The breaths came in and out quickly. “First client? What do you mean first client? I don’t know what to do, I don’t know how to do this-”
Mark gripped my shoulders tightly. “This will come naturally to you, I promise. I’ve watched it a thousand and one times, and talked to Elise about it even more times. Just press your forehead to theirs, and the rest will come on its own.”
“How?” I whispered.
Mark, laughing, shook his head and shrugged. “You think I know how these things work?”
I took a deep breath and gulped. “I wish you did.”
Mark nodded. “Me too.” He grabbed my hand lightly. “Come on. We can’t keep her waiting.”
All my fear melted awas as I crawled out of the tunnel and saw who I’d be helping.
A small toddler, holding her mother’s hand looked up at me with wide eyes.
The mother wiped frantically at her tearstained face and began. “She fell a few days ago and can’t remember anything. The doctor says you can fix her and make the memories come back.”
“Yes ma’am. And if you just hand over Lindsey we can get started.” I replied. My sentence was followed by multiple gasps, including one of my own. I took a step back. How had I known the girl’s name? Mark and the mother were just as shocked.
I grabbed Mark’s arm. “I’m sorry, will you excuse us for a moment?” I didn’t even wait to see if she nodded before I ran to the back corner of the room, Mark in tow.
“Please tell me my mother used to do that.” I gasped.
Mark shook his head wildly. “I don’t know, I don’t know… I’m just as shocked as you are by everything, I don’t know how you knew her name… I really do want to help but…”
I buried my head in my hands. “I don’t want to do this.”
Mark took a deep breath and pulled my hands away from my face. “You have to. It’s your job.” This time, Mark grabbed my arm and pulled me back over to Lindsey and her mother.
The mom was still shocked, but handed over Lindsey without hesitation. I carried her over to a bed and sat her down.
“Hi Lindsey,” I whispered. “I’m gonna help you, okay?”
The girl smiled and nodded. Inhanling, I pressed my forehead to hers.
I knew what Mark meant when he said the calling was painful. Each memory that joined my million memories hit my mind hard then burrowed down. It was sharp and cold, like a knife or a tick. There was so much confusion… which were my memories, which were hers, how could I tell?
Unlike the flashback’s, there was no certain memory playing. I couldn’t see through my eyes, but I saw into my mind, each memory like a page of a book spilling open. Then I saw something I hadn’t noticed before. All the recollections had a certain… color to them. A few had a nice ivory, but most of them were a dark blue. Mine. Other’s had red, and orange and even one had gold.
It wasn’t hard to find Lindsey’s color. The ivory recalls gave off a pure and sweet mist. Perfect for an innocent little girl. More than perfect. The color was her.
All of the memories had a slightly gray curtain to them, save two. Out of curiosity, I watched the unshrouded ones.
The first one started with pain, so much pain. Different than the cold stabbing feel, this pain was completely physical and hurt so bad. Vaguely I could feel my body thrashing and screaming. Only I could feel anyone else’s pain.
Finally it settled with a peaceful feeling. There was nothing. Lindsey’s eyes opened to look straight into the concerned yet comforting eyes of a stranger.
I wanted to stop, just finish the job but the second echo dragged me in. Lindsey now held her mother’s hand, and walked into a small, ugly shack. My small, ugly shack.
A tall woman and a tall blonde man walked over towards me- Lindsey. It was so easy to feel like it was your memory when watching a memory.
With a start, I realized the people were myself and Mark. We muttered a few words to Lindsey’s mother, and then everyone looked shocked at the same time. Only a moment later I sat on the bed with Lindsey, and everything ended in black.
Before I could get sucked into any more of them, I shoved the curtain away from the closest ivory memory and continued until there were no hidden recollections left.
Oddly, once all the shrouded memories were fixed, the memories disappeared, leaving only a faint wisp to show they’d been there.
I opened my eyes and sat up. Lindsey’s mother picked her up, shoved some money at me and walked out the door.
“That was weird,” I muttered.
Mark had an odd look on his face and his mouth blabbed silently.
“What is it?” I asked.
Mark gulped. “You’ve gotta come here.”
Mark led me to a mirror and I screamed.
I’d never dyed my hair another color. It had always just been red, and yet, my hair was growing at an incredible rate, coming in brown at the roots. My light blue eyes had changed color too, settling at a bright green. Not only that, but my face had a babyish look to it. I looked like Lindsey.
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