Whispers Beyond the Forest

Chapter 10

Emily sprinted in a panic all the way back home. When she finally got there, her heart pounding erratically, she couldn't convince herself to go inside. Shuddering, she remembered how she'd woken up in the middle of the night and Syl had been standing – floating? – outside her window. She wasn't safe at home. So she turned and walked into town, further away from the forest. Just until she'd calmed down.

Syl had been lying to her, Emily was sure of that now. She wouldn't have been friends with someone like him. She couldn't have been friends with one of them if they were responsible for her mother's death. Syl had pretended to care about her, but it was all a ruse. None of it was real. It couldn't be. He'd lied to her and she'd fallen for it without hesitation.

And now, she had nobody left to turn to.

Emily felt like she understood everything now. Syl was evil. He was an Other, he had magic. He was exactly what everyone had been warning her for all this time. It was a good thing Emily hadn't told anyone about him. She should never have even met him. He was dangerous. And she'd found out only just in time. Who knows what he would've done to her, given the time.

Yet something wasn't right. As she made her way to the town centre, where it was busier than anywhere else in town, her heart calmed down and her brain started taking over. Something was off.

If Syl had wanted to hurt her, why hadn't he just done so? Why come up with such an elaborate lie, what was the point? Why waste time talking to her when he could've just –

"Emily?"

A girl's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she turned to see who'd called her. A girl with a brown ponytail, glasses and a big smile on her face waved in her direction.

Not now... Emily thought miserably.

"Emily, hi!" said the girl once she'd got closer.

"Uhm... Hello," Emily answered awkwardly.

The girl chuckled. "You don't remember me, do you? Don't worry, Maya and Dennis told us what happened. My name is Sarah. I go to school with you, we're in the same year. We've all missed you at school, how have you been?"

"Oh, uhm, not too bad, actually," said Emily. "The wounds and bruises have all healed by now. It's just the memory loss..."

"Yeah, that sounds awful," said Sarah empathetically. "Not being able to remember anything... I can't even imagine!"

Emily nodded. "I'm trying to get my memory back, my friends are helping me by telling me stories about my old life. But so far I haven't recognised anything."

"Well, at least you're not going through it all alone," said Sarah, pushing her glasses further up her nose. "It must be nice having your friends to help out."

"It is," Emily agreed whole-heartedly. "Maya and Dennis really helped me out. And Tom, of course..." she added quickly.

"Tom?" Sarah asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, my boyfriend."

But Sarah still looked just as confused. "But I thought you two broke up."

Emily's jaw dropped as she stared at the confused girl in front of her. "Broke up? When?"

"A few weeks before your accident," said Sarah. "I'm sure of it, I saw it happen. You were standing behind the grocery store, where I work. I always leave my bike round the back, because no one ever goes that way. When I came around the corner, you were shouting that it was over and that you never wanted to see him again. I just grabbed my bike and walked away. I didn't want to bother you. I don't think you guys ever even saw me there."

Emily's head spun. Tom wasn't her boyfriend after all? Could that really be true? Everyone had told her they were together, but she never even liked him from the moment she'd met him. Was she really supposed to believe this girl over her friends?

Sarah scratched her head and shrugged. "I mean, I don't know the details. Maybe you guys had already made up again."

Maya and Dennis stared at her in shock when Emily told them what Sarah had said to her. They were hanging out in Maya's bedroom that evening. Ever since her chat with Sarah, Emily had a knot in her stomach. She was angry. Disappointed. If it was true what Sarah had told her, that meant Maya and Dennis had lied to her.

Maya shot Dennis a guilt-ridden glance, which only angered Emily more. It was true, then. Her friends had already known about this. They'd known, yet they hadn't told her.

"So it's true? I broke up with Tom before my accident?"

Maya hesitated, but Dennis answered, "Yes, it's true. You told us a few days later. You were really upset and refused to talk about it at first. In fact, you never even told us why you were so angry with him."

"Why didn't you tell me this? I told you I need to know everything..." said Emily, struggling to hold back the rest of that sentence. How could you be so stupid as to keep this from me?

"Eddy asked us not to tell you," said Maya softly.

Emily's jaw dropped. Eddy had known about this, too?

"He didn't think it was a good idea to tell you about something that made you so sad. You'd only feel bad and confused about it. Besides, there was no point telling you, because Eddy said you'd already made up again. You and Tom were already together again, before the accident."

"Of course there's a point!" Emily snapped, so loudly that Maya shrunk into her seat. "Don't you understand? I have to get my memory back! And that won't happen if you guys keep things from me."

Her friends fell silent for a few moments, glancing at one another uncomfortably.

"You're right," said Maya. "We should've told you. We're sorry."

Dennis nodded in agreement, though he didn't say anything.

Emily was glad her friends could see their mistake. Still, her anger faded only slowly. "Is there anything else you guys kept from me?" she asked, more sharply than she'd planned.

Maya stared at her wide-eyed, but Dennis cast her a look of indifference. "Nope, that's all. Now, when you're done acting like a girl," he said on his boys-are-so-much-tougher-than-girls tone, "maybe you should talk to Tom. He'll know exactly what happened. We don't."