A Time to Heal

[ibn_al_xuff]

It is difficult to spiritually cleanse a room where so many souls have passed through; some have suffered before passing the veil. He pours the fresh water into his silver bowl and mixes the salt until it becomes diluted and the water clears. This is not ordinary table salt. It was mined in a very sacred place in India. It will soak in the

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[caleb_z]

Caleb wakes up on a smooth, hard surface. He sits up, holding his head and trying to overcome a vague disorientation. Sounds begin to catch his attention. Footsteps, talking. He opens his eyes and looks around him, noting hundreds of people moving about the hallways. Not just people, but kids. More precisely, teenagers.

On closer inspection, the faces of the kids are familiar to him. The halls, too. These are his old classmates, and this is the Academy. He stands, immediately noticing the weight from the backpack slung over his left shoulder. He looks down, and sees himself dressed as he was. His eyes shift from the bag to his arm, which he moves around and examines some.

“Interesting,” he notes, entranced by the sight of his eighteen year old form. Soon thereafter he looks around him for Amelia’s absent form.

“Richie,” he calls to an old friend, but he just walks on. “Richie? Ri -- Amy! Amy have you seen … Amelia…” His voice trails off as the girl walks by, either unwilling or unable to acknowledge his presence. Right. She’s not real. Bird, on the other hand…

“Bird!” He calls out. “Birdie!”

[amelia_z]

A shrill scream slices through the hallway. Seconds later the girl's lavatory door swings open with enough force to rebound off the wall behind it.

Amelia comes out into the hallway, looking terribly close to hyper-ventilating. She blinks stupidly around at her surroundings and lets out another ear-piercing shriek.

In the mirror-- in the bathroom-- she was 15! That didn't feel quite right and this whole place wasn't quite kosher, and it only made her panic more because she thinks this should feel okay and yet she had that Twilight Zone feeling. It's like a horrible version of Time Enough At Last.

She turns a couple circles in the hall. Everything she takes in elicits more screams of varying distress and tone.

[caleb_z]

Caleb drops his backpack and takes off in the direction of the scream. People get pushed out of his way - in some cases, knocked off of their feet - but don't seem to notice. They just get back up, and go back about their business.

As he runs his hand instinctively finds his hip, but finds only denim. Dammit! I don't have the pistol yet!

"BIRD!" he screams as he comes into view of her, continuing on as fast as his legs will carry him.

[amelia_z]

She's... a lanky, scrawny teenager again. As Caleb comes into view, she realizes he is, too.

...

HAHA! Amelia breaks into a bit of hysterical laughter as she runs over to him and grabs his face. She cranes his head around and pushes him in one direction to turn him. HAH! "You're fine! Perfectly FINE!"

She sighs, huffs, thinks about this... "No... it must be. That's GREAT!" He gets a bear hug and Amelia goes back to laughing. "You had me worried! Let's promise to never do that again, like, ever!"

[caleb_z]

The confusion doesn’t take long to pass. He just did the same thing himself, didn’t he?

He’s about to speak when another wave of lightheadedness comes over him. He manages to keep his balance, but doesn’t have much to say.

[amelia_z]

She's so elated with his presence, she doesn't seem to notice. He's probably just a little hung over and having a bad morning. Braat isn't a morning person. But, they're both here, and even though he won't get it, that's worth annoying him for a bit more about!

"Eugh, I had the most awful dream, you'd never believe," she starts off, unslinging her backpack. It's suddenly occurred to her that she never really paid much attention to those things essential in her 'old life' that she carried around with her. Well out with the old in with the... old, right?

She'd forgotten all about her Pez pocket! Wow. Good times! "We hit thirty! Or more appropriately, you did! You were this obnoxious workaholic but you did this screwed up vigilante thing, and I was in this coma, but I came out of it! And you had all these crazy friends including this, like, crazy ex who you followed around, that left you when you had a brain meltdown but that was before me and-- ooh, here's the chem notes I lost-- and anyway, so I got all pissed off about it cause I was having some, like, brain failure or something and I met this guy, this--"

She stops, staring at the cover of her history book in her hands. "This guy told me lies, or half-lies. I trusted this guy for some reason. I thought he had good ideas." She puts the book back in her bag. "He took advantage of this girl and when his friends poisoned me or sedated me or something, it didn't really take, I guess because of my brain, and I was still kind of awake when he came back to--" She zips her bag closed. "When I could move again I was so pissed I tried to kill your ex. And we were fighting each other, you and me."

Amelia slings her bag over her back and looks off down the hallway. She shakes it off, with a shudder, like a bad dream. "Awful f'in dream, I know, I'm morbid. Sorry if I'm weird." She gives him a bright smile. "See? Done now."

[caleb_z]

"... Obnoxious Workaholic? ..."

[amelia_z]

"Wild, right?" she giggles.

Amelia stops, holding her stare on him for a couple seconds longer. The hallways are pretty clear of people by now. He's really not having a good day. Ah, well. Only one thing to do! "Let's cut class. C'mon. We're already late."

She gestures enticingly down the hall towards the side doors, like Vanna White presenting the letters on Wheel of Fortune.

[caleb_z]

She's accepting him again. She's seeking to spend time with him again. For God's sake, she's smiling and laughing again! But would it be cruel to play along? To give her this, and then take it away again?

Or would it be more cruel to deny her this, given that she may be on her deathbed.

"Oh, I agree, we are quite late," he says after some thought. "Class started fifteen years ago." She'll notice that the people aren't interactive soon enough.

[amelia_z]

"Have you been drinking?"

A pause.

"Have I been drinking?"

[caleb_z]

He clenches his eyes as a lack of balance blindsides him. A moment later he steadies himself. Then, for a few seconds, something is just absolutely hilarious.

Whatever it is, it passes as quickly as it arrived.

"I likely don't seem it, but I'm quite sober just now."

[amelia_z]

"Right, just hung over. There's the novel idea of maybe spending an actual night doing your homework," she says with an authoritative finger in his direction.

She can't help it; she smirks. Yeah, right. That'll happen.

From behind her, down the hall someone's calling them. Amelia turns, ready to greet whoever it is before she realizes the threads definitely scream 'teacher'. Ugh. Busted.

"Don't you two dutiful children have a class to be in right now?"

Amelia looks over at Caleb. "Exit plan?" Amelia looks back at the teacher, who's now trying to express her impatient waiting in her stance. "Isn't that--?" Amelia giggles. "That's her, right?"

[caleb_z]

It dawns on him soon enough what she means, but Caleb is more interested in why she can perceive them, when others cannot.

It might be nothing, but it's just suspicious enough to trigger his desire to get Amelia away from her.

"Yes, that's her. But sod it, she won't chase us." He motions the other way down the hall. "Let's go get a pizza."

[amelia_z]

She's grinning really huge...

And takes off down the hall towards the teacher! "Hey, yeah! We're cutting class! We're going to! Bet you should write him up for that, huh? Study hall!"

[caleb_z]

He takes off after her, mentally scolding himself for revealing that this is the strawberry blonde who christened him, so to speak.

[amelia_z]

HA ha ha HA HA!

Amelia's following 'her' through a door and--

Into the garage...?

Little Miss Miss is gone. Amelia turns on her brother, giving the narrow-eye. "I'm dreaming now." A scoff. "Yebenat."