Disclaimer: I own Daenerys Aerilyn Ramsey, Jared Russel, Derrik Kingsley, Margret Grosse and Mimzy. I do NOT own Matt, Steve, Andrew from the film Chronicle or any other character introduced from this point forward unless otherwise mentioned, nor do I own anything else. If I did own the rights to anything other than what I've specifically mentioned, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction. I'd be published and filthy rich, assuming people would buy my books. Enjoy.

Chapter 3

I don't know how long I was blacked out for but my head was killing me when I woke up. The next thing I noticed was that the cloth that had been crushing my left hand was gone but the markings that had covered it were now on my skin, partially hidden by the sleeve of my sweater. I pushed it back and my mouth formed an 'o' of surprise. The writings were all up and down my left arm, faintly glowing against my flesh before they faded away completely. My left hand was horribly bruised. I gingerly touched my wrist and realized that it was probably broken.

My right hand, with my still-bleeding finger, immediately went to my chest for the pendant but found nothing other than slightly raised flesh. I looked down to my chest and saw that the place it had been resting was reacting similarly to the cloth. My skin where the ruby sun had touched had a first degree burn and the flesh where the crescent had touched, the skin was nearly frostbitten. The curling designs that were on the pendant glowed faintly and then faded into my damaged body. I started to take notice of my surroundings.

It was night and I was surrounded by trees. In the distance I could hear the sounds of a rave, something I'd lost interest in when I was 19 years old and had seen someone who'd nearly died of a drug overdose. Wincing, I stood up and pushed through the underbrush. I held my damaged wrist close to my aching chest and started towards the sounds. I hoped that someone would have directions to a hospital.

In the distance, I saw a large building with flashing lights and heavy dance music pounding through the air. The sounds of people laughing, whooping and partying reached my ears as I got closer. I was approaching a teenager, perhaps seventeen years old, who was holding a professional-style video camera and sitting outside by himself. He was approached by another kid that exuded charm and finesse. As I got closer, I heard something about a place they'd found in a nearby field. The kid with the camera got up, albeit reluctantly, and followed the other kid. I was immediately noticed by the second kid. He had chocolate skin and warm brown eyes and was dressed in a light blue shirt, dark leather jacket and dark jeans. The one with the camera, turned towards me and began to film me. He was pale and wearing brown jeans, a grey shirt and a dark hoodie.

"Hey, are you okay?" The kid in the leather jacket asked. He seemed genuinely concerned while the other kid didn't look like he was interested other than to shoot his camera some more.

"I fell and hurt my wrist," I lied. Well, it was only partially a lie. I didn't tell him the truth because I didn't know what the truth was at this point. It was better than anything else I could have come up with. "I know you guys are about to go see something. Could you please take me to a hospital when you're done?"

"You're hurt? Well, we can just take you now," he switched gears immediately. I shook my head, although I would have liked to say yes. I'm too polite to people I don't know to demand my needs be met first, even when I'm hurt. Once, when I was a junior in high school, I broke my leg just by running down the street to catch the bus because I landed on my ankle instead of my foot. I hobbled to the bus, dragged myself into a seat and, as I was sobbing from the pain, told the driver to head off to school. A neighbor saw me take the fall and got my mother and her car to drive me the eight houses down from the bus stop to my parents' house. The fracture had been a spiral of both tibia and fibula in my right leg. That was when I was at 218 lbs.

"We can wait to see this thing you guys found. I'm kind of interested to see it myself, actually." I really didn't but I've always been a good liar. I had pulled the sweater closed and buttoned it before I'd approached, so all they could see was an injured wrist for now. He looked unsure and was about to say something when the kid with the camera began to lose interest and started walking away.

"Andrew, just a second, okay man?" He turned back to me once he was sure Andrew wasn't going anywhere. "I don't know you from school, do I? I'm Steve."

"No, I'm not from school. I was taking a walk in the woods and got lost after it got dark. I tripped and fell, because that's just how I roll," again, it wasn't a total lie. I was clumsy by and large. Events just didn't happen the way I had described them, is all. I added a quick half-smile at the end for good measure, trying to show Steve that I was okay enough to go to this discovery. "I'm Danni, by the way."

"Danni? Is that short for something?" Andrew asked, training the camera on me again.

"Yeah, Daenerys. My mom got it out of a book she liked and decided that's what she'd name me. She said that character was a strong female and, thus, a great role model. I think she just liked the way the name was spelled, you know?" That got a little smile out of him. He knew what book I was talking about.

"So, are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital, Danni?" Steve asked worriedly. I nodded.

"I'm sure. It can wait. Not like the hospital's going anywhere, right? It'll still be standing when we're done. If I can tag along, that is?"

"Sure, you can come along! There's a whole bunch of people coming to see this thing," Steve's smile was contagious and even though I was hurting, I still managed to catch it. As we walked over to this mystery location, Andrew and Steve chatted, although it was mostly Steve doing the talking. He was hoping to become a politician because he has a good memory for faces. As we got closer to the destination, we went towards a steep hill and all I saw was another kid, pale and wearing baggy jeans and a red plaid shirt with a dark hoodie, waiving us over. I could barely hear him calling to the two I was with over the pounding of my pulse in my already aching head.

When we got down the hill, my descent more delicate and monitored by Steve, we found the other kid, Matt, was crouching by a large hole in the ground. Steve and Matt wanted to get some kind of sound that was coming out of the hole on camera and were laying down with their heads inside of it. It was a pretty large hole, several feet in diameter and their heads inside didn't do much to fill it. It was even big enough for me to slide into and out of easily. I carefully laid down on the ground, not caring much to hear their excited jabbering. Only Andrew was as restrained as I was. I lowered my head into the hole, my hair falling in around my head and laying like a wavy blanket on my back.

It was a moment before I heard a loud, pulsating sound assaulting my eardrums. It made my headache worse but I didn't complain. Matt cried out a "Hello!" before Steve and then he dropped into the hole. I decided to drop in after Andrew did. We travelled down a long cave and while Andrew, obviously claustrophobic, kept calling to Matt that he wanted to get out of there. He continued to follow, for whatever reason. Andrew had said that Matt was his ride, so I figured that was part of it. The sound was louder and pulsating even more. We came to a cavern and found a large, glowing crystal that changed blue, red and white. We were all mesmerized by it, even with the pounding in my head getting worse and worse.

I felt compelled to touch the giant crystal and placed both hands, my badly bruised left hand and my right hand that was now crusted with dry blood, on one of the larger pieces. I put my head right up against it, trying to hear where the noise was coming from. It didn't take long for me to feel this strange euphoria I'd never experienced before. I had no idea what it was but I could see that it was beautiful and amazing. Opening my eyes, I turned to lean my other cheek on the crystal and watched as sweat from Steve's nose was actually pulled to the surface. It was incredible. We stayed with the crystal, walking to and fro in front of it, examining the surface for a good ten minutes before Andrew started noticing that Steve, Matt, and I were starting to have serious nosebleeds. He was getting one two.

Suddenly, the pulsing noise came back and it was so much louder than it had been before. The pain we all felt was terrible. We stumbled back to the corridor we'd come down and both Matt and Steve helped to pull me out when I cried out after trying to put weight on my wrist. I'd forgotten all about the pain while basking in the amazing sight I'd just seen. Andrew wasn't far behind me and he'd lost the camera at some point during our run back to the opening. Once he was back on the grass, the three of them fell back, Andrew grumbling about his lost camera and the other two laughing. I smiled and was reminded of my injuries in that moment. All of this seemed familiar to me but I couldn't place how or where. It didn't quite matter, though. Steve saw my discomfort and again, switched gears to helping me get to a hospital.

"Shit, Danni. I'm sorry! I forgot about your wrist. Come on, I think we need to get this checked out okay?" I nodded and the four of us started back up the steep hill. Steve had one hand under my arm to help me up and Andrew and Matt would lend a hand on the nastier slopes. When we got up to the top, Steve and I said good bye to Matt and Andrew as they got into an older car that looked very well taken care of. It was driven by Matt and Andrew was his passenger. He was still grumbling about the lost camera as they drove off.

Steve showed me to his car, which was newer and was kept in pristine condition in the inside. He generously opened the passenger side door for me and when he got in on his side, he helped me buckle the seat belt.

"So, who are Matt and Andrew?" I asked conversationally, examining my swelling wrist in the light provided by the dash.

"Oh, those guys? They're cousins. Matt and I hang out all the time and I remember Andrew from home room a couple years back. Andrew's quiet but he's really cool. I think he's just holding it back from the world, you know? One day, he's gonna take this world by storm and no one is going to see it coming." I had to smile at Steve's enthusiasm. He's a genuinely good guy and he obviously cares about people. For him to say something so kind about someone he hardly knows personally told me that he wasn't going to talk behind someone's back or be false with them. He gives his whole personality to you on a platter and probably sees the same capabilities in other people, too.

"So, you guys hang out a lot?" I pressed. My wrist was really starting to hurt. Steve glanced over in the darkened car and flashed a smile.

"Tonight was the first time of me hanging out with Andrew but, like I said, he's cool."

"Good to know. How far are we from the hospital, do you know?"

"Well, the one I know best is near the city center, and at this time of night, Seattle isn't too busy."

Wait, Seattle? As in, Washington? How in the FUCK did I get here?

"I just hope it isn't broken, you know? It's going to suck if I have to wear a cast for six weeks."

"Nah, man. It'll be awesome. People are so much nicer to people when they see they've got a broken arm. They open doors, they carry stuff for you, and they don't get mad when you're taking a long time in line for something. It's like a free pass, if you know what you're doing," he laughed. I had to give him credit: he knows how to keep positive.

"I'll have to try thinking more positively," I agreed. It occurred to me that I needed to get to a phone if I was going to get this hospital visit covered. I hadn't had my phone on me when I'd woken up. It had been in my purse in the kitchen when everything had started happening. I decided that what I experienced was some kind of drug-induced frenzy. The cloth and the pendant must have been covered with some kind of chemical that leached into my skin and caused a hallucination, causing me to injure myself. It was the only logical explanation I could think of at this point and when I got back home, I would have some serious questions for anyone and everyone I knew. Someone had put that package in the mail for me and I was going to find out who.

When we got to the hospital, I reminded Steve to wipe the blood from his nose and he smiled gratefully. He didn't want anyone worrying about him. He helped me inside and I smiled gratefully. I looked awful; I had a pounding headache, a bloody nose, a broken wrist and nasty bruising and abrasions on my chest. I assured Steve that he could go. He gave me his phone number and asked that I call him to let him know I was okay. I smiled and promised that I would before shoving the folded piece of paper into my pocket. Then, I was whisked away by doctors and nurses. My clothes were bagged and I was put into a hospital gown.

The E.R. doctor was worried about a concussion when I told him I'd hit my head and blacked out at one point, so he ordered an x-ray of my arm and my head. I got a head CT and a blood test at my request when I expressed a concern that a drink I'd had was spiked. They immediately asked if the boy who brought me in was the one I suspected and I vehemently denied it. "We met after the fact, I know that for absolute certain. He only helped me get here. He had nothing to do with my predicament."

When I gave them my emergency information, they ran it all through the system but found no record of me at all. I repeated to them what I'd told them before. My name, my birthdate, where I lived. Finally, a nurse came back and told me that nothing was coming back in their system at all. "I would like to call my parents, please. They'll get this all straightened out." The nurse nodded and pulled the phone next to my bed over to me so I could reach it easier. My broken wrist had been bound up in a bulky cast and it went up to my elbow. My lower arm was broken, too. They'd given me pain medication for that and were still examining the results of the head CT. I dialed my parents' house number and waited while it rang.

"Pablo's Pizza, is this pickup or delivery?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I must have the wrong number." I hung up and shook my head lightly. I must not be thinking straight. I dialed their number again and waited for the phone to be picked up.

"Pablo's Pizza, pickup or delivery?"

"Okay, I don't think I misdialed that time. Is this number 574-565-3327?"

"Yeah, whose number did you think this was?" the guy on the other line sounded irritated.

"Sorry, I hit my head. I must be confused…" I replied as I hung up again. I started dialing my mom's cell phone number instead. Instead of ringing, I got an electronic out of service message. In frustration, I dialed my dad's cell phone and listened. The person who picked up was some groggy teenage girl on the other end and I knew something was wrong. I apologized to the girl and mumbled, "Wrong number," before hanging up and dialing my own cell phone. Surely that hadn't changed. Right?

"Hello, you have reached Ed and Molly Schafer. Please leave your name and number and–," I hung up quickly and swallowed the lump forming in my throat. So, not only was I in Seattle but none of the phone numbers that should be working for my family or for myself were working at all. It was more than an hour before the doctor stepped in to talk about my head CT results, which he'd probably have given hours ago if he'd been less busy.

"Miss Ramsey, how are you feeling? Have you had any more nosebleeds? Anything?"

"My head is still aching but other than that, no. I've been okay aside from the obvious," I replied holding up my left arm. There was a bandage over the injured flesh on my chest as well, a salve for the burns they'd found there.

"So, we found some unusual results with the head CT. We haven't seen anything like this before and we'd like to keep you in the hospital for observation. I don't know what you know about the human brain, so I'm not going to get too detailed at the moment. Now, we ran the information that you gave us and there doesn't seem to be any record of you. Everything is coming back empty. Your health insurance, your name, your social security number. None of it is coming up in any system we run it through. If we're going to keep giving you this level of care, we need you to come clean and give us your real information. I'm going to let you think about this for a little bit and then I'm going to have a nurse check on you and you can decide if you want to be honest with us, okay?"

I felt numb inside as I nodded and he left the room. None of it was coming back to me? Not one little thing was coming up? How was that even possible? I don't know how long I just sat there, wondering at my horrible luck but I eventually stood up, grabbed the pill bottle of pain killers and the bottle of antibiotics the nurse had forgotten in the room and snatched my bag of clothes out of the drawer it'd been laid in. I carefully pulled out the IV from my right hand, which my index finger had been cleaned and wrapped up properly. I dressed quietly and smoothed the left side of my sweater over my arm, as the cast prevented me from putting it into the sleeve. Peeking into the hallway, there was a commotion that was occupying the nurses and doctors just two doors down from mine. Slowly and confidently, I walked towards the emergency room doors that led to the outside, never looking back as I found myself strolling down the street in search of someplace to go.

It wasn't terribly cold out but it also wasn't very warm. The air was damp and as the night passed, I wandered around the city of Seattle. It was around 9:00 in the morning when I found myself wandering, exhaustedly, into a public library. I sat down at one of the computers immediately and was getting ready to use the search engine when I spied the date that was pictured in the lower right corner. It was reading the proper day and month but the year was wrong. It was saying that it was 2012. What is going on here? It's 2015. I looked around in confusion and then searched for a national news website. It said the same thing. If it were just a glitch on the computer, I wouldn't pay it much mind, but on a national news site? I quietly walked to the librarian and gave her an apologetic smile.

"Excuse me, I hit my head yesterday and I think I'm confused. What's today's date?"

"Oh, it's September 12th, dear."

"Oh, yes, but what year? I'm sorry, I've been confused all day long."

"It's 2012, dear. Do you need to sit down? I can call for an ambulance," she offered gently as she picked up the phone.

"That's all right, I think I'll be fine in just a minute. I was just released from the hospital this morning, see?" I showed her the wrist band and the cast on the other arm. She nodded, although looked ready to pick up the phone if I asked any other odd questions. I returned to the computer and typed my name into the search engine.

Nothing came up except how popular my name was as a baby name that year. I pulled up one of the social networks I was on and searched for myself there. Nothing. I then searched for my parents and came up with nothing on either of them. I paused and then hesitantly searched for my older sister. I never spoke to her, never spoke of her and rarely even thought about her anymore. When the search results came back negative for her as well, I felt the frustration welling up in me.

I sat there, dumbfounded as search after search came up empty. It was like my family never even existed. What was I supposed to do now? I felt empty and lost. I stood up and went back to the desk with a little smile on my face.

"Excuse me, could I please use your phone? I'd like to phone a friend and see if she can come and pick me up from here."

The woman smiled and nodded. She was definitely okay with me being driven away from here. I picked up the handset and dialed Margret's number, praying that was still the same. It came up as a disconnected number, so I faked a quick message for the librarian's benefit. If she thought she had to endure me for much longer, I was sure she would call either the hospital or the police. I wasn't sure that either were good ideas. She smiled as she hung it up for me and I went back to the computer. I did one more search before I decided to get up and leave. It seemed like the only logical next step. How do you get a new social security number legally when you have amnesia?