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Skye took the stone steps two at a time to where Morgan waited, and threw herself into Morgan’s embrace. They clung to each other. Skye couldn’t find any words. There were too many.
“We did it. Everyone is okay,” Morgan’s voice was hushed with emotion. “I can’t believe they are. I can’t believe it. But we did it.”
“I know,” Skye’s voice wobbled. She tried to laugh but it got caught in her chest.
“Sorry I didn’t meet you halfway,” Morgan said softly. “I’ve had enough beach for one day.
Skye drew back to search her friend’s face. Morgan’s eyes were reddened, and looked as though they’d seen about ten years of life in the space of hours. Skye’s eyes stung. “Hell of a day, huh?” she tried to quip as Hunter joined them.
Morgan nodded, “You could say that.”
“Hell of a day,” Hunter reflected, nodding. Then he wrapped his long arms around them both, crushing them awkwardly together, and they began to laugh.
Eventually Morgan extricated herself, sniffing and wiping her eyes. She gave a watery smile, “Come on you two weirdos. Mum’s a bit of a mess, but her coffee is still better than mine and Annie’s any day. And Ethan will send out the entire surf rescue squad if he doesn’t see you for himself.”
“Ethan! Oh, I’d forgotten Ethan. He’s okay? I wonder what happened to him? He took us out to Lithus Rock in the IRB, then disappeared,” Skye explained to Hunter. Together the three turned away from the beach along Marine Parade. “And Rowena and Dad and Mike,” she continued, “is everyone really okay?”
“Yes, everyone is okay. Bloody confused, but okay. What happened out there?”
“Got a few hours? Days? And you! You have to tell me everything. Everyone must be freaking out! Promise me you won’t miss out a single thing?”
“I promise. But I think I’m the only person properly freaking out.”
“What do you mean?” They paused their conversation to cross the road, halting as an ambulance drove past them. Beyond it, further down the road, Skye now noticed more ambulances lined up, and people huddled under blankets, being assisted to board. As she watched, police vehicles began to arrive. She looked at Morgan, her heart thumping.
“Jarrod’s ‘court’,” Morgan said quietly. “Some of them stayed when the clan’s hold was broken, and wandered up here.
“Only some?”
Morgan nodded, her eyes hard to read. “Some went back to the sea.”
“Wow. Like Gina with Liam.”
“Yeah. Some of them had been missing a long time, and none of them have aged, but a few were recognised by locals. I think that’s why the police are here.”
“Gina isn’t one of them. And now Liam...” Skye looked up at the Towers. “What is his dad going to do? The nightmare for him is about to begin.”
“I know. Do we even know if Liam is okay?” Morgan looked miserable. “I think you’re right Skye.”
“About what?”
“No such thing as happy ever after.”
“I’ve already been through what Liam’s dad is about to face. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But maybe Liam will come back. And maybe soon. He isn’t like anyone else they’ve ever taken.”
“True,” Morgan acknowledged. “He certainly wasn’t mesmerised when he made his decision to go.”
Skye bit her lip, looking from the police cars to Hunter. “This could be really bad. If the Nemaro are still visible, and people remember them, this could turn into a war.”
“Or an extermination,” he amended.
“Uh, guys? I think it’s pretty safe to say that as far as being forgotten goes?” Morgan said, “They are.” They both looked at her. “You know – Forgotten. I think that whatever you two did has put everything back the way it was. That’s what I was saying. I’m the only one properly freaking out, because I’m the only one that has any idea what just happened. No one else remembers a thing.”
“What?” They both stared at her.
“Not sure if I will be able to see...any of them again,” her eyes went to the sea. “But as far as I can tell, I remember everything. I have no idea why I can. And I’m not actually sure if being able to remember is a good thing or not.” Her voice caught a little.
“Oh, Mags,” Skye’s chest squeezed in sympathy. “I totally get that.”
“Thanks Skye-bear. I’m just a bit bruised, I guess.”
“We are all scarred in one way or another,” Hunter agreed quietly. “Us, standing with each other in this, is why we’re all still standing. All of us,” he indicated the villagers, as well as the ocean behind them. “Morgan, thank you for what you did for Jarrod. I couldn’t see everything from Lithus Rock, but I saw you. And him. When I sent the water.”
Morgan’s cheeks flushed, struggling to keep her expression neutral. “I don’t know if I helped to...if he’s alive. I mean, if he’s still...him. It seemed like it was...too late.”
“I sensed him afterwards.”
Morgan blinked a few times. “So, you think he’s...safe?”
Hunter nodded. “I’m glad you’re with us Morgan, and that you know what all of this means, to the ones who will never remember. And to the ones who will never forget.” He held her gaze, his expression solemn.
Her face softened, her eyes still sad. She gave a short nod, and turned to lead the way across Marine Parade towards the café. They continued in silence until they stepped up onto the curb outside the café. Skye’s throat hurt as she stared at the cut glass windows, the heavy glass door, and the shapes of people she loved inside.
“Those ambulances weren’t just for the missing people who turned up,” Morgan said, quietly. “People had collapsed all over the village. The emergency services had so many call-outs. When they got to Bannimor, everyone was fine. I don’t think any of the people who’d collapsed knew they’d been...dead.”
The three looked at each other, and at the café. The horror of what Thea had done sank in afresh. The utter relief that they’d been able to stop it and reverse it, washed over Skye. “When I was unconscious, with Hunter on Lithus Rock, I saw Rowena, my dad, Mike. Amber. Others I didn’t know. I didn’t realise it in my...vision or whatever that was, but – they’d been...stolen.”
Morgan swallowed, “Can you imagine what we could be looking at in there right now?”
She could. She’d seen the empty streets of Lithus. Seen glimpses of it when the spent souls who had left her were living there. And when they were dying there.
“So, whatever you two did?” Morgan said, “‘thanks’ back. By the way, Mum keeps asking about you, Skye: ‘are you sure she’s all right’. She said she had a dream about you. Whatever you did, I have a feeling it’s going to beat anything you’ve ever told me.”
Skye surprised herself by laughing. “‘Just when we think we’ve got our heads around this stuff, there’s more,’” she quoted Morgan’s words
“Totally,” Morgan threw Skye’s usual line back at her and grinned. “When I was on my way to find you, I asked one of the ambulance drivers what was going on,” she continued. “They think there was a gas leak. Probably.”
Skye’s eyebrows rose. “A gas leak? Um, okay.”
“It won’t last. It’s just the only thing they can think of right now to explain half the town collapsing. They’re taking in anyone who wants to be checked over, to be safe. I don’t know what explanation they’ll come up with for the...for Jarrod’s court.”
All three fell silent, overwhelmed by the recent collision between the Nemaro and humanity.
“I just can’t think about this now,” Skye finally said. “We’ll just have to take it as it comes, hide what we can, play ignorant... I don’t know. Anything would be better than the truth. Impossible answers. Speaking of impossible answers,” she murmured as Ethan pushed outside through the double glass doors of Bliss, his expression dark.
