They had eaten the delightfully light and sweet cake with hints of vanilla and orange in a tense silence. Elli had broken it only to ask where Samuel had gotten the cake and comment on how delicious it was. He had promised to let the chef responsible know, and the group had lapsed back into silence until only crumbs were left on their plates.

Her grandmother stood, once again collecting the plates and gave Trevor a nod before leaving the room. Elli frowned in confusion after her grandmother.

“Elli.” Trevor’s commanding voice pulled her attention to him.

“I’m going to ask you a very strange question, okay?”

“O…kay…” she glanced at the two men, uncomfortable with the sudden dark atmosphere in the room.

Trevor smiled gently. “Here’s the question: Since seeing Sam this morning, has anything seemed familiar to you? About him, me, or anything said tonight?”

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Elli, you can trust me, and you can trust Sam. I know he’s rough around the edges… but don’t be afraid, to be honest with us. After all, we’re terrible liars ourselves.”

Elli blinked. She knew that already. She knew she could trust Trevor. She’d always known, even before she started crushing on him. Sam, as Trevor called his friend—she glanced up and locked eyes with him. Although his expression was as guarded as it had been all day, she saw that question burning in those stormy eyes of his. Those eyes seemed to beg for her to acknowledge that she had recognized him when they first saw each other.

“Have I…. met you before?” Elli glanced back to Trevor. “Did I run into him around campus or something, and just don’t recall? Am I supposed to know him from somewhere?”

“Do you?” Trevor’s intense eyes paralyzed her. “Do you remember him from somewhere, Elli?”

She felt a chill drop down her spine. Her lips pushed the words out before she realized what she was saying. “From the red room.”

Everything in the room changed, the tension escalated so high that Elli felt pinned to the chair. Trevor’s eyes seemed to bore into her, searching for something, as if he could reach into her and pull out whatever it was he was.

“And me?” his voice held a bit of a gravel note as if he was having trouble asking the question. “Do you remember me, Elli?”

She frowned. “I see you almost every day, how would I not remember you? I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

“Memory loss.” He replied quietly, his gaze holding hers. “More specifically, your acute memory loss from five years ago.”

She didn’t have any problems with her memories, as far as she knew. It’s not like there were huge chunks of her life missing, she’d never been in an accident or hit her head or anything, and she couldn’t fathom what he was talking about.

“What I’m looking for,” his eyes seemed to shift into a shade more luminous that usual. “Is traces of the memories I erased. Memories of the first time we met.”

“What?” Elli balked.

“There’s no easy way to tell you this Elli, but we have all met before, under much the same dire circumstances we face now… and at the time, we thought an erasing the encounter and letting you go on with your normal life was the best course. Now, we have no choice but to bring you back with us, tonight.”

“What are you talking about?” she blinked, breaking the spell his eyes had on her.

“Grandma!” she jumped out of the chair and spun around to see her grandmother standing a few feet away, a sad and knowing look on her face.

“Sit back down, Elli.” Her grandmother shuffled over and coaxed her back into the chair.

“None of this is easy, especially for me—but we’ll do the best we can to ease you into it.”

Elli’s mind reeled as she allowed her grandmother to sit her back down, and then the older woman sat next to her with a giant sigh.

“Let’s start from now, and go back from there.” She gently patted Elli’s hand. “You may piece it all together as we go, you’re a strong girl.”

Elli stared blankly at her grandmother, trying to process what was happening. The men across from her were spouting insanity, and her grandmother was as calm as if they’d been discussing the latest TV shows or something.

“Elli, listen.” Her grandmother commanded her attention. “This morning I received a call from Mr. Bauros, Samuel. Samuel said he had some very urgent business he needed to discuss with you and me. That’s why I invited him for dinner…. He may be a stranger to you, but I have seen him and Trevor before. I had known them, when they were younger, even… but that doesn't matter now, what you need to know for now is that I invited Samuel over because you are in danger. More so than five years ago, which was the first time you met them.”

Elli glanced from her grandmother to the two men across the table.

“Yes, my dear, it’s true… you do have a small case of memory loss…. But I’ve given them permission to reverse it.”

“Reverse it?” Elli frowned, searching her grandmother’s face. “Grandma, what are you talking about? You can’t just forget and remember things like a switch—”

“Trevor can.” Her grandmother placed her hands on Elli’s cheeks. “Elli... Trevor can. He can erase memories and retrieve them as quickly as you can open a door.”

Her mind went blank.

“Try to remember, my dear, remember that night on your eighteenth birthday. That’s all he needs. The rest of your questions will be answered, and you’ll finally know what this reoccurring dream of yours means.”

“Grandma….” Elli frowned, her mind trying to wrap around her words. “You’re talking crazy.”

“Stubborn as ever,” Samuel growled. “Look, Elli. Trevor and I—“

“Let’s try a different tactic.” Trevor interrupted. “Elli, would you like me to show you what we’re talking about? That might make things easier for you to accept.”

“Show me…” she frowned. “Show me how?”

“Give me your hand.” Trevor smiled.

‘And I’ll do the rest.’

Elli blinked. It had sounded like a whisper, close to her ear, but Trevor hadn’t moved from the other side of the table, his hand still waiting patiently. She surveyed the long fingers, and reached out, touching his smooth palm.

“Sam.” Trevor offered the man his other hand.

“Oh no.” Samuel shook his head “We’re not doing that.”

“Sam,” Trevor repeated, a little more insistent.

Samuel glanced helplessly at Elli’s grandmother.

“I suggest you filter them well, Samuel.” She grinned a terrible grin. “There are several things I don’t want getting into my granddaughter’s head, understand?”

He swallowed, then placed his hand over Elli’s. She blinked, surprised at the textural difference of the warm, calloused palm over her knuckles and the smooth hand under her fingers.

“Good.” Trevor placed his hand over Samuel’s. “Now Elli, this is the part where I apologize, because after this, well, I’m afraid you much not like us much.”

Her mouth had gone dry. “A-apologize for what, exactly?”

Trevor smiled at her sadly.

‘For ruining our date.’ There it was again, that impossibly near whisper without his lips moving.

Elli opened her mouth to ask how he was doing that, and the world blurred, fading to black.