The misfits

20: Emma

It was just the same as Emma remembered. That day when her mother brought her to Faye's house. As Emma walked, her body seemed to react before her brain could compute. Emma turned to Faye and blurted out abruptly, "Ms Baker, I want you to give me back my memories. The ones my mother told you to take from me." Emma expected Faye to reject her, and the last thing she expected Faye to reply readily was, "They were never taken. Your mother just wanted me to hide them, so you could have a normal life. It just takes the right trigger, like how you probably met the rogues at school. If you want me to recover them from your mind, I will." Emma blinked in surprise, before she answered, "Yeah, I do. I can handle it, whatever it is."

When they reached the familiar house Emma had seen in her memory, Faye ushered them inside as she lugged their things they had retrieved from their dad's—no, their former home, earlier on. Faye turned to Emma as she asked, "Emma, do you want to do it now, or do you want to wait?" "We should do it...the sooner the better, I guess." Emma said nervously. She wasn't being a wimp. Maybe she was just afraid, but what she might find out about herself. Why she was such a freak. "You should sit down. Do you want anything to drink? Hot chocolate? You used to love it with caramel." Faye asked cheerfully. "Yeah. I used to drink it every Friday, when Mum made them on late nights." She whispered, dropping into the nearest chair and squeezing her eyes shut. She heard Faye chuckle as she squeezed Emma's shoulder, saying, "Chill. I'm not going to slap you. The process is painless, but it will take a few hours to trigger. If this works, you'll be dreaming about your past life by bedtime." "You sure you want to do this? Your mother probably hid them from you for a reason...I mean, you don't have to do it if you don't want to." Faye asked. "I want to. Bring on the memories. See what Mommy Dearest was hiding from me." Emma let out a breath, and waited for Faye. She squeezed her eyes shut, as she felt Faye's long, scarred fingers gently pressed her forehead, and she began to say, "Abracadabra." "You can do magic?" Emma murmured suddenly. "Yes, Emma, I am a magician. A real one. Concentrate on your mind. Follow my trail." Faye said out loud.

Emma felt Faye push an icy trail into her mind, as Emma shivered. Keep it together, Emma. It isn't real. It felt real enough to her. Concentrate on an open mind, Emma. Faye's thoughts filled her head.

"I can't!" Emma struggled.

"You're strong. Just imagine your mind is a room, and you're opening the door."

Emma thought of things that her mother could possibly have hid from her. Fire, monster, rogues.

That's it, Faye's whisper echoed through her mind.

It was working. Emma saw her own mind, a rapid flowing river of memories flooding her mind, too fast for Emma to examine them carefully. A vivid kaleidoscope of colours.

Emma, stop. It's done. Faye said.

Emma opened her eyes and glanced around her. She was clutching the overstuffed chair tightly and she was still in the same position, with Faye kneeling in front of her. "Woah. That's so cool." Emma gasped as she stared at Faye. "Yeah. I'm always curious about how it feels like for different people. Some people say they feel their mind is burning hot, some people say it's tingling warm, and there are people who say it's icy cold."

"It's icy cold." Emma admitted, as she asked, "Does it change anything?" Faye smiled affectionately as she squeezed Emma's hand, "You're the only one who has the ability to change anything. You are who you are."

"Faye, is this your cat?" Will asked, as he hobbled into the room, a cat wrapped around his legs like a koala. Emma squealed as she slid to the ground, and scratched behind the cat's ears. "Yeah. Guys, meet Clover. I got her at the animal shelter three months ago." "She's so, so cute! Oh my," Emma said. Faye smiled as Clover unhooked herself from Will's legs, and sauntered proudly over to Emma, as she rubbed her cheek against Emma's knees. "She's a happy cat that loves people." Faye grinned, as she turned to Emma, with a silent question in her eyes. You okay? Emma nodded her head. She really was.