Buried in Sunshine (25 page)

“Remember,” Justine adds. “Keep in contact.”

“I’ll call right when I see her,” Emma says as
she nods.

“One more thing,” Justine says as she catches
Emma before she opens the door.

“Hmm…?”

“I saw the news this morning—I was up pretty
early…anyway, they say that it is going to storm on Tuesday. They
say a cold front will be coming in and temperatures will reach back
down into like the seventies. Pretty crazy…considering,” Justine
says as she smiles hopefully. “I mean they’re always wrong with the
weather—but, maybe they aren’t?”

“Let’s hope so,” Emma says as she returns the
smile and heads out the door.

The afternoon heat is unbearable as Emma climbs
into her Impala and patiently waits for the air conditioning to
cool the vehicle down to a temperature bearable enough so that she
can stand to place her hands upon the scorching steering wheel. It
reminds her of placing her hands upon the black mask that girl was
wearing, an altogether unpleasant feeling—although touching the
steering wheel does not cause her to burn to death, thankfully.

Emma begins to head out of the city, which
appears almost like a ghost town. She passes about two cars on her
way out. As she passes her house, she decides to head in—to see if
anything has changed. As she climbs up the staircase and enters the
red hall, she is confronted with the platforms that lead down into
the basement. She precariously navigates her way around the edge
and begins to ascend the spiral staircase. Emma reaches the top of
the staircase and stands before the shut door to her attic
room.

“Elizabeth,” Emma says as she knocks upon the
door with her knuckles. “It’s Emma.”

“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth whispers beyond the door.
“I’m not feeling very well.”

“Can I come in?”

“I’d rather you not—I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Something strange happened in the
basement—well, I mean the living room and kitchen are now sort
of…in the basement.”

“That’s the path,” Elizabeth says softly.

“What path?”

“The path of the sun,” Elizabeth says as she
lets out a short cough. “I’m very weak; I need to sleep for
tomorrow.”

“Can I do anything to help you?”

“No…I’ll be fine tomorrow,” Elizabeth says.

Emma nods to herself and begins to walk away;
she hurries down the staircase and stops just as she reaches the
bottom. She spots her laptop on one of the platforms and climbs
down the mess of broken wood and floor and retrieves it. To her
surprise, it is still powered on. A word document is open on her
screen—a short letter has been typed out addressed to her.

Emma,

How many masks do we wear to hide who we truly
are? When confronted with the truth, would we even recognize
ourselves? If you knew you who you really were, would you choose
the right path?

SOL

As Emma finishes reading the letter, the screen
on the laptop turns blank. Was this left for her in response to her
actions during her nightmare? Emma felt that she had a pretty good
grasp on who she was at the moment—after all, she had discovered
quite a few things. She learned about her past—the truth about her
mother, her stepfather, and the role that Brian Metcalfe played in
it. Despite learning about her rather terrible past she felt that
she had a pretty good grip on her sense of self. Of course, there
were still things she did not remember fully—her life before she
became Alexis was still hazy. Even her own interests and talents
were a mystery to Emma. The more she thought about it, the more
distressed she felt. She did not know what kind of music she liked,
or what her favorite movie or book was. Then more Emma reflected
upon it, the more she realized—she does not know who she is now.
She knows her past, but her present self is very much a mystery.
Emma does not like thinking about this.

“SOL…” Emma says as she places the laptop back
onto the floor and climbs back up to ground level. Emma remembers
Elizabeth’s explanation, ‘Latin for sun.’ However, there is a
second one, SOL were also her mother’s initials—that was why it was
etched on the silver blade used to kill her stepfather. The idea
that the message was left by either terrifies her more than the
fact that she does not truly know herself.

Emma cautiously steps her way to the door and
looks down to a picture of Emma and her mother as she reaches the
red hallway. “I didn’t really know you either…” Emma whispers. She
remembers back to a time when she thought all these pictures were
of her sister and her mother. “At least, not the real you…did
I?”

Emma returns to her car. She begins to drive
down Old Pine Hallow Road; she follows it until it curves into a
thick forest of tall white oak trees. The sun shimmers through the
makeshift ceiling of emerald leaves as creates a strobe like effect
on the window of the car as Emma continues down the magnificent
tunnel of trees. For a moment, Emma thinks back to that painting in
Dr. Riley’s office. This place looks similar. It is strange that
Emma has never made the connection before. Emma pulls off onto a
rock road and passes a pair of weather worn steel gates as she
enters the old cemetery. She continues along the rough road that
causes her car to rock and buffet against its uneven surface until
she reaches the small clearing. A police car is parked off to the
side with its door left ajar. Emma pulls behind the abandoned
vehicle and climbs out. She reaches for her phone and clicks on
Justine’s number. After a few rings, she answers.

“Emma?”

“I’m here,” Emma replies.

“And Alexis…?”

“She is definitely here,” Emma says as she spots
the girl a short distance away.

“Keep me posted,” Justine says with a concerned
tone. “If you don’t call me in an hour I’ll send the police
out.”

“It’ll be an interesting story—“Emma says as she
lets out a short laugh. “But I do appreciate your concern. I’ll be
in touch soon.”

“Take care,” Justine says as she
disconnects.

Emma approaches Alexis who is resting next to
her mother’s grave. She is resting against the side of the stone,
which looks to be quite damaged. A sledge hammer rests in Alexis’s
lap.

“Alexis,” Emma announces as she stops in front
of the grave. Part of the S in Sarah is missing and broken
fragments of the grave marker scatter the brown dead grass around
it.

“Not as easy as I thought it would be,” Alexis
says as she turns to face Emma and shields her eyes from the bright
sun. “Would you like to give it a swing?”

“I’m good,” Emma says as she nods. “What are we
hoping for here?”

“Erasing her from…history?” Alexis says as she
shrugs her shoulders.

“In two days,” Emma adds. “It’s all going to be
gone anyway right?”

“Well it makes me feel better,” Alexis says with
a tone of annoyance in her voice. “What are you doing out here
anyway? I thought you hated me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Emma says, although she
knows that this is mostly not true. “Is that your car by the
way?”

“Yeah,” Emma says with a single nod and a smile.
“They left it sitting around at the house—you should have seen
their faces as it just drove off. They couldn’t see me.”

“I could only imagine,” Emma says as she sits
down and places her hand against the etched stone name of her
mother.

Alexis gets back to her feet and lets out a
heavy sigh and raises the sledge hammer high above her head.

“Stop…” Emma commands.

Alexis freezes just as she is about to bring the
hammer down, her eyes are narrowed and her face is clenched and
muscles in her arms are visible as her hands are embraced upon the
handle and ready for impact.

“It’s not worth it,” Emma whispers into Alexis’s
ear.

Alexis breaks free of the command and drops the
hammer as a shocked look washes over her once determined face. “You
can’t do that…”

“I’m not here to fight you,” Emma says as she
takes a few steps away.

“Fuck off!” Alexis shouts as Emma is physically
lifted into the air and thrown all the way back towards the
vehicles.

Emma painfully attempts to gets up from the
ground, she finds little success in the endeavor. Her head is a
mere inches away from having impacted against the police car. Emma
attempts to desperately get up as Alexis quickly closes the
distance between them—she is armed with the sledge hammer.

“You ungrateful little shit!” Alexis shouts as
she brings the sledge hammer high above her head. “Do you know what
I have done for you all these years? Do you know what I have done
for you in the past?”

“Stop…!” Emma shouts as she raises her
hands.

“Not this time,” Alexis says as she is
unhindered by Emma’s words. “Answer me!”

“I’m sorry…” Emma says as she attempts to shield
her body from the blow with her arms. “I don’t remember—I want to
remember… I’m so sorry Alexis.”

“Fuck!” Alexis shouts as she brings down the
sledge hammer with her full force.

Emma winces as she waits for the strike. She can
feel the breeze kicked up by the mighty swing on its collision
course. Emma’s heart jumps as she hears the crashing and crushing
of metal. Her heart pounding like a frantic drum and her breathing
so heavy that she feels as though she is about to hyperventilate,
Emma looks up and sees the sledge hammer smashed into the hood of
the cop car.

“Do you really not remember?” Alexis asks as her
tone is now more calm and controlled. “Not at all…?”

“I’m sorry…” Emma says as she is still unsure as
to whether Alexis is going to hurt her or not. She toys with the
idea of fighting back—but she comes to the conclusion that it will
only make thing worse. “I know that you took over after I tried to
kill myself. I know that after Aaron Chase was killed—you continued
life after I gave up.”

“Did you know it was not the first time?” Alexis
says as she reaches a hand down.

“I had no idea,” Emma says as she hesitantly
takes the hand and is quickly hoisted back up to her feet. “I know
I had problems in the past—after our stepfather left, but I didn’t
know that you existed before that day I tried to kill myself…”

“You don’t…remember?”

“I honestly don’t,” Emma says as she looks to
her arm which is covered in blood from her striking the ground.
“Please…tell me.”

“I’ve been your shield,” Alexis says as she lets
out a heavy sigh and collapses her body against the car. “I’m your
anger—but I’ve been your shield for things that you could not deal
with.”

“What could I not deal with in the past?”

“I can show you,” Alexis says as she gestures to
Emma’s car.

“Okay,” Emma says as she follows Alexis to the
white Impala.

Alexis climbs into the driver’s seat and turns
the car on, she turns the air conditioning on full. Emma attempts
to enter the passenger’s side seat, but Alexis shakes her head and
points to the back.

Emma does as she is instructed.

“Do you trust me?”

“I do,” Emma replies, although she is slightly
hesitant. After all, Alexis does seem rather unstable.

“I’m going to put you to sleep,” Alexis says as
she nods and places a hand to Emma’s forehead.

“One moment,” Emma says as she pulls out her
cell. She dials Justine, who quickly answers.

“I’m fine,” Emma says as she looks to Alexis and
looks away as though she feels uncomfortable making eye contact
with her clone. “I’ll be home as soon as I can—just have a few
things to figure out. I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay.
We’re both okay.”

“Was that…that weird girl you made friends
with?” Alexis asks as she places her hand back over Emma’s
forehead.

“Yeah,” Emma answers simply as she prepares
herself for the unknown. It is not that she does not completely
trust Alexis—it is more that she fears what Alexis has to show her.
It must be something terrible to account for so much rage.

“One thing before I put you under…” Alexis
asks.

“Sure.”

“Is there something that you are hiding from the
rest of us?” Alexis asks. “Something that only you know but the
rest of us don’t?”

“I don’t think so…why?”

“Just my paranoid nature, I suppose,” Alexis
says as she shrugs her shoulders and places her warm hand against
Emma’s head. “Are you ready?”

“I am.”

“Sleep…” Alexis commands.

Emma’s eyes grow weary as the world slowly
begins to fade away; Emma hears one final word from Alexis
‘remember.’ Everything turns to black. There is a strange hum in
the abyss around her. A light appears in the distance, it travels
in strange patterns like a constantly lit firefly as it makes it
way to her. As it approaches closer and closer, it grows larger.
Soon it engulfs her in a flash of light.

*

It was daytime. Emma sat in her room. She was
smaller, younger. The memory of seeing the naked man atop her
mother was still fresh in her memory. She still can picture the
face of her father as he peeks through the other end of the
greenhouse glass. His eyes were wide, full of anger.

Her mother does not know. Emma has not had the
courage to tell her. She still does not completely understand what
she saw—she only knows that it was somehow wrong. Her mother is at
work. She is alone in the house with her father.

Emma sits on her bed. She looked out through the
small view afforded by the tiny slit in her red curtain. It looked
like a nice day outside. She wanted to go out and play. Perhaps she
could spot the white deer again. The room is dark save for the tiny
beam of light from the window.

Footsteps approached the room. Emma nervously
kicked her feet against the bed. The door opened. Her father’s face
was illuminated in the dim light. He looked angry. He looked upset
with Emma.

“Your mother did something terrible,” her father
said as he sat down on the bed next to her. “Do you know that?”