Page 13 of Devil in Disguise

Danny’s gaze held mine, searching for any flicker of dishonesty. After a moment, he sighed, the weight of his confusion settling over him. “I want to believe you,” he mumbled. “But everything feels so... empty.”

I sat beside him, letting the silence wash over us. “It’s going to take time,” I replied. “Memories aren’t always easy to reclaim, but they aren’t lost forever.”

He looked out the window, the evening light casting shadows across his face. “I just wish I could remember what it was like before all this,” he admitted, almost to himself.

“You will,” I promised, feeling the conviction in my words. “And when you do, you’ll realize how strong you are. This isn’t the end, Danny. It’s just the beginning of something new.”

Danny’s lips curved into a hesitant smile, a fragile glimmer of hope breaking through his sorrow. “I feel like I should know you, but I’ve never seen you before. How did we meet?”

Smiling, I replied, “We met at college when you attended MIT.”

“Yeah right,” Danny scoffed. “Ain’t no way the club would let me go there.”

Smirking, I added, “From my understanding, the club voted, giving you no choice. Most of the Tennessee Club showed up to help you move in. Even Reaper was there.”

Danny frowned. “Sounds like them, giving me no choice. So, we’re friends.”

I slowly nodded. “Yes. You are my best friend.”

Laying his head back on his pillow, I watched while he closed his eyes and sighed.

“I hate not remembering shit. I feel like I should be doing something important, but I can’t remember what it is. It’s like everything is all messed up in my head. Like I’m hungover or something. It’s all fuzzy.”

I sat with him until he dozed off.

“Dante?”

Looking over toward the door, I saw Dr. Robinette standing there. Getting up, I double checked on Danny to make sure he was sleeping before stepping out into the hallway to find Torment and Malice waiting.

“What’s up?” I cautiously asked as Dr. Robinette took the lead.

“Dante, I’ve finished running all Danny’s tests. There is no easy way to say this, so I’m just gonna say it. Danny has dissociative amnesia.”

“Is that bad?”

Dr. Robinette looked over at Malice, who cursed as Torment spoke up. “It’s about as bad as it can get, Intern. Dissociative amnesia is not like forgetting where you left your keys or forgetting someone you met once or twice. Symptoms can range from forgetting personal information, like your own name and address, to blocking out specifictraumatic events or even the events of one’s entire life. A person with dissociative amnesia may not remember friends, family members or coworkers. When a person with generalized dissociative amnesia forgets everything about themselves and their life, they generally move to a new location and establish a newidentitybut, when they remember, they don’t know how they got there or why they have no identification. Most cases of dissociative amnesia are temporary, but memory gaps can last anywhere from a few minutes to an entire lifetime. Those with dissociative amnesia are also at a greater risk ofself-injuryand suicide.”

“So, how do we help Danny?”

“That’s just it, Dante, we can’t until we know what caused it,” Malice stated.

“He was in a building when it exploded. We know what caused it.”

Malice shook his head as Dr. Robinette explained, “No, the explosion was secondary, a mask if you will. Dissociative amnesia is caused by extreme stress due to trauma and or abuse.”

“What are you saying?”

“We’re saying that something happened in the fucking building to cause Sypher’s amnesia and until we figure out what that bitch did to him, we can’t help him.”

“Well, I don’t know if any of you have noticed, but Danny doesn’t remember shit. There has to be someone who can help him.”

“There is, but he’s gone off the radar.”

“Who?”

“There’s a brother in Disturbed. A Dr. Stephen Thomas—Logic. He generally works with patients that suffer from traumatic disorders. He’s the best in his field and board-certified in three specialties, but we can’t get ahold of him.”

“What about you two?”

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