Yay! Update!

Yeah... sorry about the late update... Still, it continues!


Days passed. Maybe it was weeks, or months. Everything was blurred together. I don't know how many classes I missed, but Lola would come in every day and try to convince me to go. But I couldn't. I couldn't face everyone staring at me, blaming me. I couldn't even face myself in the mirror anymore.

Reuben came to visit me all the time. He tried to comfort me. I just ignored him. I didn't deserve to be looked after. But he didn't give up on me.

One day, Lola came bursting into my room, seemingly determined. She opened the blinds, and fresh sunlight streamed into my room. I pulled my sheets up over my head, wishing she would just go away. I don't know what I was thinking. Lola was my soul mate, and all I wanted at that moment was for her to go away, so I could wallow in my self pity. But she didn't leave.

"Wakey-wakey, Mel!" She said in a much too cheery voice.

"Go away," I mumbled back.

"It's a beautiful day outside," she told me. "You don't want to waste it in bed!"

I rolled over so my head was facing the wall.

Lola made her way over to my wardrobe. "No classes today," she said, pulling clothes out of the cupboard. "That means we can do whatever we want."

Lola threw some clothes on my bed.

"So, what do you want to do?"

"Nothing," I said pathetically.

"Well, I need to go shopping. And I need my favourite fashion consultant to come with me. So get up!" Lola literally pulled me out of bed, and I was surprised at her strength. Lola cringed.

"When was the last time you had a shower, carita? You stink."

I mumbled something. I'm not even sure what I said.

Lola pushed me towards the bathroom and passed me my towel and clean clothes.

"Hurry up and get ready."

I mechanically washed myself and dressed. I combed my damp hair without even looking in the mirror. When I emerged from the bathroom, Lola gave me a sarcastic look.

"You didn't even wash your hair, Boo."

I stared at my feet.
Lola stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"Mel, I'm sick of this. I'm sick of your attitude. You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself!"

I kept staring at my feet.

"Mel, Look at me!"

I forced myself to look up.

"You haven't been out of this room in over two weeks. I want you to come back, Boo. We all do. We miss you."

Lola hugged me hard. I hugged back.

"Sorry," I whispered into her ear.

"It's ok," She told me. "It'll be ok."

My door opened a crack, and Reuben's head popped in. His face lit up when he saw me.

"Mel!" He cried. "You're out of bed!"

"Yeah," I said, wiping my damp eyes with the back of my sleeve. "I am."

"Well, I brought us all some breakfast from Guru." He dropped a few take-out bags on my bed. "Hope you're all hungry."

"I'm starving," Lola told him.

"I'm not all that hungry. I think I might go for a walk."

Lola gave me a hard look. "Ok, but don't be gone long."

"I won't. See you, guys."

As I walked along the familiar paths, I felt light-headed and weightless, as if the whole experience was a dream. People from school waved at me as they went past. Somehow, I managed to wave back.

Then I tripped on a rock.

I fell hard on the ground. For a second, I was dazed. Then I picked myself up and dusted my clothes off, looking awkwardly around to make sure no-one had been watching.

I kept walking.

I had no idea where I was going, and no idea where I wanted to go. I eventually ended up at the beach. I took my shoes and sock off and stuffed my socks inside my shoes. I walked slowly along the soft, damp sand, watching my foot sink slightly before pulling it out again.

"Hey, Mel!"

I looked up and saw Brice waving a running towards me. He looked strange in a tracksuit and plain undershirt. I gave him a little wave.

"You're up," he said when he was a little closer.

"I am." I gave him a quick once over. "What are you wearing?"

He chuckled. "I know. It's not me. Lola's got me on this health kick. Says I should exercise at least half an hour a day. Bought me this." He pointed to his clothes. "I've been coming down to this part of the beach to run for the past week. Not many people come here, so I figured hardly anyone would see me. What are you doing here?"

"Walking."

"I can see that."

"Am I not allowed to walk here?"

"Of course you are. But this part of the beach is practically deserted. Mostly because the sand is covered with tiny shells. You might want to put your shoes on."

I looked down at my feet. Although they didn't look injured, they had started to hurt. And I mean REALLY hurt! I leaned on Brice while I struggled to put my shoes back on.

"Did you walk all the way here?" He asked me.

"Yes."

"It's a while from campus. It must have taken you a while. I usually catch the bus down to the gym over there." He pointed to a little building off in the distance. "I was just about to head back there when I spotted you."

"Oh." I finished putting my shoes on and stood up. I could feel a shell in my left shoe, so I took it off to shake it out. Brice gave me a concerned look.

"Come on, we can go back and catch a bus back to school."

"Ok." My voice sounded bleak and boring. It reminded me of Honesty, from my first Guardian Angel module. After she lost her dad, she was very bleak and zombie-like.

We walked in silence for a while. I could hear the shells crunching under our shoes. I wondered what time it was, and whether Lola and Reuben were worried about me. After a while, Brice sighed.

"She'll be ok, you know," He told me. "They have agents look for her now, and they think they've almost got her."

My stomach felt cold and rotten.

"She wouldn't even be out there if it wasn't for me."

"She was unstable. You can't blame yourself." He sighed and looked at me. "You remember when you first brought Octavia back? How she was really messed up?"

I nodded, wiping my nose on my sleeve.

"Well, Michael actually brought me back from my mission early to help out with her."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused

"Michael knew that Octavia was messed up bad, and he needed someone with more PODs experience. It's not like he could be there all the time. Orlando and I helped her get out of the Sanctuary. Helped her to figure out some things, talk a bit."

"But you didn't meet her until after she got out of the Sanctuary." I looked at him. He shrugged.

"That's not technically true. Thing is, Octavia was in such a bad state, we had to take desperate measures. Do you remember how she didn't seem to remember much?"

I nodded.

"Well, that's because we made her forget some things."

I looked at him. "Why would you do that?"

"It's was the only option we had. We made her forget a few things, so that we could get her out of the Sanctuary. We had planned for her to have one-on-one sessions with Orlando, so that we could gradually give her memory back and help her deal with it."

"How much did she forget?"

"Well, that was the tricky part. We were just going to block out everything that happened after she died, but Orlando thought that it wouldn't really help. The last thing she remembered before she died was all the horrible thoughts in her head. So we thoughts we'd go back a little further. But…" Brice trailed off.

"But?" I looked at him, feeling anger growing inside me. "How much did she forget?"

"Almost everything."

"What?" I stared at him.

"Well, she knows that she used to live on earth, but most of her memories are hazy."

"Is that why she didn't remember us saving her?" I had gabbed Brice's wrist and was practically shaking it off.

"Well, yes. We weren't going to block out everything, but it seems she wanted to block out as much as she could. And unblocking her memory hasn't been as easy as all that."

"So she doesn't remember anything?"

"Actually, we suspect now she remembers everything."

"But you just said she forgot everything." I was basically screaming at him.

"Calm down, ok?"

"Sorry." I looked at my shoes, instantly ashamed.

"When you… got upset at her… something you said must have triggered something in her. I think she got all her memory back at once. I think that's why she fell from grace. She would have been so confused."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" I whispered harshly.

"It was confidential. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone." He kicked one of the larger shells along.

"Then why are you telling me now?"

"Michael thought you needed to hear it. He thinks I'm right about the memory thing, and you needed to know why she was so upset. It wasn't all your fault."

"But she would have been fine if I hadn't said anything!"

"She was a confused girl, Mel! She was going to break down sooner or later. I just wish someone was around so that she didn't do this. Besides, blaming yourself isn't going to solve anything."

"I still shouldn't have done it," I muttered.

"And I shouldn't have become a dark angel. But these things happen and you get over it."

I nodded. Brice sighed again.

"Come on, let's get back to school."

Brice had a quick shower and changed his clothes before we caught the bus back to campus. When we there, Lola rushed up to hug me.

"Oh, I was so worried, Boo. You were gone for so long."

"Was I?" I felt light-headed and dream-like again.

Reuben had a grim look on his face. Brice waltzed up to him. "What happened?"

"Orlando got back. He's not in a good way."

"Where did Orlando go?" I asked dreamily.

"He went to look for Octavia," Lola told me. Reuben nodded.

"And she attacked him."


Oooooo! Evil Octavia! Now, what will happen next?