Culling

Part II • Chapter XVIII

"Hi," Sean smiled at me, his grip loosened now that I was no longer trying to get away. "I'm Sean."

"I already told her that." Owen responded.

I could only stare at Sean as he let go of my hand and elbowed Owen. How could he be so happy? There was nothing happy here. This was a bad place. It was scary.

Sean's smile faded slightly after I didn't respond, and he glanced at Owen. "Doesn't she talk?"

"She does. She might be scared of you." Owen glanced at me. "This was a bad idea, especially after last night. We should leave. Sang, I'll come back later."

No! I didn't want them to leave! That was even worse! I wanted to know Owen's friend too!

"Hello..." I forced myself to speak, and I tried to smile. I had no idea if it worked or not though. All I knew was that I didn't want them to go away.

"She likes me!" Sean beamed at me. "See, I told you, Owen. Now you have to share!"

"Dr Sean," I pondered. "He was there too..." A thought occurred to me, "have I met anyone else before?"

"No," Owen shook his head. "It was just the two of us, and you. They also don't know that we knew you, it never came up before, and when we found out who you were... Well, we didn't want to tell them and not be able to explain it to you. What do you remember about Sean?"

"I remember when I first met him, and that he was loud and happy." I felt myself smile slightly at the memory, and apparently you two tried to claim me even then - I wanted to say, but didn't. "How long was I with you? Why can't I just remember the good things?"

"You were there almost two years. As for your second question, well, unfortunately, that's not how memory recall works." Owen paused a second, then continued hesitantly. His eyes never leaving mine. "You know, now that you are aware of what is going on... I want you to know that I could just change your memories entirely, you wouldn't need to recollect any of that. I could make it so none of those memories existed."

Two years? How did I never realize that such a large chunk of my life was missing? I thought it was normal... I studied Owen, realizing that he seemed resigned, probably to do with his last statement. "You are talking about changing my memories, right?"

"Yes. I could make it so your past never happened, at least in your head. I could make you believe that Sean and I were childhood friends that lived down the street from you, and that your birth mother raised you until you were taken away to the games without her consent. I could make it so your life was different before you came here." Owen stated, his emotions unreadable.

"But everything would be a lie." I whispered. No, I didn't want that at all! I wanted to know them, as I really knew them. How they knew me. "Everyone in my life would know something happened. Everyone, except for me. All of you would pretend everything was ok, even when it is not? Do you want that?"

"Of course not!" Owen replied, his brow furrowed. "I don't want to see you frightened. I was just letting you know that there's another way. I wanted you to know your options."

Despite the sharpness of his tone, I could sense the underlying relief at my hesitation. Well, really, there was no hesitation. I already knew my answer. "No. I don't want that either."

Now that the heavy stuff was out of the way, and I had made some sort of decision, where was the edge of the sheet? Blanket? Anything?

Owen was still watching my face, thank god, and it was getting cold in here.