Page 9 of The Pale Rider
I turned off the water and wrapped a towel around myself. When I stepped outside, Aeron had left another rucksack by the door. I peered inside, and there were girl clothes in there. He mentioned something about going to my old apartment, and I had fifty million questions about that.
It had to mean something. I meant something. He said I wasn’t bad, but I was involved in this somehow. Someone put me in that remote research facility, and I was in a coma for a reason. These four people wanted me in D.C. for something more than just killing the president. Aeron would not tell me until I had my memories back, and who knew when that would happen?
I wandered around the cabin until I found a bedroom that looked like Aeron wasn’t sleeping in. I dumped the clothes on the bed. What kind of person was I? I liked tattoos, but what kind of clothes did I like? I pawed through them to find out.
Lacy lingerie and leather if these clothes were any indication. Was there anything to sleep in? I just got the feeling I was the type of person who slept naked before, but during these times, that probably wasn’t safe anymore. You couldn’t have that much exposed flesh if a Rage Head broke into the house, and if humans broke in, you were just asking to get raped. Would I even have pajamas at my old apartment?
I pulled a lacy pair of boy shorts on and found some yoga pants. There were some T-shirts in there, but I had apparently altered them. Most of them were band T-shirts like I used to go to a lot of concerts. I’d cut the neck out of the shirts and altered the sleeve, so all the shirts ended up being off the shoulder.
I yanked a shirt over my head, and when it settled, I broke into goosebumps and got a flash. I was with a girl at a concert. It was the band on my T-shirt. I knew the girl. We were friends. Everyone called her Pokey, and I knew her from roller derby and softball. She played first base, and we worked well together as a team with me playing shortstop.
We loved this band. This was our fourth time seeing them. We saw them every time they came to California. Los Angeles. I lived in Los Angeles before. What was I doing in Washington State?
Just like that, the memory stopped. I went barging out of the bedroom to find Aeron. Maybe if I told him what I remembered, he’d tell me more about myself. I needed to know. It was killing me, not remembering anything. The lights outside of my bedroom were out.
Aeron’s bedroom door was shut, and his light was out. I realized he was probably sleeping. I knew he would be happy I remembered something, but he was also a grumpy fuck, and I didn’t know how he felt about his beauty sleep. I wasn’t about to go barging in his bedroom and find out either. What if he slept naked too? He was hot, and there was a part of me that wouldn’t mind getting a peek, but what if he was one of those prudish people that didn’t enjoy showing off?
I needed this. I needed Aeron for now. I would not risk it. I turned and went back to my bedroom to sleep.
Chapter 6
I’
m five years old. I’m at a sterile white facility. I don’t want to be there. Two people in lab coats are restraining me. A man is walking away from me, but I don’t want him to leave. All I can see is his back. He’s dressed in an expensive suit, and his shoes are just so shiny.
“Don’t leave me here!” I shriek.
He doesn’t turn back. I love this man, but it’s like he doesn’t love me, or he wouldn’t leave me or would come back and explain to me why I had to stay here.
“Please, come back!”
The men restraining me start to pull me towards a set of white doors. I fight. Pain is behind those doors. I’ve been before, and I don’t want to go back. I will fight to the death to not have to go back. I bite the man closest to me, but he’s so much bigger than I am.
He yanks his arm away from me and curses. He backhands my tiny face, and I crumple to the floor. The other man just leaves me there while I sob.
“Watch it. You know we are not to leave marks on this one.”
“Then, drug her. He could at least give us the courtesy of giving this brat something to calm her down before he brings her here. I’m tired of her fighting us.”
“This brat pays our salary, and he said no marks. Deal with it.”
“Then, drug her. If she bites me again, I will hurt her bad.”
I feel the pinch of the needle as it goes into my thigh. I’m still whimpering from the throbbing in my cheek as my vision goes black. I tell myself before I passed out that one day, I will be big enough to fight them off so they can’t do this to me again.
I bolted to a sitting position with tears streaming down my face and phantom pain in my cheek. Was that a nightmare, or did that really happen to me? Who was that man, and why was he paying people to hurt me? Did it have anything to do with the research facility I ended up in?
I had no idea what time it was, but there was no way I was going back to sleep now. I padded into the living room, and Aeron was already awake. He was in the kitchen cooking eggs. I peered over his shoulder.
“The eggs are powdered. It’s not fancy, but it’s hot. I’ll be using the last of the deer. I have turned the rest into jerky. We’ll be setting out tomorrow. We should make a supply run later today. Do you think you can handle yourself if I take you to town? It’s pretty basic. Stay quiet and bash the head of anything that comes close to you.”
“Yeah, I think I can manage that. I don’t think I’m a picky eater. I don’t care if the eggs are powdered. I’m sure it’ll taste great. We won’t have that luxury when we leave here, right?”
“Correct.”
“Need any help? I feel bad you are doing all this work, and I’m not helping at all.”
“The only thing you need to worry about right now is staying alive and getting your memories back.”
