"Ugghh not again." John groaned as he tried to sit up. He promptly fell back down onto the soft bed he now found himself in. His head felt like someone was taking a jackhammer to it. Although, the stabbing pains were beginning to recede slowly. As he opened his eyes he realized he must be in a hospital. He was in a small room furnished with a single chair. He was now dressed in a hospital gown. As he looked around the room he noticed his clothes had been neatly folded and placed off to the side on a chair. "ughhh my head" he groaned. At that moment a young nurse walked in and smiled as she said "Oh good you're awake. I'll alert the doctor, but before I do that let me ask you a few questions ok?"
John simply smiled and nodded his understanding. "Let's start with an easy one. Whats your name?" the nurse asked gently. John started to answer but then stopped midsentence. "It's aaa L-". His face became blank as he racked his brain for the simple answer to such a simple question. What was his name? Concern washed away the nurse's smile as she asked "are you ok?"
"I don't know my name. I can't remember. As a matter of fact I can't remember anything." Deep worry and a little bit of panic overtook the normally cool look that John carried. He roughly brushed his hand through his thick dark hair as the nurse moved to call the doctor on her pager. The nurse then grabbed John's hand and reassuringly said "don't worry the doctor will be here soon and then we will help you figure everything out ok." Another nurse walked in and glanced over at John quickly before whispering something in the nurse's ear. John asked "is everything ok. What's going on?"
"Nothing everything will be alright. We'll be right back." The nurse replied with a forced smile as she followed the other nurse out of the room quickly. Well that was odd, John thought as a cold feeling gripped his stomach. The nurse's change in behavior was puzzling and suddenly gave him a desire to leave. Looking out of the small window on his door, John saw the nurse frantically pointing at his door as she spoke to a couple of police officers. Well I guess that's my cue to leave, he thought as John jumped out of bed and locked the door. He then quickly got dressed and barricaded the door with the chair. The officers began to pound on the door as they tried to open it and then force it to open to no avail. "Open up mutie" they barked. Mutie? What do they mean by that, John wondered as he scrambled to find another way out of the room, but his room was situated on the fifth floor of the hospital so the window wasn't an option.
It's funny how the mind can choose the most inconvenient times to remember unrelated and unhelpful information. Which is precisely what was happening to John, except his mind chose this moment to remind him of something he would have been happy to never remember again as he got a flash of a long-buried memory.
A group of villagers were cowering along the side of a dusty road as John walked by in the front of a procession. The fields beyond the villagers were streaked with red from the unnecessary and cruelly spilled blood from the battle that day. Hundreds of dead and dying people were scattered behind the remaining people of what had previously been a prosperous and quiet village. Although the village was now quiet for a very different reason as the remaining villagers quietly mourned their dead as the man responsible marched forward to finish off the remaining leaders of the village. As John walked he suddenly felt something wet hit his face. He quickly turned to the cowering villagers to find the offending fool who would dare to cross him. An elderly man looked back at him calmly and determined from among the crowd. John looked at the foolish man with a sneer. "Look at what we have here boys," he turned to his men as they all began to laugh. "It looks like this old timer has volunteered." He looked at the foolish old man and smiled with a malicious grin that can only be described as one that would be expected on a hungry and vicious wolf just before its about to devour its prey. "Congratulations you will have the honor of teaching these good people a final lesson." His booming voice carried outwards to the cowering villagers "this is what happens when you cross the Butcher of Lhasa." As he hauled the old man up with practiced ease the old man maintained a serene expression as he uttered his final words, "there have been many monsters who have come to terrorize those who simply want to live in peace over the years. All have met their deserved fate and you will certainly be no exception."
John's heart started to race. That couldn't be him. Although he had no memory of himself he felt fear and disgust towards the man who had committed those heinous acts in his memory. For surely that couldn't be him. This other man (for that's what Joh had decided to call him) with his cruel demeanor felt like the very definition of evil, which regardless of his current predicament, John felt could not be him. Maybe it had been some long forgotten twisted nightmare, but it had felt so real. The police officers pounding woke John up from the glazed stupor his recalled memory had caused him. John decided to push the memory aside and focus on getting himself out of this hospital. Unbeknownst to John his eyes began to darken with inky black swirls, until his eyes were once more like the night itself. John rushed over to the window, but hastily walked back as he realized hazarding a jump was out of the question. It was at this moment that the lights in the hall had begun to flicker until they were snuffed out. The officers began to panic as the hall became bereft of all light, which is a truly terrifying thing for anyone who has experienced true darkness. The officers began to panic and shot the door in an attempt to stop this mutant from what they believed was soon to be their death. As suddenly as the light had gone, it suddenly returned as the door finally gave way and the officers fell into an empty room.