Arthur: Help! She keeps making me watch Merlin using magic! She's a sorceress!
Tutankhamunfreak: You know that no one can help you right? You brought yourself here now your stuck with me. And how you have never noticed is a mystery to me.
Arthur: What do you mean?
Tutankhamunfreak: (face palms) as you have probably figured out I am a massive Merlin fan and darren Shan fan, which I have no idea how they go together but I have ideas. I sadly don't own the Saga of Darren Shan, Darren Shan does.
Arthur: how does that work? How can someone write a book about themselves and it doesn't even have the right information in/
Tutankhamunfreak: the same way Geoffrey of Monmouth does. it's called FICTION. What your thinking about is an autobiography unless of course you can't be bothered to write it. Then it's a biography (only learnt that due to a histroy project. not good). Now before this loses it's point we shall start.
Dark figures flashed by his face. One stood out, darker than the others. He was shorter than the other two and yet it was this one that was the most frequent. Shouts, screams and deranged laughter filled his ears as he tried to block it all out. A woman shouting at him, a man's scream, and a child's cry, the feel of blood running over his hands…
Steve gasped as he woke from the nightmare. It was one of the many that he had had over the course of the week since he had woken lonely and confused in the hospital. Everyone was nice to him and Dr Charles had been trying desperately to find out why he remembered so little of his life. Steve didn't mind though. He had a feeling that his dreams warned him that he really didn't want to know.
Thankfully he wouldn't have to stay in the hospital for long. One of the Nurses, Claire, had informed him that Annie would be coming to pick him up from the hospital to drop him off at his apartment. Steve wondered where he lived and, more importantly, what he did for a living. He also wondered when he would see his son. He had often asked himself how he could forget his son but he didn't want to dwell on that now. He shuddered at the memory of the blood rushing over his hands like a river, a torrent…
Steve sighed and pushed the covers away from him. He padded into the corridor and into the toilets. Splashing water from the sink on his face, he took in his reflection. Long, pale blonde hair that was slowly turning grey. Stress of a growing child perhaps? Bright blue eyes that almost seemed to hide something. Well they were definitely hiding a lot…
Steve frowned as he spotted a small post it note that was stuck to the mirror. It wasn't exactly abnormal. Just an ordinary bright yellow post it note with a message on it. Go back to bed. Perhaps the nurses left it on there for patients who sleep walked. Or perhaps it was something else. He remembered a fuzzy dream of someone telling him that all this was for the better. Notes like this just happened to appear all the time. Maybe it was normal in his life for mysterious notes to appear. He couldn't remember.
He sighed and went back to bed, just as the note said. He closed his eyes and dreamed of nothing for the rest of the night. Just boring blackness. He switched off for the routine Nurse check-up on all his vitals as if he were still in intensive care. He managed to munch through most of the breakfast. By this time nervous butterflies were starting to flap around in his stomach. What if Annie didn't like him? That was ridiculous. She was amazing. What if he didn't recognize her though? It was possible. He had amnesia after all. What if he and his son didn't get along? What if, what if what if… Steve took a deep breath. Everything seemed to be passing in a blur since that note last night. He rubbed his eyes, trying to stop the colours from swirling in his tiredness. It wasn't the nurse's fault or even that stupid note. The pain killers made him sleepy and tired.
Eventually someone came to tell him that Annie was in the waiting area. He took a deep breath and looked around the room. It wasn't much but this was his first week of being thirty three for God's sake! He couldn't remember anything outside of the hospital save his old house, the graveyard and the old theatre. He wasn't sure if that was significant or not but he didn't want to find out.
When he reached the reception he took a deep breath. He had never seen anyone look so beautiful. Annie stood in the reception clutching a small shoulder bag. She was dressed in a suit and was probably on her way to work. Her brown curls were pinned back in a bun but not harshly so, so that they made her look much younger than she was. She had a put a little weight on from the last time he remembered but then again she had had a child so he could give her the benefit of the doubt for that. She was stunning and here he was the amnesiac, with no idea of how he normally spoke to her.
When Annie turned and saw him, she gave him a warm smile. He gave her a nervous one in return. He had no idea how to act around her.
"How are you?" she asked. Steve notes that she sounded genuinely concerned and yet there was something else underneath. Something almost… hesitant. As if she was afraid of what he might do. Was that normal? Steve didn't know.
"I'm fine," he said simply. She smiled encouragingly at him which made him think that the tone he had heard earlier was nothing but fantasy. It didn't matter that he had heard that. He hadn't known what to expect and neither had she. She had probably been informed that he couldn't remember anything. Of course she would be at least a little nervous. He could have been a raving lunatic for all she knew.
"Mr Leonard if you could just sign here…" The voice of a Nurse cut through Steve's panicked thoughts. He turned and saw a smiling nurse holding out a form and a pen. He signed where she had asked and then stood awkwardly, waiting for Annie to say something, anything. He didn't know what to think.
"Come on, Steve," Annie said gently, "I've informed Alan about the accident and the amnesia. He said you could have a few days off to get used to your life again." Alan? Who was Alan? Steve searched his memories as he followed Annie out into the car park. The only Alan he knew was Alan Morris and he… oh, yes. He was a leading scientist now. Dr Charles had told him that he was the accountant for Alan, sorting through all the project budgets and helping with the legal aspects of the company. Steve wasn't sure how well he would be able to do the job now since he had no memory of how to do it. Steve half smiled at the memory of the small gawky, clumsy kid that he had known in school. He wondered what Alan looked like now.
Annie stopped by a silver Vauxhall and opened the passenger door for him. Steve thanked her, feeling uncomfortable again. It felt awkward to be around the woman that you had once loved with absolutely no idea as to who she was anymore. It was horrible and tense as if there was more than just the amnesia between them. Had he been horrible to her? Was that why they didn't live together or was it just because they weren't married? All these questions were killing him. He had to know!
Annie started the car and glanced over at him. "Are you sure you're all right? You look a little distracted," she said. There was no note of hesitation in her voice anymore.
"I'm fine. I'm just… I don't know," Steve said, looking at his hands in his lap. "Nervous I guess. I have no idea of the life that I lead and I have no idea about what I'm going to do with myself. I don't know if I'll even be able to keep my job after this." Steve jumped as he felt a gentle comforting hand on his arm.
"It'll be all right. You'll get used to it. I don't know how it feels to have no memory of over half my life but I know that you'll feel at home after a few days," Annie said with a smile. Steve smiled at her, wondering how she knew that. Maybe it was just a woman thing?
The rest of the drive was spent in silence. Annie stopped the car outside of a block of flats. She pointed out the number and floor that his own apartment was on.
"Come over for dinner tonight. You can meet Darius again," Annie said with a sad smile. She was leaning over the passenger seat to talk to him through the window. Steve nodded and smiled at her. It sounded like a good idea although the thought of seeing his son sent butterflies through his stomach. Would Darius like him? What if they didn't get along? What if Steve had been a horrible father like his own had been? He shuddered at that thought. It didn't take much.
Steve turned and climbed the stairs. The building was cleaner than he had first thought. It was one of the better apartment blocks in the town, clean and almost posh. Steve took the key that Annie had given him out of his pocket and stared at it and then at the door on front of him. Room 16, floor 5. He felt almost nervous to be walking back into this flat. He didn't know a thing about it. He remembered living in his own house, the one he had grown up in as a child when he had come for his mother's funeral. Had he sold it off?
He sighed and pushed the key into the lock. A flat was nothing to be scared of. Right? Shaking his head he threw the door open. The hall in front of him was pleasant, inviting. He could floor to ceiling windows ahead of him in the room beyond. But something made him pause on the threshold. It felt like someone had been here, recently. Someone threatening. Steve walked cautiously into the hall, closing the door behind him. First mistake. He walked straight into the living room without looking behind him. Second mistake. The sofas were clean, nothing touched. The coffee table was made of glass and was intact. There were even a couple of old mugs left on presumably from what he had left when he had left last.
Something flashed in the corner of his eye. Steve whipped around to look behind him. Third mistake. Something fell on top of him, pinning him to the floor.
"Where's is he?" a voice hissed. "Where is Darren?"
"Don't know any Darren," Steve gasped, struggling to get up and away from his attacker. Perhaps this was the person that had attacked him and put him in the hospital.
"Sure you don't," the voice said sarcastically. "The same way you never knew a Shancus Von and killed him. The same way you never turned on your best friend." Questions popped into Steve's head. What on Earth was this man talking about? A horrible smell filled Steve's nostrils as the person yanked his head up by the ponytail at the back of his head. Steve yelped and struggled all the more.
"I have no idea what you're talking about! What do you want from me?" There was a long pause. Steve struggled desperately against the man but he had a vice like grip. Steve could feel the stitches in his chest being pulled but they were holding out for now. Suddenly the pressure was gone. Steve lay panting, winded on the floor.
"You better not be lying." Steve looked up and glanced around the room. No one was there. He heard the door open and then shut. Steve leapt to his feet and threw the front door open. The corridor beyond was empty.
"Hello!" he shouted. Empty. A man stuck his head out of the door next to his.
"Steve? Good Lord, when did you get back?" the man asked. Steve blinked. His voice was too light and high to be the one from his living room. Clearly this man was just a friendly neighbour.
"Just now," Steve said shortly. He had no idea who the man was.
"I heard about the accident. You all right now?" Steve grimaced and nodded, unsure how to remark. "Well feel free to come round whenever you feel like it. I and Clara were worried about what had happened to you." With that the man disappeared. Steve heard his door shut. He glanced down the corridor again and frowned. No one could disappear that fast. It was impossible.
He turned and shut the door. He glanced behind him and blinked. A post it note was stuck to the back of it. Stay inside tonight.
Two men stood outside the block of flats. The sun was going down. One was red skinned as though sunburned. The other's skin was purple. They were both dressed in suits although the red skinned man's suit was crumpled and dirty as though he had slept in the wild. He smelt that way too.
"He didn't have a clue who I was talking about. Are you sure we had the right place?"
"This was the place I was told of." The two stood in silence for a moment. The green haired, red skinned one starts again.
"He looked just like him. Ponytail and all. But his eyes were blue." The purple skinned one blanched.
"Are you sure? Blue not red?"
"Perfectly sure. There's something going on here. Whoever else is after him is one step ahead of us. I don't understand why."
Arthur: I don't undertand. Is this Steve a good guy or a bad guy?
Tutankhamunfreak: You really are a cabbagehead. At the moment he's GOOD because he doesn't know his past in which he is BAD. He has a second chance and if you actually paid attention you would have known that.
Arthur: That still doesn't explain why Merlin has magic...
Tutankhamunfreak: (glaring murdurously at Arthur) Someone remove him before I strangle him. I nearly did it to someone today. I will do it to you.
(Arthur gulps very loudly and hides in a corner)
Merlin: Yey, someone has put the prat in his place!
Arthur: MERLIN!