The Memory Thief | ONC2020 [AMBASSADOR PICK]

Chapter 12

"What have you done, Nyron?!"

"Later. We need to get out of here." Nyron took her hand hesitantly, as if expecting her to recoil in disgust. When she didn't, he turned into the street with Liliya on his heels.

"Where are we going?"

"My place. Just until we figure out what to do."

They ran through the darkened city, evading streetlights, until the shadows had swallowed them and they could be sure nobody was following them. Nyron lead her through quiet streets and deserted alleys, where their footsteps echoed along the walls.

"How could you do that to that boy, Nyron?" Liliya hissed, ripping her hand out of his once they finally slowed down a little. "You ruined his life. You ruined a whole family of lives!"

Nyron's face fell. "I told you, it was an accident! I never meant to hurt him, I swear!"

"You never should have done it in the first place! Stealing memories, it's... It's wrong. It's evil."

Nyron peered around a corner before gesturing for her to follow. "How can it be evil when they ask me to do it? These people come to me, Liliya. They want me to erase something. It's like..." He thought for a moment, fiddling with his earring. "Like a surgery. They can either save a patient's life, or if it goes wrong it could kill them."

Liliya scoffed. "Don't compare yourself with someone who saves lives!"

"But it is similar. Don't you see? When you help your trauma patients, you save their lives too, right? You make their lives so much better, so much more bearable that you might as well have brought them back from the dead."

As they turned a corner, Liliya had no idea where they were. She didn't know this part of the city. She'd have to rely on Nyron to get home once this nightmare was over.

"But all of those patients of yours could also be healed by simply taking away the memory of their trauma. It's much quicker."

"You don't understand!" Liliya raised her hands above her head in frustration. "Those trauma's help shape people. They make people who they are."

"Yes," said Nyron. "But not always in a good way. Some people just want to go back to the way they were before."

Liliya opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again when she remembered her mother's words. She'd wanted to forget, too... They walked in silence for a few moments.

"Why didn't you stop? You said you never meant to hurt anyone. When you hurt that boy, why didn't you stop?"

Nyron sighed. "I was in too deep at that point," he said. "Honestly, at that point in my life I was just doing what I could to survive."

"What are you talking about?"

Shaking his head, he pulled a hand through his hair. "It's a long story. My best friend from university got into trouble with money when the government pushed that law that forbid fortune telling. His family had a fortune telling business and they lost everything. He couldn't even finish his degree."

Liliya felt a shiver run down her spine at his words. The situation he described was much too similar to her own current situation.

"To pay the bills, he got into the black market business. I never found out exactly what he did, he wouldn't tell me. He died during one of his gigs. Left his family with even more debt. I volunteered to take his place, so they wouldn't have to deal with it. They got me into memory stealing, because it brought up a lot of money. The first time I took someone's memory – Donny's – went terribly wrong. But at that point going back wasn't an option."