Chapter 10

Rodney knocked again, but to no prevail. Amelia wouldn't even respond when he called to her. He didn't expect her to be so damn stubborn, but he didn't know how serious the situation really was.

"She's not going to eat?" Anita, Rodney's mother, asked from the dining room table. She was finishing off her dinner. Rodney couldn't eat it.

"I guess not," he said, turning away from the door for the fifth time. He always had a persistent side, but now, it was being shot down.

"Eat some dinner, child," Anita begged. "I know you're concerned, but you shouldn't starve yourself over it."

"Mom, you don't even know what's wrong!"

"Well, you haven't told me what's wrong! Won't you tell me?"

He lowered his head. "She's got amnesia.. or something like it."

"She doesn't remember who she is?" Anita asked, leaning forward in interest.

"She made a good point; she told me that she wouldn't forget who she was if she had amnesia. The doctors at the hospital claimed that she had amnesia, yet, she resumes her life as someone named Alice.. who's thirteen! Surely, you can't forget your age?"

"Do you reckon that there was someone named Alice that she hung around with and picked up her memory from her?"

"It's a possibility, but not likely. She still remembers her parents names and the school she previously went to, or so they say."

"Do you think that the doctors said some of that stuff because they obtained the wrong information and are actually making her think as someone else?"

"You mean brainwashed her?"

"Not like that."

"Hmm..."

"Surely, you don't think it's possible?"

"Well, what I'm wondering is.. the doctors said that her 'parents' died in a car accident."

"And?"

"He father died seven years ago. Another thing I'm wondering about is.. when I was asking why he said 'parents,' one of the other doctors nudged me as if he knew what I was talking about."

"Well, maybe she still thinks both of her parents are still alive."

"How could you not remember grieving over your own father?! I'm starting to wonder if maybe they really DID brainwash her!"

Anita had turned her attention away from him and was looking to the television, curious to if what Rodney was saying may have been true, based on the facts the newsreporter was giving:

"Investigators are still looking into the crash site that happened several days ago when a BP truck came barreling down the highway into a mid-aged couple who died in the tragic accident. As of now, officials are saying that the gasoline contained in the truck spilled into the nearby French Broad and could take several weeks to filter out the substance. They're asking residents within forty miles of the river not to drink from their faucets until they are shut off manually. All there would be to drink would be sewage water, and they're assuming no one wants to take a hand on that. They're warning people to drink only from store-bought bottled water, and to not even wash your hands in the water until further notice. Bacteria can quickly spread through the water and cause sickness. Reporting from--"

"Even the news believes that, mom?!"

"Come now," Anita said, "you're being hysterical."

"The news can be bribed to believe anything they want to believe, and I'm wondering if it really was a BP truck that smashed into Amelia's car."

Rodney, even when asked again and again, refused to eat. It started a brief arguement, but he quickly led himself out of it. Anita couldn't help but feel pity for him for losing his long-time girlfriend to "amnesia," but what if what Rodney claimed about the doctors was true? What if there was some type of evil behind them?

(I know it's short, but I'm hoping to type a long one for the next chapter. Make sure you pay very close attention to the names in the next chapter!)