Everything Upside Down

T W E N T Y-F I V E: The Shadow Above Her Eyes

The man threw me harshly against the wall, digging his hands into my shoulders. "Never thought I would see you back here."
I pushed desperately against his arms but I couldn't move. Did he know me? Did I know him? I squeezed my eyes shut, "I-I, I need to get to the boy. The boy, the blonde boy."
I was exhausted from even remembering his hair color. The man eyed me with more morbid curiosity than suspicion.
"You mean Keefe? Lady Gisela's son?" He asks.
I furrow my brows, "I think, I think he knows what is happening to me," I glance up and my voice wavers drastically, "I need to get to him. He can help me."
The man doesn't release his grip but he is intrigued, "I thought you got your memory back, why don't you remember me?"
"I don't know, I've been losing it again. All I know is that the-b-boy knows what is happening." I hate how choppy my voice is. I feel like just remembering how to speak is hard.
"Interesting." He murmurs.
I can tell he is obviously not a friend. And now I can tell he definitely doesn't have a good, kind, merciful soul. Keeping my eyes on him, I sweep my leg up and bring my knee into his crotch. The man wheezed for a second, stood completely still, then fell to the ground.
I shook off his hands and the man tried to make a grab for my ankle, but I was already at the door. I yanked it open and smashed it on his hand.
Now hyperventilating, I turn around and let my short quick breaths fill the air. The woman with the maroon cape is sitting at a desk, her hands frozen above an old yellowed piece of paper. The boy, Keefe the man had said, was standing in the corner of the room. His face was sullen and a thick book covered his knees. Once he saw my red sweaty face, it was like the shadows around him disappeared.
"Sophie?!" He said softly, jumping up and the book slammed to the floor.
The woman was on her feet in seconds and conveniently placed herself between the boy and me. "Don't do anything stupid Sophie."
Her soothing voice only aggravated me more. I was so close, I would not let her stand in the way of my memory.
I lit a large flame on my hand and both of them jumped at the sight. One thing I have learned about people is that they never get used to the sight of fire in my hand. "Step away from him." My voice is deep and threatening, pushing the woman to the side.
"You'd don't want to do this." She warns me as I pass her. I glare back.
The boy, when I reach him, just stares at my hand and I hover for a moment. Clenching my hand to a fist, I let the fire dissipate. " I need your help."
The boy nods, waits a moment, then pulls me into a hug. It's so unexpected I don't even have time to shy away. My thoughts only return once he releases me. "Yes Sophie, anything." There are strange tears in his eyes.
I shake my head and step farther away. The sight of him starts to break something inside me. The struggles bubble up and I can't keep them out. "I don't know you, I don't who that woman is, I don't who the man is-"
"Woah woah, relax. What man? And what are you talking about?"
I look into his eyes and feel the last bits skipping. "I'm losing my memory and I can't even remember having it. I had it all back and then started to lose it. I could only remember you...... that you could help me."
The boy looks uncertain for a moment and I raise my voice a little higher, "That you know what is going on with me."
"I do." The boy spits bitterly.
"Well?" I sound fake now, anxiety raising my tone another octave.
The boy ushered me to his chair and I glare at Gisela behind him, forcing her back into her own chair. The boy kneels before me and I look him in the eyes, "After you manifested, some very bad people gave you an elixir to have you forget us-"
"Us?" I ask ludicrously .
The boy shakes his head and I'm distracted by his hair gently bouncing. "That doesn't matter. What matters now is that you tell me where I can find Mr. Forkle, you remember him?"
I shake my head and he grips my shoulder's, more gently than the other man. "Sophie, please, think."
I nod and dive into my own mind, a sensation I usually stay away from. I try to force myself to be a stranger to my thoughts, giving me more insight into my head. My mind had never taken  distinct shape before but now I could almost see chunks of it decaying and falling off. Hundreds of tiny memories disappearing into inky nothingness. I reach out and let a memory land into my hands.
It's an older man. I don't know why, but I have a feeling it might be who the boy wanted to know about. Besides, it was one of the very few intact memories I left. My hands brushed over it and I watch it.
I can tell it is new by its sharp edges, not whethered by time. Brand new actually. Smoke filled my vision in the image. I hear coughing, scraping of spoons, feel the brush of heat on my cheeks when I get angry. Finally I get a clear image of an older man collapsing to the ground.
I jump out and shiver off the damp, waterfall feeling by rippling over me. "I think I remember him. Forkle. I've seen him recently. I'm sorry, I can't remember anything else"
Keefe starts to pat my cloak. "That doesn't matter. If you saw Mr. Forkle recently then....... aha! A leap crystal!"
We both watched him pull a deep blue leap crystal out with matched amazement. I didn't even know I had that. Keefe spun around and glances toward his mother, but the woman only watches us with an emotionless face.
"We need to go." The boy says, he eyes still on the woman.
She doesn't say anything, but when her gaze flicks to me I can tell she is trying to remind me of something. Good luck, I think. The boy pulls me to my feet and he raises the crystal to the lamp next to us.
"It's not the best," he says rotating the crystal, "but it will do."
A thick sparkle of light glows before us and before I can even blink, I'm pulled through. What I do remember is the woman's piercing eyes, same as her own, but a kind of shadow covered them.
I wondered if the same shadow hovered above my eyes.