Twisted Returns

"What is it, Charles? What do you remember?"

"It's nothing big... but I remember something about a necklace."

At the word necklace, my hands fly to my neck. My fingers close around two chains. The communicator necklace, and the Dana/Diana necklace.

"What about a necklace?" Isabel asks. Everyone else is silent.

"That's the thing," he says. "I don't really remember."

"I remember those matching necklaces you two had," Katie says. "Is that what you mean?"

"I think so..."

"We all remember that," the bald man says, "but how is it relevant at all? It was just a couple thing."

"Diana had a special necklace, though," Alina says. "It had communications in it, along with other things."

"So what if it was stolen? Would they have been able to breach security?"

"No. We would have deactivated the necklace. And we know for a fact that it wasn't stolen."

"I have this feeling that a necklace has something to do with this," Dean says. "I don't know why. But I just know."

"What about you, Diana?" Isabel asks. "Do you feel as if the necklace is important?"

"I, uh..." I get a tugging feeling that Dean is right. But I don't know if it's actually true, or if I just want to believe it. If I just want to get the whole thing solved already. "I don't know."

"I remember something else too," Dean says, and all the attention is on him. "I remember the day Diana gave me the necklace along with a whispered secret."

All eyes turn to me. "I still don't know," I tell them.

"Did you ever break the promise, tell someone else?" Katie asks.

He shakes his head. "I never would have done that to her. And I'm not just saying it. I mean it."

"You don't have to lie for me," I murmur.

"I'm not. I honestly never told someone, whatever it was."

"Do you feel as if this secret plays a big part in the disaster?" Alina asks.

"It might." He shrugs. "But I don't know. I think so, but I could be wrong."

"I thought they would have their memories back by this point, Alina," Isabel says.

"I thought they would. But I don't know. It was the first time a spell like this has ever been attempted. Maybe it's normal."

"Or something is blocking their memories," Amber adds.

The thought of that frightens me. Could someone really be messing with my mind, blocking a part of me from myself? Or is it just my fault that I can't remember?

"Marigold, Christopher," Isabel says, "you both have intact memories. Did you ever notice anything going on, or even know the secret?" It's interesting how she has that power over my parents, even though they are higher up than her.

"Nothing suspicious," my mother says, and my father agrees. "If there was, I would have done something about it already."

Isabel sighs. "Well, I guess the meeting will end here. We did learn one thing, though."

"What would that be?" asks a high pitched voice.

"It's that we have to find out that secret."

----

"I'm dying to know."

"It was your secret," Dean says, "shouldn't you know?"

"As I recall, you knew it too," I retort. "Shouldn't you know?"

"I guess you're right," he admits. "But what are we going to do about it?"

It's always we. What are we going to do next? Or how do we fix this? He's always with me, which gets the rumors starting again. And sometimes I get tired of him being ever present. I know I should be grateful, though. Most of the time, I am. He's all I have left.

"I want to figure this out. I need to. We need to do something to... jog our memories."

"What do you suggest?"

"I don't know. Read or something?"

"I've read the books in the Library," Dean says. "Not all of them, obviously. But I found out that most of them are the same things over and over again, and they didn't help me remember anything. Besides, if we had a secret, it wouldn't be there."

"If it was a well kept secret, I don't think it would be written anywhere."

"Maybe not the secret itself, but at least something that will remind us of it."

"I'm sure there's totally a book all about Diana Crystal's necklaces," I say, with sarcasm. "But I think I know where to look."

"Where would that be?"

"Marigold's study."

----

"Hey, look at this," Dean says, pointing to the navy DIANA CRYSTAL book. He reaches for it. "Maybe it has everything we need to know in it."

"That's not-" I start to say, but the book is already in his hands and the shelf is already sliding to the right.

"What's this?" He reaches for the doorknob. "It's locked..."

I hesitate, remembering what had happened last time I was here. It gives me the chills. Maybe this place is jinxed. But I realize that I'm just being stupid. I reach for the doorknob, it freezes me, and the door unlocks.

I see the book, still sitting on its podium. I drift towards it. Forbidden Legends. If I had a secret, it would probably be in here.

"What is it? What is this room?"

"This is the book... And I don't know why this room is hidden like this. I don't think we should be here, but..."

I hesitantly place my hand on the cover of the book. No alarm sounds. I flip the cover and turn to the title page.

"Wonder what this could be?" Dean says.

Suddenly, a voice from behind answers us. "It's the story of how Diana Crystal came to be."