Claxton, GA
'Let's go, we need to sort this as soon as possible.' She says, and grabs my arm, before we walk off in the direction of her family's house.
The walk to her family's house is not a long one. I remember vaguely coming here before, but the reloaded memories are taking their sweet time getting back to optimal recollection quality. As we walked, I was remembering subtle little things that had been forgotten by me, but as far as I can tell, all the big events are back in my head, safe and sound. Usually when we would walk together, it would be filled with emotion. Whether that be laughter and happiness, or crying and sadness, there was always intense emotion shown. But she was unusually quiet, not like she was hiding something, but she was clearly apprehensive about something. I guess it probably has to do with telling her family, who were never exactly supportive of our relationship. Or it could be that there's something different about me, power unbeknownst to me that I have apparently acquired out of nowhere. Or it could just be an overload of everything. Her family's demands, getting me back, the two things I have just mentioned. It could just be a concoction of everything, weighing on her mind causing her to be unusually quiet.
'Is everything alright Cassie?' I ask. 'You seem quiet which is completely unlike you.'
'Huh?' she asks, clearly yanked out of her thoughts. 'Oh yeah, I'm fine.'
'When you say fine, you always mean the opposite' I say. 'I've known you for like a day, but it feels like a year already. Oh wait, it was' I say and grin as stupidly as possible.
'Haha very funny' she says in that half sarcastic, half bored tone I'm so accustomed to. 'Nah for real I'm just contemplating how they're gonna react you know. I don't know if they'll believe us. Or they may just erase your memory altogether. When I did it, I kept it a possibility for me to return them. This time, if they undertake it, our memories might not be so lucky this time. And there's the small matter of you somehow having powers. I've just got a lot to think about right now and it's making me worried and anxious.'
'I understand that' I say. 'Come here, sit down' and gesture towards a nearby bench.
'Look' I begin. 'This whole situation is messed up and I should, in all honesty be the one more freaking out than you, I mean, I could have literal Caster powers. I had my memories wiped and then restored again. I lost and regained you in what can only be described the greatest comeback story of all time. There's so much turmoil surrounding us both right now, but one thing is certain, I need you to stay, and you need me. Scratch that, in even simpler terms, we need each other and that is the truth. Now, I'll be there by your side when you attempt to explain this all to your family, and I'll be there whatever the reaction and subsequent actions, okay?'
She nods at this.
'Now let's go and tell your family' I say.
You're right' she says, and we set off again.
'I should get that on a t-shirt' I think.
'I'll burn it if you do' she says back.
'Oh, I don't doubt that' I reply. 'Unlike most other people, your fiery temper can actually ignite things.'
'Very well observed' she says matter of factly. 'I love you.'
'I love you too' I respond. 'Are you all good now?'
'Not completely but I'm definitely less worried now than I was a couple minutes ago. Thank you' she says back.
'You're welcome' I say.
For the rest of the walk there, we talk as if nothing had happened. Laughing and joking right up until the house comes into view. We approach steadily and warily, as I remember the door has a habit of opening by itself just as we approach, I had been scared by that on my first visit to this place, and my second admittedly. But we push on and, as if on cue, the door swings open. I see her uncle standing there waiting to greet her home, as was customary for him. His eyes venture over her, and then to me. And when he sees me, the expression he's wearing turns from positive to negative almost instantly. He looks away from me and down at Cassie, with muted anger in his eyes.
'Cassie' he begins through gritted teeth. 'Who's your friend?'
See, Cassie's uncle Wilbur was a very powerful person. When I had been introduced into this world the first time, I found it hard to believe but safe to say, he was a very powerful caster. Claxton was founded by his ancestor, Claxton Lexington (I don't know what they were doing with that name either) hence the town's name. And while he did have a bit of temper, it would more often than usual just end up with him being moody, rather than acting in an angry or frustrated way. He always had good intentions for his niece, and he was protective, but not too protective. He knew that his niece could take care of herself and defend herself should she have to for whatever reason. Protective enough to be wary of me, but that's understandable, I never have and never will hold that against him. Anyone would be protective of their niece, especially given her powerful nature and her having to blend in around Mortals for a lot of the time. As for her parents, the less said about them, the better.
'Hello Wilbur' I say. 'Long time no see.'
'I'm sorry' he says, attempting to be polite. 'I didn't realise we were on a first name basis. What might your name be young man?'
'You know very well who he is and what his name is' Cassie begins. It appears she's going for the defiant stance. 'Let it be known, before any more confusion ensues, that I restored his memories, and he remembers everything. It's completely restored. I did it, yes. I know you'll want to scold me uncle, and I understand why. But we have more pressing matters to attend to, matters which cannot wait for a lecture of yours. So, may we come in.'
He goes silent for a moment, not stunned into silence, but a silence that indicates he is contemplating what to say and how to say it.
'Enter' he says, the deep tone of his voice resonating around us. It's clear he's not happy, but he is a very smart and intuitive man. He knows now is not the time to express his discontent.
We walk into the hallway of the house, and I follow Cassie through the second door on the left and into their living room. When Wilbur enters after us, he turns to me and says, 'If you do have your memories restored, this won't surprise you one bit.' With this I see him wave his hands and in front of us the furniture shifts to be in a more opportune position for conversation. And he's right, it doesn't surprise me. Cassie and I take a seat on the sofa, and Wilbur sits down in his chair, now moved to be opposing our position.
'Explanation. Now' he demands, staring at us both. 'From the beginning.'
'So' Cassie begins. 'It started from this morning to be honest. I made my way to school, and it went about as normally as it should have done. Sneering, looks, pointing. The usual.'
I feel full of anger and resentment towards them at this comment.
'As I made my way into school for my 'first day' I entered first period, English Literature, and Josh was there' she continues. Now at this point I hadn't restored his memory, but he looked at me and I could tell something was different. While everyone else was sniggering and laughing at me, Josh just looked at me. It was so familiar, like he was on the cusp of remembering, but just couldn't. The teacher asked if anyone wanted to be my helper since it was my first day. I believed there would be no volunteers, but Josh's hand shot up. Eventually I sat down, and after clearing the class like a plague doctor, me and Josh were sitting next to each other with pretty much no one around us. About 15 minutes in, it happened. He saw the elemental visions.'
At this statement, Wilbur's expression visibly changes, it's clear she's said something important.
'All four of them?' he asks.
'All four of them' she responds. 'In excruciating detail. He was even able to see the orange in my eyes.'
'Now that is a surprise' he says. 'Please, continue.'
'After the visions, I had to excuse myself for obvious reasons. I wasn't going to do anything, but when he asked about my orange eyes, I knew something was up.'
'He shouldn't be able to see them, he was never able to before' Wilbur says.
'Exactly' she says. 'I told him to meet me after school, and I spent the whole day contemplating what I would do before I made the decision to restore his memories.'
'You should have come to me first' he says.
'I know I SHOULD have' she says. 'But I wanted, I needed to do this. I wanted him back uncle. And now that I have, I'm happy.'
'I'm glad you are' he says. 'Based on what you've told me so far, we would have needed to do it anyway, so you're lucky you did the right thing.'
At this, she breathes a huge sigh of relief, a weight clearly off her shoulders.
'Is there anything else?' he asks.
'Yes, there is' she says. 'I took him to the Fire to do the procedure, and he didn't seem to be affected by it. We weren't too close to it, but he should have been a bit drowsy. Yet he was completely unaffected. When we got back, he was all good, it was as if he was a Caster who went.'
Wilbur is silent and it's clear he's listening, but also thinking very hard about everything he's hearing.
'There's more' she says. 'The burning sensation between us is no longer there, we can touch, kiss and hug with there being no adverse effects on us physically. And, we can Kelt together, something we couldn't do before. I'm not sure what any of this means, but I theorised with Josh that he could have acquired powers somehow. And if he has, how could it have happened?'
'These are startling developments' he says. 'It's a very good thing you restored his memory. At least he has a grasp of this world, who we are and what we can do. We didn't have to go through the whole process of waiting for his memory to properly align. We can move straight into figuring out what is actually going on here.'
Up until this point, I have been relatively quiet. There were times when I wanted to jump in and help Cassie make her points, however I bit my tongue and let her speak. As she mentioned, my memory is back but it still isn't 100% back to full working order yet, so I may have ended up having a patchy recollection of events. Following the conclusion of Cassie's telling of events however, Wilbur turns to me. He's not angry like he was when we first spoke a few minutes prior, he looks slightly amused and mostly curious.
'I guess firstly I should say welcome back Josh' he says and reaches out his hand for a shake. I follow accordingly and firmly shake his hand.
'It's good to be back' I respond.
'I'm sure it is' he says. 'I don't suppose it's any use asking you if you know anything.'
'Unfortunately, not' I say back. 'I wish I knew. If I did, I would make it known.'
'Hmmm' he says aloud. 'This is a matter for the family.' With this he gets up and leaves the room, retreating deeper into the house.
'I was afraid he would say that' Cassie says after he leaves.
'Why?' I ask back.
'Because you remember what they're like. It's gonna be a nightmare. Say goodbye to your privacy' she replies.
'I do remember' I say, inwardly sighing.
'It'll be alright' she says aloud. I don't think even she believes what she's saying.
'Yeah, let's hope so' I say back.
'So, are you still writing?' I ask after a momentary silence.
'No not really' she admits. 'After I did what I did, I couldn't really find the inspiration to pick up a pen and write anything.'
'Not that you need to pick it up' I joke.
'I'm serious', she says. 'I felt so bad, so guilty. I couldn't do anything. Those two months, knowing I was close, but just out of reach of you. I contemplated going to see every single minute of every single day. I wanted nothing more than to curl up and rewatch Back to the Future for the 456th time on VHS. But I couldn't… we couldn't. And you didn't even know. You couldn't even feel the way I did. Even now, you just got the good memories back, no knowledge of missing me for two whole months. It just felt so lonely. That's why I'm so grateful you're back, you're here with me.' She pauses to move closer to me nuzzling her head into my neck and shoulder. 'I've missed this.' It's clear she's crying now as she says this. 'I just really wish I didn't lose those two months. I'm sorry.'
'It's okay' I say and motion her face so that I can see it. She has tears dripping down her cheeks. 'Don't worry about it. I'm here with you now and I always will be, that's what matters now. Not the past, not what happened two months ago. Not even what happened yesterday. All that matters is today, tomorrow and us. I love you and I know that, no matter what happens, it'll work itself out and we can have ourselves a life together.'
'I love you so much' she replies. 'Thank you. For everything.'
'Don't thank me but you're welcome' I respond.
She smiles a bit and wipes her tears away with the sleeve of her cream top.
Wilbur walks back in as she wipes her eyes, looking slightly concerned.
'The family are on their way' he announces. He turns to me. 'I'd advise you to make some kind of excuse to be able to stay here, perhaps for the night. They won't be here for around an hour and a half, perhaps two. I wouldn't want your family to worry and I know if Cassie had to stay somewhere I'd want to know. This is uncharted territory for all of us, it's in the best interests of everyone and your own safety if you stay here. I understand this isn't an ideal situation, but I'm sure Cassie doesn't object and neither do I. What do you say?'
'I say that sounds like a good plan, from a logical point of view of course.' Cassie giggles at this.
'Logically of course' he says, perhaps oblivious to the giggle, or just purposely ignoring it.
'Let me call my family' I say and leave the room to go do so. It's a pretty easy call, I just tell them that I'll be staying at a friends tonight and that I'll be home tomorrow. My family have never been the restrictive type, a fact that I am very proud of. Once I'm done, I head back into the living room with Cassie and Wilbur.
'I hope you're hungry Mr Carter' Wilbur says. 'We have food on the way.'
'From the magic kitchen?' I ask, forgetting what food arrangements they have here.
'Yes', says Wilbur, grinning. 'It's called Postmates.' Great, I feel like an idiot now.
