Forgotten Memories Read online

  FORGOTTEN

  MEMORIES

  CANDIS VARGO

  FORGOTTEN MEMORIES

  Copyright © 2011 by Candis Vargo.

  All rights reserved.

  Second Print Edition: January 2017

  Cover design by Candis Vargo

  No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, scanning, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Please do not partake in or encourage piracy of copyrighted works in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting this author’s hard work.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to locales, events, or actual persons—living or dead—is purely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  Every night, the nightmares would come back. And every night, I would watch my eight-year-old self lying in bed, patiently waiting to hear my mother leave. Even though I was young I wasn’t blind to her going for walks late at night a few times a week. Naturally I was curious. What daughter wouldn’t be? I saw my younger self following my mother out of the back door. I was careful enough and stayed a few paces behind my mother, making sure I used my magic to hide myself.

  I walked behind her as she walked into the darkened woods. Once she came to a stop I stood behind a tree that was large enough to hide behind and I tilted my head around it, just enough for my eyes to see what they needed to see.

  There was somebody there. Who was that? I couldn’t see their face but I could tell it was a man. Mother looked scared. I could tell they were arguing about something. I didn’t know what they were arguing about, I couldn’t hear anything. I watched as my mother turned to walk away and I saw the man lift an object that reflected light across the floor of the forest.

  It was a sword.

  I stood helpless as he sliced the sword through my mother’s neck spilling her life force all over the moss covered ground. Gasping for air as I tried to remember how to breathe, my magic fell from me and I began to scream a blood curdling scream.

  Whoever the man was saw me. The only thing I could manage to look at was my mother. She lay dying on the mossy floor of the forest, soaking in a pool of her own blood. Her eyes seemed full of worry as she stared straight into my eyes, piercing my soul. Her mouth opened like she was trying to say something but no words left her lips, only blood. With the blood pouring out of her, the only thing I heard was a gut wrenching gurgle as she drowned in her own blood.

  The man walked over to me and took my face in his hands. Forcing myself to look away from my mother and into his eyes, he began to speak. I tried to focus on him as much as I could but his face was too hazy. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t register his face.

  Why? Who was that man? Who was he? The haziness made me feel more lost and confused than before. It eventually made it so I couldn't see anything at all.

  What was he saying? I couldn’t remember! I tried to listen to what he said to me, but I couldn’t hear him. The only sound I could hear was the pounding of my heart as it pulsed through my veins and echoed in my ears.

  He murdered my mother, and I couldn’t even remember his face. But...why? Who was that man? I wanted to jump up. I wanted to find something—anything—and hurt him. Kill him. Make him down in his own blood just like he made my mother drown in hers. But I couldn’t move. My hands, my feet, every part of my body. It would not listen to my screaming brain. I could do nothing. Nothing but watch him fade away. I felt helpless and alone, if I couldn’t save my mother I should’ve at least been able to remember her killer.

  If only I was able to remember my forgotten memories.

  ***

  I spread my wings and flew on top of Molly so we could go for our nightly ride. As we trotted along, I felt like we were dancing in the wind with the way the air wrapped around us and carried us along. With my wavy, brown hair and her long mane and tail floating in the breeze, we danced or way through the open field and into the woods that darkened the farther we went in.

  I looked forward to this moment every day. Molly was a beautiful grey Andalusian horse with an impatient trait. If I would take too long to take her for a ride, she would go off without me. I was grateful that she waited for me today, I needed the ride. With non-stop wedding shopping for over a week, I needed to feel free again.

  The best thing about living in the country was being able to ride for hours through constant fields and paths through the woods. It seemed like our rides were the only times I was able to make my own decisions anymore and even though she couldn’t understand me, it felt good being able to talk to her. It always made me feel at least a little better.

  The closer we got to our hideout, the pond, the brighter it became. I could smell the mossy grass and sweetness of the lilies. We have always loved this place. There was something exceptional about the way the moon and stars would shine on the pond like crystals, the sound of birds chirping, and no one in sight. We could sit there for hours listening to the sound of the wind blowing in the trees and smelling the freshness of sap and pine. Sometimes it felt as though this place could solve all of my problems. Other times, feeling the air blow across my face and listening to the gentle rustling of the leaves, I felt like Mother was still here. Looking up, I couldn’t help but notice how red the moon looked tonight, simply beautiful.

  Dangling my toes in the warm water I decided to go for a swim. It was the middle of July and the humidity was fierce, it wasn’t quite as hot as it is in August but it still made the perfect temperature for nightly swims. I always wondered why more people didn’t come here, but I wasn’t going to complain. I took off my green sun dress and stripped down into my lace, white bra and underwear as I walked in the water. I have always been good at swimming, thanks to my mother. She began to teach me when I was only three. I loved it so much I would swim every chance I had.

  I felt weightless and free as I swam around in the water. When I looked up at the sky and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I wondered if God let my mother back in Heaven and if she was an Angel again, or if somehow she was still around watching over me. I never really knew what happened to our kind when we died, since we’re actually Demoted Angels I never wanted to find out. There were stories but no one could know for sure. My mother was the first Pixie to die in centuries.

  I knew if she were here I wouldn’t be forced to marry Roland. Marrying someone who is going to be sucking blood for the rest of our eternity was unappealing. I’ve known for a long time that I was going to marry him, but god did it sneak up on me. But she’s gone. She’s the reason I had to go through with it now. We’re going to need the Vampires there for the war, and this was the only way to make sure it happened. Even if he was the dullest person in the world. When it comes to survival, I guess you can’t be picky.

  My thoughts were cut off by a sharp pain in my head that was much worse than any headache.

  What the fuck? Ouch!

  All of a sudden it felt as though my head was burning inside. With the pain searing down into the back of my neck, I tried to swim back to shore.

  What? Ouch damn it!

  The burning pain was worse than any pain I ever felt before. As I was swimming back to shore I started to feel dizzy and my sight began to blur with darkness. The burning sensation got worse, and it felt like my head was going to explode. There was pounding deep within my skull right behind my eyes. Soon the pain was all over which made my head feel like it was shrinking.

  I blinked several times as I tried to clear my vision. My body weakened, I felt limp and numb from the pain pounding in
my head. Panic rose up inside of me. I started frantically flailing my arms trying to get back as fast as I could. My body grew weaker and my vision was dimmer. It wasn’t long before it all faded away into the darkness. The last thing I saw was Molly neighing as I yelled for her.

  Chapter 2

  I woke up near the log I sit at when I come to the pond and I noticed Molly. Besides realizing it was still dark outside she was the first thing I saw.

  "Oh Molly, what hap-" I started to say until I noticed a man. He was standing there, just looking at me. Startled, I started scrambling, trying to back up although I was still lying down.

  "Hi, um…are you okay? Don't try to sit up yet,” he moved closer to me like he wanted to help but hesitated. “You passed out. You almost drowned out there. I was walking by and heard you out there, screaming for Molly. I'm assuming Molly is the horse right? Because…I didn’t see anyone else.” He was rambling on, obviously flustered. Knowing he pulled me out of the water helped me ease up a little bit. Blacking out and waking up to the sight of a stranger isn’t very comforting.

  All of a sudden I became vaguely aware of the fact that I was still in my bra and underwear. Without looking down I knew they were now see through, that tends to happen when you get white clothing wet and he must have realized that by now. I looked around for my clothes so I could try to cover myself.

  "Don't worry," he said, looking nervous. "I covered you with my jacket. I didn't look...or anything."

  I could feel my cheeks flush as blood rushed to my face with embarrassment. I have never been in front of any man, including Roland, with such little clothing on. This definitely wasn’t how I planned for a guy to see my body for the first time. Actually, I don’t think I ever planned for it at all.

  Leave it to now of all times for me to become aware of how handsome this man was. He was very nicely tanned and from what I could tell well-built too. He had short dark hair that was messy like he just rolled out of bed and his brown eyes complimented all of his tan features. He was wearing a pair of loose jeans with simple white tee shirt that had a grey logo on it. Whenever he moved I could see the fabric of his shirt tighten around his biceps, I felt myself start to blush again and I looked away.

  "Will you excuse me while I get myself dressed...I‘m sorry, what did you say your name was?" I curled myself as close to a ball as I could get using my arms to try to cover myself.

  "Oh I'm the one who should apologize," he said as he turned around so his back was facing me. "I’m sorry, my name is Chace Ashtor."

  I normally tossed my clothes in a random place but when I found my dress neatly laying on the log I knew he was the one who put it there. I quickly grabbed my dress to put it on. I turned my back to his so I could get myself dressed without having to see him. I had a feeling that if my eyes were on him I would forget what I was doing. I’m sure he wasn’t perfect; if I look hard enough I would probably notice one ear higher than the other or one eye a little bigger. But there was something about him. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it was there. Something that made me wish I was able to stare into those brown eyes and forget who I was, if only for a moment.

  When I finished getting dressed, I turned back around. Feeling my heart flutter like it had wings of its own, I forced myself to speak.

  "Ok you can turn back around now,” I said after I was dressed and a little more comfortable. “Thank you. I don't know what happened out there, that's never happened before. I've always been a good swimmer. Maybe I cramped up, I don't know," I said, embarrassed by the fact that some random hot guy had rescued me.

  "If it was a cramp, it was a pretty serious one. I’m glad you’re okay..."

  Silence hung there for a moment before I realized he was waiting for my name.

  "Karma. I’m sorry, my name is Karma. Karma Tompkins."

  "Karma, that’s an easy name to remember. I don't know what happened either, but I'm glad I was walking through here tonight or it may have been a lot worse for you. I'm just glad I came here when I did."

  I sat down on the log and motioned for him to sit next to me. I don’t know why but I felt much more comfortable around him than I had earlier.

  "So, did you just move here? I haven't seen you around before, and it's not a very big town. I’m sure you can see that, kind of hard to miss the small population count and lack of places to go. But I thought I knew just about everyone here."

  "Yeah, I just bought a place hidden in the woods over that way,” he pointed to his left. “Not too far back there. It is a little log house, just big enough for me."

  "Oh, you bought a house? How old are you? Sorry! I’m not trying to pry.”

  He chuckled, "I'm twenty-three, and I just bought the place a week ago. Not how I wanted to introduce myself to my neighbors in this town," he said smiling. I can’t help but smile too. I suddenly felt so at ease around Chace, like I have known him all of my life.

  "So, how'd you find my hideout?" I said as I gestured to the pond.

  "I saw in my paperwork that I own it." I flushed again. "But you are more than welcome to keep it as your hideout, I won’t tell anyone about. However, I might suggest, with how embarrassed you looked, that you might want to buy a bathing suit to swim in."

  Laughing, I said, "Yeah, well. I've never had anyone around here before other than Molly. But I'm glad you came by tonight. It's nice to meet someone new, and be rescued at the same time.” He smiled again, and he has the most beautiful smile I have seen. Even being with Pixies, Witches, and Vampires my whole life, I have never ever seen a smile as amazing as his. What am I thinking? I wondered to myself. I'm about to marry Roland. I suddenly hated the thought of that, which surprised me. I’ve never liked it, but I’ve never hated it either. I always just dealt with it.

  “So, why did you move here Chace? Sorry I’m being so nosey. I’m just a very curious person.”

  “No, it’s okay. I moved here at my fathers will. I’ve screwed up a lot in the past and I’ve done some stupid things. I paid for my mistakes and I’ve learned from them. I will live forever regretting them. My father wanted to make sure I was never under the influence to do those things again, so he told me about this place,” he said, sweeping his hand around to the forest. “So, I decided to check it out. Before meeting you, I wasn’t too sure about my decision. Now I’m glad I chose to buy.”

  “Well, I’m glad you did too.”

  "Wow," he said to me unexpectedly. "Your eyes are as green as your dress, amazing."

  I lowered my head in embarrassment as I tried not to look at him.

  "Oh, well, thank you."

  "I shouldn't have said that. I wasn't thinking. I do that a lot, I’m sorry."

  "No, it's okay. It's nice to hear a compliment that comes from the heart." I immediately regretted the words after I said them.

  As I listened to his comment play over in my head I couldn’t resist looking into his deep brown eyes. His eyes were as strong as the vibes I was getting from him. I looked into the depth of those brown eyes and I swear I could see the world inside of them. It seemed like they held the key to everything my heart ever yearned for.

  Why do I feel so open around him? I feel like I can tell him anything in the world. Like I could sit here forever and forget about reality. Just us.

  And that's exactly what we did. We didn’t sit there forever like I wished we could, but we did sit there for at least a few hours. I don’t know exactly how long because I lost track of time. We just sat there and talked about life, about love, about past relationships (or lack thereof), we just talked.

  I have never had such an intense conversation with anyone other than my friend Em since my mother passed. It was an amazing feeling, like this is where God wanted me to be, where I was meant to be. I could have stared in the depth of those brown eyes all night long.

  I wondered about how it would have felt had I been conscious with his arms around me as he pulled me from the water. Just the thought of it made me feel like his strong and mas
culine arms were around me right now. I knew it was wrong but I longed for him to embrace me with all the power he held in those arms.

  "Well it's getting kind of late," he said reluctantly. "I guess I better let you get going."

  He stood up and I followed his lead. As I stood up next to him I fixed my dress, straightening it down. The last thing I needed was my ass hanging out, even though it wouldn’t really matter because he has already seen nearly all of me.

  “Oh, your jacket,” I said as I reached down to grab it. I held it out for him to take.

  “Thanks, I almost forgot.”

  As much as I hated to do so, I admitted to myself I needed to be going. "Well, will I see you around here again?"

  "You just might, and I sure as hell hope so.” He tilted his chin down as he scratched his head. He looked ashamed he said, ”I was going to use my jacket as an excuse to see you again. You would have had to give it back eventually." He gave me a sheepish smile that made my heart start pounding. I don’t know what was more intense, the sound of my heart or the feeling of the thumping.

  Thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump.

  The sound echoed in my ears as my chest shook with every beat.

  "Until next time, Chace,” I said. I smiled as I began to ready myself to get on Molly. Before I had the chance to move he gently reached down and grabbed my hand. I didn’t know what he intended to do but the moment his hand touched mine heat rushed through my body and my heart began to pound even faster.

  Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump.

  He looked me in the eyes as he brought my hand up to his mouth and gently kissed it. It seemed like my heart had stopped beating and stood still for a moment.

  It wasn’t the kind of kiss that makes you swoon and feel like you are going to pass out. It was the kind of kiss that gives you goose bumps all over. The kind that made you feel like this is right where you belonged. I tried to dismiss the feeling as I tried to think about how I was going to marry Roland.