Chapter 2—Michael
“So it is starting to come back,” he said out of relief.731Please respect copyright.PENANAjkUiC1Tew8
“What’s coming back?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANACAYUpqJzsc
“Your memories,” he said. “All of these images, they’re your memories. Pay closer attention to them,” he added, stepping aside. I walked up to an image and placed my hand on it.731Please respect copyright.PENANAp54L8qSsUs
In a flash of light I was watching a birthday party, where a younger version of me was blowing out the candles on a cake. In the spots my parents were supposed to be, though, were two blank, white spots.731Please respect copyright.PENANAJ8PilPjxPp
“What’s with the blankness?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANAhSQ39xRHso
“The memory’s been blocked,” he explained. “Somebody doesn’t want you to know the truth about who you are.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAWvG9oQM1s5
“Who, though?” I asked him, even though I thought he was just a figment of my imagination.731Please respect copyright.PENANA7NLcAoC32p
“No, I’m not somebody you’re imagining,” he told me, almost as if he was reading my mind. “I really am dead, but this is the real me that you are seeing in front of you.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAskrrqrP8Fr
“Wait, what?” I demanded.731Please respect copyright.PENANAKwYNQpgCP1
“You have a powerful gift,” he told me. “You are a Bridge.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAOFqVZAbon5
“A what?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANAPox675P5wG
“A Bridge,” he repeated. “A Bridge is a person who can communicate with people who have died.”731Please respect copyright.PENANA96E9Kl3yfT
“Are you serious?” I demanded. I was sure right then that it was a dream.731Please respect copyright.PENANA4DlrxiLqe7
“Very serious,” Michael told me. “I am very glad to see you awake, though. I couldn’t contact you when you were in the coma, or else I could have explained this all to you then.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAtYBcGr2ePb
“No problem, big bro,” I replied, feeling strangely light-headed for being asleep.731Please respect copyright.PENANAFLX9trsqTo
“That’s another thing,” he said. “I’m not your brother.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAZKszorUESc
“What?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAgqsIhiUpjh
“Everything my parents told you was a lie,” he told me. “They aren’t your parents, either.”731Please respect copyright.PENANA2OLonkPmJm
“What are they doing, then?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAQz6N1QSRWX
“They are Destroyers,” he told me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAh5zhwgg9mC
“You lost me.”731Please respect copyright.PENANA2ALvDT9iwU
“Destroyers are the only people able to get rid of a Bridge’s power,” he told me. “That’s why they call themselves ‘Destroyers’. They ‘destroy’ Bridges.”731Please respect copyright.PENANASbRV5qhrv1
“What does this have to do with me?”731Please respect copyright.PENANALbj7g81UlM
“My parents are special kinds of Destroyers. They take a Bridge into their home and try to ‘rehabilitate’ them so that they don’t need their powers anymore,” he explained. “That’s what they tried with you. They took you in when you were small and raised you as their own, hoping to erase any trace of Bridge powers in you just by keeping you ignorant of them.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAHepc6XuVbb
“What happened, then?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANANDgx3TueFR
“It didn’t work,” he told me. “Now, so that you don’t get confused, some, but not all of what they said was true, but very little of it. About a month before the ‘accident’, they discovered that you had been Bridging with Dad’s ancestors.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAH6ekteQxew
“Bridging?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAIUKw4R5vbh
“‘Bridging’ is when a Bridge uses their power like you are,” he said. “When they discovered this, they tried to keep you busier to prevent you from having a chance to Bridge, but then you started doing it in your sleep, like you are now. From then until the accident they had been preparing a Wipe.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAr3vDKqroms
“What’s a ‘Wipe’?” I asked him, confused by all the terminology.731Please respect copyright.PENANAVMnmKZe9B4
“It’s when they wipe your memories and start you over from scratch,” he said. “It usually blocks a Bridge’s powers without getting rid of them, which kills the Bridge.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAppVZSaltN1
“Why didn’t they?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANAwIlFFS6mH5
“I helped you escape,” he told me. “I had already known you were a Bridge, so when I found out they were going to Wipe you, I helped you escape. I snuck you out of the house and we managed to get five miles away before they found out. They sent out vehicles to stop us, and one of them ended up pushing us over a cliff, which caused the wreck. They were heart-broken when I died, but relieved that you had lived. The people they sent after us performed a Wipe on you before anybody could get there.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAvw2BITuPR2
“How is a Wipe done?” I asked.731Please respect copyright.PENANAR8l0YWB56w
“They inject a chemical into your brain, which causes permanent memory loss,” he explained.731Please respect copyright.PENANA8sc6VxcTQP
“How is it I can see all these memories, then?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANAzlHBYOvo14
He sighed and sat down in a chair that appeared out of nowhere. “I saved your life,” he said. “When the car was going over the cliff, you weren’t buckled in. You were about to go flying out of the car, which would have killed you for sure, but I pulled you back in. I don’t remember it exactly, but whatever I did, it cost me my life. That sacrifice, a life for a life, created a bond between us.731Please respect copyright.PENANAt5iDewaVYx
“Think of it as a backup for a computer. We had each others’ memories. When they performed the Wipe on you, I still had a copy of them all, so I kept them safe until I could return them to you, which I am doing right now as we speak,” he told me. “Also, because of the bond, I can still contact you, which restored your connection to your powers.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAhzfGGuJjG9
He was about to say more, but my vision flickered to darkness and back.731Please respect copyright.PENANAPet3GMNibt
“We don’t have much time before you wake up,” he said nervously. “I’ll contact you tomorrow night. If my parents spend the night at your room tomorrow, don’t hold your coin. If they leave for home, hold it in your left hand over your heart as you fall asleep. This will let me know it’s safe for us to talk without them knowing.”731Please respect copyright.PENANATEnRp0KN3x
“What am I supposed to do during the day?” I asked him as it started to fade.731Please respect copyright.PENANA7r1wIiCdKE
“Act like you did yesterday,” he told me. “And do not tell anybody of this.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAXRzRY9Rvmg
He waved goodbye to me and I barely had a chance to return it before I woke up to a knocking at the door.731Please respect copyright.PENANAxTORy8m0zL
“Come in,” I said, eyes flashing open.731Please respect copyright.PENANAJVBPlRat1k
“How did you sleep?” the nurse asked as she walked in to check that my vitals were still all where they were supposed to be.731Please respect copyright.PENANAEKBNADNDY7
“Like a log,” I replied, stretching as much as I could.731Please respect copyright.PENANA9erMnFdyxu
“Looks like we can detach you from some of these machines,” she told me with a smile when she saw all the results, which were fine.731Please respect copyright.PENANA7SWuY8l75H
“Thank you,” I told her. She detached me from the EKG and an IV drip.731Please respect copyright.PENANAbA590xMlLl
“If you need anything, just press the button,” she told me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAHStDHRlvGp
“Thank you,” I replied. When she left and had the door closed behind her I got out of bed and raced for the bathroom as fast as I could.731Please respect copyright.PENANAwHwONb3Lkt
As soon as I was done I grabbed a pair of boxers from the bag ‘Dad’ brought from home and pulled them on to give myself a sense of privacy before going back to the bathroom and looking into the mirror.731Please respect copyright.PENANACjrRXu2RNn
“Who am I?” I asked myself as I looked into the mirror. I pondered over that question for ten minutes before deciding that I would ask Michael the next night, if his parents weren’t at the hospital then.731Please respect copyright.PENANARgHxJk2Ik2
“How did you sleep, honey?” Mom asked me when they got there. They may not be my parents, but it’s easier to put it down like this.731Please respect copyright.PENANARxRGm7SkAh
“Good,” I replied. “How did you sleep?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAp0hDenuZTG
“Very good, thank you,” she said. “Has your breakfast arrived yet?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAiLJqgvcaI5
“No, but it should be soon,” I told her. “Where’s Dad?”731Please respect copyright.PENANA0FtoyljN6Z
“He had to go to work,” she said. She showed me a bag she brought with her. “I brought more stuff from home,” she told me.731Please respect copyright.PENANA4UxorpNc22
“Thanks,” I replied, taking the bag from her. Inside the bag were a couple of books, a model car and a packet of papers.731Please respect copyright.PENANA3xzLQTKCTn
“What the packet for?” I asked her.731Please respect copyright.PENANAt8AmRX8v4A
“Slips that need to be signed,” she said. “I just put them in there because they’d be easier to carry,” she added, pulling them out.731Please respect copyright.PENANAJAfCTv4jDj
I pulled out the model car out of the bag. “1969 Charger, right?” I asked Mom, holding it up to the light.731Please respect copyright.PENANAh4JfZJn5zZ
She dropped the papers. “How do you know that?” she demanded.731Please respect copyright.PENANAxb8F0PhtVj
Oops. “I may not have my memory, but I can still tell you the year of any car you place in front of me,” I said, making up something fast.731Please respect copyright.PENANAXjnvmlCQB6
She smiled. “That’s good,” she said. “That means you still have your fundamental knowledge.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAqK0v9W9bCd
She was right about that. From what I could recall, every time I would make another model car, I’d study up on the make, model, and model year.731Please respect copyright.PENANAyBNXTP9EIt
“That was the first model car you ever built,” she told me. “You worked on it with your father.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAth2eCrt6HL
“It’s cool,” I commented. I set it on the bedside table right before there was a knock at the door.731Please respect copyright.PENANAnjbgAaaz8V
“Come in,” I said. The door opened and someone came in with my breakfast.731Please respect copyright.PENANAdnz67raB27
“Thank you,” I replied. The person nodded and set the tray on the table before walking back out.731Please respect copyright.PENANAO0zBUhAfZy
“Do you want me to bring it over to you?” Mom asked me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAeqbUUR5FKe
“No, I’ve got it,” I told her. I climbed out of bed and managed to make it to at chair that was sitting next to the table.731Please respect copyright.PENANAJYe4BnFVsB
“You’re looking a lot better today,” she told me when I finished eating.731Please respect copyright.PENANA8MgNLz1ckV
“Thanks. A good night’s sleep can do a lot.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAbPOqiU4ww6
“Did you have any strange dreams?” she asked.731Please respect copyright.PENANAewRogyoKH7
“Nope,” I replied, not missing a beat.731Please respect copyright.PENANAniWsI5EPV4
“That’s good,” she said.731Please respect copyright.PENANAhNKGOsRrfL
Over the next hour another psychologist came by to check on me and they drew some blood to run some tests on.731Please respect copyright.PENANAyt8yNDUXfU
“If the results are good, you should be able to leave tomorrow,” the doctor from the beginning told us. “We just want you to stay after one more night to make sure.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAs24j1dx9wH
“That’s okay,” I said.731Please respect copyright.PENANA8qQhvQc22E
We got comfortable and Mom ended up having to leave for work, and Dad wouldn’t be there for four hours, so I took a nap, not caring if Michael decided to communicate or not.731Please respect copyright.PENANAG9EY5fLnOh
“I thought I told you to hold the coin,” Michael told me the moment I closed my eyes.731Please respect copyright.PENANAsPxUQOT5IF
“That’s for tonight,” I told him. “I was just planning to take a short nap before your dad gets here in four hours.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAZ94np673DT
“Do you know if you’re going home tonight or not?” he asked me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAGX9DnM2JeB
“No idea yet,” I replied. “If the results are good, though, I’m being released tomorrow.”731Please respect copyright.PENANA592rYqiGY4
“Have you found the flash drive?” he asked me.731Please respect copyright.PENANA8nwQH8mzpZ
“Yeah. Why?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANA11E1qnCnU2
“Those of us who are have a bond with a Bridge can influence events in the real world slightly, so I had my mother grab the journal with the flash drive in it,” he explained. “When you get home and have a good chance, plug it into the computer in your room and play the video.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAAaOQXakXzV
“What is the video about?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANANHScvwyMea
“It’s you,” he told me. “You made a video before we left, knowing that there would be a chance of a Wipe being performed so that you will know who you are.”731Please respect copyright.PENANALFVor1zHat
“Who am I, anyway?” I asked.731Please respect copyright.PENANAdhpmf4YpZW
“You’ll find out in the video,” he told me. Everything started to fade again.731Please respect copyright.PENANAVDRUBR9trn
“At least tell me my real name!” I told him.731Please respect copyright.PENANA7kXPlvcyb7
“Liam!” he yelled as he faded even more. “Liam Fisher!”731Please respect copyright.PENANAxqkOl8ITXD
“There one check off the list for my identity,” I told myself when I woke up to an empty room. “Liam Fisher,” I mumbled. “Sounds nice.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAjjz0elxdOU
A few minutes later Dad walked in. “Hello, there,” he said when he saw me. “How was your night?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAHTunRwQ8rr
“Good. How was yours?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAHQAztnquzn
“Good, thanks for asking,” he told me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAVzPCP8IqRz
“Anytime.”731Please respect copyright.PENANA9IQu0LjZKU
He sat down in a chair and I adjusted my bed so that I was sitting upright enough to be comfortable.731Please respect copyright.PENANAuvWLFm8e5F
“What did your mother bring from home?” he asked me.731Please respect copyright.PENANArNu7e5uMDa
“Some books and a model car,” I told him, gesturing to the bag and car.731Please respect copyright.PENANACIJiXYK3kj
He smiled when he saw the car. “Do you know what car that is?” he asked.731Please respect copyright.PENANApqYZqlfbNy
“1969 Charger,” I told him. “I had almost the same conversation with Mom.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAIyqrxCxRP5
“Does this mean your memory is coming back?” he asked me.731Please respect copyright.PENANA6D45f6p7KJ
“No. I just know what kind it is,” I replied.731Please respect copyright.PENANAsHV9jZFu3s
“It’s also the first model car we ever built together,” he added.731Please respect copyright.PENANArngV1bnQKU
“Mom told me,” I told him.731Please respect copyright.PENANAzc4vc3zNpO
He nodded and sat down in a chair, looking at me strangely.731Please respect copyright.PENANAQwxnq7vQNK
I did my best to ignore the look as I pulled out a random book from the bag Mom brought that day. Fortunately, this book wasn’t hollow, so I opened to the first page and started reading. It was one of those mystery novels with hidden passages mentioned every other page. I had reached halfway through the book when I saw a picture slipped in between the pages.731Please respect copyright.PENANAfuV5dJKerl
Making sure Dad didn’t see it, I adjusted it so that I could see it. It was a picture of me at a birthday party, the same as the memory Michael showed me, but this time, instead of blank spaces, two people were standing behind me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAKD9oo19L60
My real parents.731Please respect copyright.PENANAFIzWfyfnVe
I almost dropped the book out of shock, and I would have if my mind weren’t thinking back to the memory, replacing the fake picture with the real one in front of me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAOowzkset8X
I quickly recovered and slid the picture closer to the beginning of the book before I continued reading.731Please respect copyright.PENANAOJHSlwT3zI
“What book is that?” Dad asked me a few minutes later.731Please respect copyright.PENANAETlqsLtCsp
I showed him the cover.731Please respect copyright.PENANAUcLwwtwIOX
“That’s a good book,” he told me. I nodded and turned the page.731Please respect copyright.PENANA5ChPF0eEYr
About an hour later I finished the book mere moments before there was another knock at the door.731Please respect copyright.PENANA4sOxwFmUGj
“Come in,” I said, tossing the book back into the bag.731Please respect copyright.PENANAG9q8KjTrrt
The door opened and in came the doctor with a clipboard.731Please respect copyright.PENANAd731zS2NnT
“What are the results, doc?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANATmVSyKi72f
“All of your tests results are great,” he told me. “I just need your father to sign some forms and I need talk with him privately.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAYLaR7KkjV9
Dad and I thanked him and they left to discuss whatever needed to be discussed.731Please respect copyright.PENANAWxs9hVQJKo
When the door closed again I grabbed the second book, flipping through the pages quickly in case I had hidden anything in it before the accident.731Please respect copyright.PENANAIRs2lxoGBW
I had searched through it twice and was about to give up when I saw a slip of paper flutter out of it and land on my chest.731Please respect copyright.PENANAjZKJcVBSHs
I picked it up and read the tiny, cramped words in it:731Please respect copyright.PENANAybm415t4YZ
The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha731Please respect copyright.PENANAgQ7NCuwlqx
Top shelf, exact middle. When you pull it out, push the button behind it.731Please respect copyright.PENANA3E7JddSEb7
“So that’s how you get to the hidden room,” I mumbled. I slid the piece of paper into the other book, next to the picture, and started reading the new book.731Please respect copyright.PENANAjbXkVqLFbC
“We can leave tomorrow at noon,” Dad told me a few minutes later as he walked back in.731Please respect copyright.PENANA7Jk9cNE4Hy
“That’s good news,” I replied. “What did he need to talk with you about?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAt4A7dy1tZk
“He just needed to make sure we had a psychologist that can do a few check-ups to make sure you are mentally healthy,” he said. “Not much.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAbZNIuCi855
“Okay,” I replied, turning the page. A few minutes later somebody came by with my lunch, so Dad went down to the restaurant downstairs to eat while I ate in the hospital room.731Please respect copyright.PENANAaU5L52w7lM
“How’s the food?” Michael asked me, appearing suddenly.731Please respect copyright.PENANAx4AAGMjIdm
“Whoa!” I said loudly. “Did I fall asleep?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAioxsAT5uIS
“No, you didn’t,” he said, laughing lightly. “Bridges can use their powers when they’re awake or asleep. It just takes a bit more concentration while awake.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAJANQwqtsvl
“How is this happening, though, when I don’t even know how to use my powers yet?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANAqBi0SzO103
“Did you already forget about the bond?” he asked. “Because of the bond we share, I can start the conversation without you having to do anything.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAyaPeFzIAtD
“Why are you here, though?” I demanded. “If your dad walks in, it won’t look good.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAzt7uQ9mBLw
“Calm down,” he told me. “He just got to the restaurant downstairs. It’ll be at least ten minutes before he gets back.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAw8894XDN8H
“You’d better be right,” I told him. “By the way, thanks for having your mom grab those books.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAJeEYOHLnFX
“Anytime,” he replied. “You should eat, though. I don’t want you getting sick any more than my parents do.”731Please respect copyright.PENANA4BPXilJcf7
I glared at him for a second before picking up my burger.731Please respect copyright.PENANA5Usqjj2EBT
“You never answered my last question,” I told him between bites.731Please respect copyright.PENANAlq3jiUjwfB
“I came here to help you gain control of your powers,” he said. “You see, Bridging is more than communicating with dead people.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAsLEpf8LKTb
“What else is there, then?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANAcVodudJYIX
“First of all, you can see what I can see,” he told me. “If you can talk to a person who has a bond with a Bridge, even if that Bridge isn’t you, then you can see what they can see as long as they are in this world. If they are where I was last time we talked, you can’t. For example, if I were to go down to the restaurant, you would be able to see Dad eating with a very low chance of him seeing me. He has very low sensitivity to usage of Bridge powers.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAeCdA8RLCwv
“Is there more than that?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANA4Vicx8YazH
“You can borrow the strength and knowledge of a person like me,” he explained. “A perfect example of this would be you borrowing my strength, which adds it to your own, and using it to break through a barrier.”731Please respect copyright.PENANALwdzWcoNwt
“This is sounding better by the second,” I said.731Please respect copyright.PENANAe675IOzHqp
“The trick, though, is accessing those powers,” he said. “Every Bridge needs a specific item to give them access to those powers, almost like an amulet of sorts. That’s why I want you to hold onto that coin tonight if my parents aren’t here. That coin is your amulet. All of those materials it’s made of are conductors of Bridge energy. They enhance your powers enough for you to access them. Once you do it, it’ll be hard to forget.731Please respect copyright.PENANAw73fXzMYC7
“That’s another benefit for the Destroyers with the Wipe,” he told me. “It gets rid of the memory of how to access the powers so that, even if they realize what their powers are, it’ll be almost impossible for them to access their powers without a mentor.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAfWmNtc9or1
“Can’t you give me the memory when I access my powers so that I know how?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANA6fuVxSWMpQ
“I can only give you so many memories at once without overloading your brain, which could turn counter-productive for you,” he told me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAgB7OOAR5Dh
“Where are you when you aren’t here?” I asked him.731Please respect copyright.PENANAxOGMXH0Rni
“Where all dead go,” he said simply.731Please respect copyright.PENANA70LfhfofMc
“And that is…?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAEgqswMsxKy
“There is no name for it,” he told me.731Please respect copyright.PENANA2pNNRCuElT
“Okay, then,” I sighed. “Is there anything about home that your parents didn’t tell me?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAHsCLIBYbqe
“A few,” he said. “First, the house is about four floors, has ten bedrooms and fifteen bathrooms. It’s huge.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAsCTBcSw68u
“Do I have any pets?” I asked.731Please respect copyright.PENANAfHMBTxjKaR
“Last I knew, you had a turtle,” he told me. “I’m not sure what happened to it after the accident. He was a cute little guy, about a year old. He was a birthday present after your goldfish died.”731Please respect copyright.PENANApKjo66fPl5
“That was nice of them,” I commented. I grabbed the coin off the table. “So…how does this thing work?” 731Please respect copyright.PENANA7C00BpqKaA
“I’ll show you that tonight,” he assured me. “It would take too long in the short time we have left.” He took a step back and closed his eyes. “Dad’s fifty feet down the hall,” he said. “Goodbye. Remember what I told you,” he added, fading the entire time.731Please respect copyright.PENANAvYkjujlMno
Less than a second after he faded completely Dad walked in.731Please respect copyright.PENANA9TcCHRgwjY
“How was lunch?” I asked Dad.731Please respect copyright.PENANAEY981KAfIY
“It was good,” he replied. “How’s yours?”731Please respect copyright.PENANA12Jvp9gC4N
“Same,” I said. I finished my bottle of water and set the cover back onto the tray before going back to the bed.731Please respect copyright.PENANAYtfcPBDOVE
“How far are you in that book?” Dad asked me when I was comfortable.731Please respect copyright.PENANAP9Fw5GG7yi
“Almost done,” I said. “It’s a good book.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAYGLVGRPFSj
“I’m glad you like it,” he told me. “It was your favorite.”731Please respect copyright.PENANADx41v4Qwok
“I can tell why,” I replied. “It’s a good book.” I turned to the next page as Dad grabbed the remote and turned on the television and changed the channel to a news station.731Please respect copyright.PENANAWHLk1w6wby
“Would you like your mother or I to spend the night with you?” he asked me about an hour later when I had finished the book.731Please respect copyright.PENANA6aFhidCwck
“I should do fine by myself tonight,” I told them, trying to not sound very eager.731Please respect copyright.PENANA8tU5YvMZBz
“Are you sure?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.731Please respect copyright.PENANAygZZWev2hj
“I’m sure,” I assured him. He stared at me for a few more seconds before looking back to the television.731Please respect copyright.PENANAIqWdl9jgCJ
The next few hours were pretty monotonous, but not long after dinner Dad left to go home for the night.731Please respect copyright.PENANAK42Z8j2gEA
“We’ll be back tomorrow at ten o’clock,” Dad told me. “Your mother and I are going to be spending the rest of today preparing for your arrival home.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAYTV72X6fEK
“Okay,” I replied. He stood up and grabbed his coat, hugging me tightly before leaving.731Please respect copyright.PENANAUt23rikofb
“You should get some more sleep before you leave tomorrow,” a nurse told me a few more minutes later as she came in to detach me from another machine.731Please respect copyright.PENANA9PNrtU3YlY
“I probably will,” I replied.731Please respect copyright.PENANAIcNCXAxkD3
When she left I snatched my coin off the bedside table and did as Michael said, holding it in my left fist, which I had positioned over my heart.731Please respect copyright.PENANAGvk5d65wEc
“You fell asleep early,” Michael said when I closed my eyes.731Please respect copyright.PENANAqjcbqBXgO3
“Your dad left and neither of them will be coming back until ten tomorrow morning,” I replied.731Please respect copyright.PENANAi0eNq1gitV
“Good,” he told me. “That’ll give us more time.”731Please respect copyright.PENANANIhtS6VCQp
“The first thing I am going to teach you is what your amulet does,” he said. “It is a conduit for your powers. It’s what allows you to focus. The materials have to be specific, or else it won’t work. It took you a while to find this coin online. Also, Destroyers have never been able to discover the exact materials need to make one, so they were clueless when you ordered the coin.”731Please respect copyright.PENANApFZzqQ6x5l
“How do I use it, though?” I demanded.731Please respect copyright.PENANA6CFiOgtUC3
“Hold the coin tightly,” he told me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAqNPnLdbqzx
“Already done.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAQU1yRyxSWX
“Now, the next part is a bit trickier,” he added. “You need to focus inside yourself, to every memory you have of somebody you know that has died. It would be easier if you use me since we’re already communicating.”731Please respect copyright.PENANA5S21LqZf18
I did as he said, going to every memory he gave me of him, from my first memory of him to the day before the accident.731Please respect copyright.PENANAOi9AK0gbN5
“Now that you have them all, focus all of that memory into a small part of yourself. Because of the coin, though, you can focus on that,” he told me. “Just imagine every memory flowing from your head into the coin.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAIAfWRdn4F9
I did this, too, and soon the coin began to glow dimly.731Please respect copyright.PENANAwOEP1itu43
“Good,” he murmured to himself. “Now, disconnect yourself from the memories.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAaSqVsLkGwS
“What?” I demanded. “How is that possible?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAgUDORIo4VR
“You have a connection to all of your memories,” he told me. “If you look at it as an outsider you can see it. Imagine the connection being cut.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAdQrnTcQxNn
I tried. I saw each memory as he said, and when I did I could see a connection, almost like a fine silver thread, leading from it to my body. I cut the cord. I did that with every memory until they were all disconnected.731Please respect copyright.PENANAOtcgf1clR9
“That’s very good,” he said. “Now that you have essentially ‘downloaded’ your memories of me onto the coin, you are now able to contact me at any time. All that you need to do is be in contact with the coin. Once you do that, just focus on me and you will be able to do it.”731Please respect copyright.PENANA3g5pug6CQ7
“How was I able to contact the people who lived in the house a while ago, though?” I asked him. “I had no memories of them.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAZEPFbpKPE0
“Before the accident, you had become quite skilled at Bridging,” he told me. “You could take in memories just by holding onto something that a deceased person held once. Almost all of your spare time was spent up in the hidden room, Bridging with people long dead.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAExZ1QRAi2i
“Impressive,” I said.731Please respect copyright.PENANAqCKwNJSUaD
“Yeah. I’d show you how to do that stuff, but I don’t know how you were able myself,” he told me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAiZhiVmjLwe
“Looks like it’s a mystery I’ll have to solve myself,” I replied.731Please respect copyright.PENANArvPEffsX1n
He spent the rest of the night teaching me how to tap into his former strength and to see through his eyes.731Please respect copyright.PENANAo5fyskVuj8
He was right about to tell me some of the secrets of the house when I woke up abruptly to knocking at the door.731Please respect copyright.PENANA3cbxIkZpXi
“Come in!” I shouted, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.731Please respect copyright.PENANARzfMquBEZ4
“I’m here to take out the rest of the IV’s and disconnect you from everything else,” a nurse told me, opening the door as she spoke.731Please respect copyright.PENANAD3QPX85Yvh
The first thing she did was unhook the needles for the IV’s that had already been taken out. Fortunately they were both in the same arm so that he didn’t have to use two bandages, only one large one.731Please respect copyright.PENANAFC9mJq1hpr
“If this hurts, just let me know,” he told me as he unhooked and removed the last two IV’s. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt at all as he removed them quickly and painlessly, covering them both with a single bandage.731Please respect copyright.PENANA5ckzv6uyRa
“If there’s anything else you need, just let us know,” he told me before walking out.731Please respect copyright.PENANA0sz9en4Lna
When he closed the door I grabbed the bag with clothes in it and went to the bathroom to get dressed.731Please respect copyright.PENANAq8eZqUZQdN
“Was my sense of fashion really like this?” I asked myself. The clothes all looked like they were from designer stores, which they probably were. I’m not bashing that style, but I just prefer the more casual look.731Please respect copyright.PENANAIKOgsvovIM
I didn’t really have any other choice, though, so I pulled on the polo shirt, khaki pants and black shoes.731Please respect copyright.PENANA0HoYkvLzuZ
“Well, you look nice,” Mom asked as she and Dad walked in at ten o’clock exactly.731Please respect copyright.PENANAbeoPm6AnAw
“Thanks,” I replied.731Please respect copyright.PENANAgyueIcANhy
“We got your room cleaned and back to the way you had it before…” Dad hesitated. “Before this all happened.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAibx6sPsvJ0
“Thank you,” I told them.731Please respect copyright.PENANABQDxcuQgfX
“It’s nice to see you off of all the machines,” Mom told me, smiling widely.731Please respect copyright.PENANA1SHSy7hCSs
“It’s good to be off all of them,” I replied. “What’s today’s date?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAhgdIqEnhMr
“February 27,” Dad said. “Your birthday is in three weeks, on March 20.”731Please respect copyright.PENANA0wB7bWPj0N
“Cool,” I replied.731Please respect copyright.PENANAO78SNALSHO
“Is there anything else you want or need to know about home?” Mom asked me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAFC9FbgGa1D
“Did I have any pets?” I asked them, even though I already knew the answer.731Please respect copyright.PENANAspdkJPml8V
“Yes, you do,” Mom answered. “You have a painted turtle, just over a year old.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAuVeiKPv4Ht
“What happened to him after the accident?”731Please respect copyright.PENANASpH8AlRokH
“The housekeepers looked after him,” Dad explained. “He’s still doing fine, although he’s a bit bigger.”731Please respect copyright.PENANA2yPVVo7VHy
“That’s nice,” I said. “Where’s my room compared to the rest of the house?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAxzOr1Rzk5I
“Your room is actually separate from the house,” Mom told me. “The tower your room is in was originally a guest suite. The bedroom part is on the second level, the first being a bathroom and sitting area. You loved it the moment we gave you the choice of moving into a different room. It’s in the far back left corner of the house.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAZwCulgjXze
“Sounds awesome,” I replied. I checked the clock. It was about 10:30.731Please respect copyright.PENANApF6WasZwYd
“We still have some time before you can leave,” Mom told me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAvCHvwNcdeI
During those 90 minutes Mom and Dad taught me the names of the house staff from the housekeepers to the gardeners.731Please respect copyright.PENANAU6tA9k0Moz
“You are now free to go,” a doctor told us when he checked my vitals to make sure I was still in good condition.731Please respect copyright.PENANAvEOy3dubVv
“Thank you,” I told him.731Please respect copyright.PENANAGOcOk1isAP
Mom and Dad grabbed the bags after I had put all of my extra stuff in it and we walked out to an elevator, which we took down to the lobby.731Please respect copyright.PENANA19CkJlZRHx
Once the front doors to the hospital opened a blast of cold air came at us.731Please respect copyright.PENANAbsMJfq5yHp
“Oh, sorry about that,” Dad told me. He pulled a coat out from a bag that had been sitting in the room since before I woke up and handed it to me.731Please respect copyright.PENANAkIEnqY7ifa
“Thanks,” I replied, pulling it on quickly. It blocked the wind very well.731Please respect copyright.PENANAca3RtFgQ5U
“The car’s over here,” Mom told me, directing me to a black SUV.731Please respect copyright.PENANA2OIjhD3uCr
They placed the bags in the back of the car as I got into the backseat, buckling up once I was comfortable, making sure I had my coin as well.731Please respect copyright.PENANAIzkyX9r0M8
“Are you comfortable back there?” Dad asked me when they were inside the car.731Please respect copyright.PENANA0ovopHKMFq
“Yeah.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAaPqedYP8V9
“All ready to go?”731Please respect copyright.PENANAjTOGRQ9TFV
“Yeah,” I repeated. They buckled themselves in and soon we were cruising along a highway.731Please respect copyright.PENANAYw9blHrnZb
Even though I could remember the house, it still caught me off guard when we arrived.731Please respect copyright.PENANAXitexjlUPI
“Whoa,” I gasped when we pulled up to the house.731Please respect copyright.PENANA63kaKTcBVS
It looked like an old castle that could have jumped right out of the medieval times. It was three stories tall except for a tower at each of the four corners, which appeared to be two stories with a large conical roof starting above the top level (I took this to mean that every tower featured a ‘hidden room’).731Please respect copyright.PENANAvDSvbAr00W
“It’s very large,” Dad told me. “Ten bedrooms, fifteen bathrooms. If you need help getting around, just say the word.”731Please respect copyright.PENANAGy578B9DD3
“Thanks,” I replied, getting out of the car.731Please respect copyright.PENANAN7n6Ded6qY
“Welcome home!” the entire staff cheered as I walked through the large front doors. They were all gathered beneath a banner that had the same words printed on it.731Please respect copyright.PENANAi333oUHirQ
“It’s good to have you back, Mr. Murphy,” a tall man in a suit told me, shaking my hand.731Please respect copyright.PENANAVQsudiOjwp
“Um, good to be back,” I said, surprised by it all.
731Please respect copyright.PENANARlQLwOs2I8