Soulless

ELEVEN

The girls stepped out of the car, gravel crunching beneath their feet, as they gazed up at 'The Man's' first house. Jackie pursed her lips before closing her door and approaching the large house.

Caroline huffed. "So, we're not going to talk about it?" She shouted.

Jackie stopped. "There's nothing to talk about."

Caroline began running up to her. "You just conjured up a literal storm, Jackie. And then you remembered what it was called. I'm pretty sure we need to-"

"No," Jackie cut her off. "I told you before, I don't know anything about magic. I'm just a normal girl, okay?" She stared at Caroline, sadness in her eyes. "Just because there was a storm and I happened to say something weird, and then say the same thing as you, doesn't mean anything." She turned back to the house. "I don't want to pretend I might be getting my memory back when I know I won't."

Caroline paused next to her friend. "But what if it's not pretend?" She asked, taking Jackie's hand in hers.

Jackie shook her head. "It has to be. A random person calling me a random nickname isn't going to suddenly repair my memory." She paused, then pulled her hand from Caroline's. "How'd you even know what it was called, anyway? Do you have some device that reads minds, too?"

Caroline took a step back, ever so slightly offended. "Even if I did, I wouldn't use it on you."

Jackie fumed. "Why not, Caroline? And why are you so bipolar? One second you're an ice cube, the next we're singing together, then you're ice cold again, and now, suddenly, we're friends again? What, are you going to ask me for some favour next and then completely ruin my life?"

Caroline stared at her. The look on the other woman's face opened a floodgate in the back of her mind.

Memories of a young Jackie Michelson flooded Caroline's brain. The little girl giggled in her mind, showed her a book she'd found. Years of friendship cascaded, scene after scene of her past flashing before her eyes. Caroline smiled at most of them, getting an odd look from Jackie. Until one final memory hit her.

Jackie yelped as Caroline collapsed, falling completely into a memory.

___

"Carrie, I can't do anything about that," the young Jackie said. "I can't just make you, like, forget everything."

"But why not?" Caroline's voice rang.

"Because. I don't know how to do it yet... And my mom said I can't do that one because it could hurt someone."

Caroline frowned. "There has to be something we can do. I mean, you can do The Angry One without any issues. Why can't you just make my mind go blank?"

Jackie shook her head. "I don't know."

Caroline's gaze shifted from Jackie' face to the darkening horizon. "I doesn't scare me or hurt me. But it's like I can't feel anything anymore." She looked back to her friend. "After I- after it happened, I just went blank, Jacks. If I could just forget it, maybe things would be different."

"What if Michael really was there? What if you really lost you soul?"

"That isn't possible, Jacks. You know all that 'God and Heaven' and 'Satan and Hell' stuff is bullshit." They girls remained silent for a moment.

Jackie pressed her hand against Caroline's knee. "I wish I could help you," she whispered. "But I don't want to do it if it'll hurt one of us. And what if you forget me?"

Caroline shook her head. "I could never forget you. Especially not after we-" She cut herself off. Blushing furiously, Caroline silently kicked herself for her gaze unconsciously resting on her friend's lips. "Y-you know," she muttered.

Jackie's face turned a light shade of pink, but she gave her friend a sad smile. Looking away, she pulled her hand off of Caroline's leg, her shoulders slumping forward.

The young girls sighed. Caroline picked up her friend's book, flipping through the pages. Jackie watched her out of the corner of her eye but said nothing.

"The Careless One," Caroline whispered.

Jackie sat up slightly, glancing at the page. "That's the one we can't do."

Caroline stared at the book in her hands. "It doesn't even need anything, Jacks," she sighed. "We just have to say some stuff."

Jackie frowned, taking the book from her friend. "Yeah, but..." She trailed off as she read the page. "It's actual English."

Caroline forced a smile onto her face. "We could try it out."

Jackie looked at her. Her eyes glazed over, only momentarily, with fear. She read the page again, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. With a sigh, she set the book down on the grass and took Caroline's hands in her.

"If we get arrested for blowing something up, it's your fault, Carrie," she joked. Her smile didn't reach her eyes.

Caroline squeezed Jackie's hands. "If anything happens, you're my best friend. I'll do whatever it takes to protect you." When she got no response, she added, "I love you, Jackie."

Jackie bit her lip. "I love you, too, Carrie." She leaned forward, pressing her lips gently against the others. She pulled away, and, with a sigh, gave in. "The book says we need a number of years in which you'll forget. Do you want me to just take out the years after-"

"Take them all."

"What?"

Caroline's hands clamped around her friend's. "All sixteen years, Jackie." Their eyes met. "Please," she pleaded.

Jackie's eyes exposed her true sadness about this decision. "Okay. 'Forget the fear, create the strong,'" she recited. "'Lose the pain,'" she hesitated. "'Sixteen years long."

They sat there for a moment, in silence. The girls looked at each other and looked around. "Nothing's happening."

Jackie picked the book up and flipped to the page again. "I don't see anything about-"

She was cut off by a loud explosion. A white light blinded the girls, making them scream.

Caroline's ears rang and she could no longer feel Jackie's hands in hers.

A quiet echo began calling out, repeating its message over, and over, and over again.

"Don't forget me," it cried.

"Please don't forget me, Carrie," Jackie's voice whispered in Caroline's head.

"I could never," she managed in response.

The world went black.