Just when he thought they would finally be together, she forgot. Now he has to make her remember, or lose her forever.
Chapter One: Prologue
She had lived seventeen years, but she couldn't remember any of it. Her new memory began on that day she woke up in a hospital room surrounded by white.
As if she had been released from a horrific nightmare, she woke up in a cold sweat. Air chilled against her pale alabaster skin as rich brown eyes shot open, peering behind a veil of dark brunette hair. Immediate confusion plagued her conscious as she struggled to comprehend her current circumstance. But no matter how hard she tried to figure out what was happening, she couldn't.
Before she got the chance to properly take in her situation, a shooting pain through her skull sent her body reeling back onto the mattress. Falling onto the bed again, she instinctively wrapped her arms to shield her head from an unknown force. Something resembling a whimper escaped her throat, and the noise sounded so alien that she could hardly recognize it as her own.
"Clove," a deep voice suddenly interrupted.
Too preoccupied with trying to understand what was happening, she had failed to sense the presence sitting right beside her. He was on top of a stool next to her bed, his body stiff and rigid. Strikingly blue orbs, narrowed in her direction, followed her every move. He was broad shouldered, donning a collection of grazes and bruises that ran from his neck all the way down to his hands. A plaster cast sheltered his left wrist, but he didn't appear to be seriously injured. His gaze was pulling her in, an attraction she hoped to avoid.
"Thank God," he muttered, "They said you might not wake up—" Without warning, his arm extended forward and he rested his hand on the side of her face. It was a soft and tender gesture, an intimacy she wasn't used to. "I don't know what I would do without you,"
Her breath came short as her lungs seemed to stop functioning. The pain in her head intensified, and she winced visibly. She roughly pushed his touch away.
"Clove," his tone suddenly turned grave as he realized something wrong with the girl before him. Her heart beat painfully against her ribs, and she gasped for air. He made her nervous. It was unexplainable, but something innate inside her told her to stay away. He was dangerous, and that was it. The realization hit him then, and his jaw tightened. "You don't recognize me," It was more a statement than a question.
He spoke the truth; she hadn't the slightest clue to his identity. She had no idea why he was so intimate with her. Perhaps they had been acquaintances, maybe even friends. No, they were more than that.
A brief expression of pain flashed across his face. But in an instant it disappeared, and any sign of emotion was gone from his stoic gaze. He abruptly jumped to his feet. Standing at his full height, he towered over the bed. With a few short strides, he was by the door. "Doctor!" he called out angrily into the hall, "Doctor!"
"Stay here," he ordered her before disappearing. A minute later, he returned with a full entourage. There were a number of faces she couldn't recognize, it was clear that they all knew her. Full on chaos ensued as a nurse took her arm and placed an IV into her vein. Another woman went to her side, running some tests. Someone must have been speaking to her, but she couldn't hear anything.
Too many people were around her, and she was suffocating. The room began to spin, the energy drained from her limbs. She watched removed from the entire scene, observing the pandemonium from afar.
She watched the blond boy from before corner an older man into a wall, his index finger pointed aggressively into his chest. He must have been shouting something. Everyone else around them were afraid of the young man, she could sense their fear.
Intimidated as she was by him, she wasn't scared of him.
What was going on? Who was he?
Then she felt a pinch on the inside of her forearm, and her line of vision flicked to the needle stuck into her flesh. The nurse was again cooing something, but she couldn't hear it.
Before long, everything went black. Her body collapsed as she shut down completely. The darkness that had enveloped her felt secure, and even if only for a fleeting moment, she began to feel relaxed. She welcomed the return to numbness, because she knew when she woke up, a whole other world would be waiting for her.
End Chapter One
A/N: Details on how the Games ended (in this version) to be revealed. If you would like to see more, or want me to continue, please review.