The date says it was taken six years ago.
Is the scarred one Nathaniel? Poor guy.
I glance around the room. A poster of a comic book monster on the wall, the laptop wallpaper; suddenly it all makes sense. I exhale. Did he think of himself as amonsterbecause of how he looked?
An immediate thought hits me: what about the people who could be mistaken for monsters because of what they’re hiding inside… their power? Me? It’s kind of poetic that I ended up in this room.
Eventually, I curl up in bed, tired and dazed. For a while I lie there thinking about what his life must have been like before I drift off to sleep…
…only to wake up around seven in the morning, groggy and disoriented.
And it’s back…
Fuck.
Where am I?
What happened to me?
Who am I?
Goddammit! Was I experiencing this before? It feels familiar, like another ‘reset’ just happened.
For a moment I struggle to remember, but nothing comes. No answers. Just this vague sense that it’s not the first time my amnesia has resurfaced. The harder I push to remember, the more my mind blanks out. I’m so fucking lost.
Frustrated, I look around the room that feels both alien and strangely familiar.
The monster poster on the wall seems to mockingly stare right at me. And there’s no nest here.
Something pulls me toward the small balcony behind the glass door. A faraway, quiet melody seeps through the window.
I jump out of bed and go to it. The moment I open the door and peek outside, I recognize that it’s a harmonica playing.
A soft, silver melody floats in the air and my head starts to clear a little. I lean on the banister and look down, searching for the source.
A blond man sits in a rattan chair by the pool, playing a tune that just opens something in me. Like a dam letting a flood through.
Blinking, I feel the fog lift.
Recognition comes.
It’s Snow.
And I’m at the Nolans’ estate. Yes. I was rescued from a mafia fortress where they drugged me to distort my memory and exploit my power.
Shit.
Everything comes back in a flash, and I almost sway under the weight of it all. If not for the banister, I’d probably drop to my knees.
How could I forget again?
My brain really isfried!
My short-term memory is ruined.
But there’s one person who knew I would be in trouble again.
My eyes meet Snow’s.
