Her Heroes

Chapter Forty-Five

I wandered aimlessly through the abyss, trying to navigate the path between the real world and the one my mind had constructed. Stopping to clear my head, I sighed. This wasn't what I wanted... I shouldn't have angered him like that.

"Sometimes, my friend, you just need someone to show you the truth." My head shot up and I looked for the source of the voice, only to find the red-haired girl walking towards me. Taking in her ghastly appearance, I realized that she was only in my imagination, that this was yet another dream made to plague me. "Take my hand, let me show you everything." Her eyes bled with sympathy and empathy.

Forcing my hand out, I shakily intertwined our fingers, securing the grip we had on one another. "Stay close, memories are a fickle place to get lost."

The girl pulled me with her as we soared through the room, passing over painting after elaborate painting, each filled with a different video of sorts.

When my feet were finally planted on the ground again, I let go of my meager breakfast. In no world had I ever expected that I would have flown through whatever this was. Wiping my mouth on the back of my hand, I gasped for air, "where are we?"

She smiled broadly and lifted her arms as if to showcase the room, "my friend, welcome to the Hall of Memories."

Reeling back, I looked at her like she had two heads. "The what?"

A giggle erupted from her throat and she shook her head. "The Hall of Memories. It's the place where every memory you ever had is stored. Come, we'll start from the beginning and work our way to the end." The girl turned to the first picture and sighed, her hands clasped behind her back, "you were a small thing when you were born, but that never mattered to your mother or brothers." The girl moved on to the next image, an image that held an angry-looking man. "Your father, however, he became jealous of her love for you. You see, he only wanted one girl in his life, your mom... Then took you away..."

I followed along as she went from picture to picture, telling me all about my trials as an infant. Finally, she got to the part where Rhys got involved. "... and this is where I enter the story. Rhys's daughter passed away when she was four months old due to a boating accident. The poor man never got over her death, and when he saw you that first time, he knew that you had entered his life for a reason." She took a breath and faced me, making me realize how much we resembled each other. "When he saw you, he saw her, but with brown hair instead of red. So he took you and changed you, forming his picture-perfect family."

My mind followed the path of where this was going. Gasping, I looked from her hands to my own, noting how everything was the same besides our hair color. "You're me..."

"I am."

"Did he ever love us?"

The girl, me, sighed and shook her head. "He loves us in his own way. After his daughter's death, he changed. He wanted revenge on everything and everyone, slowly becoming the formidable man he is today."

"But... did he love us?"

She smiled again, sorrow clear on her face, "he loved as he would've his own daughter. He forced himself to become the best at everything he did, and he wanted us with him at the top of it all."

"Yet that didn't happen, did it?"

The other version of me smiled again, "sadly, it didn't. Instead of you rising with him, you escaped, finding your way into the foster system before making your way to France." A noise rang through the hall and she gave me a last, secret look. "My time is up now, you will never again not know who you are Nadia Renaud. I am you, and you are me. I wish you luck on your journey." Bowing her head to me, she slowly faded from sight.