To Amya's surprise, she only had to think of Rem in her room, and he appeared to her. Somehow, her belief allowed her some control over where he could be. He hadn't been back in the house since he died until Amya was thinking of him while in the attic, and now in her room.
Too busy to properly unpack her room, boxes littered the decent sized space, books piled in nooks and crannies, pictures stacked, ready to be hung or placed. The only one set up was a family picture from before her mom was gone.
This gave them plenty of room to map out the drawings and pictures from Rems box. He remembered little from the last few months of his life, but each drawing from that time could trigger something that would help them figure this out. The drawing of the diary in the center
They worked behind her door, less likely for the parents to find it. Laura may not like that fact they were rifling through her dead cousin's box of things. Amya didn't want to drag up her painful past any more than necessary, and Remi agreed.
Amya had to admit, working with two Remington's was confusing. Remi, Rem, Rem, Remi, they were too similar. Not just their name but their personality. Amya was almost ready to pull her hair out.
"Tell her to shut up; she's making no sense." Rem demanded as Remi made a suggestion about a drawing.
"I'm not saying that," Amya replied dryly.
"What did he say? That little jerk can't remember anything so what can he possibly have to say?" Remi counter an insult she never even heard.
"The two of you are driving me crazy! How can two people be so alike? You can't even hear him. If neither of you is going to be helpful, just don't say anything at all and let me concentrate." Amya chastised.
In unison, they clamped their mouths shut.
"Now that's better." She looked back at the drawings, at the progression of madness. It was uncanny, how on one side of the diary sketch it was tidy and professional, and on the other it became messy. It was as if he were drawing as much as he could in as little time possible. Each sketch became more and more chaotic, darker in nature. Drawings of Laura and his parents warped into monsters and demons of nightmares.
They worked well into the night until Jason knocked. "Girls lights off."
Amya turned to Remi, worry hooding her eyes. "You want to stay with me again tonight?"
Remi smiled as she backed into the bathroom, "No, I think I'll be okay tonight. Rem needs to stay on your side of the bathroom if you don't mind."
It was a joke, Remi's attempt to lighten the mood, but Amya continued to be apprehensive. It hadn't even been a week in this house, and they were being physically attacked. This entity was aggressive. Amya had grown up in a family steeped in superstitions and traditions, Remi was just experiencing these things for the first time.
"She'll be fine." Rem assured her. "Remi is stronger than she looks. Stronger than I was. It will take a lot longer than this to weaken either of you enough to take you."
Amya wasn't so sure.
Sleep came quickly, as Rem watched over her.
Then she was in the garden, beautiful in the dim light. It seemed to glow. Iridescent, like something out of a fairytale. Orbs of light floated all around, Amya reached out to touch one. Warmth emitted from it, enveloping her in the sense of tranquility. A smile formed on her lips as it drifted away. It was beautiful beyond words.
"Amya," came a familiar voice.
In the mouth of the trail stood Rem dressed in white. He looked almost ethereal. But weren't they just in her room?
She turned, something drew her to the window of her room.
"Amya," Rem called to her again.
She looked back at him. A smile spread across his handsome face as he stepped toward her. The butterflies in her stomach took flight around her, stirring the orbs making them swirl and surge, lighting the path between him and her. She couldn't remember being fluttery around him before, but as he closed the space between them, she felt as if she were floating.
"I feel the same," he whispered when he reached her, taking her by the hand and placing it against his white, hoodie-covered chest. "You make my heart race."
Was this what a crush felt like? Amya had yet to really care about boys. All the boys she had gone to school with she had known all her life, they were part of her extended family. She had books and her dad, then Laura and Remi. There had been little time to think about boys.
If would figure her first crush would be a ghost.
"That doesn't have to keep us apart." Rem told her, his voice was smooth, and it made her heart flip. "Come with me. We can be together."
He stepped back, his hand keeping her in step with him, moving them toward the opening of the trail. She wanted to go with him. The urge to follow him pulled like a wave back toward the sea. Something held Amya back. She looked up at her window again.
There, in the shadows of morning light was a figure. Rem was in her room when she fell asleep. Why would he be out here now?
Amya jerked her hand back from the figure in front of her.
"You're not Remington." It was more of a statement than an accusation. He reached for her.
She stepped back, her foot catching on her pants, and fell backward. It seemed like forever in slow motion, through space… through time, before she hit the ground.
Jolting awake, she sat up. It was a dream. She sighed before noticing the chill in the air. Her clothes were damp from the dew on the moss that covered the stone path. She woke in the garden.
