Chapter 4

Wake up, Shawn.

Shawn's eyes fluttered open. He breathed in deeply through his nose and felt a sudden surge of pure energy fill his chest. His whole being felt full and clean and energised. He looked around and saw that he was sitting in the middle of a stone, castle-like room, strapped to a wooden arm chair. In front of him was a small flight of stairs which lead to a wide terrace. On top of the terrace sat a noble man in a great thrown. He wore long white robes, and a band of metal was wrapped around his head. A majestic beard sat upon his chin, and his bright blue eyes pierced his soul. An aura of blue, green, light indigo, and white hung about him.

"Clementine, are you sure about this?" he said, melodiously.

"Yes, my king," answered Clementine's voice. Shawn looked around and saw her standing next to him, dressed in white robes. Gus was to the right of him, tied into a chair as well.

"Shawn Spencer," Shawn jumped at the mention of his name. He looked up at the king in his thrown. "Do you wish to help people?"

"What?" Shawn replied.

"Do you wish to help people?" the king repeated, as he rose from his seat.

"Uh, yes, I guess," he said after a moment. The king walked toward him.

"Tell me, Shawn. What do you see in me?" he asked as he stood over him.

Shawn wanted nothing more than to look away from his terribly great eyes. He wished that he was back in Santa Barbara with Gus and Juliet solving murder mysteries. What had he gotten himself into?

"Comply." The word was solid as stone and reverberated inside of Shawn's head. It made him want to look up into the king's face and do exactly as he said.

"You are wise and thoughtful. You've humbly risen through the ranks to become a great leader; one that puts the welfare of his people before anything else. Your only wish is that pease be brought back to Earth." Though Shawn spoke, the words hardly felt like they belonged to him. He felt like a stranger in his own body.

Then the king let out a merry laugh that completely changed the atmosphere of the room. "He shall make a fine addition to our ranks. Such a talented Everseer will be very much appreciated in these troubling times." The king smiled as he returned to his thrown. Shawn and Gus shared a worried glance before the king continued. "Clementine, what of the other one? His companion?"

"They've been friends since childhood. A very strong memory bonds them. Anyone who knows Shawn most likely knows Gus and vice versa. I believe it would be better to save Agatha the extra work and keep him here," said Clementine.

The king was silent for a moment. "Very well. Mr. Guster shall stay here and help to serve our cause as a Custodian. Send a team of cleaners into Santa Barbara, and as for Mr. Spencer..." Shawn and Gus both felt their hearts pounding inside their chests. "Wipe his memory."

Shawn let out a loud chuckle. "You can't do that! Can you?" Clementine gave a look that said 'yes we can'. "What?" he exclaimed as his wrists were unbound from the chair followed by his ankles.

"Stand up," said Clementine to Shawn. Almost of their own accord, Shawn's legs propped him up until he was standing. Then six tall figures, cloaked in long white garbs that covered their faces and carrying large staffs, moved in and surrounded him.

"You're gonna erase everything?" Shawn asked in a panic. He glanced at his best friend who was still tied to his chair.

"It's for your own good," Clementine answered as she lead Shawn and his escorts forward. Shawn was about to try and make a break for it, but then Clementine said, "Keep walking," and suddenly the urge died within him.

"No!" Shawn shouted. "You can't do this!" But it was too late. He was already exiting the stone room. "Gus!" he cried as he look back over his shoulder, helpless to do more than watch as his friend was also released from his chair and escorted out another way.

"Gus!"

Shawn felt weak and defeated as he marched down the old hallways, surrounded by guards. His whole life began to flash before his eyes as he thought of all the things that he didn't want to forget. His best friend... his parents... his childhood... his time with the SBPD... but most of all, he didn't want to forget Juliet. She had been a major impact on his life, and he would be ashamed if he let the memory of her die.

It wasn't long before they began ascending a great tower. At the top they found a medium-sized, circular room. In the centre of the room sat a wooden arm chair, similar to the one in the thrown room, and a row of wooden shelves wrapped around the curved walls of the room. Next to the chair stood a tired older woman who wore white and yellow robes and looked extremely unhappy.

"More work for me, I take it?" she asked, bitterly.

"I'm afraid so, Agatha," answered Clementine. "How long do you think it should take?"

Agatha closed her eyes. When she opened them she said, "Longer than usual. It isn't easy to wipe memories from a photographic mind. But it shall be done before the day is done. Get him in the chair."

Shawn was still struggling the best he could as the white guards put him in place. They began to strap his wrists, upper arms, chest, waist, legs, ankles, and even his head, to the chair.

"Stop struggling," Clementine said calmly. Immediately Shawn stopped moving.

"How do you keep doing that?" Shawn asked, frustrated.

"We Everseers use the power of the mind to help protect the world. I'm using psionic waves to make your brain do whatever I want. I can even make you feel emotions, or sensations. Like when you covered your grade school bully in banana cream pie," Shawn couldn't help but recall the memory and began laughing joyously. "Or the day your mother left," Shawn's expression suddenly changed. Moments before he seemed happy, and now it looked as if he was holding back tears.

"Stop it," he said quietly.

"Or the time when you went to Disneyland and nearly threw up on—" Suddenly, there was a flash of golden light, and then Shawn was standing next to her and his hand was covering Clementine's mouth.

"I said, stop." Shawn teetered backward as his hand slipped away from her face.

"Get him back in the chair," said Clementine as she stared, bewildered, at the man who had just used his mind to move through solid objects. The white guards wasted no time in subduing Shawn for a second time and strapping him down. "Thank you for your service, Agatha." Clementine gave a short bow and then walked toward the exit. "I will return for him at sunset." With that, she left, the guards following her.

Shawn tried to move, but everything was strapped down very tightly. He couldn't even turn his head.

"Please, don't wipe my memory," Shawn begged Agatha. He felt stupid and childish as he said it, but what else was he going to say? He could hear Agatha working at one of the counters behind him.

"Unfortunately that's not for me to decide. Now hold still," Agatha said as she came around to face him and smeared a cool paste on his forehead. Then she disappeared behind him again.

"Will it hurt?" Shawn asked, preparing for the worst.

"At first. But after a while it gets easier." Shawn could feel Agatha place her bony fingers along the top of his head to the sides of his forehead and cheeks.

A sudden, burning pain swept through his brain and his earliest memories began to pass by his mind's eye before being lost and forgotten. Shawn let out a howl of pain as his memories were stripped from him. His toddler and preschool memories dissolved like soap in water, and in mere minutes they were already ripping through grade school.

"No, Gus! Dad! Mom!" Shawn cried as memories of his loved ones passed by and then were gone. Then it all suddenly stopped at his seventh birthday party. Agatha had let go and she was now sitting opposite to him in a cushioned arm chair. Shawn was breathing heavily, which was hard to do as the leather straps that bound him were squeezing his chest and stomach.

"Just breath," Agatha said quietly. "It will all be over in a minute." Agatha looked about as tired as Shawn felt. Agatha chuckled. "Memory wiping is not as easy as it looks. And it's even harder to wash away someone's entire lifetime. But ever since my master died, I've been the only one in all of Avonlee who can do this job. So here we are." Agatha rose from her seat and walked back to Shawn, placing her fingers on his head once more. "Brace yourself."

The second wave hit like a bag of bricks. 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade; they were all wiped away like sand on a beach. After that they took another break and then resumed with the procedure. The last of grade school and all of middle school were gone in what felt like seconds. If Shawn was still crying out, he couldn't tell. Memories and reality all blurred together until his brain was a pile of mush. And then, after a few more breaks, they had reached the most recent years of his life.

"Psych..." Shawn mumbled as the last of his memories were being erased. After hours of this he had exhausted himself and now sat as if in a dream. "Juliet... Dad... Gus... Clementine... Avonlee..."