Chapter 9: New Day
1171 Words
Alecia climbed off the bed and exited the room, heading to the bathroom. She switched the light on and stepped towards the sink to look at her reflection in the mirror, turning, tapping, and gathering cold water in her hands. After rinsing her face, she closed it.
"Excuse me, Miss?"
A child's voice startled Alecia. She peered in the doorway and spotted the shy girl Wallace mentioned in the dining room.
"Hello," Alecia said, "You should be in bed."
The girl stepped into the light, a trusting gaze directed at Alecia. "The sounds outside scare me."
"Do you want me to take you to your room?"
"Yes."
"What's your name?" Alecia said cheerfully as she walked with her down the hall.
"El-Elica," she mumbled, "and you are Alecia?"
Elica looked up at her.
"How did you-?"
"I overheard them say your name."
Alecia stopped in front of an unbarred chamber. "Is this your room?"
"Yes."
Alecia turned the light on. The room had nothing, save from a closet and a bed, a stuffed animal on the blue blanket. Elica hurried to the bed and perched on it, the stuffed animal cradled in her arms. Alecia couldn't help but smile.
She stepped towards Elica, covering the blanket over her. "And what's your little friend's name?"
"Oh," Elica murmured, "I didn't give him a name. What should I name him, Alecia?"
Elica showed it to her. Alecia gave a thoughtful gaze, holding the stuffed animal and looking at its one-eyed face.
"How about Perry?"
"Perry?" Elica took the stuffed animal from her. "Okay, Perry it is."
She hugged Perry, a joyful smile on her face, and lay back down. Alecia smiled, striding to the doorway, and switched off the light.
"No!" Elica shook her head. "Can you turn the light back on? I don't like it when it's dark."
"Okay." Alecia switched it on. "Try and sleep, okay?"
She peered at her over her shoulder.
"Okay."
Alecia headed down the hall to her room and stopped short in front of a room's door. Wallace stepped out.
"Who were you talking to?" asked Wallace, his voice tired.
"Elica was scared, so I took her back to her room."
"Oh, okay." He closed the door. "Good night, Alecia"
"Good night."
-
Alecia lay down on her bed, gaze fixed on the ceiling. Her thoughts lingered on Elica; having no parents, being scared all the time, she reminded her of herself, the only difference was she lost herself, no memories of her past.
Every time she attempted, she recalled only glimpses, as if looking through a keyhole of a locked door. She stared at the ceiling, forcing herself to remember, until her eyes fluttered close, and after a few beats, she fell asleep.
-
Alecia knocked on the door of Wallace's office.
"Come in," said he, voice muffled.
She entered the room. Wallace stood near the bookshelf.
He turned to her. "I'm glad to see you again, Alecia.
"Please sit." He gestures to the chair and limped to his desk. Alecia sat, watching Wallace go through his documents.
"Alright. Shall we get started?"
"Ready when you are." Her attention directed at the ticking clock hanging above the doorframe. "What do you do here, Wallace?"
"Hmm? May you repeat that?"
"What do you do here during the day?"
"I'm glad you asked," he said. "I spend the days doing research and checking the stocks of supplies to be delivered by the people who know how to find stuff better than we do."
He chuckled, sifting through his documents, amusement in his tired eyes.
"What type of research?"
"Well-" He regarded her with a pensive gaze-"Since my resource is very limited, I can only study the barren landscapes. Of course, I can't go out there myself, I can only send people out to map the area, as well as the craters that still radiate the energy that made them."
She nodded. "What do Virgil and Diana do?"
"Not much." He shrugged. "Diana would help with the growth of vegetation. Virgil would assist her out but, occasionally, he'd volunteer to go outside."
"And who's Diana?" she asked. "To you, I mean."
"She was born in this town, which is one of the reasons she can bear the hardships here. This world and lifestyle are normal to her when it makes me wonder how I made it through. Poor Diana, the only family she has left is her mother."
"Are Virgil and Diana very close?"
"They grew up together, treated each other like siblings."
"And the girl?"
"Elica?"
She nodded.
"One of the men found her near the ruins of the city." He entwined his fingers on his lap. "I guess her parents didn't make it, or else we wouldn't have found her there."
"So you adopted her as your own?"
"I took her as my own, yes." His eyes fixed at an image on the wall beside him. "It was quite recent when we found her. She still believes her parents would come looking for her."
He looked up at Alecia, his lips downturned.
"She's a good kid," she murmured.
"Yes, she is." He adjusted himself on the chair. "I have some questions for you if you don't mind?"
"You can ask," said Alecia, smiling gently.
"Excellent!" Wallace gazed at her hair. "That ponytail suits you, by the way."
"Oh." She averted her eyes, smiling. "Thank you."
Wallace smiled and stood from his desk, striding past her towards the bookshelf. "I just need to find this particular book."
"What book?"
"Never mind." He stopped strolling his fingers to the bookshelf and sighed. "I can't find it."
He stared outside the window. "I was wondering, did something unusual happen?"
Alecia stood and faced him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, something that might seem," he narrowed his gaze, "impossible to you."
She put her hand around her forearm. "From my hands; they were covered in-"
"Blue flames?"
"Yes."
"How did you do that?"
"I'm not really sure." She clenched and unclenched her hands. "It felt as if I channeled my emotions into a single point. Does that sound weird to you?"
"No, it doesn't. What did you feel when you made that happen?"
"I felt desperation, fear," she said, "I was terrified."
"Of what?"
"Death." She stepped towards him. "I was moments away from being killed when it happened."
"Did you get some memories back?"
"No, but I do wonder what's more terrifying: death or life without memories of my family-those I've loved."
"I can't imagine forgetting anything precious to me. Do you think I should still help you remember?"
"Is that even possible?"
"It is." He leaned his hands on his cane. "But I'm afraid I can't help you remember your whole life."
"That's alright. I just want to recall the cause of my amnesia. I want to know how it came to this."
"I'll try my best." He brought his cane to his side. "You'll probably end up remembering a random memory. It's like searching for something in a dark room, you'll never know what you'll find."
"Remembering any of my past is already a gift." She picked up the ball off the desk and fiddled while staring down at it.
"As you said, Wallace, the planet used to resemble the color of this ball. Like this ball, my mind was once full of color." She threw the ball to him.
"I want to see if my mind still has its hue."
Wallace's eyes fixed at the ball, and then at Alecia; her determination made him smile joyfully.
- Writer
