Sustainable

Chapter Eight

"What are we doing, Ro?" I ran after her long legs down the corridor, my breathing hitching up. "Slow down, I don't have my inhaler on me; I left it in the bedroom." Rowan let go of my arm, and I rubbed it,  the spot where she'd grabbed now burning slightly. "Slow down!"

"Can't." She replied, panting herself. "Elliot's going in about ten minutes, and we need to catch him before he leaves." She stopped at a blue door, and nudged me forward. "Elliot's room. Knock." 

I lifted my hand and tapped it tentatively, and Ro rolled her large hazel eyes. "For crying out loud, this is a knock." She pounded the door with her fist, and an extremely dishevelled looking Elliot popped his head around the door. "What the hell, Ro? I was on my way to the door when I heard Amelia knock." 

"How did you know it was me?" I pondered aloud, and he grinned. "Because it was quiet, and Ro does quiet about as well as she does tact." I giggled, earning myself a harsh glare from my brand new bestie. "We need your help, Elliot. Amy needs your help." Her voice turned low, and Elliot dropped the playful grin from his face. Replacing it with one of worry, he said slowly, "What kind of help?" 

"Let me in and we'll explain." Elliot and Rowan both looked at me in amazement as I spoke, and I found I was surprised at myself for my sudden appearance of authority. He opened the door wide, and I walked through with my head held high, with Ro following behind me.  

"What do you need, then? Because I'm leaving in fifteen minutes." I looked around his room for the first time, and noted the neatly packed rucksack leaning on his bedframe. "Where are you going?" I asked, and he shook his head and held up a hand. "Ro will explain later." I looked back at her and she nodded. "What do you need me for?" 

"Ari misses her family." Ro blurted, and Elliot looked at her in surprise. "Well, that's hardly a shock, Ro. She's bound to. The point is, why have you come to me?" His brown eyes stared at me and I felt myself shrink under his gaze.  

"She feels guilty." 

"I feel bad that they don't have a clue where I am. I feel bad that I've left them all behind when I've been the one looking after them for the past seven years. I hate that they'll worry and I'll never be able to tell them that I'm okay!" I sobbed at my last outburst, and Elliot looked at me in shock. I sniffed, choking back the tirade of tears. Ro handed me a tissue meekly, and I nodded in appreciation, unable to speak. Wiping my face, Elliot placed a hand on my shoulder, gently awaiting me to calm down.  

"Ro said that you could help. She didn't say how, only that you could." I looked at him once I gained some composure, and Ro stood, briefly resting her hand on my arm. "Getting a drink. Want one?" 

I nodded and mouthed the word 'tea' at her, and she smiled and left the room. Elliot sat with a hard look on his face and exhaled in a labored breath. "Did anyone tell you what my special little ability is?" He rested his hands in his lap, and I shook my head, intrigued by this conversation. 

"I can mess with memories. Read them, store them. Anyone's." His voice was deep and gruff; so unlike the warm and carefree Elliot I had come to know over the last day. "I'm assuming either you want me to make you forget your family, or make them forget you. Am I right?"  

I cleared my throat, replying with a simple "Yes."  My voice was unusually clear, considering I'd been sobbing my heart out minutes before. "I don't want them to miss me. It's not fair on them if they don't even have anything to go on. I'll just be another missing person  otherwise, and they'll never move on. It's easier if they forget I ever existed." The words wrenched out my heart, and I gasped at the notion.  

"Are you sure? Because I can't put the memories back if you change your mind. Memories are intangible; once they're gone, they're gone. That's it." 

"Did you tell her?" Ro opened the door with her hips, holding two steaming mugs and a glass filled with a honey color liquid. Handing one to me, she smiled warmly before handing Elliot the other. He nodded, grimacing. "I was just telling her if I do it, there's no going back." 

"Do it. If I'm going to start anew, I'm doing it with a clean slate."