Innocence

XXV •

"Crystal, I thought you'd come."

I stood at Calum's doorstep as the rain poured down around me. I was barely sheltered by his overhanging, creaky balcony on the second floor that looked like it was about to cave in any second.

"Come in?" he offered, stepping to the side so I could creep past him. I hadn't realised how cold I was until I felt my teeth begin to chatter. Why didn't I bring my jumper or something?

I stumbled over to the staircase, sitting down on the third step while my legs were on the first step.

"You read the letters?" Calum asked. As I looked up at him, I noticed his gaze was on the floor. I felt my nerves get the better of me as I pushed my hair out of my face.

"Of course I read them," I managed to say, finally finding my voice. I tried to be strong but all I felt was confusion and misery from the fact that my whole life could be a lie.

I forced myself to my feet, holding the stair railings for support. "What am I supposed to think Calum? In those letters..."

"I know you're confused-"

"Damn right I'm confused!" I yelled. "You're supposed to be the one I trust. Why didn't you tell me this earlier? How is it that you know me, but I don't know you? What happened to me!"

"It's a long story, I think you'll want to sit down..."

"Calum," I frowned. "I am sitting down."

He suddenly seemed to realise this, a frown appear in on his face. "Well shit."

Despite the situation, I couldn't help but laugh. He stared at me oddly, before shaking his head. "We have the house to ourselves, I told Zoe I needed space so she, Sadie, and Emily all left."

I bit my lip briefly before I turned my attention back to him. "So tell me what happened. Like why can't I remember you..."

He looked at me intensely, his brown eyes darker than usual. "The cause of this is the dreams that you have."

"My dreams? I don't get how these stupid nightmares have anything to do with me losing my memory."

"But they do. The dreams are a curse," he started. "They start off normal but then the very being of the nightmare gets into your head. It may take time, months or even years, but eventually you'll lose every trace of you as the Dreamers Curse takes over."

"That sounds... dark," I managed to say, unsure of what to add on. I wanted to know so much more, so I was hoping he wouldn't shut me down before he told me it all. "If the Dreamers Curse took me over, apparently, then why aren't I evil..."

"It doesn't work like that," Calum shook his head. "It gets in your head and wipes away every trace of you. It disposes of all your memories, all your traits, everything that makes you, you. And then it replaces those things with different things. For example, when I knew you, you used to have arachnophobia. But I've seen you in this house and you clearly aren't scared of spiders."

My eyes widened. I had... Arachnophobia? That didn't sound like me. Those creepy crawlers didn't scare me. "Is it still in my head?"

"No, it's already been and left."

"Oh," I rubbed my forehead and then placed my hands back in my lap. "So... tell me a bit more."

"Well I've already suffered my memory loss in case you were worried," he shot me a pointed look and I smiled awkwardly, feeling bad for not asking. "I lost my memory a few months before I met you. I have no recollection of what my past life was or who I shared it with... But there were those fake people in my life who tried to get me to believe that the life I live now was my original one."