The sun shone bright on my face. It was blinding like the flash of a camera or like staring at a light bulb. I didn't know anything except for my name, Char Porter. No, that wasn't quite right. I racked my brain for the answer and it appeared in my head like magic. My name was Charlotte Marie Porter but I was usually called Char. By who I had no idea. But I felt like who ever it was I was extremely close with them. There was a painful pounding in my head and a painful numbness in various parts of my body but regardless I tried to push myself up. I felt cool metal under my hand. I realized what I had thought was the sun was a bright light positioned above my head instead. I looked down and saw I was lying on an operating table in the middle of some sort of hospital room. The walls were a pale pink with a pattern of flowers along the top and bottom.
Where was I? I had never seen anything like this before, actually, I don't remember anything I had seen before… I slowly slid to the edge of the table. My left foot touched the floor first. The floor was cold and made me want to quickly pull it back. Instead I set my right foot down and pushed myself off the table. My legs nearly gave out under me. How long had I been here for? There was a dull throbbing in my left ankle. I looked down and saw it had been wrapped in tensor bandages. I couldn't remember when or why, but I knew I had felt much more pain than this.
I persevered on looking for any answers to whom I was and why I was here. I moved to the wooden door in the corner of the room. The brass handle was strangely warm in contrast to everything else. I realized that people must have been coming in and out of here often and recently for the handle to be warm. The door swung outwards and I took a step into the hall which was much dimmer lit than the previous room. A dark skinned girl with dark brown dreadlocks noticed me and ran down the hallway. Behind her was a studious looking blonde boy. He was gorgeous with blonde hair, which was spiked in the front, and endless blue eyes. He had clear muscles and looked like he worked out a lot. The look in his eyes said he could care less if I was here or not.
"What are you doing out of bed! You should be resting!" The girl said as she ran towards me. As she came closer I felt like I recognized her face. The image hit me without warning.
I felt pain in every part of my body. I was gasping for air, barely able to breath. The sand under me burned in the huge cuts I could feel on my back.
"Derek! There's a person here! And she's hurt!" the owner of the voice ran over. "Good! She's alive! Let's build her a stretcher and take her back to sky force."
"Is that a good idea? What if she's one of them?" The next voice, the one who must be Derek replied.
"We can't simply leave her here to die!" The girl told him.
"Yes we can. We don't know if we can trust her or not." Derek told her forcefully.
By the girls reply she was unfazed by his command. "We don't choose who we trust, Justice does."
I forced my eyes open and saw the faces of my saviors. The image was short lived and I fell unconscious quickly after.
The faces of the people in front of me were the same as the ones from the beach. I stared at them in shock wondering why they saved me. If I had been in their position I would have left me. Why rescue a random girl on the beach when, from what they said, they weren't in position to be overly trusting.
The girl grabbed my arm and tried pulling me back to the infirmary. I shrugged her hand off my arm.
"I'm fine really. I don't need to sleep more." I told her.
"But-" she started her objections but the blonde boy Derek, if I remembered correctly, cut her off.
"But nothing, Selena. She's been sleeping for over a week. She looks pretty healed and can walk so that's a good sign." He told her.
I smiled my thanks at him and he just kept his same emotionless look on his face.
Selena groaned, clearly she didn't like being cut-off. "Fine. Let's bring her to Justice then."
Derek nodded. "Sounds good," He told her and then turned to me. "Follow me." He began to walk and I followed him through the twisting hallways until we got to a huge control room. Computers hummed and various lights flashed.
"Well, what do we have here?" An older man asked. He had a flight suit and a pair of sunglasses on. He had a neatly trimmed white beard that was accompanied by a bushy pair of white eyebrows. I couldn't tell if he dyed them that color or his hair was turning white fast since he didn't look much more than 50.
"My name's Charlotte, but other than that I'm not really sure either. The only thing I remember from before now is Selena and Derek finding me on the beach."
The older man, who must be Justice eyed me carefully and another boy who was lounging in a desk chair spoke up.
"Charlotte? Bloody Hell! I've been calling you Cash this whole time!" He told me in a strong British accent. He pushed his shaggy hair out of his eyes and gave me a crooked grin, "I'm Finn." Justice ignored him and carried on.
"Well Charlotte, you've been in a bad crash so it's understandable that you don't remember anything. I suspect your memory may come back over time. For now, I'd like to see what you could do in the air. Are you ready to get in the cockpit again?"
I was more than ready I was thrilled. I couldn't remember ever learning to fly, but I knew that before the crash flying was a huge part of my life.
"Of course!" I told him.
Justice smiled, seeming happy about my enthusiasm. He turned to the ragged looking man in building gear. "Gabby, do you have a plane to spare?"
Gabby grinned, "I could spare the Expertus for a bit." The crowd that had formed laughed. The plane must be horrible.
"Is it sky worthy?" Justice asked.
Gabby shrugged, "It's got two wings and the wheels ain't flat."
Justice smiled, "Perfect. Finn, you and Summer will be going up with her for some training." He turned to me. "It's time to see what you can do."