02

Chapter 1

FOUNDLING

The man towered over me, the pouring rain obscured his face, he became only a shadow. His fist crashed into my fractured skull, the light was blinding. His familiarity faded. The pain from his blows disappeared and I sank into the quiet.

It was finally over. I could rest in peace.

The more I savored the bright light the less I remembered why I was running. The fear of the man who had been stalking me vanished into oblivion.

***

Bright green flashed before my eyes, like the long grass after a spring rain. Such a lovely vivid color in between the phases of nothingness. A warmth embraced me, movement, but it was gone too fast, slipping through my fingers like blades. I yearned to see the green, a whisper of safety before the darkness swallowed me whole.

***

My eyelids were heavy and used all of my strength and concentration to crack open.

The stench dragged me back to consciousness. Stale alcohol, sour garbage, and the tang of urine. My eyes watered. The green was gone and left only the darkness to surround me.

But there was no me.

No cold, wet grass beneath me. No fear. No past. No pain.

I tried to speak, but my lips wouldn't move.

I tried to scream, but I had no voice.

The stench overpowered me as a woman came closer. I shrank away from the reek of yellow-stained, crumbling teeth. Grimy hands reached for my throat. I wanted to fight, wanted to push her away but I was nothing.

She pulled at the silver chain around my neck. A sharp sting of electricity snapped against her fingers, like touching an old TV screen. "Ouch." She stepped back shaking her hands.

My fingers twitched, stretched. I lifted a trembling hand but she didn't notice.

She glanced around, left briefly. When she returned, she had a stick.

The splinters scraped my chest as she dragged it beneath the chain, wedging it under. The chain pulled tight, cutting into the back of my neck before snapping free.

The loss filled my chest. I screamed, but no one heard me.

She held my necklace up to the flickering street lamp before shoving it in her pocket. The old street light buzzed, dimmed and went out.

A glow emanated in her palm. She punched her finger onto the surface and held the light to her ear. "There's a dead body by the old river outlet." Her voice was casual, like this was an everyday occurrence for her. She hung up quickly and vanished from my view.

Bright spots danced in the darkness. My vision swirled.

Whispers of a woman's voice chanted in the dark recesses of my brain.

A spell.

A string of words meant to protect, to keep hidden.

Now severed. Like my memories.

The voice grew louder. Louder. Until it shattered into a deafening silence.

Chapter 2

Happy Birthday

3 Months Later...

I poked at the hospital food, I would miss the quiet predictability of the hospital but I would not miss the food. I was mostly left to myself. Unless I was working with Dr. Ortega, or had other psychology appointments. The cops didn't come as frequently anymore and the local news had stopped trying to get an interview.

A plate of steaming food was pushed toward me across the table. Dr. Ortega sat across from me at the small table in my room. She was an older woman, near retirement but as healthy as she looked I could see the weariness in the corner of her eyes. "Eat, Mija. I know there's a world-famous Chef at the Moonlit Mountain Lodge but I doubt he makes tortillas by hand." She laughed.

I smiled and moved the hospital tray to the table next to the bed before tearing a piece of tortilla and pinching some of the rice with it. I couldn't remember if I had tasted anything as delicious before my accident but I doubted it. Dr. Ortega's husband had cooked for her and I was grateful she shared with me more frequently than not.

She watched me eat, but seemed distracted. I had seen that look before. Usually when she had a new patient, or when we tried to remember my past. Dr. Ortega was using new techniques she had developed, to try and help me remember. She was an expert in Amnesia and traumatic brain injuries, but she was so much more than that to me. She brought me clothes and shoes, claiming I was the same size as her mother and that it wasn't a problem, they liked being able to help. She had become like a mother to me. Worried for me, helped me with my case and talked to the police to try and figure out who had done this to me.

I could remember everything that happened to me after my three weeks in a coma but my life before that was unknown to me. The reason I ended up black and blue, beaten almost to death, was a mystery that I played over and over in my head.

"How are the headaches?" She asked as she shuffled through my medical folder.

"Better. Less frequent." I shrugged. Only because I stopped trying so hard to remember. Stopped trying so hard to dig into my dreams and decipher the meaning of every little thing.

She looked at me. "The nightmares?"

I glanced out the window. "Same."

"I wish we had more time to explore them. I still believe they hold the key to unlocking some of your memories." She shuffled to the front of my folder and scanned over the page.

I knew well enough she had the folder memorized. "I don't know why you keep reading that. I was found, naked, bloody and beaten. You practically raised me from the dead. There isn't anything new in there."

She closed the folder and slid it back into her briefcase. "We're missing something. There has to be a clue to who you are, who could do something like that to you? People don't just fall out of the sky." She looked out the window. "It's a miracle you've recovered like you have. I know only a few weeks more and we could unlock your past-" Her watch beeped, she glanced at it and pressed a button to stop the sound.

"State insurance only covers so much." I shrugged again. "I'm lucky enough that I got to have you as my Doctor." Leaving the hospital made me nervous. It was safe here. Outside these walls I had no idea what was waiting for me. Was whoever did this to me still out there? Were they looking for me?

She sighed and reached her hands to me, grabbing them in hers, she smiled. "At least I'll know you're safe with my brother at that Lodge of his. He'll keep an eye on you until you get back on your feet." She squeezed again before reaching into her briefcase and pulling out a large envelope. "Your documents have come in. New ID, Birth Certificate, Social Security Card. All the things you'll need." She slid it across the table to me. "And a going away gift." She handed me a bag with Happy Birthday written on the outside.

I laughed and pulled out the pink tissue paper. I brought out a leather purse, a black rooster was tooled on the front.

"It made me think of you." She smiled.

"Thank you." I wasn't sure what she meant by that but was appreciative. I put it on.

"Are you ready? I can take you to the train station."

I grabbed the small suitcase I had packed, also a gift from Dr. Ortega. I placed the envelope in the outside pocket and looked around the small hospital room. I had only spent a couple of months here, but it was the only home I knew. The only bed I could remember sleeping in.

Dr. Ortega grabbed my hand. "This will be good for you. Living a normal life will hopefully bring back some of your memories. You have a chance to start new, to be whoever you want to be." She squeezed my hand. "A lot of people would pay good money for that."

I nodded and we walked out of the room for the last time.