"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Martin Luther King Jr
"So why?", Hailey asks.
"Why what?"
"Why is he alive? Why are our memories so different? Why did this- this angel of death do this to us?"
"I don't know", I say quietly, "I don't understand his own reasons but there's more"
"There's more," Hailey repeats, "Of course, there's more, how can so much happen in less than a week"
"His staying here is conditional, to make it permanent, I have to do something to save him. That's why Thanatos put him under my care. I have thirty days to complete my mission. Or else, I am afraid things might go back to normal, he remains dead"
Hailey keeps looking at me, waiting for me to spit it out.
I clear my throat uncomfortably and the waiter comes at that moment to clear our table. After she leaves, Hailey pounces on me with questions.
"Well, out with it, what makes him staying here permanent?"
"You see, since last Friday, I have been given thirty days to, um, make Stephan do something and if I don't, he is going to disappear, and this time forever"
"Just tell me what you are supposed to do" Hailey presses, obviously sensing I was stalling.
"I am supposed to make him fall in love with me"
"What?", Hailey scoffs
"I said-"
"Oh no, I heard you the first time. What is this?", she comically looks at the ceiling, Have I been dropped into some kind of fairytale whirlpool? Cinderella? Snow White? Shrek? Does he know that he is supposed to fall in love with you in thirty days?"
"No, he doesn't and he doesn't remember anything about his past life too. Everything is a blur for him, he is kind of living in the present", I rub my temple, feeling a headache coming on.
"This sounds so wrong", Hailey shakes her head, disapproving of the whole thing.
"Yeah, I know, I really don't understand how all of this is happening right now either. But for sanity sake, I do want to do everything I can to make sure hw stays here and lives his entire life out"
"How did he die anyways?" Hailey asks.
"It was suicide", I reply, feeling a twinge of pain.
"Oh", Hailey then asks after a while, "Do you love him?"
A flashback pops into my head.
"I remember that when you first asked me that question", I smile, "Yes, I did love him then. I guess I still do"
Hailey watches me, looking a bit sad, her expression confused me but she laughs suddenly, "Let's catch your Shrek then"
We talk about other things and tried to leave behind the topic of our disfigured past and broken reality. It was getting late and Hailey remembers that she has a meeting with a teen bride that wanted a goth-themed wedding gown, so we decided to leave so we finished up and got into my car.
I turn the keys and the car veers into life, my eyes sweep through my fuel tank indicator. It was blinking red. "Damn, I forgot to feel the tank it's almost empty"
"I saw a gas station about 10 minutes away from here, we can fill her up there", Hailey says, putting on her seatbelt.
We get to the gas station and as soon as I filled the tank, Hailey starts to whine about needing a pack of baby blue bubble gum and I had to enter the convenience store to carry out her request.
Picking up a pack of blue gums, I read the pack as I walk to the cashier stand. I was looking down at the pack when I run into someone back, causing some items to be knocked down.
"Oh I'm so sorry-", I start to say, immediately dropping to the ground to pick up the items. I looked at my victim and standing before me was Kyle, Kyle Stones. Stephen's father.
"Kyle", I say momentarily surprised. There he was, Stephan's father, dressed in a crisp black suit and his dirty blonde hair pulled in a low ponytail. He still looks as formidable as I remember him. Last I had heard of this man was that he was in prison for assaulting an unknown woman, I bet that "unknown woman", was his wife, Catherine. Apparently, Stephan being alive must have changed his reality, maybe he is not the same man he was.
His brow knit in confusion and his striking blue eyes searches me warily
"Do I know you girl?" he replies with a gruff voice. That's right, he doesn't remember me because he never met me, Stephan does not exist for him.
"Oh, me? I-uh, sorry", I chuckle nervously. "I think I saw you somewhere online", I try to laugh it off.
"I don't believe I have social media, or any social platform, I highly doubt you saw my name anywhere. So I ask again miss, Who are you and how do you know my name?"
"Oh really, I- uh, I'm sorry I thought you were someone else Sorry for all this", I quickly say passing him, grabbing any gum on the counter after losing the ones I pick out for Hailey in the mess I made. I feel his eyes follow me up to the cashier and out of the store. He was still watching me when I enter my car.
"Thank you", Hailey reach for the pack of gum from me, after searching the small bag she grabbed from me, she starts to whine.
"Hey what's the big deal? You got spearmint flavor and a lighter. What do you need a lighter for? This is green Elizabeth, green. You took the wrong ones"
"Shh", I hush, trying to reverse the car quickly so I could get away.
"Why are you behaving like you robbed the store?" She looks back, "There's a weird man in a black suit watching us pull out"
"You would not believe who that man is", I say shaking my head.
"Who? The boogeyman", Hailey asks. I had to look at her to see if she is serious.
"What? You just told me that a dead person came back to life. Up until an hour ago, nothing makes sense honey", Hailey sighs, "Okay, who did you run into?"
"Mr. Stones, Stephan's father. Mr. Kyle Stones", I hit the express and finally drive off, I relax into my seat finally feeling at ease.
"I hope you didn't go crazy on him saying 'I have your son'", Hailey took out two tablets of gum and pops it into her mouth.
I make a face, remembering the encounter, "No, I did worse, I said his name"
"So?", Hailey asks, "It's natural you know his name, I mean you know his son"
"No, no, out loud and he heard me", I burst as I feel myself start to freak out again, "He looked at me, he asked me questions. I am so sure he was was really creeped out by the whole event"
"Hmm, eerie" Hailey chews, looking out the window.
"I-" I grasp for words. "Hailey, are you listening to me? I just said that I raised the suspicion of a man that is not supposed to know who I am"
"You are not thinking through are you?" Hailey responds blowing a bubble and popping it. "You should talk to him"
"Talk?", I repeat dumbly, "Hails, I know you don't have all your memories or something but you, I mean we, used to think that guy was creepy. He was arrested for assault just after his son's death"
"Well he isn't in prison now, and what makes you so confident that he is the same man" Hailey reasons with me.
I could hear some sense in what she was saying. Kyle did look different, but I was still unsure of what she was suggesting.
"I don't know Hails"
"Think about it, Stephan killed himself right? And you need to find a way to make him fall in love with you. Kyle might have no recollection of Stephan but that does not stop him from being his son and his family from being his family. Maybe by getting close to his family, you could search out the reasons why he would kill himself, if you can't do that, then at least you could understand him better, if you could see his family, you can get a clue on everything"
What Hailey was suggesting was extremely dangerous, but even more tempting. "You are right. It could be really helpful. For his memory too, getting his memory back would be a huge plus"
"There you have it", Hailey concludes, "Can we now stop talking about all this, I am beginning to feel like a spell master in some fairy tale story"
I laugh.
"In fact, lets talk about me getting a tattoo, I am thinking, a butterfly, or a bird or a flower"
"Hmm, pretty", I nod, keeping my eyes on the road. I could never take Hails serious whenever she spoke about getting a permanent tattoo. Although she was covered with tattoos, she got the temporary ones.
Hailey looks at me and scoffs at my disbelief. "I am going to do it this time, Beth, I spend a fortune always having to retouch my temporary tattoos"
"What are you talking about? Don't you make your own temporary ink? Besides, Cole supports you. He basically pays for all your expenses"
"Yeah, but I think I am ready to finally get them professionally done"
"Hails, if you were ever going to tat yourself up, it would have been during college days"
"We finished with college about two years ago, what are you talking about?"
I still shake my head.
"I am serious this time", she puffs in frustration and I laugh at her annoyed face.
"What happened to being afraid of needles?" I ask
"You have fears to overcome them", she retorts, "I am sure I can handle it"
"How about the pain", I remind her of her absolute zero tolerance for pain.
"Well, I could get some numbing medication or something", she mumbles.
"And what if you get really tired of seeing the same design over and over again?"
"Well, I will learn to be a creature of habit, I am doing it", she sticks her tongue out.
"You are such a baby"
She smiles at me, "I am going to surprise you one of these days"