Chapter 34 - Repressed Memories

Vicky got out of the car, looked at the captain, and walked towards her grandma. Her grandma hugged her.

"Where have you been? I didn't know you worked. And who's this handsome, young, gentleman?" Vicky's grandma asked. The captain smirked in the car. Vicky looked at the captain, and back at her grandma.

"What are you doing here?" Vicky asked.

"I came to see you. Are you not happy to see your grandma?" Vicky's grandma asked.

"Since when did you start wanting to see me?" Vicky asked. The captain looked at Vicky, and got out of the car.

"I always like to see how my granddaughter is doing," Vicky's grandma said.

"Ma'am, why don't you go inside. Vicky and I have to talk about something," the captain said opening the door to the house, with his key. Vicky kept face-palmed herself.

Vicky's grandmother went into the house, and the captain walked back to Vicky.

"'Ma'am'? Really?" Vicky asked looking at the captain.

"She's an old lady," the captain replied.

"An old lady, who'll kill you while you're sleeping… Why don't you stay here? She's taken a liking to you too," Vicky said.

"You need to stop being so rude," the captain said. Vicky stared at the captain.

"Pick me up tomorrow morning, and I'll show you why I'm rude," Vicky said.

"Don't do anything crazy," the captain said getting into his car, and driving off.

Vicky rolled her eyes, and went into the house. She spent the day in the house, her grandmother stayed with her.

The next morning, Vicky got ready, and the doorbell rang. She rushed to get the door. As she opened it excitedly, she saw the captain standing outside.

"Vicky, who is it?" Vicky's grandmother asked. Vicky looked at the captain, all her excitement had disappeared.

"Stay in the car I'll be back," Vicky said and closed the door. The captain stared at the door, and went to the car.

Vicky ran up to her room. She took a hooded-jacket, the length of her t-shirt, and locked the door to her room. She took the keys, and bolted out the front door. She got into the captain's car.

"Everything okay?" the captain asked, looking at Vicky's messy hair.

"Let's go," Vicky replied.

"You are so much like my daughter right now," the captain said driving off.

"What?" Vicky asked.

"The messy hair thing. She does that too," the captain replied.

"Is that why you called me 'princess' yesterday?" Vicky asked.

"Yes. You remind me of her," the captain replied.

"And I don't know what to say," Vicky mumbled.

"You don't have to say anything," the captain said, and continued "So where to?"

"Home," Vicky said.

"I thought you said you can't go home anymore," the captain said.

"I don't mean my house. I mean home, the place I used to live with my family," Vicky said.

"Didn't it get burned down?" the captain asked.

"Not entirely. Take a right here," Vicky replied. She was giving directions to the house.

After following Vicky's directions, they finally arrived at the house. It had a gate, which was locked.

"Unbelievable," the captain said looking at the burnt house, when Vicky got out to open the gate. The captain drove the car up the driveway.

The captain got out of the car. Vicky walked up to the captain.

"Come on let's go in," Vicky said, walking through the door frame, that previously was the front door.

"Are you sure it's safe?" the captain asked, following Vicky.

"Worst case scenario, we end up dead," Vicky said, and continued "That's not even the worst thing I could think of."

The captain looked around what was left of the house. The roof was burnt completely. The house was a single-story house, and the walls were made out of brick. Vicky blankly looked around the living room.

"Is this the first time that you're coming home, after the fire?" the captain asked.

"Yes," Vicky replied, and walked to the kitchen. The captain followed her.

Vicky stared at the ground. She could hear her parents, and Leo in her head.

"Vicky! Leo!" Vicky's mother's voice rang in Vicky's head.

"Is that petrol? Dad?" Vicky heard Leo's voice

"We are not needed here anymore," Vicky's mother's voice said.

Vicky started tearing up. The captain looked at Vicky, and tried to hug her.

"No," Vicky said crying, but allowed the captain to hug her.

Vicky had a flashback.

***Flashback***

Vicky woke up in her room, the house had not burnt down. Vicky was much younger.

The room was filled with smoke, Vicky was coughing from the smoke. Leo opened the door to the room.

"The house is on fire. We have to go," Leo said, he grabbed Vicky's hand and took her out of the room. The house was burning.

"Where's mom and dad?" Vicky asked. She looked into the room her parents were. She could see someone in the fire.

"MOM! DAD!" Leo shouted looking inside the room. The figure standing in the room fell to the ground.

"MOM! MOM! DAD!" Vicky shouted, staring at the room.

"Vicky we have to go. I saw grandma had made it out already," Leo said, dragging Vicky out of the house.

Once they got out of the house. Their grandma was nowhere to be found.

***Present Day***

Vicky started gasping for air. She felt like she was drowning.

"Are you okay? Calm down. Breathe. Breathe," the captain said, seating her down on the ground.

"Ca…n't…. br…. breathe…," Vicky said, gasping for air.

"You're having a panic attack. Just calm down," the captain said, and kept his hand on her head. Vicky took the captain's instructions, and tried to settle down.

"I… I just saw something," Vicky said, after she calmed down, and continued "My grandma was there… on the day of the fire… she had left the house in time... But I don't get it… Nothing makes sense. Leo told me they committed suicide. But… this felt real too. How is this possible?"

"It's a type of PTSD," the captain said, sitting next to Vicky, and continued "Your mind repressed the most painful memories. So you remember what Leo told you."

"But why would he lie to me. And then why go to my grandma to ask her to be our guardian, when she abandoned us inside a burning house?" Vicky asked.

"Maybe that's how he remembered it. About asking your grandma, did you go with him?" the captain asked.

"No one went to see her. The court said something about it… The memories of the weeks after the fire are still foggy," Vicky replied. She explained her memory to the captain.

"Have you tried going for therapy? It might help," the captain said.

"No… How do you know so much about stuff like this?" Vicky asked.

"War. Losing people you love," the captain replied.

Vicky, and the captain sat on the ground silently. They were both staring at the space in front of them.

"I wish I could go back to the days before the fire," Vicky said, and kept her head on the captain's shoulder.

"No one can ever go back kid… No one," the captain said.

They stayed there for a while, until Vicky got up, cleaned her tears, and looked at the captain.

"There's something I want to show you," Vicky said. She walked out of the house, from what was left of the behind door, with the captain following her.

Vicky led the captain to a shed behind the house. It was still standing firm, despite the lack of maintenance.

"It's ironic isn't it? The whole house burnt down, but the shed is still standing," Vicky said. The captain looked at Vicky silently, and then she continued "I'm sorry. Just got stuck in my head… again."

Vicky said, and unlocked the shed, with a key from her pocket. She opened the door to the shed. The captain looked astonished to see what was inside.

"Belonged to your father?" the captain asked, walking into the shed. Inside the shed, was an old car.

"Yeah," Vicky said, and continued "I thought maybe you could help me get it back to running condition."

"Nothing seems wrong with it. Why don't you start it up?" the captain said.

Vicky pulled out another key from her pocket. The key had a dog-tag as its key tag. She unlocked the car door, and got into the car. The outside of the car had dust collected on it, and the inside smelled musty. Vicky placed the key in the ignition, and turned the key. The car made a click sound, without starting.

"It won't start," Vicky said, after trying again.

"Open it up," the captain said. Vicky pulled the lever to open the bonnet of the car. The bonnet popped up, the captain opened it, and used the steel, bonnet prop which was fixed to the car, to keep the bonnet open.