𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒆

It was late in the afternoon and you hadn’t left your dorm since you came back to it last night. The long hours had passed like dust in the wind as you still laid in bed, contemplating everything. Everything that was said, all that you had seen, in his eyes and with your own. A soft, hesitant knock on the door broke the silence you had been in. You glanced over at the door, without moving from your position on the bed. You figured that if you would just ignore whoever was at the door, they would take the hint and leave.

That didn’t happen, because the knock came again, softer this time. Then a strained voice followed, ‘I know you’re in there.’ Isaac said through the closed door. ‘I get why you wouldn’t want to talk to me right now..’ his voice sounded tired, and a bit desperate. ‘I’m so sorry about what happened last night.. Everything just got a bit too.. overwhelming. I shouldn’t have walked out on you like that.’

You raised an eyebrow, even though he couldn’t see you, he could probably sense the skepticism through the door.

‘I brought your notebook.’ he said after a lingering silence.

After his words were left unacknowledged, you heard a ruffling sound from behind the door. Isaac slid the notebook carefully under the door. It was a black leather notebook, just like the one you had seen in your dream, though this one looked more worn.

Curiosity got the better of you. You stood up from the bed and walked over to the door, treading carefully, trying not to make a sound, but the creaking of wooden floorboards betrayed your steps.

‘Please, open it.’ Isaac said, his tone was soft, and almost pleading. ‘If you still don’t want to speak to me after this..’ he paused briefly, ‘I promise to leave you alone if that’s what you want.’

The way his voice broke at those last words made you want to at least give it a chance. You picked up the notebook, leaning against the nearby desk as you opened it to the first page.

‘He told me to keep a journal, I think he just wants me to shut up when he’s working.’ You stared at those words for a moment, puzzled. The handwriting was unmistakably yours.

It stayed silent on the other side of the door, but you knew he was still there.

You turned the page, and then another. The journal was filled with entries dated back years ago, before the accident. Some of them only contained one or two sentences, others were longer and contained more detail. Every now and then, there were sketches in between the writing.

You stopped at one you drew of Isaac. He was standing at a laboratory table, working on some kind of machinery you couldn’t quite make up. In the image, he peeked over at you through the constructure. He had a sweet and tender expression on his face. He looked different from how you knew him now.

He looked happy.

At the bottom of the page, in messy handwriting, it said, ‘Isaac, Tuesday. Still hasn’t finished my drawing, threatened to eat his pencil if he doesn’t do it by Friday.’

A small chuckle escaped your lips as you read those words. But your smile slowly faded as you started to realize what you had been missing out on.

After a moment, you decided to keep reading, turning the pages until you made it to the last one.

It was a meticulously drawn sketch of a heart, Isaac’s.

Not the cold, mechanical one he had now, but as it once was, human and frail. Beneath it, it said, ‘I’ll keep this safe for you, until you’re ready to take it back.’

Your eyes started to tear up, and your hands became shaky, it made it harder to read the words that were scrawled at the very bottom of the page, with barely enough room for them to fit.

It wasn’t your handwriting, it was his.

‘She promised me that day, if I fixed mine, she’d let me keep hers.’

As you closed your eyes, tears fell down your cheeks. Seeing all of this, and not being able to remember a single thing.. It was unbearable.

‘Are you still in there?’ Isaac asked tentatively through the door. An aching ‘mhm’ was all you could manage to give voice to in that moment.

‘Will you please open the door for me..’ his voice was one of compassion and sorrow.

You quickly wiped your eyes and put the notebook down on the desk before you opened the door.

It was like seeing him in a new light. For a second you just stood there, frozen, and so did he. It was a moment where the both of you just looked at each other, a look that said more than words ever could.

‘I’m sorry, I really can’t remember any of it..’ Your voice cracked as you couldn’t compose yourself anymore.

Without wasting another second, he seized you into his arms. He held you close as you wrapped your arms around him. Your tears leaving marks on his shirt as you pressed your face against his chest.

You could feel the mechanics of his heart whirling beneath the surface, and it felt like coming home somehow.

You took a deep and steadying breath against his chest. When you exhaled, a loud ringing sound consumed your every sense. And then-

A flash. A memory.

It was dark and rainy outside, and you kissed him outside the laboratory door, smiling against his lips, ‘If you die on me again, I’ll kill you.’

You remember waking up with your head tucked beneath his chin. His fingers trailing down your back in a calm and soothing motion.

You clung closer to him now, gripping the fabric of his shirt tightly as more memories came flooding back to you.

Another one of you in the library late at night, pulling his face down to yours,‘You think too much.’

Him, pinning you against the wall in the dark, his teeth grazing the side of your neck as his hand tangled in your hair.

All of your memories fell back into place, right up until the final one-

‘You made this?’ you were looking at the brass locket in your hand. This one wasn’t dented, and it had a necklace attached to it. He took the necklace from behind your back and put it around your neck.

‘It’s a piece of me that is only yours to keep.’

The sky outside was pitch black and cloudy as you looked out the window. Even though it was the middle of the night, you couldn’t wait till morning to get clarity on whatever just happened.

The corridors were cold and empty as you hurried down to the library, knowing, hoping that he would still be there.

Your footsteps reverberated on the wooden floorboards. Each door you opened sounded clamorous in the deafening silence of the night. Until eventually you reached the library doors. Stopping for a moment to take a deep breath and bracing yourself for what was to come.

The library was dark except for some dim light lamps and candles. In the distance, you spotted Isaac sitting at one of the tables, reading in the orange glow of the lamp. You caught his attention as the library doors fell shut behind you. Your breath was shaky as you walked up to him.

He stood up from his chair to address you, a serious look was etched across his face as he motioned for you to sit down on the chair across from him.

When you sat down, so did he. He held your gaze solemnly as he waited for you to speak.

‘The locket..’ you started ‘I think it took me to a memory.’ He nodded in understanding. ‘You were ill’ you said, not sure of how to word any of this ‘I walked in on you coughing up blood.. And.. I think we used to be friends.’

A wry chuckle escaped him. ‘We weren’t, not at first.’ he admitted.

‘What happened to you?’ the words escaped your mouth faster than you intended them to, though it didn’t seem to phase him. ‘I had a failing heart.’ he began ‘By that time the doctors gave me a few months to live.. So I spent that time designing a new one.’

He unfastened a few buttons of his shirt, revealing a mechanical clockwork heart. ‘You were right by my side the entire time.’ He smiled ever so slightly, waiting a moment before adding, ‘I still have no idea why.’ He buttoned his shirt while searching your eyes for a reaction.

He seemed sincere, you could see it on his face, his expression. ‘I don’t remember any of it..’ you said, puzzled with a hint of guilt. ‘Why can’t I remember?’ You hoped this open-hearted conversation would finally lead you to answers. ‘Please be honest with me.’ you added.

He sighed, as if he had already expected this question to come. Without looking directly at you, he started talking, his voice was slow and cautious. ‘You had been struggling with your psychic abilities for a while.. Your visions kept getting worse.’ A pained expression formed on his face. ‘You had the most awful nightmares.. Didn’t sleep for weeks on end..’ he frowned at the recollection ‘I couldn’t bear to see you suffer like that anymore.. So I decided to build you a machine that would.. contain.. your ability.’ he met your gaze again, with a look of shame and regret.

You clung to his every word, until a long, painful silence followed.

‘I couldn’t find you in the wreckage at first..’ his voice trembled slightly. ‘And when I eventually did.. I thought you died.’ You noticed him trying to conceal the tears that started to well up in his eyes, followed by an unflinching stare.

‘I made sure you didn’t.’

He cleared his throat and glanced at the time. ‘It’s getting late. You should get some sleep.’ And without another word, without even looking back at you, he stood up and left the library immediately.

That night, as you tried to get some rest, a soft ticking sound in the distance kept distracting you from your ruminating thoughts. You tossed around in bed, pulling a pillow over your ears as you grew more and more annoyed by the noise as it got louder with every passing second.

Eventually you couldn’t take it anymore, and decided to figure out where that damn ticking was coming from.

First, you checked your nightstand, the scorched alarm clock still stood on it. After that you checked every drawer- nothing. You pushed aside the nightstand, and then it hit you. The locket.

You stooped down and grabbed it from the floor where it still laid. This time it didn’t shock you, it just kind of buzzed when you picked it up, as if it were responding to your touch.

Before you could realise what was happening, a misty wave came over you, clouding your vision.

And there you were, standing in a dimly lit room. A laboratory, it seemed.

After a few moments of utter confusion, a sudden loud cough made you flinch.

You turned around to see where the sound came from.. and there he was-

Isaac. Sitting alone, bent over a notebook. Completely ignoring your presence.

‘What is this? Where am I?’ you raised your voice at him, baffled.

But he didn’t move.

You walked closer to him, an anxious feeling dawned on you.

‘Hello?!’ you were practically yelling at him now.

You moved closer to the opposite side of the table he was sitting at, waving, trying to get him to look up at you, but he didn’t.

The table was filled with all kinds of books, but the one that caught your eye was the notebook he was writing in.

There were splatters of blood on its pages.

You tried to look closer, until another loud cough startled you. Isaac was coughing up blood.

And then, all of sudden, footsteps on the stairs made him spin around.

‘If you’re gonna die down here, at least do it quietly.’

It couldn't be..

The figure made their way down the stairs, becoming more and more visible in the light with each step.

It was.. you. How was this possible?

You, the other you, walked right over to Isaac, and handed him a handkerchief. He smiled up at her, a look of adoration on his face as he took it from her hand.

You just stood there, bewildered, looking at the interaction. Until an abrupt bright flash brought you right back to the present, leaving you frozen on the floor of your dorm room with the locket still clutched tightly in your hand.

As the night grew darker, you found yourself drifting into an uneasy sleep filled with vivid dreams, fragments of memories, it seemed, though not yours.

You saw flashes of a science lab, a tall figure with his back turned towards you, working on.. something?

Everything happened so fast, the images changing every second.

The next flash was of someone, you, looking down at your hands.. They were about to open a black leather notebook. But then.. nothing.

Although your eyes were open, you were surrounded by soundless darkness. Until the noise of a loud explosion made you wake from your sleep.

You shot up in bed, quickly checking the time on the alarm clock on the nightstand next to you, only to find out that the cable had burned through completely. As you got up and moved the nightstand, you noticed the locket that apparently fell behind it. It gave you a slight shock when you picked it up, making you drop it to the floor again.

With a feeling of impending doom, you went about your day as usual, getting ready and heading down to the library with a large cup of coffee, hoping that it would make up for the restless night you just left behind.

As you looked around for a place to sit, you saw him, Isaac. He was sitting at a table in the corner of the library, buried in a book. It looked like that wasn’t the first one, because there were piles of books sprawled all over the table, some still open, some were closed and shoved aside.

He didn’t notice you until you were taking the seat across from him. He looked surprised to see you. ‘So..’ you began, ‘what kind of game are you playing? Did someone set you up to this?’

‘What are you talking about?’ he asked, his brows furrowed in confusion, and something else. His eyes widened, almost as if amused, or impressed.

‘That locket thing you gave me, I don’t know what it is or why you gave it to me, but it fried my alarm clock.’ you said, staring him dead in the eyes, daring him to spill.

As he broke eye contact, a small smirk played on his lips before looking back at you. ‘That means it still works.’ he said shortly. Your confusion grew, and so did your annoyance. ‘What do you mean, works?’ He merely sighed, and said ‘Just give it some time, it’ll come back to you eventually’. His response only added fuel to the fire. ‘No. You are going to give me answers, now.’ you demanded. He gave you a single nod in resignation, and repositioned himself in the library chair before speaking.

‘Have you never wondered about your life before the..’ he paused for a split second, as if choosing his words carefully ‘accident?’ Your eyes widened at his words. Of course you had, but how does he even know about that?

‘I wish I could tell you. But it won’t work unless the memories come back to you, at their own pace.’ he paused again, looking into your eyes, searching for understanding. ‘I know this must be confusing, and I’m willing to help you regain your memories.. But you have to trust me.’

‘You’re insane.’ you said standing up from your seat and turning towards the exit.

‘Wait-’ his chair scraped against the wooden floor as he stood up from it. He took a stride towards you, grabbing your arm and stopping you before you could walk away any further. ‘You can’t just leave’ he said, the sudden desperation in his voice betraying the calm demeanor he portrayed before now ‘You’re not even listening to me-’

You looked at his hand on your arm before looking at him sternly ‘Let go of me, Isaac.’

He froze. His grip loosened slowly, reluctantly, before his hand eventually fell away, though his eyes didn’t.

Without looking back at him, you walked right out of that library.

It was a silent night at Nevermore. You were reading a book in your dormroom, when all of a sudden a soft knock on the door disturbed your thoughts.

You walked over to the door, wondering who could possibly be at your door at this hour. You opened the door slightly, revealing a tall, dark-haired guy that looked somewhat unsettling.

‘Who are you?’ you asked, visible confusion on your face.

There was a flash of hurt in the man’s dark eyes, which he quickly shook off. He cleared his throat before speaking. ‘You don’t know me..’ he said, ‘But I think this belongs to you.’ He held out a hand, revealing a small brass metal locket. It was shaped like a heart, a human heart. It had a few dents and looked slightly broken, like there used to be a necklace attached to it.

‘I don’t..’ you started, before the guy interrupted you. ‘Just take it.’ He said, looking into your eyes deeply, as if this was a very important thing somehow.

You took the locket from his hand, but kept your eyes locked with his.

As the man turned to walk away, you quickly asked ‘What’s your name?’

‘Isaac’ he answered curtly before making his way down the hall.

You were still standing in the door opening for a few moments, watching him leave, frozen, confused.

Eventually, you stepped back inside your dorm, absentmindedly closing the door behind you as you inspected the locket that was handed to you moments before. Why did this locket seem so familiar? And why did he?