Sorry for the long update, but here we go.
Chapter 9, Preparations
Nina
I, Fabian, Eddie, Mara, and Jerome were sitting in the living room. Fabian was trying to get the fire started, without any success.
"You all know what's happening to Patricia," I started shakily.
"Actually no, we don't. That's kind of the point." Jerome said angrily.
I cleared my throat, focusing on the cup of steaming tea in my hands. "Okay. Some of you know that weird things are going on, back at Anubis as well as here. So, based on Eddie's research and that letter we found in the shack, we think we have a solution to the problem."
Fabian stood up next to me. "Patricia and Eddie saw a ghost, shortly before Patricia apparently lost her hearing."
"A... ghost?" Mara asked, eyes wide in fright.
"Exactly," I continued. "The story we got from the lady in the Post Office ties in with our theory. We think that Malcolm killed Emily Penn, and two years later he killed Anna. Anna died of a head injury from a hammer, in that shack, and spent the last two hours of her life not remembering who killed her. We also think that Patricia is experiencing the moment of Anna's death, so that Anna might remember."
"So, if we get Anna to remember, Patricia will be back to normal?" Eddie leaned forward off the couch.
The slouching cushion of the chair enfolded my back as I leaned into it. "Yes. But there's only one way to get her to remember."
"How?" Mara asked.
Fabian's eyes were dark as he answered slowly. "We have to replay history."
*.*
Nina
"This is crazy!" Eddie protested angrily.
"We don't have a choice!" I wrung my hands helplessly. "Do you want her to stay like this?"
Eddie swallowed and looked away.
"Okay, Patricia." I knelt down beside the girl, who was on the floor in one of the bedrooms. "Can you hear me?"
No response came from the staring, empty eyes.
"Let's go," I sighed. "Eddie, you take Patricia. Jerome and Mara, you stay here. Fabian and I will go with Eddie and Patricia." I nodded to them all and we started out the door, dreading what we might be about to do.
*.*
Nina
The woods were cold as white, slim snowflakes began drifting down through the glade. I looked at Fabian's eyes as I wondered if we really had any chance. What were we going to do? Get Eddie to almost kill Patricia to remind a ghost? Yes, that was pretty much our plan. I'm not a worthy leader of Sibuna, when I can't even figure out a way to remind a ghost of what happened without almost killing a member. I thought darkly. Something about this whole plan just screamed that it was a bad idea.
Eddie's jaw stood out as he looked down at the rusty, heavy hammer that was in his hands. I looked at the leaves gathered on the ground as the wind blew and wet snowflakes settled on the ground. "Anna would have been alone," Fabian said in a voice which was not his. "We should stand back."
Patricia was looking around, blindly holding Eddie's hand as we retreated. She hadn't talked since she lost her hearing, apart from whimpering sometimes. As we retreated behind a big oak tree, I looked at Fabian again. "What if we're doing the wrong thing? What if it goes wrong? Fabian, what if he actually kills her?"
"He won't kill her." My ex-boyfriend looked away. He had known Patricia for longer than I had. This must be terrible for him. And it was all my fault.
I took strength from Patricia's words. Don't let me die like this. She wouldn't have wanted to live her life without hearing, with haunting nightmares which might eventually kill her.
I won't let you die Patricia.
*.*
Eddie
I looked at the implement in my hands, and at Patricia's frown as she looked at it. Fabian and Nina had gone. What was I about to do?
Slowly, she inched closer to me as the snow fell faster and faster. I met her eyes. "I'm so sorry Patricia," I whispered although she couldn't hear.
She leaned forward and kissed me.
I was about to almost kill her, and she was kissing me. I kissed her back, and whispered again, "I'm sorry."
After a moment, she began to back away, a wild suspicious flaring in her eyes. She had guessed the use for the hammer.
Patricia fell over a root, and stumbled onto the ground. "E-eddie?" she asked in a terrified voice.
I won't kill you. I said to myself. I'll only do what I have to do to make Anna remember.
The hammer began to fall through the snow slicked air.
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~Iceshadow~