Protecting Lucy

001. Ingrid

A/N

These are not chapters. I decided to do soemthing different and post a character piece for all of my characters before I got into the story. That's why these are so short! Isla xx

The first time I erased someone’s memory was when I was eleven. I was at a friends house - Lucy Hargrove’s, the mayors daughter. We were best friends back then. It was her party, and she’d invited about seven girls. Her parents were pretty nonchalant about everything, leaving out stacks of sweet food and movies for us to watch then retiring to their bedrooms. Once given this fantastic opportunity, we’d stayed up late plaiting each others hair and gossiping over the boys at school. 

I don’t really know what caused it. My mentor says it might have been anger. But the only emotion I can remember feeling that night was fear. It was about eleven o’clock, and the Hargrove's had gone to bed. There were only three of us still awake; me, Lucy, and a quiet little girl named Gemma. We’d just finished watching ‘The Little Mermaid,’ in which all the others had fallen asleep. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I’d fallen asleep. What would’ve been different if I hadn’t been invited to the party, or I’d been sick and unable to go. But I did go. And that night changed my life forever. 

Lucy was spoilt. Everyone knew that. She’d always get what she wanted, and if she didn’t, she’d chuck a huge tantrum. Even at school, the teachers worshipped her; perhaps scared of her parents wrath if they didn’t. She was pretty too, with gorgeous long blonde hair and innocent blue eyes. She was a face nobody could say no too. Except me. Thinking back, that’s probably why we were friends. Because I wasn’t afraid of her. And I kind of hoped that if things had gone differently; If I’d found out about what I could do in a different way, she wouldn’t be afraid of me.

Gemma had left for the bathroom. Lucy seized this opportunity to whisper in my ear insults about the other girl.

“Honestly, she didn’t even bring a present. Who does she think she is? Like, I know her parents aren’t exactly rich, but....”

She’d trailed off when she saw the look on my face. It wasn’t regret for what she’d said, but pity because of my reaction.

“Sorry, Ingrid. I didn’t think how that might sound.”

Her words were meant to make me feel better but they just drove the knife deeper in. She knew my family wasn’t as rich as hers. She’d never made fun of me, sure, but she’d always hinted that she was superior. That, somehow, my lack of wealth reflected me as a person. As an eleven year old, however, I couldn’t hold grudges for very long, so forgave her instantly.

We heard a crash downstairs.

Lucy jumped.

“It’s probably Gemma,” I reasoned, though my voice was shaky.

“Probably,” Lucy agreed nervously.

There was a smash, and then a thumping of feet coming up the stairs. Lucy squealed. I forced my hand over her mouth in an attempt to keep her quiet.

“Shh.” I whispered. “Don’t make any noise.”

The footsteps grew louder as the intruder neared Lucy’s room. We held our breaths. I don’t think we’d ever been so scared in our lives. The noises grew closer. Lucy’s hand felt for mine in the dark. I grasped it comfortingly.

And then it happened; The door opened, the room was illuminated, Lucy screamed, the girls woke up, I felt my hands get clammy, and - and -

And Lucy forgot.

Doctors put it down to a case of temporary amnesia due to the shock she’d received. It turns out the intruder was only Mr Hargrove, returning from the pub, and everything had quickly calmed down. But Lucy hadn’t forgotten everything. She’d just forgotten me.

When Gemma returned from the bathroom, and all of us huddled together in her room, Lucy turned to me accusingly and asked; 

“Who are you?”

Her parents were confused. They didn’t understand how she could forget who her best friend for three years had been. People at school put it down to Lucy being mean, pretending to not know me, and soon that was the accepted story. Besides, it wasn’t as if Mayor Hargrove and Mrs. Hargrove had ever particularly liked me anyway, so they weren’t too upset when I was wrenched from their perfect daughters life.

After that, people at school looked at me sympathetically. They whispered about me when they thought I wasn’t listening.

“She must have done something real bad to make Lucy hate her so much.” they’d say, looking at me accusingly. Or worse, the pitiful ones;

“Poor Ingrid. I can’t believe Lucy would do such a thing! She looks so lonely.”

But despite the frequent sympathetic looks, nobody ever dared to speak to me. I suppose they thought that by doing so, Lucy would isolate them too. They were all too scared to act.

So, over the years, I was forgotten. I wasn’t bullied, or picked on; but rather ignored. People began to forget me, and soon stopped identifying me as ‘Lucy’s old friend.’ They soon stopped identifying me at all. That is, until I was found. And when I was recruited, when I finally agreed to join them, my life changed forever. 

I just don't know whether or not it was a good change.