The Girl on Fire

Maurice Fortin was sitting in his Study with a letter on his one hand and resting his head on the other. He received a letter from the Court stating the date and time of the hearing of Judy's case. The hearing was going to take place after three days at 11 AM.

He sighed and took off his study glasses. "This kid is raising my Blood Pressure a lot these days." Then he got up and went to see if his daughter was in her room or not. He knocked the door and waited for a minute but there was no answer. Judy was inside the room but was just ignoring the knock like she always would.

Maurice knocked the door again while calling his daughter's name. "Judy, open the door. I have something to discuss with you." Judy's voice came from inside the room, "But I don't want to discuss anything right now. Just leave me alone."

Maurice had already gotten used to his daughter's rudeness so he kept on talking, "This is important. It is regarding the case that Alexis Emerson had filed against you."

As soon as Judy heard about Alexis's name she flung the door open and stood right at the door, "What about it?"

Rather than being upset or defensive, Judy had excitement in her eyes. Maurice found it unusual because a few days ago when she first heard that a case was filed against her, she was angry and was cursing everyone in her sight. But now he felt like his daughter was looking forward to the hearing.

Maurice was lost in his thoughts and was standing still in front of Judy. Judy waved her hand in front of Maurice's eyes and asked again, "Dad, what did you want to discuss?"

Maurice's attention returned back to Judy and then he said, "Rather than going through the Court hearing, I was thinking of applying for Mediation. What do you think?"

Judy lifted her brows and asked, "What is Mediation?"

"It is a conciliation method where plaintiff and defendant, Miss Alexis and you, will sit together to reach to an agreement of some kind. For example, you two might agree not to be within 50 meters of each other from now on. You don't have to worry much about it, you two won't be alone; there will be a mediator and your lawyers." Maurice looked at his daughter with hopeful eyes. He did not want Judy to go through harsh punishment.

Judy didn't like the idea of Mediation when her father gave the example. She did not want to stay away from Alexis for the rest of her life. Not when she had promised to protect her from any harm. "I would rather go through the punishment. I have done wrong and I should pay for it." Then she slammed the door on her father's face.

Maurice thought, "What is wrong with her? And since when did she start to care about right and wrong?" He sighed and left with disappointment.

Back at Alexis's room, Natalia was sitting quietly in the corner of the room looking at Alexis who was now starting to pace back and forth.

Alexis stopped all of a sudden in the middle of the room and stared at Natalia. "Nat, what do you think happened to me back there? In P-97 Street?"

Natalia spoke very slowly and softly so as not to make Alexis angry again, "When I hear that Street name and you together, the only person I can link it with is Judy." As soon as Alexis heard Judy's name her head began to spin. She started to see pieces of her memories; this time they were longer than before.

Natalia continued to speak on the background, "She almost always used to wait for you in that Street. And you were found unconscious on that same Street. I think she somehow ran out of the jail. She must have done something to you there. I am sorry for not being there with you." However, Alexis was unable to focus on what Natalia was saying as her mind started to play back her memories.

Alexis saw a young lady smiling at her and picking her up; she saw a child offering her a doughnut; she saw a beautiful lady, with a pair of violet eyes, leaning towards her; she saw Judy walking up to her and beating her. She started to remember everything vividly, as if those memories were very fresh.

Alexis held her hair with both of her hands and started to scream because of the excruciating pain that she was feeling in her head. Alexis was starting to glow with fire again. Tears were streaming down from her eyes and down her red cheeks. She was feeling each and every kind of emotion as her mind started to play the buried memories of her.

Natalia was panicking, seeing Alexis in such state. She approached Alexis and tried to hold her but she could not bring herself to touch Alexis fearing that she might catch fire. "Lexi, what is happening to you? Do I need to call an ambulance?" But Alexis wasn't hearing anything that Natalia was saying. After screaming for a while Alexis collapsed down on the floor.

Natalia was in great shock. She could not think of anything for a while. She didn't even realize that tears were rolling down from her cheeks. Then she went on to check on Alexis who was now lying on the floor. She brought her finger in front of Alexis's nose to check if she was breathing. She was.

Natalia shook her friend in the hope that she will wake up. "Alexis. Alexis. Please wake up. Please." Even though Alexis's eyes were closed, Natalia saw that Alexis was moving her eyes when she called her. She looked around and she saw a glass of water on the table. She went to grab that glass and then came back to Alexis. "Alexis, wake up please." Natalia sprinkled some water on Alexis's face.

Alexis was hearing someone calling her name. She started to flutter her eyes and tried to open them. She felt cold water all over her face and spoke softly, "Stop! It's cold."

Natalia pulled Alexis from the floor and hugged her tightly. She was glad that her friend woke up and she started to cry with tears of happiness. "Why do you scare me so much these days? Don't you dare faint in front of me ever again." Natalia was holding Alexis very tightly and was not letting her go. Alexis grunted, "Relax Nat, you're squeezing me. I am alright. You can let me go now."

Natalia laughed, "I'm sorry" and released Alexis from her tight grasp. "What happened to you?" Natalia was looking at Alexis with her curious dark brown eyes.

Alexis took a deep breath. Her eyes were glistening with tears. She didn't know whether she was happy or sad. She looked into Natalia's eyes and replied, "I remember everything Nat. Everything." She had a hint of pain in her voice when she said that.

"You remember what happened to you on that Street?" Natalia asked with unfaltering curiosity.

"Yes. And everything else." Alexis bit her pink lips and contemplated how to put it in words. Natalia was starting to get confused now, "What do you mean by everything else? You had forgotten something more?"

"I don't know how to put this… I remember everything that happened to mean since birth. I even remember the first day of my life." Alexis judged Natalia's expression but at this point nothing seemed to surprise Natalia, not anymore. So Alexis continued speaking, "I remember a nurse cleaning me and bringing me to my mom. Mom was really happy to see me. And I remember so much more. I think I finally have every piece of the puzzle, except one. But it is enough to figure out why these weird things happened to me."

Natalia crossed her legs and sat comfortably on the floor, "Okay, go on. I'm all ears. If I don't find out soon enough I think I'll die out of curiosity."

Alexis hummed for some time because she didn't know where to start from. After a while she began to put her thoughts into words, "Umm… let's start with Judy first. I think I know why she was always after me. She used to be my best friend in the Kindergarten level."

Natalia was quite protective of her position as best friend of Alexis. And when she heard that there was another best friend than her, and that also someone whom she hated from her core, she lost it. "What? Judy? Your best friend?"

"Yes, I think she was pissed off with me or something because I didn't recognize her a few years back. The bullying started after that." Alexis was trying her best to connect the dots now that she finally remembered everything.

Natalia was very frustrated when Alexis tried to justify why Judy was bullying her. "First of all, nobody has the right to bully anyone, whatever the reason is. And secondly, how would anyone still remember friends from their Kindergarten level? Hell, I don't even remember anyone from my primary school, except you of course."

"Exactly! People tend to remember their first best friends, even though it is just their name or a single glimpse of them. Even if they don't have memory of them at all, they at least have photos with them. But I had none." Alexis was trying to link it with another important piece of her puzzle.

Alexis felt like something was burning inside of her. This was the first time she felt so enraged. "I didn't have memory of so many things, important things, which happened in my life because someone deliberately blocked them."

Natalia got very cautious because she saw Alexis was starting to get angry. And by now she knew that Alexis would literally be on fire if she got angry. "Who would do such a thing to you?"

"My mother."