the reason she’s stuck here, we’re more than likely also her only way out.
“Leeds,” Layla pleads. “Get in the car!”
I’ll always feel a constant pull to this place, no matter where I am in life or how far I drive away from here.
And for the life of me . . . I can’t figure out why. Why do I care what happens to Sable? Is she manipulating my thoughts somehow?
“Willow,” I say into the air. “I have a question. Get back inside Layla again.”
Layla is still yelling my name, begging me to hurry.
Then she stops.
She’s suddenly calm as she unbuckles herself and opens her door. When she climbs out of the car and turns around, it’s Willow looking back at me from over the top of the car.
“Have you ever gotten inside of me?” I ask her.
She immediately answers with a shake of her head. “No. Of course not.”
The look on her face is a clear indicator that she isn’t lying. “You said you only have memories when you’re attached to a body,” I say. “Is that right?”
She nods.
“If that man comes to help you, then you’re going to need a body. You’re going to need those memories.”
It takes my words a few seconds to register, but when they do, Willow covers her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle her cry. Then she drops her hand to her chest, over her heart. “You’re going to help me?”
I let go of a regretful sigh. “Yes. And I have no idea why. So please don’t make me regret this. Please.”
Willow shakes her head adamantly. “I won’t. But . . . Layla isn’t going to stay here willingly. Not after tonight.”
I walk back toward the house and away from the car. “I know.”
This is the moment I truly question myself as a boyfriend, a caretaker, a human being. I don’t know why I feel so strongly about staying, or why I feel so strongly about keeping Layla here with me. My behavior right now goes against every moral I have, but I’ve never felt this kind of certainty in my gut.
My gut is telling me this terrible decision will pay off when it’s all said and done.
Which means this is the moment I’ll likely regret the most.
THE INTERVIEW
“I’d like to speak to Willow now,” the man says. He doesn’t stop the tape recorder. He just stares at me expectantly, waiting for me to go upstairs and untie Layla.
When I make it up to the bedroom, I can tell Willow is already inside of her.
“He makes me nervous,” she says.
“He seems harmless.”
“He’s just so ambiguous. It’s been a one-sided conversation all night. He hasn’t offered up anything.”
I don’t respond to that because I’ve known him just as long as Willow has, so I can’t vouch for his character. But what’s the worst that can happen? He doesn’t have answers? We’re already at that point, so it’s not like he can make it any worse.
Willow is quiet as we descend the stairs. When we walk into the kitchen, he’s leaning back in his chair, watching Willow intently. He’s only been in her physical presence for a few seconds tonight, when she stopped Layla from opening the front door. He’s looking at her like he’s examining her from the inside out. Willow takes a seat across from him.
“Do you want something to drink?” I ask her.
She shakes her head, her eyes fixed on the man.
He rests his hand on the table, rapping against it with his fingertips. “What’s your first memory of this place?”
Willow shrugs a little. “I don’t have a specific first memory.”
“You just feel like you’ve always been here?” he asks.
She nods. “Yes. I mean, I know I haven’t. But I don’t remember not being here, if that makes sense.”
“Of course it makes sense,” he says gently. “It’s just like birth. Humans know they were born, but they don’t remember it. This is no different.”
Willow seems to relax a little with his comment.
The man leans forward, eyeing her closely. “Leeds tells me you have memories of your past life.”
“I have memories that belong to both Layla and Sable, but only when I’m inside of her body.”
“What memories do you have when you aren’t inside Layla?”
“Just the memories I’ve made here.”
The man nods in understanding, still studying her intently.
“But I have feelings,” Willow adds. “Even when I’m not in a body.”
“What kind of feelings?”
Willow’s eyes cut to mine for a moment; then she looks down at her hands. “When Leeds first got here—I don’t