Not the Same

Memories (Part 1)

Cam's POV

          After my talk with Christian, he snaps his fingers and we're left in the dark. He grabs my hand and says, "This way." I follow him until he suddenly stops.

          "Christian, where are we," I ask.

          "We're here to start your journey through your memories," he answers.

          "But, I can't see anything," I respond.

          "Oh, right," Christian says and snaps his fingers. A light shines down on an old wooden door. "Sorry, this was the only way I knew to keep Dallas from your memories."

          "Why, what would happen if he found them," I inquire.

          "Since Dallas has been in the control so often, he doesn't know what he is fully capable of. Best case scenario, nothing. However, if he figured out how, the worst case scenario would be that he would be able to corrupt, alter, or even destroy any or all memories you have besides the locked off ones," he responds. He pulls out a silver key from his pocket and puts it in the keyhole; unlocking the door.

          Behind the door I saw a room filled boxes. Christian stood by the door as I looked through the boxes. However, the ones I checked were empty. "There's nothing here," I say. As I state that, a bright light shines down on a box in the corner of the room. I walk over to it, feeling drawn to it. I open it to see a yellow light shine out of it, temporarily blinding me. I close my eyes to save my eyes. When I open them back up, I am standing in the market with a box sitting on a shelf in front of me. "How'd I get here," I ask.

          "It's a memory," Christian answers. "You're in the storage area so much, you're constantly having to move boxes."

          My dad walks and tells me to get one of the bottles from the box in front of me out. I look to see Christian had disappeared. I grabbed onto the box and pull it out of the shelf. However, the box was heavier than what I expected. I was losing my grip.

          "Here, let me help you," I hear Kian say as he lifts the other end of the box up.

          "Thanks," I say. We carry the box over and place it on the ground. I open the box and pull out the bottle that dad asked for.

          "Hey, Cam," Kian says awkwardly.

          "Yeah," I say looking up from the box.

          "Um, I," he says. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for not giving you a chance. I shouldn't have been so harsh. Maybe we could go and grab a bite to eat later today."

          "I'd like that," I say as I stand up.

          "Cool," he says. "I guess I'll see you later, Cameron Elder."

          As he said that, a small headache arrives causing my right eye to twitch. I reach out my hand and say, "Ok, Kian Lawley. I'll see you then."

          He reaches out his hand and grasps mine to shake it. As I grab his hand, the yellow light reappears. I close my eyes, but I still feel Kian's hand squeeze. I squeeze his hand a little tighter due to the light. The next thing I know, I hear the sound of silverware hitting plates. I open my eyes to see Kian and I sitting at the restaurant we went to. Everything was exactly the same as I remembered.

          "Why'd you leave college," Kian asks. A wave of emotions come flooding into my mind and body, but I had no clue why. "Never mind, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

          As he said that the yellow light showed up to blind me once more. However, when I opened my eyes I was back in the room full of boxes with Christian. "What just happened," I ask, turning to Christian.

          "You just experienced one of your memories," he answers.

          "Is this what is going to happen for every memory I have," I ask.

          "Yes, well sort of," Christian says. "Only the memories that had impact on you in some way."

          "So what about my dinner with Ricky and everyone else," I ask.

          "I guess it didn't make the cut," he responds.

          "Now what," I utter.

          "Now we move on to the next set of memories," he answers.

          "But where's the..." I start, but stop as look to see a stack of boxes slowly moving to the side. Behind it stood another door. I walk over to it and grab the knob. I turn it to see it was locked. "It's locked. How do I unlock it?"

          "Is there anything you got from your memory to help you out," Christian asks.

           I start to say no, but then remember something. I walk back over to the box I opened that brought the memory. I open it to find the bottle dad had asked for. I pull it out of the box and read the label. It read: Spirytus Polish Vodka 192 Proof. I look to see that there was nothing inside it. I sigh in sadness, but then I hear something rattle in the bottle. I look once more to see there was a key inside it. I walk over to one of the walls and smash the bottle against it. I shield my face with my arm as I hear shards of glasses hit the ground along with something metallic. I look down to see a bronze key lying in the shards of broken glass. I carefully grab the key and walk back over to the locked door.

          "You ready for the next memory," Christian asks.

          Without answering, I put the key in the door and unlock it. I open the door to see a small room that had two beds, walls littered with posters, papers and clothes strung around the room, and several books on shelves and desks. "Where is this," I ask.

          "I think it's your college dorm room," Christian says. "You better go and find that memory from there."

           I start scouring the room looking through the piles of clothes and papers. After a while, I go over to the shelves that are attached to the walls and start pulling out books. While pulling them out, I hear something fall off the shelf. The room was slightly darker than the last room. I look around to spot something roll into the light. I walk over and pick it up. I look to find it was...a baseball.