Memorable Chapter 7

Nickolas and I have not yet reached our destination, but the darkness is slowing us down. We find a clearing to set up our small camp. “It’s going to get cold tonight, so we’ll need to gather wood for a fire.”
“If we separate, we will be able to gather more quickly.”
“No, I lost you once and if I can help it, I will not let it happen again.” He grabs my hand to pull me closer to him.
“Nickolas, I honestly do not remember anything. My heart and body are telling me that this is right…how it is supposed to be. But, my mind is still trying to grasp this new reality.” I lay my head against his chest. “I do not know what to do.”
Nickolas wraps his arms around me, keeping the warmth close. “You have nothing to worry about.” He takes one hand off my waist to lift my chin, making me look him straight into his emerald eyes. “I will not place any pressure on you.” He leans closer to me; our lips so close to touching. “Al, I—.” The bushes on the other side of our clearing were moving. As I was getting into my fighting stance, Nickolas steps in front of me. At that moment, a little boy with sandy blonde hair jumps out from the bushes; running toward me with arms wide open. What confused me the most was…what he was saying. “Sissy!” He wraps his tiny arms around my legs. “Sissy, I’ve missed you so so so much! I kept wondering why you would leave Nick as the babysitter for so long—“The boy is pulled away from me.
“Benjamin, that’s enough. She does not remember.”
The little boy squirms out of Nickolas’s grip and says, “so you’re telling me my own sister doesn’t remember me?! First Miss. Marianne and now this!” He throws his arms in the air exasperated. The small amount of moonlight was enough to help my eyes see the bruise forming on his face. I kneel down to his level to get a closer look. “Benjamin, what happened?” I ask as his eyes brighten a little. “Matty smacked me right out of my chair! He was really angry!” He voice softens as he looks at his feet and asks, “do you ‘member me?” His was so quiet, that I could barely hear him. My mind told me that I should not be keeping a secret from him, but my heart is practically pounding out of my chest was trying to convince me to keep quiet. I felt the need to protect him. “I’m not going to lie to you, I do not. But, I will definitely try my best.”
“Do you promise?” He asks.
I could not help but smile at him, as I answer, “of course.” He jumps at me, causing me to fall back. He wraps his arms around my neck squeezing tightly. “I missed you, Sissy.” He nuzzles into my shoulder. Benjamin releases me as he spots a pile of mud that he could play in. I stand up next to Nickolas to hear the last of Rileigh’s story. Her face portrayed a look of utter horror as she announced Marianne’s death.
“How heartless can the Old Man get?!” Nick shouts; his body begins to shake violently.
“Nick, I know it is horrible, but don’t ch—“ Nickolas interrupts Rileigh with a loud growl. “You do not mention that right now!” His hand curls into a fist. He looks like he is going to punch her, but instead his hand collides with the tree trunk beside her. His knuckles begin to bleed.
I grab his upper arm and pull him away from Rileigh, before she causes him to do much more. “We need to gather some wood for tonight. If we are all going to be here, then we all need to pitch in. Nickolas and I will find some firewood, because it’s going to be a long night.” Rileigh automatically agreed with me. She had tears forming in her eyes as I pulled Nickolas away. “Rileigh, how about you and Benjamin gather some berries for tomorrow?” She nods her and gathers the little boy to leave. Nickolas is taking deeps breaths to calm himself down. I let go of his muscular arm and he walks into the darker part of the woods; not bothering to see if I was following him. I keep having these strange urges to take care of him. At the moment, I want to hug him…to tell him everything will be okay. From what I experienced earlier, I do not want him to turn on me. It probably would not end very well.
“Alex, do you want to learn about you past…your memories? It may traumatize you, but you are strong. It is completely up to you.”
I want to know extremely badly. It is tearing me apart know that there is a large part of my memory missing. I want to know why I can’t see Nickolas in my memories or my own brother, but will I be able to handle the truth? “I…what happened to me?” He turns around and walks back toward me; a worried expression plastered on his face. He cups my face in the palm of his hand. The heat from his fingers fled into my skin. The warmth sent a shiver down my spine. “Please, tell me everything.” He releases my face to reach for my hand. He tugs gently, pulling me along behind him. We link our fingers as we walk. I can hear our feet crunch on the forest ground. We are the only movement in the dark area. A trail leads us between two large rock walls. A small crack is hidden on the wall of the left side. Nickolas let go of my hand and then places his palms against the cold cracked rock. His fingertips begin to glow a luminous emerald green, as do his eyes. They look so marvelous. The ground begins to shake as the crack becomes much larger. I take a step back before I realize that the elemental powers were always a part of my life.
“Alex, are you coming?” He asks me in a soft voice. I smiles as I follow him into the newly formed cave. It did not take us too long to read the end of the walk. My mouth opens as I gawk at the inside of this cave. It had a spring located off to the side; reflecting the moonlight from the skylight in the ceiling. Looking through the hole, I saw the stars shining so brightly. It is such a beautiful sight. The spring had absolutely not creatures hiding in the depths of its waters. Nickolas lies down on a blanket and places a pillow behind him. “I used to come here all the time, when Matt was in one of his moods; hence, why the bedding is here.” He explains as he motions me to lie next to him. “Don’t worry. I don’t bite…hard.” He laughs, letting it echo off the walls. His playful mood caused my heart to calm down. Taking a big leap, I lie next to him and place my head on his chest. His heart beat speeds up as I scoot closer to him. His whole body tenses, but soon relaxes. I loved how our bodies fit perfectly together. Nickolas runs his fingers through my hair. I close my eyes at the gentle touch.
“I’m ready, Nick.”
A silence stretches on for what feels like forever.
“Our mothers, Anna and Elizabeth, grew up together. They were so close to each other. They practically did everything together; found great men, marriage, and even children. That’s why we are the same age, but I am a few minutes older. You came at midnight of the next day. It’s funny really.” He chuckles to himself. I think I am falling in love with his laugh. I stare up at him, waiting for him to continue our life story. “We were definitely following in our mothers footsteps. We learned to walk and talk at the same time. You already know about the elementary incident, so let’s skip that bit of my embarrassment.” It was my turn to laugh. I actually giggled like a little school girl. Where was my strength going? I had to stay strong for myself and for those around me.
“Al, it’s okay. If you want me to stop, let me know. On the other hand, I’m letting you know, that I am here for you.”
I look away from him and at the cave way. I did not trust myself to say anything, because I might just have a breakdown. “I can’t believe I was so mean to you, when we were little.”
Nick smiles. “No worries. You said plenty of apologies. Not too long after the swing incident, your brother, Benjamin, was born. He was as cute as a baby could get. Though, you slept over a lot so you could actually get some sleep from the new crying child. Middle school was where the true drama began….well you…umm…--“ His face turns bright red under the moonlight.
“You’re almost nineteen years old and you still can’t say that I started my period?” I laugh loudly, as Nick becomes more embarrassed. I cover my mouth with my hand.
“I’m sorry.” I said as I continued to giggle.
“Okay, time to get off the topic of my utter embarrassment at not being comfortable with the female body.”
I didn’t trust myself to answer him, so I nod.
“Anyway, the other students found out and began to tease you. One day, they threw pads and tampons at you. You teared up as you ran out the front doors of the school, and didn’t come back for a while. Though I wasn’t one of them, you refused to talk to me. When you walked through the school doors, I ran up to you and hugged you close to me. People continued to snicker behind us, and you began to tear up again. I grabbed you hand, faced them, and I yelled at them like there was no tomorrow. I pulled you down the hallway after me; refusing to let you go. After that moment, no one teased you again.”
He looks down to see my reaction. “You’ve always had that hero complexion, huh?” Looking up at him, I smile and innocent smile.
“Especially when it comes to you, Al.” It was my turn to blush. He pushes me off his chest, and lowers himself slightly so we are the same height. He stares into my eyes as he says, “no need to blush, Al.” His hand cups my cheek, warming me up quickly. “I will always protect you.” He whispers in my ear. His lips move toward my forehead, but he suddenly stops. “Why?” I ask in a soft tone. “As of right now, you only remember the good side of me…the safe side.” He pulls away to continue the story. “Middle school ends and we graduate 8th grade with flying colors. During the summer before high school is when you developed your water element powers.” My eyes widen as he mentions this.
.“Do you remember how I opened this cave?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I am an Earth user. You’re lovely brother is a Fire user, and Rileigh is an Air user. You, Alex, are the opposite of your brother…you are a Water user. When there is more than one child in a family, they try and make sure that there is only one element user per family. More than that could easily destroy a bloodline. There are many other reasons why there is a limited amount of element users, but I don’t want to go through them right now. You found out you were a water user when we were out in the forest sparring. Your father was there teaching us some new moves, while Benjamin was making mud pies. It was hot as hell that day too. Not a whole lot of shade in the field we were practicing in. No matter how hard we fought, he would not let us sit down. You were getting extremely angry and all of the sudden you felt the need to thrust your hand at your father and a stream of water from the small river behind flew toward him. All your father could do was laugh and say how proud of you he was. I was laughing as well. It really upset you, so you threw even more water at me, practically drowning me in the process. I got dirt involved. In the end, we all got muddy and were making mud pies with Benjamin.”
I couldn’t help but laugh again. I was such a cruel bitch, but with good intentions.
“Once we entered the high school, you seemed to be a completely different person. You dressed differently and had gotten more male attention than I would have preferred. I couldn’t stop you from making your own decisions. The big homecoming dance was coming and so many of the other boys had asked you, but you kept rejecting them. I wondered why, and you answer was that you were waiting for the perfect one. I opened my locker to find a pink stationary note written in calligraphy. It said, ‘You are my perfect one.’ I turned to look at you and you had the largest smile across your face. You grabbed my hand and stared expectantly at me. I finally understood what you were trying to tell me with your big blue eyes. I got down on one knee, grasped your other hand and formally asked you to the dance. You got so excited and you were bouncy for the rest of the day. A few days passed and it was time for the dance. Our moms had to force me into a tux, it was so…constricting! My mother walked me over to your house. We stood in the entryway talking to Daniel. The moment you began to walk down the stairs, my heart stops. You brought a whole new meaning to taking my breath away, Al. You’re dress was absolutely astonishing. It was knee length and completely black, except for a white ribbon tied around your waist. Your shoes were high enough so the top of your head reached just beneath my chin. Your hair was naturally with just enough curls to make you look more perfect. On the second to last step you trip and almost face planted into the floor. I caught you and that’s when your mother took this picture”.
He pauses and slides his hand into his rear pocket to pull out his small brown leather wallet. When he opened it up, there was a picture of us; completely entranced with each other. Nick was slightly smiling.
“I’ve never taken it out. I always thought that if I were to lose it, I would lose everything about you. Forget you in a way.”
I could hear his heart speeding up again.
“Anyway, we got to the dance, ate a few snacks, and that is when you heard your favorite slow song. You literally dragged me to the dance floor. I placed my hands on your hips, pulling you closer. I was about to whisper words I’ve never truly spoken, when Mrs. Cortese breaks us apart. As she pulls you away, I try to follow, but she shakes her head. She brings you to where two policemen are standing; their faces stoic. I kept watching you closely, until I felt my left vibrating from my phone. I opened it to see that I had fifteen missed calls from my mother. She never used her cell phone, so I knew it was an emergency. I rushed over to your side and grabbed your arm. You immediately pulled away and ran out the doors. I tried to follow you, but you were too fast. That was the last time I saw you, until we found you in the building.”
All I remember from that dance is being told about my parents. I begin to shake from the memory. Nick pulls me closer; rubbing soothing circles on my wrist again. My shaking instantly subsides. I push the memory away, because I did not want to ruin the moment between Nick and I. I stand up. “Nick?” He sits up, raising and eyebrow with his reply of, “hm?”
“I think I owe you a dance.” He smiles up at me: his eyes brightening as he comes to the realization. “Is that a yes?” I whisper quietly.
“Of course.” He whispers in my ear gently. He bows like a gentleman would years ago. “M’lady?”
I stare at him in complete shock as he reaches his hand out for me to take. He pulls me close so that there isn’t any space between our bodies.
“Al, you’re my perfect one.”
We start swaying at our own beat. In the middle of the most romance I’ve had, a loud feminine scream causes us to pull apart and dash toward the exit of the cave. Once outside, we hear another scream. Nick runs ahead of me. I try to keep up with him, but he’s too fast. I haven’t had much stamina practice over the years. Next thing I know, my foot gets caught underneath a tree root and I fall forward into the mud; hitting my head a rock. I instantly black out.