Buried in Sunshine (22 page)

“I do,” Justine says reassuringly. “We just
can’t rule out that…”

“It’s all in my head.”

“I’ve been there,” Justine says. “All in your
head can be quite a powerful thing. When you don’t know what is
real or not—what I went through when I was recovering felt real. I
don’t really have any validation that it was—so you have to be open
to the possibility that this is not what you think it is.”

“I understand,” Emma says. Of course she doubts
whether or not this is real—but after everything she has seen she
believes. That would be the hard part though, wouldn’t it? I mean
what seems concrete and completely real to her could be just
that—only real to her. After all, Justine did not see Hope either
time at the pier. “I get where you’re coming from. If nothing works
here—I’ll know.”

“That’s the only condition I ask,” Justine says.
“Otherwise count me in with my full support.”

“I appreciate it,” Emma says. It has been longer
than she can remember since she last had a friend. In a way, all
these terrible events have left her feeling more alive than they
have in forever. She only wished that there was no strange end of
the world scenario attached to this reawakening.

*

“Where is it?” Emma asks as she searches the
kitchen.

“What are you looking for?”

“That necklace you sold to me—the one that was a
gift for a friend,” Emma answers as she finds the kitchen table
bare. Perhaps the police took it along with the note.

“It’s here,” Justine says as she pulls up the
yellow glass necklace from beneath the leg of one of the kitchen
stools and hands to Emma.

“Thank you,” Emma says as she holds the
shimmering glass piece in the sunlight.

“Is this what we are here for?”

“This is part of it.”

A knock on the door brings a feeling of dread to
Emma as she hesitates. The last time she opened up the door she was
attacked.

“Are you alright?” Justine asks, noticing the
look of dread upon Emma’s face.

“Yeah,” Emma whispers.

“I’ll answer it,” Justine says as she heads for
the door. She places her hand on the doorknob.

Emma takes in a heavy breath and attempts to
calm her nerves as the door opens. To her relief, although she does
not know why she expected something sinister—Brian was dead, Ethan
steps into the doorway. He looks tired, like he has not slept.

“Hello,” Ethan says as he curiously looks upon
the new face.

“Justine,” Justine says as steps aside. “I’m a
friend of Emma’s.”

“Emma…”

“Ethan,” Emma says as she nods.

Ethan rushes over to Emma, taking her by
surprise; he places his arms around her and squeezes her tightly
against his chest. “I’m so sorry about what happened—I was on my
way here after I got your message, but then the hospital called and
said that you had attempted suicide, you only had four contacts on
your phone—so I rushed home to tell my father and…”

“I’m so sorry,” Emma whispers. Although she is
happy to see Ethan, she feels awkward in his arms. “I’m sorry about
your mother—“

“I had no idea, I swear, that my father was
capable of doing anything like that,” Ethan says as he becomes
choked up with emotion. “I can’t believe he tried to kill you. I
can’t believe…they’re both gone.”

“It’s my fault,” Emma whispers as she backs
away.

“Don’t say that Emma,” Ethan says as he attempts
to reach for her, but she continues to back away.

“I confronted your father about the affair—“Emma
says as she gets it all off of her chest. “He begged me not to tell
you.”

“Of course he did, he did not want to be shown
for the murderer he was.”

“I was not nice,” Emma admits sadly.

“You should not have been,” Ethan says as he
shakes his head. “Why do you blame yourself for this?”

“We’re good at it,” Justine adds from the
corner, and then coughs as though she is attempting to hide the
fact that she said anything at all.

“There’s something I need you to see,” Emma says
as she holds up the glass sun necklace. “The idea to tear down the
wall—the letters from your father…I didn’t find these things on my
own. Not even the hidden room with the broken concrete.”

“Who showed you?”

“There is something happening that I don’t
understand,” Emma begins as she heads toward the spiral staircase.
“There is more than one version of me, they’re different—they have
their own personalities. They are the ones that told me what to
look for, what to do.”

“Different versions of you…?” Ethan asks
skeptically. “Are you alright Emma?”

“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Justine
adds as she follows behind Emma as they begin to ascend the
staircase.

Ethan shrugs his large shoulders as he
reluctantly follows up the stairs.

Emma leads Ethan and Justine to her old attic
room. The sun shines in brightly through the window and frames the
worn couch in a brilliant beam of sunlight. She paces around the
room for a moment. Is she crazy for thinking that this is even
possible? She fears that ultimately she will end up just looking
foolish and that she will have to take Justine up on that offer to
go and make a visit to Dr. Riley—perhaps, that is what she really
needs. The idea that she can do something strange, that she can
show Ethan and Justine something she, herself, barely believes,
seems absurd to her. Still, she has to try.

Emma places the necklace upon the couch. Its
yellow glass sun glows brightly and refracts against the wall
painting it yellow in wide sun-shaped swathes. She then gets to her
knees. She does not know exactly what she is doing, but she begins
to concentrate.

“What are you doing Emma?” Ethan asks.

“Shhh…” Justine whispers as she jabs the tall
man in the ribs. “Just let her do this.”

Emma does not know if Justine has said this
because she believes Emma, or if she just wants to get this over
with because she believes even a negative outcome will somehow be
of help. Emma wonders if this is true. Hope said that he had
power…however, she gave no direction. Emma was doing all this just
based on the pure assumption that she could.

“Elizabeth,” Emma whispers. “I need you
back.”

Emma watches the glass necklace intently. A few
moments pass and the doubt begins to grow even larger within her.
“Elizabeth—if you can hear me, return to me—follow the sound of my
voice. I am so sorry. I should have done things your way. Please
forgive me and return.”

After a while passes and nothing happens, “Ethan
lowers himself down and whispers to Emma, “Who is Elizabeth?”

“She is someone who looks just like me,” Emma
whispers, realizing how crazy that statement sounds. “She is the
one that helped me to become better.”

“Where did she go?” Ethan kindly asks as he
places his and on Emma’s back.

“She disappeared, the day that your father…”

“She just disappeared?” Ethan asks.

“I know that you probably don’t believe that she
was real,” Emma says as she lets out a frustrated sigh and places
her hand upon the sun-faded sofa. “I am not crazy—she was here…I
mean I may be crazy, but there is no way that I could have known
the things that she did.”

“You’re not crazy Emma,” Ethan says as he rubs
her back gently. “I think that with all that’s happened, neither of
us is going to be the same—I swear I saw my mother last night as I
was driving. When I looked again it was an old guy in a wheelchair.
The mind…it can play a lot of cruel tricks on you—especially when
you’re hurt.”

“We don’t have to go and see Dr. Riley,” Justine
concedes as she rests against the wall and folds her arms. “I did
believe that something was going to happen—if it makes you feel any
better.”

“Thank you…both of you,” Emma says softly as she
runs her hand against the warm surface of the couch. She runs her
hand against the smooth glass of the sun charm and thinks of
picking it up and giving up. However, a thought comes to mind. Emma
remembers nearly falling from the stairs and Elizabeth saying
‘stop’—that was enough to keep her suspending in the air. When
Alexis confronted Brian and forced him she used single word
commands. Could it really be that simple? Could she have the same
power? Emma closes her eyes and places her hand out in front of
her.

“Return…” Emma commands.

As Emma opens her eyes she sees the familiar
girl dressed in white. She begins to cough loudly and shake as
though she has just come in from a frigid winter day.

Ethan falls back and lands upon his rear as he
quickly backs away in shock. “What the fuck am I seeing?”

“It’s real?” Justine asks from her place in the
corner of the room. Her voice does not carry the same sense of
shock as Ethan’s—merely more of a sense of amazement.

“I did it,” Emma whispers as she places her hand
into Elizabeth’s.

“Where was I?” Elizabeth asks.

“It doesn’t matter,” Emma says as she helps
Elizabeth into the direct beam of sunlight overhead. “You’re back
now. I won’t let you disappear permanently, I promise. I’m so sorry
for being so angry. I had no idea it would hurt you.”

“You brought me back?”

“I had to,” Emma says as she smiles happily.

“How did you do it?” Elizabeth says as she
shakes her head. “How much time is left?”

“Three days…and I just commanded that you
return, and you did.”

“Am I crazy?” Ethan asks as he watches the two
girls that could be twins talk about things that he does not
understand at all.

“In this room,” Justine adds with a little laugh
as though she is more amused than troubled by this turn of events.
“We’re probably all crazy—but if you’re asking if this is really
happening, it is.”

“I’m going to…” Ethan begins as he places around
the room with one of his hands rubbing against the side of his
head. “I need to step out of the room—I’ll just be right outside
the door. I think I may pass out, or wake up. Who knows at this
point?”

“I’ll step out with you,” Justine says, “I have
a feeling that these two have a bit to discuss.”

Emma places her arms around Elizabeth and
embraces her tightly. “I will never let my anger get the better of
me again.”

“I know what Alexis has done,” Elizabeth says as
her eyes lower down to the ground and a single tear escapes from
one of her sparkling blue eyes. “She’s gotten more powerful. I
didn’t understand why you blacked out that day—but I think I do
now. She’s trying to become more dominate than the rest of us.”

“Did I disappear?”

“No, but you went very cold,” Elizabeth answers
as she lets out a heavy sigh. “The more powerful she is allowed to
be—the more likely it is that we’ll disappear--that even you will
disappear with the sunset.”

“How do I stop her?” Emma asks. The thought that
their roles could be reversed terrifies her.

“Remain stronger than she is,” Elizabeth says as
she looks into Emma’s eyes. “You have power—but it doesn’t mean you
should use it to hurt her. Find out what she needs.

“Isn’t she our enemy?”

“We’ll never be able to stop her from taking
over if we consider her to be.”

“But after what she did to Ethan’s parents…”
Emma whispers. She does not want Ethan to overhear that one of her
clones had murdered his parents. In his already troubled state it
would probably drive him over the edge.

“You have to forgive her.”

“I can’t forgive her for hurting Ethan like
that—or the mother, even if Brian Metcalfe was a murderer, his
family did not deserve to suffer,” Emma whispers as she narrows her
eyes into slits as the thought fills her with anger.

“It’s this idea that we need to hurt each other
in order to get even, to get revenge, that will cause this to not
end well. You could probably destroy her if you wish. You probably
have that kind of power—will it bring back Ethan’s mother though?
Will it make his suffering less? When you went into that office and
showed no compassion towards Brian, how long did it make you feel
better about yourself?”

“Not very long,” Emma says as she begins to
realize that her hatred towards Alexis might be just as well suited
for herself.

“You have to forgive yourself as well…”

“I don’t know how,” Emma says as she shakes her
head and buries her face against the side of the warm couch. “I
don’t think I’ve ever been able to.”

“Before the end comes,” Elizabeth whispers as
she places her hand upon Emma’s head and gently runs it through her
hair. “You will have to learn to.”

“What does it all matter though…?” Emma says as
she keeps her head against the warm cushioning of the couch. “We’ll
all disappear soon. Why do we have to spend these last days sorting
things out—is this just some kind of game? I mean does it matter
who has the power when the sun comes to take me—to take us
all?”

“Everything has to end,” Elizabeth says as she
continues to stroke Emma’s head. “It’s what we do with the last of
our time that matters. You can choose to do nothing, but know
this—Alexis is hurting. Probably more than any of us…”

“Will it change anything though? My friends…it’s
unfair that they have to die.”

“Would you sacrifice yourself to save them?”

“I would…”

“Heal us,” Elizabeth whispers as she draws close
to Emma. “Help Alexis…the smallest change can alter the course of
the future. I appeared here, hating you and expecting you to hate
me as well—but I had to care for you—it was my job. You changed my
opinion about you by becoming my…friend. You rescued me from that
empty darkness…that void of nonexistence and brought me back. You
didn’t have to do that.”

“I did,” Emma whispers. “I promised you that I
needed you. I had to keep that promise.”

“Then I would ask you to truly cast aside your
anger and promise me that you will help Alexis—she needs you. She
may try and cast you away. She may even try and harm you, but
although she does not know it, she desperately needs you.”