The SoulMate Project

Chapter 2- Fading Memories

Chapter 2:

Fading Memories

After two more hours of fading in and out of Damon's lecture, he finally had enough sympathy to let her go. Ebony was now sitting by her bedroom window and looked out to see that birds were flying beside them. Saddened, she ran a thumb along the plated glass, feeling numb and empty. Four years. She had only had four years of memories and her first two were of the horrible life she had endured in the lab. Ebony trembled thinking back after she'd awoken in a cellar, chained to the wall. At the time she'd had no memory of who she was or where she'd come from, all she'd known was that she had been cold, hungry, and frightened. So many terrible moans had come from around her, so many screams she had to endure for what seemed like millennia but had actually been only a few months before she had been saved by the people in white, who carried her out of that horrible cellar. Ebony had believed that they were heroes who had come to rescue her; but they weren't.

Ebony learned the hard way that she was simply a test subject and that they had been the ones who had shoved her in that frozen Hell in the first place. They dug needles into her skin, shoved tubes down her throat, forced her through surgery after surgery without any anesthetics and she'd been awake the whole time while enduring torture. They'd given her no reason why, only to say that it was important that they do so. She learned to hate them for it. Even the brand that they had burned in on her ankle was a constant reminder of how much pain they'd put her through. She fingered the brand mindlessly, studying the numbers forty-five with no thought at all.

A tear trickled down her cheek and she reached to furtively wipe it away, trying to bring back better memories, memories of Damon and Alyec rescuing her from that Hell.

She smiled, remembering how much she'd followed Damon around like a little duck when he'd first brought her aboard his aircraft. Unsure, frightened, confused but excited that she was finally out, she'd become an obedient little girl. In the beginning she'd favored Damon, sticking to him like glue to make sure that he wasn't just some dream and over and over again she'd asked him if he knew who she was and where she came from, but again and again he'd always smile and shake his head saying "No."

Now, two years later, Ebony knew he'd been lying. She had learned to see the truth behind his golden eyes and learned that he did know her. But he refused to let her know how. Ebony had figured it out when the brothers- who she had learned were twins- went out on occasion after occasion. Once she'd even caught them talking privately in Damon's bedroom and stopped to peer through a crack in the door...

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"You can't always keep her safe Damon. She has to learn sometime." Alyec snapped. He'd been standing over his older brother, who, on the other hand, was sitting on the edge of the bed and running a hand through his hair. He didn't even look up to acknowledge the younger boy.

Damon's voice was quiet, almost resigned when he spoke. She'd never heard him speak in such a way. "Don't you think I know that? But what else can I do? If she knew the truth then she'd come to hate me and then what would be left of-"

"Ebony could never hate you." Alyec interjected his voice harsh. It surprised Ebony so much that she was forced to take a step back, but shook it off, leaning forward again to listen and watch intently. "Don't you realize how much she trusts you?" The younger boy continued, flinging his arms over his head. "She's followed you like a lost puppy ever since she got on this ship! You may not see it, but I do, and I can tell you that Ebony would never hate you. Not when she loves you as much as she does."

Ebony gaped, her heart beating a mile a minute, waiting for Damon's response. She regretted it soon, feeling her blood turn to ice at how dead Damon sounded. "Well, maybe she should learn to. I hate her Alyec, after years and years of searching: I hate her."

"You can't mean that," Alyec choked, "if you do then why keep her here in the first place? You said it yourself that you wanted to keep her safe."

"Because," Damon answered simply. "We have to find all of them. Now if you'll excuse me," he said and got to his feet, adjusting the collar of his shirt that had gone askew, "I need to get back to work. This ship won't fly itself now will it?"

Ebony disappeared into her bedroom before he even had the chance to see her and not once did she look back.

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The girl smiled bitterly at the memory. His words had cut a jagged whole through her heart where as no one else's could. Ebony knew it was childish, but she acted against him in whichever way she could. If he hated her then fine. She would make it easier on him.

A knock came to her door and she shouted, "Come in!" Before hopping to her feet and unlocking the latch.

Alyec, his white hair now dried, strode in with a bundle of something wrapped in blue cloth. He leaned down, settling it on her bed carefully, before pulling back and presenting a sack full of cookies with a light, "Taa-dah!" and flourish, bowing like a gentlemen.

Ebony laughed, "Your grandmother's famous chocolate chip?"

"Why, what else could they be?" He straightened and gave her a conspiratorial wink. "I stole the recipe from Damon's bedroom since I know you like them so much."

She gave him a grateful smile and slipped onto the bed, picking up one of the larger cookies before taking a tiny bite, savoring the chocolate chips, giving a soft groan of pleasure.

"I wish I could've met your grandmother. She used to make a mean desert." Ebony said with a blissful sigh.

Alyec chuckled, "Glad you like them. You've been acting a bit depressed and have been hauled up in your room for so long that I thought I might come in and check on you." He gave her a sheepish grin. "I got worried."

Ebony licked her chocolate coated fingers, "I'm fine, but after this, I feel great." Her grin was mischievous. "What do you say after this we go up to the bridge? I feel like getting some fresh air. It's feeling a little stuffy in here."

"Yeah, but I have something a little better in mind." He strode forward and reached for a cookie himself, only to have Ebony grab his wrist playfully and tug him onto the bed with her. Reluctantly, he flopped beside her, dodging the plate of cookies.

"So what was that idea of yours?"

Alyec shrugged, snatched the unfinished cookie out of her hands and took a bite before handing it back. She groaned and placed it back onto the plate, her appetite gone, diminished by the thought of Alyec having something exciting for them to do in mind.

"I was just thinking we could give Damon a little bit of Hell. After all, you had to deal almost five hours with the guy."

"And what do you mean by 'give him a little bit of Hell?'" Ebony asked, but already her lips were curling into a devious grin, emerald eyes sparkling with mischievous humor.

"In other words we screw with his room while he's out." Alyec said, voicing her thoughts. "And maybe rearrange his sock drawer."

Ebony gave a mocking gasp, a hand flying to her lips, "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, contraire," Alyec wiggled his eyebrows, reaching over to tickle her, forcing her to emit a shriek, "but I shall."