Page 76 of Never Quite Gone

“But Will would still remember,” I said, pieces clicking into terrible place. “Still have access to knowledge that could destroy him.”

“Yes.” Vale's single word carried centuries of regret. “His soul is beyond my power to contain now. The choice I'm offering... it's not just about your love story anymore. It's aboutwhat happens when ancient power breaks free in a world that's forgotten how to handle it.”

“What really happened in 1893?” Alex's question cut through the study's hushed atmosphere. “You erased those memories, but you never told us why.”

Vale's hands trembled slightly as he poured another drink. “Some things were better forgotten,” he said quietly. “Even by me.”

“Not anymore.” Alex moved closer, power crackling beneath his careful control. “If Will's remembering everything, we need to know what happened. What was so terrible you had to erase an entire year?”

The study seemed to hold its breath as Vale considered, artifacts watching with ancient understanding.

“William started remembering too fast,” he said, staring into his glass. “Not gradually like this time - all at once. The memories hit him like a flood, and he couldn't... he couldn't handle the weight of them.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked, though his expression suggested he already knew.

“Imagine remembering every death, every loss, every moment of grief - all at once.” Vale's voice roughened. “He broke. Started reaching for power he wasn't ready for, trying to stop anyone else from dying. Trying to make everyone remember so he wouldn't have to carry the burden alone.”

The room felt colder as understanding dawned. I watched Alex sink into a chair, the implications hitting him hard.

“How bad did it get?” he asked softly.

“Bad enough that reality started to crack.” Vale closed his eyes, remembering horrors from a timeline that no longer existed. “His power was too raw, too desperate. People around him started remembering lives they hadn't lived yet. Started dying from memories their minds couldn't contain.”

“It spread,” he continued, voice heavy with ancient regret. “Like ripples in a pond. The more people who remembered, themore the fabric of reality strained. William couldn't stop it - didn't want to stop it. Said if everyone remembered, no one would have to die alone anymore.”

“So you erased it,” Alex said. “Erased everything.”

“I had no choice.” Vale's words fell like stones. “The damage was spreading. More people dying from forced remembering. Reality itself starting to fragment under the strain.” He met our eyes steadily. “So I reached for the darkest magic I knew. Bound time itself to make that year never happen.”

The implications settled like lead in my chest. An entire timeline erased. Lives rewritten. Memories sealed away so completely that even Will - who remembered everything - couldn't access them.

“William fought me,” Vale continued, his voice rough. “Tried to stop me from erasing what had happened. Said he'd rather reality break than lose his family again.” His hands shook as he reached for his drink. “I had to... I had to bind him first. Make him forget not just that timeline, but the very power he'd touched when everything started unraveling.”

“And now he's remembering.” Alex's words carried terrible understanding. “Not just regular memories, but the power he accessed when reality cracked. The knowledge that broke through when time itself started breaking apart.”

Vale nodded slowly. “That's why his remembering is so dangerous now. He's not just accessing past lives - he's remembering power that should never have existed in our world. Power that almost destroyed everything once before.”

The study watched with ancient eyes as we absorbed the implications. Artifacts hummed with sympathetic energy, recognizing the weight of what Vale described. This wasn't just about our love story anymore. This was about what happened when grief and love twisted into something that could break reality itself.

“So when you say his soul is beyond your power to contain...” Alex's voice trailed off asunderstanding hit.

“Yes.” Vale's single word carried centuries of regret. “His soul is beyond my power to contain now. The choice I'm offering... it's not just about your love story anymore. It's about what happens when ancient power breaks free in a world that's forgotten how to handle it.”

The study watched us with ancient eyes as we absorbed the implications. Everything I thought I knew about myself, about Alex, about the strange connection between us – it all shifted sideways, revealing patterns I hadn't known to look for.

“When do we have to decide?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

“Soon. The pattern is accelerating. Will's memories are surfacing faster than I can contain them. And the power...” Vale gestured at the vial, at the artifacts surrounding us. “It wants to be used. To finish what it started all those lives ago.”

Alex's thumb traced patterns on my palm, grounding me in this particular present. “Together,” he said quietly. “Whatever we choose, we choose together.”

Vale nodded slowly, his usual sharp edges softened by candlelight and memory. “Together,” he agreed. “The way it always should have been.”

The study door burst open before either could respond, wood cracking against wall with supernatural force. Will stood in the doorway, but not the Will I'd seen at hospital board meetings. Power radiated from him in waves that felt ancient and wrong.

“Finally,” he said, smile sharp. “The truth comes out.” His gaze fixed on the vial in Vale's hands with predatory intensity. “Though you've misunderstood one crucial detail.”

The air grew heavy with potential violence, making it hard to breathe. Alex moved closer to me, protective instincts from a thousand lifetimes taking over. But Will's next words froze us all in place.

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