Forgotten Spark

Chapter 5

Mom smiled at me, then hugged me. I was happy beyond description that, one, I could actually remember her, and two, that I'd found her. We were hugging like that for who knows how long, crying and laughing all at once.

"Michael, I've missed you so much!" Mom said between sobs. "When they came back without you, I--I didn't know what to do! What happened to you?"

"I don't know," I said, helplessly. "I guess I was in a coma for six months. I only woke up a few weeks ago."

Mom held me away from her to get a good look at me. "They told me you'd lost your memory. I was so scared that you wouldn't remember me, Michael." She smiled nervously at me. "I guess we have a lot to catch up on, huh?"

"Try my whole life!" I cried, "I don't remember anything except you and Idaho." Mom laughed, and told me story after story of me as a child, and we spent the rest of dinner laughing between bites of food.

______

After dinner, we walked around the ranch until the sun had almost set. We just talked about life, things I'd done when I was little, what we did together. I was reminded of my dad at some point, and asked Mom how he'd died.

"Well," she looked out onto the water, where the reflection of the setting sun was breathtaking, "your father died of a heart attack, but...it was one that was caused by a severe electric shock." She paused.

Remembering what Jack said about me being electric, I asked softly, "Did I kill him?"

She looked at me with a confused expression. "What?" Then she realized how it sounded. "Oh, of course not! It was set up to look like that, but you didn't do it.  It was the Elgen--the people the resistance was created to fight. Your father led, originally, so he was the prime target. What they didn't know was that he'd brought more people to the cause than they could ever imagine."

I was slightly comforted by the fact that I hadn't killed my father, but the sick feeling in my gut came back when she affirmed that he had been murdered by someone. "So who exactly are these people?"

Mom bit her lip and twiddled her thumbs. "I'm probably not the best person to ask about that. I haven't been part of the program long enough to understand everything."

I turned away from Mom and sighed. "Okay."
                              _____

After a while, one of the teenagers from before walked up to us and smiled. He had short, brown hair, and looked overweight some. He had these nerdy glasses on, the ones with thick, black frames. It was as if he was setting himself up to be bullied.

There was something about him, too, that made me think I should know him. Maybe it was his crooked smile, or maybe the expression that he was thinking about a million things at once. Something, but as always, I couldn't place it.

"I think I better go," said Mom, seeing him walk up. "There are some things I need to get done before I hit the sack." She winked at me before heading back up to the buildings. I turned to the boy.

"Hi," I said to him, "I'm assuming we've met?"

He tilted his head and squinted his eyes. "I would have thought your memory wouldn't have been damaged this badly," he said.

"Huh?"

"Well, usually memories can be retrieved after a certain period of time, and also, side note, you did successfully recognize your mom, so....."

"So.....what? Are you a childhood friend that I should recognize?" I was starting to get frustrated. "Just, stop putting this off, and tell me who you are!"

The boy look surprised by my reaction but quickly regained his composure. "I'm Ostin. We were friends for a few years before all this," he motioned to everything, "happened."

Oh. That explained it, then. Honestly, I was surprised, myself. Doctor Francis said that only the past year or two were damaged the most, so I should have been able to remember him. I guess my memory was damaged worse than the doctors thought.

"Oh," I said, "Sorry, I guess." Even though it wasn't really my fault.

Ostin smiled sadly. "I just don't know what I was expecting."

I couldn't think of anything to say, and there was an awkward silence. Ostin cleared his throat, breaking the silence.

"Well, you'll probably want to meet everyone. We're all hoping that it might trigger your memories, and something will come back."

A reasonable conclusion, but I didn't think my memories were coming back any time soon. If anything, they would have been triggered when I met Ostin, or found my mom. Granted, I did recognize her on my own, but there wasn't really anything else that had come back. Everything I knew about my old life, I'd learned in the last 36 hours.

"I'm not sure if I'm quite ready for that," I said uneasily. "I'm not sure if I would be able to remember that many names all at once." I tried to chuckle, but it ended in a sad sigh.

"Okay," Ostin sighed too. "Well, you can meet one or two people tonight, and we'll slowly introduce you to everyone while you're here."

I nodded. That sounded good. I was still nervous, but I was less nervous now that I wouldn't have to approach a large group of people that had trampled me before. Ostin turned and started towards the mess hall. "I think that since you've already met Jack, your mom and me, you should meet Zeus next."

"Zeus?" I repeat. "Like, Zeus the Greek god of lightning?"

"Greek god of the sky. Not just lightning. Although, that is why our Zeus was nicknamed. You'll find out more when you meet him." He smile mysteriously. "I'll keep it a surprise for you. Anyways, I thought he would be a good start for you. Zeus'll give you good support over the next few days." Ostin turned again.

What could Zeus have done to earn a nickname like that? Add that to a million other questions I'd developed since that morning. The thought of that morning reminded me of something.

"Wait," I stopped him. "Who was the girl from this morning? The one with brown hair?" She had also crossed my mind when I was talking to Mom, but I didn't feel extremely comfortable asking her yet. However, my former best friend would be a good alternative.

Ostin smiled, "You mean Taylor? Oh, she's no one important. She just wanted to play a prank on you when you finally got back. She doesn't really like you at all, actually."

I looked at him in disbelief. "You're joking!"

He laughed, "Of course I am! Taylor is your girlfriend." My eyes bugged out. Ostin laughed again. "She has been ever since we saved her from the Elgen."

I was still catching my breath from that new bit of information when I thought of another question, "Can you tell me about that? I mean, how did we get involved in all this stuff? It's not like normal teenagers go around randomly joining a resistance to a company no one knows about."

Ostin smiled. "Yeah, I guess we're not really normal teenagers. Gee, I don't know where to start! I feel like I can fill several books with that story. Well, you, me, and Taylor all went to the same high school in Meridian. Taylor was a cheerleader, and she was pretty popular. She saw you shock Jack and his buddies when they were beating you up, and she asked you about it later. That's how we found out you two are electric. We formed a club, the three of us, to figure out why you were electric. We started calling it the Electroclan, and all these people have joined since then."

"Did we find out why we're electric, then?" I asked.

"Yeah, but it's kind of hard to explain quickly, so I'll tell you later. It's getting dark, anyways, so if you want to meet Taylor, I suggest we get going."

At the mention of Taylor, all questions about the Electroclan evaporated, and my heart rate increased. Ostin noticed my eagerness and rolled his eyes playfully. "I guess nothing's changed between you two, then."

I blushed, but I wasn't really paying attention. My thoughts were occupied by the brunette beauty from earlier.