me shoot up. Sure there were lights from the neighbors’ houses, but this was different... It had vanished, but my eyes continued to roam over the yard; I was sure I had seen something.

Next to me, Zane sat up as well. “What happened? Victoria, what is it?”

“I thought I saw something,” my voice lacked the confidence I felt.

“What was it?” He asked as he scanned the yard as well.

I shook my head. “It was just a light, but it was different. I can’t explain it. Maybe I imagined it…”

“I doubt that. Things like that don’t happen when you’re one of us. If you saw something it’s probably there.” He looked the yard over once again before standing up. “Come on, we should get back inside.”

I stood up as well and started to follow him to window I had come out of. And then I felt paranoia creeping up me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I twirled around and nearly lost my balance, but Zane grabbed my wrists before I could fall.

And out of the corner of my eye, I saw the light flash again. “There’s someone- or something- out there Zane.”

“I know, let’s get inside. It’s not safe on the roof anyways.” I didn’t move and he tugged at my wrists slightly. “Come on Victoria.”

“Okay!” I exclaimed, turning back to the window. I hurried inside with Zane right behind me. He slammed the window shut and locked it before grabbing my hand and pulling me into the living room where everyone else was watching a movie. Missy and Jason looked half asleep.

Zane turned off the screen, earning a few complaints which he ignored completely. “We saw something outside; something that is definitely from Astoria.”

“What was it?” Missy was suddenly wide awake and on her feet. Everyone else was just as alert, springing into action like they did the day Zane was cut.

I felt Zane glance at me. “I’m not sure, but we saw a light that can’t be from this world. I heard something too.”

“Okay, so what should we do?” Kia asked as she stood up as well. “We’re not sure what’s out there or how dangerous it is or how to kill it.”

Drake answered her. “Lock up the doors and windows and hope whatever it is out there doesn’t realize we’re here.”

“That’s not much of a plan,” Jason criticized. I thought it sounded pretty good.

“Have you got anything better?” He questioned, already making his way out of the room. Jason stood still for a minute, thinking.

And then he shrugged, “Alright, let’s lock up the house.”

Locking everything up was easy; it was the waiting that turned out to be the hardest part. We were all sitting in the living room in silence. I was nervous, but the rest of them seemed fairly comfortable. They had their elements to rely on… But so did I, right? Air and water weren’t useless.

There was a creaking from somewhere upstairs and I flinched. Zane stroked his thumb along the back of my hand calmingly. It helped a little, but it didn’t stop me from flinching again when I heard another creak. Was there someone upstairs? How could that be possible; we had locked all the windows- I was sure of it because upstairs was only an attic with one window and Zane had locked that when we came in.

“Victoria, relax, we have this under control,” Kia stated.

I hurriedly shushed her. “I think there’s someone upstairs.” My voice was a whisper and exposed some of my fear- the opposite of Kia’s.

“You’re probably just imagining it,” Missy said, not bothering to keep her voice down. But maybe she was right- as much as I hated to admit it. Maybe no one was upstairs… The thought crossed my mind just before a figure appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

We were doomed.