Rewritten

Chapter 7: Family and other dramas

Guild (n.): A group of hunters.

Apparently Art was going to be at mum's house for dinner that night, so I used it as a opportunity to see her. Unfortunately, that meant I was also going to have to deal with my mother.

    "Anything?" she enquired as I passed her in the kitchen. She spoke low enough that only I could hear.

    Much as it pained me, I didn't want to lie, so I gave a subtle shake of my head. I didn't need to look at her to see the way her eyes narrowed and her mouth pursed. My relationship with my mother had been on a downhill decline since the day I rewrote a situation I'd gotten told off for and freaked out. That was the same day my parents had discovered I was a rewrite. I considered myself immune to all her angry expressions.

    "We'll talk later."

    I nodded, but had no intention of doing any such thing. As soon as this meal was over, I'd talk to Art to get an update on what was going on with her life before returning to dad's. I'm not saying divorce was a good thing, but these days it certainly worked to my advantage.

    We sat down. My eyes almost bugged out at the way the table was actually set. In all the other realities, we always ate whenever we wanted (a side effect of busy working parents with no cooking skills) which meant that Art and I spent a majority of dinners either in our rooms or on the sofa. It may not have been a typical family relationship, but it was the normal I was used to. Since in this rewrite dad was still the same, I hadn't bothered to think about mum and my new stepfather.

    "Dinner is served." Daniel said cheerfully. He set full plates of rice and some sort of curry in front of us, causing me to nearly go slack-jawed with shock. Anyone could make bacon sandwiches, so I hadn't realised the man could actually cook.

    Mum kicked me when she realised I hadn't started eating along with anybody else. I obligingly took a bite.

    "So how was work today?" Art asked the question to the table in general.

    Mum smiled, happy to talk about it. "We've been doing a lot of research on CMR, and the mental capacity of rewrites. Right now we're looking into the effects on the brain of a rewrite after an extended amount of changes to the past." Mum had stopped eating as she got more animated. "I mean, if a rewrite were to continually change events in their life, there would surely be a large impact on their memory system. We already know that the brain capacity of a rewrite is higher than the average human, but even then there should be a lim -"

    The sound of my chair scraping back cut mum off mid-lecture. She glanced at me questioningly, but I didn't answer. I felt nauseous.

    Rewrite a situation enough times and there has to be a limit.

    I didn't remember what I'd changed.

    What if I'd changed things so much, trying to save Art, that I was somehow damaging my mind?

    "I'm not hungry," I whispered. I didn't even grab my bag as I ran out the front door.

    "Athena Madison Roberts! You come right back...!" Mum's voice faded away behind me as I ran. I barely made it to the toilet before I vomited, fear causing the food I'd just eaten to come right back up. I cleaned myself up and washed my hands, then leapt a mile at the sight of Art leaning against the doorway. Her face was etched with lines of worry as she studied me.

    "You okay?"

    I nodded. "I'm fine."

    Art sighed. "I won't ask you what sent you running from the table and puking, but mum and Daniel look pretty worried and Daniel's paranoid he somehow didn't cook the chicken properly. You might want to say something to them before you go for a walk around the park."