Chapter 6

A ghost

Elisa was coming with us. We flew across the country and Owen drove us to where my house was. Elisa showed me old news articles. I guess my house burned down after I had got missing a few weeks before. I wondered how much time I was missing while I was asleep. My parents were dead; they died in their sleep as the house burned down. Elisa said it was an accident from a candle that was left lit. Owen stopped at a blackened lot and we got out.

"Well, Talia, this is your old home." David said.

I looked over the space where the building used to be. I felt nothing. Well, not nothing. I was conflicted. I wanted to feel sad that I lost my home and parents, but I couldn't. I sighed. "There's nothing here."

"I know, Tali." Elisa told me.

"I wish…" I frowned.

"You know that might not happen." She reminded me.

"Yeah…" I looked at her. She pulled me in for a hug and rubbed my back.

"Talia, we don't have to stay here." Fox said.

"Just a little longer." I said.

We were about to leave when someone yelled, "TALIA SAMANTHA JONES!"

I saw a brunette girl storming toward us. I had no time to react as she slapped me across the face. "Do you know how worried I was when you disappeared?! Then your house burned down! You just left me all alone after we finally…" She trailed off.

"You… You were important to me, weren't you?" I looked her in her dark blue eyes.

"Talia? It's me, Adriana. Your girlfriend." She said, taken aback.

"I… I don't remember anything before I woke up in Manhattan." I said sadly, pushing past Owen.

"You don't remember?" She asked.

I shook my head.

"Nothing?" She pushed.

"Nothing." I repeated.

She teared up and I felt an instinctual urge to comfort her. I stepped forward and she met me the rest of the way. Adriana buried her head in my chest. "I missed you so much."

"I never would have-" I paused. "left if I knew what would happen."

"I waited so long for you to call." She whispered.

"I'm sorry." I told her.

"It makes sense now. You never would have otherwise." She looked at me.

I cupped her cheek with my hand and wiped away a tear. "I wish I remembered you."

"I thought you hated me." Her voice shook.

"I could never hate you." I smiled sadly.

"I-I'm still yours." She sniffed.

I closed my eyes. "I'm not the one you love."

"Tai…" She protested.

"Please forget me. You deserve better." I whispered.

She kissed me. I kissed back after a moment. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as her hand went to my hair as she desperately tried to get some emotion out of me. Her nails dug into my shirt. I wanted to feel something. I did: I was sorry. Sorry that I had hurt her so much. I knew she loved me. It was obvious.

I gently nudged her away. She lingered and then pulled away. "You were my first."

"Don't let me haunt you anymore, Adriana." I said breathlessly.

"I don't know if I can…" She paused, biting her lip.

"I have no place in your life now. I can't give you what we had." I looked in her eyes and saw the all the sadness and grief I caused.

"I still want you." She said softly.

"I am a ghost, Adriana. A ghost who can't love you." I frowned.

She smiled. "Still poetic, I see."

"Please let me go. I have nothing to give you." I said again.

She sighed. "I won't forget you… but I will try to move on."

"That's all I ask." I smiled, running my thumb over her cheek.

"You still know how to charm me even when you don't remember me." She chuckled.

I paused, surprised. "I, uh, I'm sorry."

"I'll miss you." She smiled.

"I know." I said.

"I'll still love you." She looked at me with a strange sort of sadness.

"I know…" I leaned in and she melted under my lips. Adriana whimpered as I pulled away and stepped back. "Goodbye, Adri-ana. I may not remember you, but I know I missed out. You'll find someone else. I'm sorry I hurt you so much."

"It wasn't your fault, Tai. Something happened to you." She smiled forgivingly.

I nodded and looked away awkwardly. "I… Goodbye, m- Goodbye." I got in the car and didn't look back.

I felt tears in my eyes and anger in my heart. I grit my teeth as I cursed Puck for granting my wish. I lost so much. Adriana can't even grieve properly. Elisa got in the car and sat next to me.

"Talia, that must have been hard." She said softly.

"Yeah…" I agreed.

"Talia." She hugged me.

"I don't even remember her! It's not fair." I cried for a bit.

"I know it's not." She soothed.

"I hurt her and I wasn't even aware of it." I growled.

"That's how amnesia works, kiddo. You can't blame yourself for that." Elisa said firmly.

"I could have tried harder. I know I had a life before I woke up in Manhattan. I could have asked…" I blinked hard and shook my head.

"I wouldn't have trusted Xanatos to give you an accurate view of your past." She said.

"I know." I sighed and wiped my face. "I fucked up. It's… my fault."

Elisa frowned.

"This is not what I wanted. I thought, I'd, you know, not end up in across the country if I woke up." I sighed.

"Talia… You were tricked." She said softly.

"I know, but I'm still mad about it." I crossed my arms.

David and Fox got in the car now. Owen was in the driver's seat. "Talia, what do you want to do now?"

I looked out at the window to the burned lot. "There's nothing here for me anymore." I breathed out and opened my eyes. "Let's go home."

The reason why you're getting so many chapters of this is because I hadn't originally planed to publish it, but then I decided I would.