AM, PM

chapter 11

Layla

I roam around the dark hallways of the house I have been calling home for the past week. I have changed homes a couple of times these past few months, none of which had felt as right as I did at Aiden's. Not even in my own house before everything went wrong.

Aiden, in a way, was a positive energy I fed off. He was the anchor that kept me grounded and the pillar that always held me high. I trace my fingers on the beige walls as I mindlessly look over the paintings on the wall. Van Gogh, El Greco, Salvador Dalí and Raphael cover the walls alongside their Renaissance peers that I don't know much about.

I remember when he first kissed me. As cliché as it might sound, it's one of those moments I can never stop replaying in my mind. It's one of those moments that once I have thought about it too much, the sides of my lips curve and I wonder if I am as grown up as my age and education level tells me.

The breeze that pushed us together and the sound of the river's water that masked the roaring of our beating hearts. I like to think that we fell for each other for the right reasons and that a century old curse didn't put us together.

"I need to talk to you, Layla." Emmeline suddenly appears in front of me, in the hallway. With her, I can never know if I'm simply lost and didn't see her or is she is, simply put, constantly "appearing."

"God, you scared me," my heart's pace eases to more normal one, "A head's up would have been nice. " I walk closer to her.

"I've decided that I am going to do something for you. You can't tell anyone," there's genuine worry in her eyes, one that distracts me from her beauty.

"Who do I have to tell?" I say with a faint laugh, but it does hurt me to say it.

"You have Aiden, whom I was going to give you the permission to reveal the information to, so yes, my remark was useless. Nevertheless, I have some good news. Come with me."

She takes me down the stairs at the end of the hallway. We walk to the kitchen where I sit behind the counter and she prepares us cups of tea.

"I haven't talked about this with anyone on the counsel, so I'm hoping my powers won't be taken away as a punishment," she starts, probably thinking out loud.

"Tell me, Emmeline! What is it?" I almost yell, not being able to control my excitement.

This better be good.

"I'm giving you the chance to choose one person who can remember you again. Their life won't change and yours won't either, but that person will have you in their lives again. It'll be the old them and the new one merged together."

My eyes widen and a sudden rush of anxiety takes me over and the excitement as well. "I chose who can remember me?" I ask, hesitating.

"I know, it'll be hard. You can do it. You have good judgement."

My dad doesn't live anymore, my mom could never keep it from Dominic and same goes for him. God, I miss Ariel and I know that asking Aiden to remember me, the Layla he knew before the effects of the curse, would just reawaken the curse and make things worse, if that's possible.

"Ariel."

Her bold, red lips form a smile and she almost looks proud of who I chose. "Now, here's the tricky part, darling."

I hold the side of my head in my hand with my elbow resting on the counter. I think I know what she'll want me to do.

"You will have to convince her to see you here."