Reminisce With Me

Chapter 19: Take Me Back

My head was pounding, my body ached, and my heart just hurt. My cheek was cold as it laid on a hard surface. I fluttered my eyes open, the light straining my vision. I moaned loudly, turning over to one side. White marble floor stretched before me and I noticed Amelia sitting on the leather couch. When she noticed I was awake, she stood up at once, rushing over to me.

Aiden, my mind whispered.

Despite the pain, I gathered the strength to pull myself up. Amelia knelt down next to me, her dark eyes searching my face for some sort of indication that I was okay.

"Aubrey?" she whispered, brushing my hair out of my face.

I was disoriented, looking around the room in confusion. "Where is he?" I asked, holding onto her and attempting to stand up.

My legs failed me and I fell back to the ground. "Aubrey, you need to rest," Amelia said, bringing me over to the couch she sat on before.

"No, I need to know where he is," I stuttered, realizing I was no longer at Black Onyx.

"Honey, who?"

I sunk into the couch and broke down. "Aiden," I sobbed, my body shaking. "I need Aiden. I have to tell him I'm sorry. Please Amelia, bring him to me."

My eyes were fixed on the machine, the number eight vaguely blinking. Amelia followed my gaze, sighing loudly. "It doesn't work anymore. Carlos took it apart," she said, squeezing my shoulders.

"But, but..." I couldn't stop staring at the machine. "Aiden. We left off on horrible terms and it's all my fault. I need to fix it."

"Aiden Vanquel," she said to herself and hearing his name from her lips made me cry even more. "I didn't think you and him, I mean, it's alright, Aubrey."

"Amelia." I was hyperventilating. "It's not okay. You don't understand how much he means to me. I don't even think he understands."

Amelia hugged me as I cried into her shoulder. "I know, hun. But, you need to let go of him. You're forgetting he's eight years older than you."

I stopped crying, trying to process her words. It didn't occur to me that Aiden was much older than me now. We were both no longer teenagers, only I was.  "I don't care," I whispered as she rubbed my back.

"I can see that," she laughed under her breath. "You don't mention anything about Nick, Kim, or Olivia, but Aiden ends up being your first thought."

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand, sitting up straight. "How long was I gone for?" I asked her. "I must have changed the future somehow."

"About two weeks. We called the Clavis family and informed them you were on a mandatory school trip that will prepare you for college. And about changing the future, Carlos never perfected that portion of the machine. We don't really know what will happen now with you back."

I suddenly remembered Dave behind the mask at Elkland Terrain and cringed at the thought. "Amelia, I'm not going back to the Clavis family," I mumbled.

"Carlos and I have a spare room upstairs for you. We already have it ready. We want you to rest and forget about what happened. And forget about Aiden."

I hugged myself, nodding, even though we both knew I couldn't forget about the past.

***

The past few nights were by far the worst hours of my life. I needed to change the pillow case twice a day since it was drenched in tears. The rare times I did fall asleep, I was back at Black Onyx, wandering the halls, looking for everyone.