My eyelids fluttered open, feeling slightly sticky with sleep. Rubbing my eyes I sat up in bed and looked over my surroundings.
The small off-white room seemed familiar, the strong smell of chemicals seemed acquainted to my nose.
A small, squared object sat on the wooden desk beside me and I picked it up. The surface was cold and smooth on my fingers. At first I thought it was a picture, but wasn't until I blinked that I realized it wasn't, it was a mirror.
I stared in awe at my light, stylish, shoulder-length blonde/brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. I sat there, taking in all my features that were so alien to me.
I tried to think back to the last thing I could remember, but my mind was blank, empty. Who was I?
I slid out of the bed and walked over to a wall which had small notes taped over it. I reached out to touch the note closest to me when the sun flickered in my eye. I looked at my hand to see a golden ring was glistening in the sun. Was that what I thought it was?
I put the idea out of my head and looked back at the notes. Each note read something different, not all the hand writing was the same.
Your name is Maximum Ride.
Your favourite colour is blue.
You're 24 years old.
You love adventures and being outside.
Your favourite movie is Stardust.
Catch a falling star, Max.
"Reading those always did bring a smile to your face" a deep voice said from behind me and I swung around, hands out to defend myself. Did I even know how to fight?
"It's ok Max. I'm a friend" the man said, his hands up in surrender.
"Who are you?" I asked, backing away, towards my bed.
"My name is Fang" he said softly and I sat down. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a small light of familiarity went off.
"What's going on?" I asked. He sat down beside me and I breathed in his earthly smell. His shaggy black hair fell into his deep brown, almost black eyes, which gazed into mine sadly.
"There was an incident about a year or so ago, it left you traumatized" he said, but his voice trailed off softly.
"What happened?" I asked, surprising myself as I took his large, warm hands in mine.
"You got pregnant" he whispered.
"That doesn't sound so traumatic" I said, confused. My eyes automatically drifted down to my flat stomach. What had happened to me? Anger and frustration started to boil in the pits of my stomach. I didn't even know who I was or what I was like!
Fang must have noticed my distress as he let go of my hands and wrapped his arms around me and I buried my head into the nook between his shoulder and neck.
"It was. You were so ready for this baby. It's all you ever wanted. You just couldn't wait to hold him" Fang whispered to me. Once again I felt a small light flicker in the back of my mind. Suddenly I remembered something. My thin fingers traced the bulge that was my stomach lightly, like the tip of a feather. That's all I could remember, but my heart ached for the child I couldn't recall.
"Where is he?" I asked, leaning back so I could look Alaric in the face.
"You waited the whole 9 months before you realized something was wrong. You didn't know the baby was dead until they had cut him out" Fang choked, his voice breaking and his eyes glazing over with unshed tears.
"Oh" was all I could say. I didn't know how to feel. How was I to mourn the loss of something I couldn't remember?
"You were depressed for about a week before you had a breakdown, causing you to pass out and go into a coma like state for 3 days. Everyone was so relieved when you woke up, but you had already forgotten everything. You have dissociative amnesia. Every time you fall asleep you awake, forgetting everything you ever knew" he told me, his hand rubbing soothing circles into my back. I felt like I should have been disturbed and upset by that realization, but I didn't feel anything. Was I doomed to a life of nothingness?
"Ella is going to come see you tomorrow" Fang said, his tone a little lighter now.
"Ella" I repeated, rolling the name on my tongue, almost tasting the familiarity.
"Your younger sister. She is married to a man named Iggy. They have a 3 year old son named Chad, your nephew. Usually you don't remember him, but he makes you smile not matter what, even when you don't know why" Fang laughed.
"Iggy?" I asked, the name also sounding familiar.
"That's right Max. Iggy was like a brother to you. And there's also Nudge. She's getting married to Gazzy next year, they're engaged. They really want you to be able to come. And there's Angel. She's at school, learning to become a psychologists, she wants to help people like you" Fang said with a sad smile.
All those names sounded so familiar, but I couldn't remember.
"So you still haven't told me who you are yet" I said, looking up at him questioningly.
"Let's just say I'm someone who loves you very much" he said stroking my cheek. I felt something cold press against my skin and I noticed the gold ring on his finger.
Fang stayed by my side all day long, telling me stories about myself. Some made me laugh, some made me sad, but mostly I was just happy for the second hand memories.
Everything comes to an end though, as the night crept upon us. I was afraid to go to bed; I didn't want to forget anymore. But Fang promised to stay with me tonight and the thought comforted me to sleep.
I flew up in bed, my heart pounding and sweat pouring off me. But I couldn't remember why. Suddenly there was a man by my side. His deep, dark eyes shone through the darkness.
"Who are you?" I asked and I saw his shoulders slump.
"No one. Its ok, go back to sleep" he whispered. I laid back down and closed my eyes, wondering why a tear had run down the mysterious man's face as I drifted back to sleep.