Heather shouted.

The bluish aura turned red, her silhouette in the midst of it resembled a spectrum from hell.

"Heather!" I yelled. I couldn't stand her screams. What on earth could be happening in there? I rushed inside, but a brutal wave of energy, crackling with electricity, slammed into me, throwing me back like a painful whiplash. I crashed to the floor. My skin stung, and my head felt like drilled by a thousand knives. Heather shouted again. Shit. I hated I couldn't do anything. I felt so useful, so frustrated, totally a failure.

Another wave hit the room, scratching the glass windows that surrounded us and leaving a spiderweb pattern in its wake. Was this what we were? Flies ensnared in the web of a monstrous spider, with Heather at the center, fighting against a relentless queen?

The bloody color of the aura intensified. Another wave struck. Windows shattered, sending shards of glass swirling around us, trapping us in a nest of thorns. The wind rushed in, violently howling through the gaps. The lights went out and the Orb's aura dimmed. Heather's silhouette, now dark, shook, staggered, and collapsed. I ran to her just in time to catch her in my arms.

"Heather?!"

Her skin felt like ice. Her lips were slightly purple, as if The Orb had drained her blood like a vampire. Was this really it? I hugged her, hoping my warmth would reach her.

"What's going on?" Her weak voice emerged fragile.

I stepped back to observe her. She half-opened her eyes, which seemed paler too, a clear blue, almost silver. Not her color.

"Heather?" I said softly.

"Where is Mom?" She whispered.

"You remember her?"

If that was true it would mean the algorithm had worked.

She frowned as if my question was nonsense. "What do you mean?" That was when she scanned the surroundings, her eyes flickering stressed at every turn. 

"Where am I?" She asked, but before I could answer, shots echoed.

Damn it. We weren't alone. We had to move.

"Can you walk?" I asked ignoring her question. 

Footsteps approached from the stairs; we didn't have much time.

"Heather, we have to move, okay?" I helped her sit up. She staggered. Fuck. Her legs barely supported her. We wouldn't get far like this. The sound of the intruders grew louder, they were close. Too close. Damn it. There was no place to hide. No place to go. We'd be dead in seconds. I pulled out my laser gun, ready to defend Heather, no matter the cost.

"Grace?" A familiar voice cut through the chaos of footsteps.

I knew that voice. My hand shook as I pointed the gun toward the stairs, holding Heather with my other arm who was still confused and weak.

"Where are you, Grace?" Another familiar voice.

The footsteps reached the top of the stairs, and I saw them. Kate and Erik rushed toward us, their faces tense with worry. Kate's security uniform was splattered with blood, and Erik had dust smeared across his cheeks.

"Are you okay?!" Erik shouted the moment he spotted us.

I lowered my gun, unable to hold back the tension anymore as tears rolled down my cheeks.

"I thought we were about to die." I mumbled as sobs cut off my breath.

Kate came next to me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"No way," she said. "The ones who died were the Nexus security team... They were coming for us."
Now, the gunfire made sense, they had been trying to help us.

"You weren't supposed to come here. Why did you...?" My voice trailed off. I didn't need an explanation, really. I was just relieved they were here. I couldn't imagine what we would've done without them. But with all the chaos in the city and the border attack, it sure had been a huge risk to get up here. But still, here they were.

"Did you really think we'd leave you on your own?" Kate asked.

"We knew you'd need backup," Erik added. "There's no way you two were getting out of Nexus Court alone."

I couldn't explain how relieved I felt, and I needed a moment to let the tears fall before I managed to say, "Guys... I love you so much."

Erik came right over and wrapped his arms around both Heather and me. His arms like the protective wings of an angel. "We're here." He said softly.

Kate inspected the room and froze upon seeing Brooke and Stella on the floor.

"Shit." She muttered as she knelt to check Stella's pulse. I knew it was useless, but I wasn't going to tell her.

Erik turned around and gazed at them. "Oh my God, I can't watch," he said, covering his eyes with his hands.

Kate then approached Brooke and checked her pulse too.

"There was no other way. We tried to save Stella... but..." My voice broke as I remembered that moment.

Erik hugged me again.

"I should have saved Stella... I should have, but everything happened so fast... I couldn't..." The words piled up inside me, spilling out in a broken, disordered rush, like a dam bursting. Thankfully, all I could see on Erik's and Kate's faces was sympathy.

"It's okay, Grace. You did everything you could. We all did." Erik whispered and his words were like a soft caress to my hurting heart.

"How's Heather?" Erik asked as he stepped back to look at her.

"Not sure. She looks very confused."

"Heather?" Erik called her meeting her eyes.

She gazed at him, first with her eyes narrowing as if she were trying to place him in her memory. Then she reached up and touched his cheek. "I know you."

Erik's eyes widened.

"Oh my god," I said. "You know him?"

Heather kept looking at him, then frowned as if something were off.

"But I'm not sure... I know I recognize you, but... I can't remember from where..."

Kate covered Brooke with her jacket, but when she tried to put her belt bag back on, it fell to the ground. "Shit. This thing is falling apart." She muttered, and Heather quickly darted a glance at her.

"Kate?"

My heart skipped a beat.

"Hey there, friend!" Kate said with a wide grin. She stepped closer and wrapped an arm around Heather's shoulder.

Heather flickered with discomfort as if Kate had leaned in too close with that arm. But after a moment, she forced a smile, a lopsided grin that felt off, nothing like the one I remembered.

"What about her? Do you remember this beautiful woman?" Kate asked, pointing at me.

Heather's eyes scanned my face as I got so damn nervous, with no idea what expression I was making.

"You... You..." She looked like struggling to grasp a memory that wouldn't come. She leaned in closer to me, as if in every eyelash, freckle, fold, scar there was a clue hidden that would guide her to our memories. 

Having her so near was unbearable. I wanted to kiss her, to hug her, to pull her into my arms and promise that I would take care of her, that I would never leave. But I couldn't risk startling her in that state. Even though I remembered everything, Heather without her memories wasn't truly herself. All I could do was hope that somehow, in the deepest, most hidden corners of her mind, there was a small refuge where she had kept me safe, a place where The Orb couldn't reach.

But that turned out to be just a naive fantasy when Heather stepped back and with the frigidness of a glacier she said: "I don't know you."

A pang of pain pierced my heart like the root of a sick tree in the earth. I felt as if I had lost all my weight, my strength, and my stability in the world. As if now, so light, I could fly away at any moment, without a soul, without a body, just pain in the air, torn apart by those words: I don't know you.

What could be worse than that? I would prefer I hate you; I would prefer I never want to see you again. At least those would acknowledge my place in her life, in her heart, in her memories. But this felt like the cruelest sentence of all: The void, the nothingness, an abyss of freefall without identity.

My tears continued to fall down my cheeks in silence.

"Why are you crying?" Heather asked, frowning.

Kate and Erik were silent too. No words could express what we were all trying to digest. Silence seemed like the best company right now.

"For nothing. I'm just being silly." I mumbled.

Kate stepped closer, taking my hand in hers, her eyes telling me I wasn't alone, telling me that she was feeling the pain too that we were in this together.

Erik, on the other hand, didn't seem as affected; he was scanning Heather as if she were a laboratory rat as if he expected something from her.

"Heather," Erik said. "Are you sure you don't know her? Look at her again."

I couldn't bear another piercing "I don't know you" darting straight to my heart, so I placed a hand on Erik's shoulder, hoping to calm him down.

"It's okay, Erik. Don't push it," I said softly. But Heather's gaze fell on me once more, her empty eyes making my heart ache.

"Grace, tell her something." Erik said.

"What?"

"Trust me. Try it. Tell her something about her, about the two of you... Something that could help her."

I tried to think, and I felt overwhelmed by the countless memories I could share about us.

"I don't know, Erik... This isn't like your case..."

"Just try it. One memory. Please." 

I needed a moment to think. The rush of our memories looping in my mind felt like the saddest movie in the world, with so many beautiful moments now tinged with sorrow upon the fate of us all.

"Um... Heather?" I started. "Remember the day we swam in a real lake when we were on The Other Side? You told me you'd never seen a real lake before. The sun was brighter than ever, and the water was so clean and pure."

Heather's breath quickened, her eyes locked into mine with an intense gaze.

"I... I remember the lake..." She mumbled.

"It's working!" Erik explained. "I told Heather we had to try this!"

I turned to Erik, confused. "What do you mean, 'you told Heather', how does she even know that?"

Suddenly, a flicker of light caught my attention, coming from Heather's wrist. I took her hand and turned it over revealing a small, sticky silicone device glued to her skin. I recognized it, it was the Ghost Patch Erik had created. When had they put that on her? I looked at Erik, and with just a glance, he understood that I needed a million explanations.

"Heather mentioned the potential memory loss before she left, so I gave her one of these, just in case it helped." He explained.

"Oh my god, is it really working?" Kate asked.

Erik glanced at the patch, which was flickering red but each blink was softer than the last. "I think the patch is struggling, but since the effect is recent, we might still be able to neutralize it. We need to trigger her memories as quickly as possible."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Stimulate her with pictures, smells, words... anything. We should take her somewhere familiar too! But we have to do it now!"

"No, Erik, this is over." I couldn't understand what kind of fantasy he was living in, thinking that just showing a bunch of pictures or telling her about her past would bring her back to normal.

"We have to try, girl." Kate insisted. 

No. This was over. I wouldn't keep playing that game, only to end up without her again and again. My frustration felt like a heavy log pressing down on my back, and my heart was already pierced with enough pain. I couldn't hold it in any longer.

 "No. There's nothing we can do. She's forgotten me." I said. 

I was completely drained. My fighting spirit had died with Heather's memories. All I wanted was to curl up in a corner and disappear.

Erik stepped forward, positioning himself directly in front of me. "Hey, look at me," he said, his voice firm and nearly angry. "You're not giving up right now. You hear me? You are NOT."

"She doesn't know me, Erik!" My anger seeped through, raising my voice, and Erik flinched. "Why didn't you tell me?! Why didn't anyone warn me this shit was going to happen?! You're such a bad friend!"

I fell on my knees, my holed heart storming inside me, my eyes storming too.

"It was Heather's choice. She made me swear I wouldn't say a word." He buried his face in his sleeve, wiping away his tears. "But I tried to help... I tried..."

A long silence hung between us as we all cried together.

Suddenly, a whisper broke through.

"I'm sorry, Grace." Heather's voice reached me as she knelt beside me, her lost gaze still present but with an inner spark, like a weak candle flickering in the dark.

"You said my name?" I whispered.

"She said your name!" Erik echoed.

Heather closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly as if she needed to recharge to carry on.

"I don't know why but it breaks my heart to see you like this." Her eyes flooded with tears too. Tears she didn't even know what they meant.

"We don't have much time, if the patch wears off, we'll lose our chance. I know you can do it, Grace. She's fighting for you. Don't you see it?" Erik said.

I looked at Heather's pale face, those oblivion tears smudging her beautiful features.

Erik caressed my shoulder. "You can do it."

"Girl, it's the final ride, let's do this!" Kate said.

I clenched my fists, swallowing my pain as I stood tall. They were right. I had made a promise to her, I promised I'd be by her side, no matter what. I'd promised I'd never leave. What the hell was I doing? Letting her go after everything she'd done for us? No way.

I closed my eyes and began to search for the meaningful places that held our memories. There were so many, but I needed one that was truly special—a place only she and I knew the true meaning and importance of.

A single one stuck in my mind.

"I know where to go." 

Author's Note:

Hello lovely reader! 

How's the day going so far? 😄 

This chapter really got me thinking about special places that hold our memories. What would you say is your special place? The one that has significant meaning to you. I'd love to hear about your special places! 

Thank you so much for reading! Love you to the moon and back! 💖💖💖💖

Ava💫