Whispers Beyond the Forest

Chapter 5

A/N A slightly shorter, though no less important, chapter for you. With this, I've reached my 8k words mark :) Enjoy!

Emily awoke with a jolt. Her bedroom was pitch-black, it must've still been dark outside. Opening one eye, she glanced at the alarm clock on her desk – 4:36am. Pulling her bedsheets further up to tuck them under her chin, she wondered vaguely why she'd even woken up. It was way too early to be awake.

Scratch

A strange sound near her window made Emily's eyes shoot open, suddenly wide awake. Her heart pounded as she turned around – and shrieked!

Through a gap between the curtains, she could make out a face, staring at her. She slammed her hand in front of her mouth when she suddenly recognised him, stopping her own scream, but it was already too late. The boy's eyes widened when she screamed and he disappeared from the window.

Emily jumped out of her bed and yanked her curtains open. The boy looked back over his shoulder and stopped when he saw her. He gestured something with his hands, that she didn't understand, that same sad look on his face that she remembered from the drawing. Then he turned and ran off.

Suddenly the door of her bedroom slammed open, and Eddy stormed in.

Emily wheeled around.

"What happened? What's wrong?" he asked bewildered. "You were screaming."

Pulling her curtains shut again, she hesitated. That boy outside the window, that was the boy in the drawing. There was no doubt about that. She'd found that drawing hidden deep inside her mattress... There must've been a reason for her to have out it there. Was Eddy not allowed to see it? Was he not allowed to know?

"It was nothing," said Emily eventually. "I uh... I just had a nightmare."

Eddy gawked at her. "A nightmare?"

"Yeah, just... I woke myself up screaming. Something about a monster, I dunno. Sorry about that."

"Oh, honey, you don't have to apologise," said Eddy, stepping into the room. He pulled her into a hug. "I know it's hard for you. It'll get better once you get used to everything, alright? And just know that I'm always here for you."

"Yeah," said Emily, frowning. "I'll be alright." I just wish I knew who that boy was.

As Eddy let go, he asked, "Is it because we're going to the doctor today? Are you nervous?"

Emily shrugged. "Maybe a little bit."

"I thought you might be." Eddy nodded wisely. "Don't worry, I'll be right there with you every step of the way."

"Come on, Eddy, we've got to go!" Emily was already standing at the car, waiting for her dad to come and unlock it. "We'll be late for the appointment!"

"Coming!" Eddy shouted from inside.

Emily sighed and leaned against the car, crossing her arms. She glanced around the street. She could see her bedroom window from here. She frowned, thinking back to earlier that morning. How had that boy been able to get all the way up at the window? There was no tree, no ladder, nothing for him to climb up.

Suddenly, an uneasy feeling crept up her spine. Her eyes searched the street once more. She was just in time to see someone's head disappear around the corner of the house on the end. She took a step forward, peering at the house. Was she imagining things, or had someone been watching her?

"Okay, I'm ready," said Eddy, pulling her out of her thoughts. He locked the front door and opened the car with the click of a button. "Are you alright?" he asked when he saw her face.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."

Half an hour later, Emily nervously twisted a strand of hair round her fingers as she sat in the waiting room of the hospital. Next to her, Eddy sat staring ahead, a deep frown on his face.

Emily wondered what the doctor would say, when he heard that she hadn't had any progress whatsoever regarding her memory. She'd tried, she really had, but nothing seemed to work. She could remember just as little about her old life now, than she could the last time she was in this hospital. Of course her friends and her dad had told her a bunch of stories, so she knew a lot about her old life, but she still remembered nothing.

Emily jolted when the door of the waiting room opened. The same doctor as last time came in with a cheerful, "Good morning Emily, Mr Huntley! Would you like to follow me, please?" He led them to his office and sat down behind his desk, gesturing towards two chairs.

"So, how are things now?" he asked, while Emily and her dad sat down.

"Not too bad," Emily muttered. The doctor didn't respond, waiting patiently for her to continue. She sighed. "I still can't remember anything. My friends and my dad have been telling me lots of things about myself, but nothing rings a bell. There's just... nothing there..."

Eddy shifted in his chair uncomfortably. The doctor nodded. "I'm very sorry to hear that. I had hoped that the memories would be coming back to you by now, bit by bit."

Yeah, Emily couldn't help but think. I'd hoped that, too.

"Fortunately, I have better news for you."

Emily looked up in surprise.

"I have asked around among colleagues whether they'd ever had a patient like you, with complete amnesia. One of them told me a story. Would you like to hear it?"

"Yes! Yes, of course!" Emily's eyes went wide. There was someone out there just like her!

"A few years ago, this colleague of mine had a patient with the exact same symptoms you've got. This man went through life for years without remembering anything from before his accident. For the first few months he tried everything to find out as much as he could about his old life, hoping he'd recognise something. Hoping he'd get his memories back if that happened. Nothing seemed to work."

Emily nodded furiously. That was exactly what she'd been doing.

"This man had already given up hope, when one day he suddenly ran into a woman he hadn't seen in over ten years. Of course, he didn't recognise her. But she recognised him. She told him that she used to be friends with his younger brother. This brother had passed away when he was still a child.

"Now, the man's friends and family hadn't told him about this younger brother, because they didn't think it would help him anything. They didn't want to tell him such a sad story for nothing. They thought it better that he didn't remember.

"The woman showed the man photos of his brother, and took him to see the child's grave. Thanks to these stories, the man finally started to remember things. These first few memories sparked others, which in turn ignited others still. Eventually, the man recovered all of his memories from before the accident, after all those years."

Thought bounced around inside Emily's head, her eyes wide with renewed hope. There had been someone else, who went through the exact same thing as her, and got his memory back eventually. This was good news. This was amazing news! She still had a chance!

"What are you trying to say?" said Eddy brusquely. "That it could take years for her to get her memory back?"

The doctor ignored his hostile tone and said, "No. What I'm trying to say, is that Emily shouldn't give up."