Chatoyant College Book 9: Sundered

Chapter 84: Old Memories

"Of course I would have," said Edie. She smiled weakly. "I almost felt left out. You're half werewolf, Dawn has the Sight, Roe has her visions. I felt like there was nothing special about me."

"You'd be special even if you weren't part faerie," Dawn said firmly, feeling guilty that Edie had ever felt left out of anything. "But it is interesting that the four of us came together, when we all have something supernaturally different about us."

"Not all of our friends do," said Roe. "At least, I don't think Annie or Naomi are anything other than straightforward humans."

"And the reason we found out about Troy is because of our own supernatural heritage," said Corrie. "We probably wouldn't know Roe as well if she didn't keep having visions about us, either, which is mainly because of our experience with faeries."

"I don't believe that your friendship is anything worth commenting on," said Professor Lal. "Naturally, as those of you with unusual powers discover them, you will grow closer, but you have not collected all of the supernatural people on campus. Lin, in your magic class, has her own powers that I am helping her to control."

"I guess it's not that weird a coincidence," said Dawn. "We just gathered together all the faerie people, plus a few extras."

"But none of this explains why Edie had a memory block placed on her to make her forget she wasn't a faerie," said Corrie. "Edie, you only remember Leila telling you about your grandmother, right?"

Edie nodded. "That was definitely her, but I don't think she would put the block on me. Why would she do that?"

"And that would have been months ago," said Dawn. "So either Leila did it, or someone swooped in right away. Mardalan wouldn't have done that even if she could. There are other faeries on campus who might have noticed, I guess, but why would they want to keep Edie from remembering she was part faerie?"

"Professor Lal, was it definitely a faerie who put the memory block in place?" Roe asked.

The professor shook her head. "It would not have to have been a faerie, no, but that is the most reasonable conclusion. Very few human magicians or other supernaturals have the power or the ability to put a memory block on someone, while it is something that most intelligent faeries can do."

"Does it even matter who did it?" Dawn asked. "I mean, we can't do anything else about it, can we?"

"We can tell them what Edie remembers," Corrie said. "And ask them to take the rest of the memory block off. If it's someone powerful, we might need Professor Lal's help, though."

"If it is Leila, I will certainly assist you," said Professor Lal. "If it is one of the court faeries, it may have to wait until later. If it is another student faerie, I can ask them to drop the block, or I may be able to force them to do so."

"It could be dangerous to ask them on our own," said Roe. "I mean, even just to tell them what Edie remembers. There has to be a reason they didn't want her to remember."

"Why did the memory block go away today?" Edie asked. "I mean, that was why I got the headache, isn't it?"

"Yes, the memory block was starting to fade," said the professor. "I was able to help take it away entirely, but I would not have been able to find it if it had not already been dissolving."

"So why today?" Corrie said, shaking her head. "Maybe the person who put it on you wanted you to remember?"

"Then wouldn't it all go away at once?" Dawn said. "It's not something about this office, is it?"

"No, the headache started this morning," said Edie. She frowned suddenly and lifted one hand to her temple. "And it's coming back again."

Professor Lal frowned. "That should not be. There is nothing else to cause a headache—unless there was another memory block. May I?"

Edie started to nod, then winced. "Go ahead."

Professor Lal lifted her hands to Edie's head again, and though it seemed to take longer this time, Edie's shoulders again relaxed. She didn't look so happy now, though. "Did you remember something else?" Corrie asked softly, touching Edie's arm.

Edie nodded. "Leila and Genesis... I'm not sure when this was. A while ago. But I was meeting Leila in the orchard, and Genesis was there. Leila was mad at me for some reason." She shook her head, frowning. "I don't know why I was meeting Leila in the orchard or why Genesis was there. But Leila... she made me be quiet." She touched her lips. "I couldn't talk when she didn't want me to. And then she made Genesis leave. There's still something missing, I think. But that's most of it."