I stood in front of an abandoned cabin. My memories flooded me to the point where I no longer saw the reality in front of me. Instead of the broken frames and smashed windows, I saw a luxurious cabin radiating a faint but warm yellow light contrasting the dark night sky. Instead of the dirty green moss and sticky spider webs, I saw glossy wooden paint and strung on fairy lights. Instead of the dried up blood stains and pieces of human bones, I saw a gathering of people who loved and supported each other. A gathering of people who considered each other family and partied like it was Christmas every day.

I hadn’t noticed a tear slipped down my face until Rylan kissed it away. He held me in his arms like always and I felt warm and safe like always. We stayed there in silence until we both heard a soft crackling of leaves. We never let our guard down but we knew who it was so we didn’t bother looking at who had arrived.

“Misera…”

Rylan let me go but still held my hand.

“Fein,” I began. “What happened?”

“Nice to see you again Rylan.”

Rylan didn’t answer. I didn’t repeat my question. Silence washed over the three of us.

Sighing, Fein began. “Ingline is alive. She came to me about a month ago. Though then I didn’t know who she was. We… had a run in. I was hiking in Fairy Forest at night. Ever since I lost my memories three years ago, I’ve gotten this habit of just walking through the forest. If I didn’t, I felt as if I couldn’t calm down. I guess now I knew why…”

“Anyways, she was being chased… by NERAL. She managed to fend them off and came across me as she was just about to pass out. When she saw me, she looked very relieved which I found it hard to believe since I was sure I’ve never seen her before. But I took care of her injuries. I didn’t know why but I just felt like I had done this before. I had wanted to ask her some questions but she disappeared the next morning.”

“We began to meet after that. At first I thought it was just a coincidence and then I thought it was fate that brought us together. You know, like a fairy tale love story. But then the more time I spent with her, this feeling of déjà vu became stronger and stronger. It got to the point where I felt like I was missing someone and that person was related to her but wasn’t her. And finally a week ago, she came to with a nasty cut on her arm. I was helping her bandage it up when I called her Misera.”

“I looked at her and apologized, not even knowing where I got the name from. But when I saw her face twist into ugly jealousy, the memories started coming back. Compared to you, my skills may not be much but I take pride in being an actor. I was certain she didn’t realize anything. She began faking weakness and left not shortly after. After three days, my memories all came back. That’s when I made a request to you.”

“When my memories came back, I finally understood everything. The first thing I felt was that I wanted you back. But I’ve seen the news. I saw pictures of your wedding. I knew I was too late. Actually, I already knew I had no more chances. It was just better to comfort myself by saying I was three years too late then to be reminded that I had lost my chance every time I see the scar of an x on my shoulder…”

Fein took a deep breath and finally made eye contact with me.

“I actually don’t know what I want by meeting with you. I could’ve just sent you a message that Ingline was alive. I could’ve moved on like I had never gotten my memories back. But I just felt like I needed to see you one last time.”

Fein turned to Rylan and mocked, “And you said I had nothing to worry about.”

“You left. So you really didn’t have to worry about it,” Rylan replied.

Giving a small self-deprecating chuckle, Fein looked at me and asked, “Can you kill me?”

After a brief silence, I asked, “Why?”

Fein looked up at the nearly full moon. “I thought I could get closure meeting you. That this guilt from betraying you would start to heal. But now that I’ve met you, I know I can’t escape. It’s why you erased my memories in the first place right? I’m weak. Mentally, physically, socially. I was always weaker than you. I couldn’t support you. I couldn’t stay by your side when you needed me most. I was a mess. Ha... I still am a mess.”

“So please… Just k –”

“What right do you have to ask me to kill you?” I interrupted him.

“Heh… You’re right. I don’t…”

“Just tell me about Ingline and stop wasting our time. Whether you live or die is no longer my business. Just –”

“Replace Ingline,” Rylan interrupted me.