Page 48 of Amnesty

She was still there. Both of them.

“What is it, Eddie?” Amnesia asked.

I looked back down, feeling my knees begin to shake.

“Eddie, you came for me,” the voice in the hole said, and then she began to cry.

“Sadie,” I whispered. “Sadie.”

She was looking up at me, a face so familiar, a face that appeared the same, just a little bit older. “You remember me?”

I wanted to groan.How could I forget?

“Eddie, who is that?” Amnesia asked, creeping closer.

My body tightened again. “Stay back.” I warned. The danger of this situation wasn’t erased because I was looking down on a ghost.

“Who else is down there?” I demanded, harsh.

“I’m alone,” the girl in the hole replied. Her voice shook. “Is h-he up there?”

“No one’s here but us,” I told her.

“Does that mean I can go home?” she asked and began to cry again.

My chest squeezed. I did the only thing I could think to do. I jumped down into the hole.

Amnesia’s voice was scared and frantic above me. The second I landed, I looked up. She was peering down over the edge. Her small, pale fingers curled around the opening. “Eddie!”

“It’s okay,” I called back. “I’m fine. I’ll be right up.”

It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the barely-there light. I wished I had a flashlight, but since it was daytime, I hadn’t thought to bring one.

The sound of a match scratching against something put me on high alert, but then a soft glow filled the darkness.

I looked across the space where she was standing. In her hand she held up a lantern. She was dressed in a white nightgown that was so long it hit the floor. The straps were thin, just like the material, and it needed a good wash.

Her hair was light colored, but not as blond as I remembered. The strands were straight and long, hanging down her back, past her shoulders. She was slim, medium height, with brown eyes.

“You came for me,” she finally said, her eyes never once leaving my face. “You still look the same. Only much more handsome.”

I groaned. It ripped right out of my soul. “Sadie,” I said. “It’s really you?”

“It’s really me.”

I lunged through the darkness, no thought at all in my head. She placed the lantern on a nearby table, and I pulled her into my arms.

She melted against me. The long strands of her hair brushed over my arms as I squeezed her close.

“I thought I would never see you again,” she said, emotional. “I thought I was going to die.”

“No,” I said, adamant, drawing back and taking her by the shoulders. “I won’t let that happen.”

Her eyes roamed my face. She reached up, fingering my curls. “Still curly after all this time.”

I couldn’t believe it was her. The girl I lost. The girl I’d been convinced was my future.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, unable to keep the distress from my voice. “I’m so sorry I let this happen to you. I…”

---