Memory Remnants

Part 5: Void

Madeline sat cross legged in between two tombstones. She watched Alex place flowers in front of each one out of the corner of her eye. She first stared at the tombstone to her left. Engraved in the slate was Olivia Kovacs with her birthday and death day underneath. She then stared at the other one's engraving that said Logan Kovacs. Her father had been a year younger than her mother and had died a year before her. The sight of the proof of their death made her body feel extremely numb inside. It was weird to see their death date years since they were futuristic years in her mind.

"Alex. What's my last name now?" Madeline asked with almost no emotion.

He hesitated for a few seconds before replying, "Wagner."

"That sounds a lot like swagger."

"Kinda matches him since he's so egotistical," Alex grunted.

Madeline looked at him seriously. "You know, you haven't said a single nice thing about Jonah yet. Do you not like him?"

Alex looked nervous now. "Um... Actually, no. Not at all. He may seem nice, but it's all an act. He's an actor. A very unknown and underpaid actor, but an actor. He doesn't give a crap about you or even his own daughter. He just sees your amnesia as an acting opportunity."

Madeline looked at him with wide eyes. She turned completely towards him. "Then why did you let me marry him?"

Alex looked almost morbid. "Madeline, for the past seven years, you haven't been yourself. You've been living a lie. And, I dunno, I guess I'm stoked to finally see the real you again after all these years."

"What do you mean the real me? Living a lie? You mean I've never loved him?"

"You started dating him because you didn't care and when he proposed, you just agreed with it. You went with whatever he said. You went with the flow and never disagreed because you just didn't have the energy to. But, you do love Lizzy and Gavin. I know that for sure. They are your children."

Tears built up at the sides of her eyes. She'd been crying a lot today and she hated it. How could she still have more tears? But she was so scared as to why she would become like that. Deep inside of herself, she knew the answer as to why, but she prayed that it wasn't the answer. "Why?" came her hoarse whisper.

Alex looked like he really didn't want to tell her. His eyes were shiny looking.

"Alex. Where is Hannah? Did something happen to her?" Tears were running down her cheeks now.

"Sis... I'm sorry. But she's missing. She's been missing for the past seven years."

Madeline's jaw dropped. Missing? It couldn't be true! She couldn't even see from the amount of water that was in her eyes. They were running down her cheeks in chaos, attempting to drown her. Her throat was closing up, too.

"She went missing a week after you got hit by a car."

"...W...what ha-happened... to her?" she chocked out.

"No one knows completely. Mom and dad went out on a dinner date. Hannah and you were babysitting me. I had fallen asleep. But you were awake. Things were broken and tossed around everywhere and Hannah was missing. No one is sure where she went or who took her. You were the only witness. You were covered in bruises and passed out. When you awoke, you had no idea who Hannah was. You voided every memory you had of her. As if she had never existed. The doctors said it was from the trauma and it would come back to you, but seven years passed and it never did," Alex explained as tears formed in his eyes. It must have been hard on him. Hannah was his almost sister.

Madeline was stunned into silence. She couldn't speak from the pain of her throat and she felt cold. Her mind was blank. Everything felt so unreal. She felt like she was in a nightmare and would wake up at any minute. She heard screaming in her head. It was a high pitched female voice. Almost like a chipmunk voice. She knew right away it was Hannah's voice. Madeline felt pain as if she was being hit with a blunt object. She felt her own voice screaming, but she knew she wasn't making a sound right now. She saw flashes of tears, Hannah's frightened face, and stone cold black eyes. She felt a rush of fear and adrenaline. And then Madeline finally screamed herself and grabbed at her head. She didn't want to remember!

But she had to. She jolted upright and ran away. She could barely hear her brother calling and running after her through the loud pumping of her heart. She got into the car and tried to remember how to drive from all the driving pamphlets she had read while she was fifteen. Alex had left the keys in the ignition because they could see the car from where the graves were. And she drove away. And not exceptionally well either, but she was mostly staying in the lines and not hitting anyone or anything.