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Chapter 3

Author: Amay Hurricane
"Grayson? What are you doing in Sophie's room?"

Harper stood in the doorway.

Grayson's body went visibly rigid at the sound of her voice. He stepped away from me without thinking, putting distance between us.

"Harper, what are you doing awake? Did we wake you?" His voice went soft in an instant.

Harper bit her lip, her eyes reddening on cue. "I had a nightmare. Grayson, is Sophie still mad at me? If it's my fault, I'll give the room back to her and go stay in the basement myself. Don't fight because of me."

Grayson rushed to comfort her. "Harper, don't be ridiculous. How could any of this be your fault? After everything you went through, of course you deserve the best room in this house. Sophie just isn't thinking straight since the ritual only just ended. Don't take it to heart."

That was when Diana heard the commotion upstairs and hurried up in her slippers. The moment she saw Harper's tear-filled eyes, her face darkened. She stepped forward and pulled Harper tight against her.

"Sophie! How long are you going to keep this up? Harper's nerves are shot, and she only just managed to fall asleep. The second you're back, you're turning the whole house upside down? All we asked was for you to take a shower. Do you really have to put on this pathetic act for whoever's watching?"

I shrank into the cold corner, hugging my knees, my whole body shaking. I buried my head low. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm not angry. I'll go, I'll go right now."

I made a show of crawling toward the door, my palms scraping at the filthy floor.

Diana looked at me like that, all the harsh words she'd been ready to unleash dying in her throat. It hit her like a punch landing on a pillow, and her face went pale with frustration.

"Mom... look at her. She really seems..." Grayson looked at me, his mouth opening, seeming to finally register that something was wrong.

"Grayson, is Sophie actually out of her mind?" Harper sniffled.

Diana let out a cold huff and pulled Harper back a step. "She's playing dumb. That's enough, stop putting on this little show. Do you really think this will win you any sympathy? Since her brain's clearly broken, we'll have a doctor look at her tomorrow. Harper, let's go back to your room. Don't pay her any attention."

Diana's tone was thick with impatience and cold disregard. On her way out, she turned back to Grayson.

"Lock the door from the outside. I don't want her running out in the middle of the night and scaring Harper. And tomorrow, throw out all that junk in her room. It's bad luck just looking at it."

"Got it, Mom."

Grayson glanced at me once more before following them out obediently. The door was locked from the outside with a cold, final click.

I listened to their footsteps fade away, then slowly got up off the floor.

I dug out a small waterproof pouch I'd hidden at the very bottom of my old cardboard box. Inside was a bank card I'd secretly opened myself, holding the meager travel money I'd scraped together over the years by living frugally. There was also a train ticket I'd already bought.

Holding the ticket stub in my palm, I suddenly remembered my eighteenth birthday, the family photo we'd all taken together. Diana had her arm around me, and Grayson held up the cake. Back then, it had really felt like they saw me as family.

Since they loved Harper that much, Harper could stay with them forever.

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  • The Memory Draining   Chapter 11

    Now, I was just myself.Outside on the street, a familiar car rolled past the flower shop again. It didn't stop this time, only slowing at the corner for a moment, like a belated goodbye.Grayson sat behind the wheel. Through the window, I couldn't make out his expression clearly.I laughed quietly to myself and shook my head.I turned around and flipped the shop sign over, switching it from "Open" to "Closed." I slung my camera over my shoulder and locked up the little shop that had held so much peace and freedom for me.I was ready to go see the ocean somewhere farther away. To go to cities where nobody knew my name. To finally live the life I actually wanted.I didn't look back.The train station was full of people coming and going. Just as I was heading toward the ticket gate, a familiar figure came rushing into the terminal.It was Diana.Her hair was disheveled, none of the poise or pride of "Mrs. Ellison" left in her at all. The moment her eyes met mine, she froze compl

  • The Memory Draining   Chapter 10

    Night had settled in.I closed the ledger and got ready to lock up. Outside, Grayson still stood there, stiff and unmoving."Evie." He looked at me. "Even if it's just letting me look at you from a distance. Even if all you do is… call me something awful, the way you used to when we were younger. I'd take even that."I paused with my hand on the lock and turned back to him, my expression unreadable."Mr. Ellison, you're misremembering," I said evenly. "The Sophie you knew might have wanted your attention when she was little. But eventually, she learned to stop expecting it."The Sophie you knew died the moment you started draining her memories from her."He staggered back a step, as if those few words had gone straight through his chest."That was my mistake. I can change. I really can change." His words came out in a rush as he tried to close the distance between us again."Just give me one chance, and I'll hand you the company. I'll sign the entire Ellison estate over to you,

  • The Memory Draining   Chapter 9

    I kept my head down, trimming the lilies in my hands."Evie, that guy who came to buy flowers earlier looked so weird. He's still standing at the end of the street." The young man from next door leaned in, whispering with obvious curiosity.I didn't pause what I was doing. "Don't mind him. He's probably just passing through," I said, my voice even.The truth was, I'd known who he was from the start. This was the third month, and Grayson had come by more times than I could count. At first, he'd tried to intimidate me into backing down with a cold, commanding presence. Now, he'd learned to beg instead, humble and small.They seemed to think that once they admitted their mistake, I'd act like a stray dog wagging its tail, happily running back to become the Sophie they used to walk all over again.But they'd forgotten. This backbone of mine had already been broken once, by their own hands."Evie, let's go home." A hoarse voice came from the shop entrance.Grayson didn't come inside.

  • The Memory Draining   Chapter 8

    Three months later, I sat on the porch of the bed and breakfast.I'd opened a small flower shop in this town. Every morning, I'd walk down to the market to buy fresh wildflowers.I didn't need to remember who liked their coffee a certain way anymore. I didn't need to watch anyone's expression, waiting to see if I'd upset them.I couldn't remember my own name. But I liked that the people here called me "Evie." It was a quiet name, and I liked the sound of it."Evie, the flower order's here!" A young man from next door jogged over, waving a slip of paper at me.I smiled and took it from him, my hands already moving through the motions of wrapping the order.There was a faint scar on my palm now, left behind from a time I'd traded it for something I'd thought was love. It didn't hurt anymore, though. It was just a reminder of how foolish I used to be.That was when a car pulled up slowly outside the flower shop. It looked expensive, and it didn't belong in this sleepy little town a

  • The Memory Draining   Chapter 7

    Harper, out of habit, tried to find that familiar warmth from Grayson again."Grayson, now that Sophie's gone, shouldn't we clean out all that old junk in her room?" Harper stepped closer, trying to loop her arm through his, a note of careless disdain in her voice. "That garbage sitting around the house is going to give me an allergic reaction."The crack of a slap rang out sharply.Harper stumbled back several steps from the force of it, crashing hard into the vanity table with a scream. She clutched her reddened cheek in disbelief and looked up at Grayson.The same brother who used to fuss over her for days if she so much as stumbled while walking now had eyes cold as stone at the bottom of an ice cellar."What did you just call her?" Grayson advanced on her step by step, fury radiating off him. "Garbage? Harper, open your eyes and look around. Who's the real parasite squatting in this family's nest?"Harper shrank back, too stunned by that look to make a sound. She could only

  • The Memory Draining   Chapter 6

    Sophie had left it behind.[Sir, I can't pay you back for the soup. I've settled the ten years I owed you with my memories instead. Please don't come looking for me again.]Grayson's hands shook as he picked up the note.He tore through Sophie's room. Beyond the note, he found a notebook.Every page was filled edge to edge with small, careful handwriting, tracking years' worth of the little things he'd mentioned in passing. When he liked his coffee. What sweets he wanted and when. Even the color of tie he usually wore to business dinners. Every single detail had its own note. And beneath each note was a tiny checkmark, marking that she'd taken care of it."She wasn't always like this."Grayson's voice shook. His fingers traced over the notebook's pages.He remembered it now. On her eighteenth birthday, Sophie had stood by the cake in a white dress worn nearly translucent from too many washes, watching him with quiet, hopeful eyes.He'd told her then, "Sophie, this family is y

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