Chapter Fifteen
Ava-
While Milo, Paxton, and Seth went to scout the scene of the incident that occurred yesterday, Cassie and I were given a request through some kid that Reston wanted to speak with us. Why he had to be dramatic and have someone pass along the message, I had no idea. It wasn't that difficult to walk twenty or so feet to talk to us. So Cassie and I bundled up in coats and dared the cold to go into the lodge where we assumed Reston would be. The messenger girl wasn't the best at giving messages, all she had done was simply say, "Reston wants you" and then left! We were given no location or time. It was up to us to find him and hope that he wanted to speak to us now.
The outside was mostly abandoned and honestly, I wasn't very impressed with the camp. It was pretty and in a nice location but the people weren't very friendly and they all seemed to disappear when there wasn't any food to be given out. What was the camp supposed to be? A place to train your abilities and gain control? If so, I didn't see anyone training and I hadn't of seen any powers. They all seemed to be normal humans hanging out in the woods. Maybe Cassie and I were insane and this was a camp that our parents sent us to so we could connect with nature and clear our minds. Or maybe it was simply a boring camp.
When we got inside the lodge, there were three teenage guys playing on an XBox, they yelled at one another and paid more attention to the tv than anything else. I was pretty sure that if I put a squirrel on one of their heads that they wouldn't notice until it had already started nibbling on their hair.
Cassie and I walked past them and continued to the hall that we knew. If we didn't find Reston, we would hopefully find Jason and could talk to him until we did found the man in charge. Our snow covered boots left puddles of slush behind us, if we were lucky someone would slip. If we were unlucky, that person would be Reston himself.
Cassie didn't pause when we reached the infirmary door, she turned the knob and shouldered her way through the old door. I followed more gracefully and stepped in right behind her. Jason was awake fortunately and was sitting up with a book in his lap. A bowl of warm soup sat on the table beside him and a glass of water was filled to the top. Both looked undisturbed and I wondered if he had eaten anything or even acknowledged it was there.
At the sound of us, Jason looked up. A grin crossed his face and a hint of pain glanced in his eye. "How are you two adjusting?" He asked kindly, closing the book and using a finger to keep his page.
I sat down in one of the chairs left by his bed and after a moment Cassie joined me. "Eh, we're fine I guess. It isn't very exciting currently and we were supposed to find Reston but we have no idea where he is." I said with a shrug. Cassie nodded her agreement.
Jason sighed and bit his lip and then sat himself up higher. "And I am in bed-rest and would much rather be up and out of here." He replied.
"Sorry that a vampire almost got you and destroyed your car." Said Cassie.
Jason looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed and then chuckled, "sorry I left you to fight on your own."
"If I could, I would punch you in the arm but I don't want to cause you another bruise." Cassie responded with another shrug.
"Thank you for not punching me. And Ava how are you? Keana updated me and said that Cas was healed and you and her had gotten here safely." Jason said, turning his blue gaze on me. I nodded, "yeah we got here fine. She was completely silent and wouldn't speak to me so that's awesome. I just love it when people hate me after a few days." I retorted, once I had begun to speak the words I couldn't keep them in and they just kind of flowed on their own.
Luckily, Jason didn't get defensive towards her. Cassie and him both laughed and glanced towards the door, as if afraid Keana was right outside and had heard me. "Oh Ava, she doesn't hate you. I'd say she's just jealous of you and Cassie. She knows you'll both be the center of attention once everything is calm and Keana likes to hold her head high and have everyone know who and what she is. We don't get new people, you and Cassie are going to attract a lot of attention once your Supernaturals have fully awoken."
I gave him a shrug, "I doubt it. Nobody seems to know what my Supernatural is and I'm starting to doubt if I even have one."
"Ava, trust me, you have one." Jason said.
She opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by the door being shoved open. We all looked back and saw Reston standing there, looking slightly embarassed to have had to shove open the door. He cleared his throat and then stuffed his hands in his coat pockets. "Sorry."
Jason stifled a laugh and motioned for him to come closer. "Reston what's happening? The girls said you were looking for them."
Reston came and sat on the bed across from Jason's. "I was hoping to speak with the two of you. I need a better understanding of what has happened in the last few days so we can figure out what's going on around here." He said.
"Okay, what do you know?" Cassie asked him.
"I know that you both woke up in the woods with no memory of how you got there. I know that Cassie was shot by Keana and after some surgery she was woken up again. Keana lit the forest on fire after transforming into a dragon and burned down a cabin that was possibly housing the ones who kidnapped the both of you. Then you were running through the woods, the three of you found your way to the truck and Jason returned you home safe. I imagine after that you slept a lot and in the morning you woke up with burns on your hands, covered in dirt, smelling like smoke, and whatever else. In some time during the night, whoever took your memory of how you got in the woods must've taken some of your memory of what else occurred there." Reston told the summary quickly and very matter-of-factly. It was short and to the point and covered everything that I remembered.
"Sounds about right." I replied while nodding my head and glancing at Cassie, who was also nodding.
"Well if you know all we know, how are we going to get any new information?" Cassie asked.
Reston shifted his weight on the squeaky bed, "I had an idea I wanted to propose. It hasn't been used before and was given to me as a gift years ago by your kind, Cassie. It's similar to what we used to erase you from the memories of your friends and family. The difference between the two is that one takes a certain object or person out of memories and leaves everything else. This one places every memory back into place and apparently rushes through your mind so fast that it could put you unconscious. It also relives every pain and every thought you had while in the moment. Your body will remember the temperatures and the things you heard or said and depending on how much memory was taken is how long it will take until you wake up from it."
Jason looked between Reston, Cassie, and myself. He looked concerned and uncomfortable. Like the idea of doing something new was dangerous and might kill us. Maybe that happened a lot in this camp. Whatever the reason, I was strangely excited. I wanted to remember because the mystery of what had happened was going to haunt me until I knew. But a small part of me wondered if I really should remember. What if the person who took it did it for a reason? What if it was to protect us from something or someone? What if it was because if we remembered, the memories would hurt us mentally the rest of our lives?
"I want to do it." Cassie's words were out of her mouth before I could even think of any. I looked at her, incredulous. "Hold up Cas, we can't just jump into everything." I said, sitting on the edge of my seat. Cassie rolled her eyes, "maybe you can't but I can!" She turned toward Reston, "I want to do it. Whatever this is, a pill or shot or whatnot, I want to take it. I want to remember and figure it all out." She insisted, her eyes wide and full attention on Reston.
"Is that how you respond to any drug someone offers you?" Jason asked sarcastically.
Cassie shot him a glare and then turned back to Reston. "Please, I can't live in the dark. I want to remember what happened to me and I want to close the part of my mind that feels completely empty from the memories that were taken. I'll take it now and I will endure whatever my mind lost if it means figuring everything out." Her voice shook a little when she spoke and I wasn't sure if it was because she was nervous or because excited adrenaline was running through her veins.
"Well, Cassie, I could give it to you now or we could wait until tomorrow or-"
"Now is fine Reston. We all need answers."
"Okay, are you sure? You want to go through what you felt and remember your fears and every detail of what was taken from you? Even if it means having something haunt you the rest of your life?" He was serious now, there was no friendly suggestions in Reston's voice. It was now Reston speaking about the consequences of what could happen to Cassie if she were to remember. Of course, no matter what warnings were given, nobody had used this thing before and Cas would be the first to experience it's true effects.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and slowly opened them again. "I want to take it Reston. I've already gone through everything that happened so who's to say I can't do it again?"
Jason ran a hand through his thick blond hair. "Don't let it get to your head. Remember that it's just a memory so you don't mash up your brain okay?"
"Of course." Cassie replied, nodding and twisting her hands together.
Reston stood up from the bed and stuffed his hands in his pockets with a deep sigh. "I'll go get the serum. Cassie, make yourself comfortable in one of the beds and maybe use the restroom too." There was a hint of humor in his voice to go along with the last remark Reston made, making Jason and Cassie stifle laughs.
Reston left the room and silence followed his departure.
I looked at Cassie. What was wrong with her? I never fully understood the things she did or half of the 2am thoughts that left her mind. She thought of the most bizarre things and fell victim to strange actions. Cassie liked to be cautious but was also very steadfast in any and all things she did. It was a lot of work keeping her from jumping off giant boulders or driving off the road in the mountains. Now she was about to drug herself with something nobody knew every side effect of and that was just dandy.
"Cassie, one of these days you'll get hurt and learn your lesson. I can't wait for that day so you aren't as insanely spontaneous as you are."
"Thank you Ave." Cassie gave a cheeky smile and then stood up and walked to the bed on the right side of Jason. She kicked off her shoes, propped up the pillow, and leaned back against it. "Well this is going to be exciting!" She said, still grinning.
"You're probably going to fall into a state in which your mind brings back everything as if you're living it again. I won't be surprised if you speak aloud the things you say in your memory. It'll be super wacky to us but when it's all done and over with I think it will be great to hear how exactly it worked and what you can remember." Jason commented, turning his body towards the bed Cassie now occupied.
"I will make sure I learn all that I need to about the scary night we experienced." She assured.
Reston returned to the infirmary then, he held a cloth delicately in his hand and I could just make out what must be a syringe protected inside of it. He closed the door tightly behind him with a kick and a shove before coming to stand between Jason and Cassie. "Ava could you go to the cabinet and get something to clean the part of her arm where this needle will go?" Reston asked, motioning to a line of cabinets on the far wall.
I got to my feet and crossed the floor to the cabinets and opened the first one to find many different kinds of swabs, cloths, bandages, and things of that type. Closing the doors I opened the next set and found some glass containers with labels and weird liquids. I didn't recognize any of them to be alcohol swabs and quickly closed those doors and moved to the next one. Successfully, I discovered a box of alcohol wipes and normal doctor-y things inside of this cabinet. I grabbed one, closed the doors, and then moved swiftly back to the others and Reston's side. Handing over the wipe, I noticed Jason had maneuvered himself on his bed to be sitting up with his legs dangling over the side between his and Cassie's beds. He looked beaten. It didn't matter if he spoke fine or seemed to be recovering, seeing him now made it difficult for me to picture him fixed in the next day or so. There were so many bruises and they danced on his skin in different shades of blues, purples, and yellows. Before I could start feeling too bad, I turned away from him and his injuries and focused once more on Cassie.
She was sitting up still and Reston was cleaning the upper part of her right arm. Needles made me jittery, if this worked, I wasn't excited to feel the needle in my arm. Just the thought of seeing one stabbing my friend made me uncomfortable. I involuntarily shuddered and closed my eyes to take a few deep breaths. I didn't really need to be afraid of a needle right now, I needed to be afraid of the liquid inside of it or the rogue vampires running wild.
"Okay, are you ready?" Reston's voice brought me back and I opened my eyes to see Cassie nodding. Reston nodded back, "take a deep breath and relax the muscles in your arm." He advised, removing the large needle from it's wrappings. It was filled with a dark blue liquid and on the side was scribbled words on masking tape, midnight reminder. Midnight reminder? That was a strangely suspenseful name for a memory restoring liquid. "Breathe in." His voice was soft and almost raspy now. I saw Cassie close her eyes and breathe in and at the peak of her breath Reston stuck the needle into her arm and released the deep blue substance. Her face strunched up at the feeling of the needle and when Reston removed it a trickle of blood flowed down her arm. Cassie opened her eyes and looked at the three of us. Nobody spoke, how long would it take for this to work? Was the midnight reminder the right stuff? What if Reston just killed her but killed her for real this time?
Just as I opened my mouth to ask if this was in fact the right stuff, Cassie began to get a vacant expression on her face. She adjusted herself so that she was laying on her back on the bed and gazed up at the ceiling. Her eyes were lost, looking at something that wasn't there and then she spoke, "Ava where are we going tonight?"