For the next two hours, I remained in my new bedroom undisturbed. My stomach growled and I longingly thought of my half-eaten plate at the dinner table. I smiled to myself as I ate my pudding cup. I knew it would come in handy at some point. Then, I lay on the bed and stared up at the domed ceiling for a while, trying to think. What was wrong with me? How did the pendant appear around my neck? It was almost like magic, I dared myself to think. Although my mind was addled, I still knew that magic had no place in this world. So what to do?
After lying on top of the covers for a long stretch of time, I heard a soft knock. Too tired to even stand up, I feebly tilted my head towards the door. It cracked open and I saw Micha there.
"Are you awake?" he whispered.
"Yes," I replied. Micha came over.
"Who are you, Anya?"
I heaved myself to a sitting position, shaking my tangled hair from my face. Figures he had to ask the one question I had no answer to.
"Who do you think I am?"
"I don't know. A—A witch of some kind. A thief. I saw the pendant. It was exactly like Madame's. Then it changed. And you closed your eyes and whispered," Micha's voice cracked and he broke off. "Who are you?"
"I don't know, Micha," I cried, falling backwards. "If I could tell you, I would. Honest. I woke up in the hospital and now I can apparently make necklaces appear out of nowhere. Do you think I was trying to embarrass myself in front of the only people I know?"
"I..." Micha trailed off, probably realizing my dilemma. "My God, how did I get myself into this? A few hours ago I was worried about my math test, and now I'm living with a... a sorcerer!"
"I'm not a sorcerer," I told him, then reconsidered. "Well, maybe. I don't know what I am."
"Well, what can you do? Something tells me that making necklaces appear isn't a power that comes alone."
I took a breath. Then, I gathered the strength to stand up and walk to the dresser. I looked inside, and pulled out the friendship bracelet from before.
"I made this appear, earlier today."
Micha actually laughed. "I mean besides jewelry."
I unclasped Sonya's locket and dropped it into the drawer. I hesitated for a moment: should I really trust this stranger with all the weird things that had happened to me in the past week? Then, I realized that I had absolutely nobody in this world who I trusted, so Micha might as well be the first.
So I told him: about Sonya, and the tall doctor, and the girl in the elevator. How my eyes had changed to match Sonya's, and how my arm slipped out of that too-tight hospital band. I told him about falling asleep and waking up with somebody's wedding ring on my finger or my hair curled atop my head. Micha listened and shook his head in disbelief.
"No way," was all he had to say when I finished. "So what does that mean?"
"What does what mean?"
"What are you?"
"Micha, I still don't know!" I cried, not sure whether to laugh or be angry.
Micha held up his hands. "Alright. I just can't really believe it. Show me."
I furrowed my brow. "Show you what?"
"Your magical powers!" Micha said, wiggling his fingers sarcastically. "If you want me on your side, I have to know if it's real."
"Who says I want you on my side?" I laughed.
"Technically, I am your brother. I have to be on your side. So do it. Transform yourself into me."
"You?"
"Yeah, me. Go."
I studied him for a moment. I squinted my eyes and tried to imagine myself in Micha's body. My hair would have to be shorter, for a start. My eyes would need to be a lighter gold colour. I'd need to be wearing that grey shirt and jeans. I tried hard, but nothing changed.
"I'm sorry. I can't."
"Why not?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. I can't just do it. It just happens, usually at the worst moments possible."
Micha sighed, looking very upset. He stood up and went to the door. "Okay. Well, I'll need to see it to believe it. But for now, I have my eyes on you, Anya... what's your last name?"
"Rescottoll. Anyijaverra Rescottoll."
Micha's eyebrows raised at the unusual name. "Goodnight, Anyijaverra Rescottoll."
He left the room. Feeling tired out by my attempts to transform myself, I curled up on my bed and fell into a dark sleep. I didn't open my eyes until it was morning and I could practically see the sunlight through my eyelids. I cracked open my eyelids and was nearly blinded by the light coming through the turret windows. Groaning, I sat up and blinked. The little clock next to the bed said it was only 6:37 am, but I could hardly imagine trying to sleep again in all the light.
I rolled out of my bed quite literally, and dressed in some new clothes courtesy of Sonya's daughter. Then, I crept into the hall and down the stairs as to not wake anyone else up at this ungodly hour. Unfortunately, they were already awake. I stopped halfway down the stairs to listen.
"We can't. We just can't, Renee," Mr. Bisset was saying. "We've signed the papers, she's in our custody."
"That child nearly stole my grandmother's pendant!" Mrs. Bisset responded furiously. I tiptoed down the stairs and poked my head around the corner. The Bissets were in the kitchen, and Micha was eating cereal at the kitchen table. "That wretch! I know what I saw, and I saw a sneaky little thief!"
With that, Mr. Bisset frowned out of sympathy for me, but Micha didn't even look up. Why wasn't he defending me? Did he even care at all?
"Renee, I'm sure it was all one big misunderstanding. You saw her, she had a heart necklace. It wasn't the emerald at all."
Mrs. Bisset wasn't having any of it. "No, no, you'll see. I'll call the hospital and that social worker, and we can get her handed off to some other family somewhere."
"Please don't," I cried, stepping into the warm kitchen. The Bissets stared at me in disbelief. Micha dropped his spoon, looking just as confused. "Please, please, don't send me back. I swear I didn't steal anything. I'm sure my family will come soon, and I'll be out of your hair. Just don't give up on me now."
I stopped pleading at the sight of their shocked faces. What did I do? I just happened to overhear them. "What?"
"Anya. You speak French?" Micha asked, breaking the silence.
"French?" I repeated. "What do you mean?"
"You spoke French. We were talking, and you just joined in," Mrs. Bisset said, wiping her hands on her skirt. "Rather rudely, might I say. Who taught you French?"
"I..." I paused, unsure of how to proceed. "Uh, yeah. I do speak French, I guess. I'm sorry."
Suddenly, I realized that the words I had heard and spoken were not English, yet they felt just as natural. Still, though, neither language seemed like the one I was born to speak. Micha looked at me quizzically, Mrs. Bisset glared accusingly, but Mr. Bisset looked overjoyed.
"That is great news! See, Renee, she belongs in our family after all!"
"Oh, do be quiet, Olivier! Belong in our family, ha. She's only here for a little while anyway," Mrs. Bisset snapped, expertly flipping an egg. "Here, have some breakfast, child."
I took the plate of eggs and toast offered to me, and sat next to Micha. The Bissets left to go chat more privately in the study.
"Do you really know French?" Micha asked. I took a sip of water and shrugged.
"I didn't until now. I guess I learned it before I lost my memory."
Micha nodded.
"But the weirdest thing... I didn't even realize what language it was until after. I didn't know."
"So can you understand me?" he asked.
I frowned. "Of course. Why couldn't I?"
"Oh, maybe because I'm speaking Russian," Micha said casually. "Seems like you didn't only learn French in your mysterious childhood."
I touched my hand to my mouth, shocked. "You speak Russian?" was all I could think of to say.
"Duh. My name is Micha. That's a Russian name. My parents were Russian, and I grew up there until... well, until they couldn't really care for me."
Micha left it at that, so I didn't press him. "Anyway, made any lockets lately? We could start a business, you know, selling your knock-offs."
I shrugged. "I told you, awesome magical powers don't work like that. They only seem to kick in when you need them least. Sorry."
But somehow, when I went back to my room later that day, both the locket and the bracelet were missing. I asked Mrs. Bisset, but she claimed she didn't know where they went. It was as if they'd simply disappeared.
All questions about my strange talent were pushed aside that evening, though. Mr. Bisset took me and Micha out fishing on a local pond, and even though we didn't catch anything, we had a good time. In fact, in my short memory, I couldn't recall ever having as much fun as we did. It was almost, almost, as if I'd found a place in the world. In some ways, I enjoyed being with the Bissets and Micha, but I really wanted my family to find me too. It was only a matter of time.