Vicious Memories

Chapter 89

"It's simple," Bev said. "You betray them, and I'll give you your memories back."

The mass of storm clouds rolled closer, infusing the air with a dreadful sense of promise. As the island around us continued to turn gray, Bev seemed to come alive.

She was alight in a way I had never seen before, as if she had been nothing more than a shadow this entire time and now she could finally be her real self. Pink spots appeared high on her cheekbones and her eyes crackled with electricity.

"That's it? I betray them, and you what, snap your fingers and my memories come back?"

"Don't be a barbarian." She laughed, the sound full of delight. "It's a bit more complicated than that. But if that's how you want to think about it, sure. All I have to do is snap my fingers."

"Why?"

"God, enough with the 'why' already. It's all you've talked about for the past three days. Once you have your memories back you'll see why you wanted to be there in the first place." Her voice dropped, as if she wanted to be extra sure that Alice couldn't hear us. "We were close before. We can be close again. If you knew who your 'friends' really were, you wouldn't care so much about them."

"I know exactly who they are."

"No, you don't." Bev's sneer fit her face perfectly. Her features were beautiful when filled with disdain. "And either way, they're a lost cause. You must know that. There's nothing you can possibly do to help them. But your memories are within reach. If it makes no difference in the end, why not at least get them back?"

"What's this deal, then? What is it you want me to do?"

"Betray them in the final moment. Prove you're still on my side."

"I don't even know you."

"But you do, Ollie. You do." Bev's eyes glittered with something that could have been excitement or malice. "You didn't get the full dose of serum. Your memories are locked away, but not completely. It's something we never tested, a freak accident from when you left the compound. We tried to give you the rest of the dose but that oaf Cooper got in the way back in Atlantis. After that we decided to give up and use the chance to gather data on what a half-dose does to a person. Been having any visions lately? Weird dreams, hallucinations?"

I fought to keep my face impassive even as Bev's words hit me like a sledgehammer. I felt a sharp pain in my chest, like internal stitching being ripped open. Suddenly I couldn't force enough air into my lungs. All those dreams, the visions from the middle of the abandoned settlement, the times I'd had a sense of familiarity when walking around the island... those were real?

I stared at Bev, trying to remember her, to place her in my mind, to reconcile the things she was saying about us with what I felt for her.

"Be more specific," I said. "How would all this play out if I wanted my memories back?"

"It's easy. You eventually go back to the village to help in the fight against the Strangers. If you survive, and, yes, it's a big if, then a moment will come when you have a chance to betray the villagers. You'll know it, believe me. If you do it, I'll give you your memories back. If not, you can share the same fate as the rest of them."

"You're going to kill them."

Bev laughed again, her pretty lips forming a perfect circle. "My god, you really think me a monster, don't you?"

"I do."

"Either way, we don't have time to get into the details. You have thirty seconds to choose. I have to get going."

A week ago I would have taken the deal without hesitation. The chance to get my memories back, to escape from this horrible nightmare, to get all the answers I wanted - needed - to get. If I'd have taken the deal before, I should take it now, shouldn't I?

Bev and I stared at each other, only feet apart. I put my hands in my pockets and felt my shoulders drop.

"I'll take the deal."

Bev's entire face lit up, her smile both deliriously happy and uncomfortably sharp. She reached up and ran a finger down the delicately woven pleats of her braid.

"Wonderful," she said.

I withdrew my hands from my pockets and stuck the right one out to shake.

Bev eyed it warily and thumbed the safety on the gun. "If you try anything, I have men that will shoot you and Alice before you can even turn around."

"I know my hands are tied."

"Good." She stepped forward and clasped my hand in a steely grip.

Before she could react I yanked her close. My left arm looped around her shoulders and pressed her to my body. Her form fit there easily. For a surreal second I realized that it felt like a motion we'd gone through a thousand times before.

Slowly, gently, the fingers of my left hand curled around the back of her neck to rest on the skin of her throat. Then I released her.

"Sorry," I said gruffly, stepping back. "I wanted see if it would spur any more memories."

Bev made a quick motion with her hand, as if telling someone to back away. "And?" she asked.

"Nothing."

I wiped my hands on the front of my pants, a gesture that reminded me of Felix. I remembered him sadly, buried now under the monkeypod tree, reviled by his friends because of the way the woman before me had manipulated him.

There was a dark spot on Bev's neck. I pointed at it. "Looks like I got some mud on you. Sorry."

She wiped at it, only managing to get half. "Did I get it?"

"Yes."

"Good. Enough talking, then. Time to go."