The Leaving(14)

“I guess it’s possible that someone or something triggered the first condition,” Sashor said. “Because, presumably, during the time you were gone, you were able to make memories—and then, eleven years later, triggered the second condition. Leaving a long gap in between.”

“But what would that trigger be?” Lucas wished he’d thought to take notes.

“The abduction itself could have been the first trigger? Your release, the next?”

Lucas had no theories. “How do I still know how to play chess and brush my teeth and all?”

“Neither of these conditions affects your procedural memory.”

“But how can I retain a memory of knowledge but not of experiences?” Lucas pointed at the map and his high-scoring world history test.

“Those kinds of processes are handled by different parts of the brain, as well. Working in tandem, sure, but separate physical locations,” Sashor said. “Honestly, unless they find the person responsible, I can’t imagine we’ll ever know what the purpose of the experiment was.”

“Experiment?”

“I’m a scientist, so that’s where my mind goes, yes.”

Lucas felt hopeful for the first time. “There can’t be that many experts in this field, right?”

“There are a lot of people around the globe trying to crack open one of the mysteries of memory and grab the spotlight. Probably half of them are unhinged or obsessed in some way.” Sashor seemed to pause to reconsider what he’d just said. “It’s also possible that you’re all very good liars. And that you remember everything and are putting one over on the rest of us.”

Lucas felt himself bristle. “Why would we do that?”

“To protect the identity of the person who took you?” Sashor said. “Because you’re suffering from Stockholm syndrome?”

“It’s nothing like that.” Lucas sat forward in his chair.

Sashor smiled sadly and stood. “But of course you’d say that.”





AVERY



Avery’s mom was parked in front of the television, surrounded by crumpled tissues. “The Homecoming,” as they were now calling it, was headline news with at least two networks promising “constant coverage.”

Sarah and Adam were being interviewed by a daytime anchor with hard-looking hair. On the bottom of the screen, it said, VICTIMS OF THE LEAVING DON’T REMEMBER WHERE THEY’VE BEEN. Avery couldn’t stop staring at them, actually crawled across the floor to sit crisscross-applesauce in front of the TV to see them better. They looked like aliens, like fake people, maybe because she’d never imagined she’d ever see them for real. It was like reading a book, then seeing the movie and not liking the casting. What did the others look like? Would they also seem beautiful and fake and all wrong and not at all what she’d pictured, if she’d even pictured them, and she wasn’t sure she had, not in years, anyway.

The anchor dude was midquestion when Avery was able to focus her attention on what they were talking about. “. . . but you’ll cooperate with the investigation?”

Sarah and Adam swapped a look, and Adam said, “We’ve spoken to the police and FBI, yes, but beyond that, we really feel like we’ve met our obligation, and we won’t be submitting to physicals or mental evaluations. We’re within our rights. We wish we could help, but we don’t remember anything. And we really want to get back to normal.”

The anchor said, “Another of the returned, Kristen Daley, told one of our reporters that she is going to try to be hypnotized to see if she can recall some lost memories. Are either of you interested in pursuing hypnosis?”

Adam said, “I wish my fellow victims well, and obviously we’re all coping differently, but I prefer to keep my intentions moving forward private.”

Sarah said, “Me, too.”

“And surely you’ve heard about Lucas’s father. How Lucas is considered a suspect in that investigation. Does that resonate with what you know about Lucas? Is he capable of violence like that?”

“I have no idea,” Adam said. “We believe we were all together, but I can’t speak to anyone’s character. If he ever did anything bad or good in the past, I have no memory of either.”

Avery wanted to reach through the TV screen and smack them both—the anchor, too. Why weren’t they talking about Max?

Also, were they a couple? They seemed to be. That happened pretty fast. Or had they been together before coming back? And if they remembered that, why not other things, too?

What if they are all lying?

The topic of the constant coverage then turned its focus to Will’s accident. Her dad had been the one to tell her just an hour or so ago, when he’d finally arrived home.

She still hadn’t been able to bring herself to call Ryan.

Or cry.

That probably said something about her as a person, but she wasn’t sure what.

She was, however, sure that her attempts to motivate her mom to get dressed or to take a shower or to eat or to do anything would not work. Dad was upstairs sleeping, claiming jet lag. The landline had been ringing off the hook all morning—nothing but news stations, if the first few calls were any indication—and so Avery had unplugged it.

Now, peeking out the front window, she saw two news vans, so she went upstairs to shower and get dressed, then went down and out the side door and up through her neighbor’s yard, over a prickly hedge, and out onto the next block.