Ok so I know that this is way later than I said it was, and I'm sorry. School starts soon, and its my freshman year of highschool, and last year I pulled a bunch of crap and got some pretty bad grades, and since it counts on my transcript to get into college this coming year, I'm giving up certain things like Netflix, which is the thing that distracted me the most last year, so I have been scrambling to finish all of the series that I have started, and so I haven't been writing as much as I should... Anyway, I will have you know that I stayed up until five a.m. finishing this for you, so enjoy!
A few weeks later I was about to go to sleep when I noticed that one thing was missing from my nightly routine, Vernon had accidentally forgotten to lock the door on my closet. I was shocked, usually he was very adamant that whenever I was inside that the door was to remain locked. The fact that he had forgotten was astonishing. I was terrified and excited all at the same time. I could get out of here, get away from the Dursleys. I could have a real life, a safe life. It felt too good to be true.
I waited until I was absolutely sure that they were asleep. I slid the knife that I had been hiding for a year out from under my mattress, taking a moment and admiring its dull silver gleam, wondering how something that could do so much harm held a look of so much innocence. I gripped the dusty black handle tightly with filthy, chipped nails. I stared at the small door of the closet, butterflies erupting in my stomach. I took in a deep breath and let it out shakily, before slowly turning the rusted handle and pushing it open, painfully aware of every single creak, the sound magnified in my nervousness. I stared anxiously down the long hall at the shiny white door that would lead to my freedom. I began to walk at a painstakingly slow pace, my legs and feet aching with every labored step I took.
I finally reached the door and hesitantly, my hand found the deadbolt. My fingers trembled as they struggled to turn the lock. I then grabbed the doorknob and turned, a small grin forming on my face. I pulled the door open and tentatively stepped out into the cool August air. I began walking quickly away from the house, not even bothering to close the door, I had made it too far to get caught now.
It was pitch black outside, the only light came from the few dim streetlights scattered sparsely along the road. I crossed the street with a giddy confidence, I was going to make it, I was going to get out of here, and I was never going to come back. I slowly made my way through the neighborhood, eager to get as far away from the Dursleys as quickly as possible. I glanced at the other houses, windows dark, curtains closed, keeping their residents safe from the outside world. I envied those people, sleeping snugly in their warm beds, dreaming peaceful dreams, completely oblivious to what had been happening in the home of a trusted neighbor.
As I left the neighborhood, I looked over my shoulder briefly before crossing the empty street. Never again would I come back here, not even if my life depended on it. I was in the clear, the shimmering lights of London twinkling in the distance. I was drawn towards them, as if they were calling to me. I began walking towards them, an anxious feeling settling in the pit of my stomach as they got closer. As I approached, the buildings got bigger, and there were more people. At first no one noticed me, but as I got further into the city, I could see some people slowing down when they saw me, but they kept on walking.
I was very confused when I heard someone shout. I looked around curiously and saw lots of people stopped on the sidewalk. I could somewhat make out their individual shapes, squinting to focus on them. People were pointing at me with strange expressions on their blurry faces. They didn't seem angry, they seemed almost… upset. Petunia had always shouted like that when I hadn't done something right, but the way these people were, it was different, and it was starting to scare me. Some people started to get close to me. They had the same look on their face that Vernon did whenever he "punished me".
I backed up quickly, raising the knife from my side and waving it around. Suddenly I heard a strange noise, like the ones I had heard when I had entered the city, but louder, much louder. I covered my ears with my hands, doing my best to keep a firm grip on the knife clutched desperately in my fingers. I turned towards the noise, only to be knocked off my feet by a heavy object ramming into my weak legs. I fell to the ground, the knife tumbling out of my hand, and out of reach. My head hit the pavement, and I could see large blurry dots of color running around me before my vision spotted and grew black around the edges. I felt a hand on my forehead, brushing my tangled black hair away from my face. There was shouting, but I couldn't make out what was being said, my head hurt too much, and my legs were tired and aching, I decided that I wasn't going to fight sleep anymore, and I closed my eyes.
I awoke briefly, only to be greeted by more shouting, more people and more loud noises. There was an addition of flashing lights. I could vaguely make out the faces of the people shuffling around me, they seemed concerned. I had no idea why they looked so worried, maybe it had to do with that loud sound I had heard. I felt myself being lifted, and I was startled. Instinctively, I moved to cover my face with my arms, frightened by the sudden, painfully familiar action, but I could not move them, they felt too heavy, and it hurt too much to try to move. My head ached, and my ears were ringing, and I scrunched my eyes closed, trying to dull the pain erupting behind my eyes. Once the pain had subsided, I attempted to open them again. Bad idea. Apparently I had blacked out because when I had finally managed to crack my eyelids apart, I was blinded by a harsh white light. My ears filled with the sounds around me and the ringing had stopped.
There was a lot of annoying beeping and it was really starting to bother me. I tried to move my arms to support myself so I could sit up, but there was something holding my wrists to the stiff mattress I was laying on. I found my legs to be in a similar position. I started to panic, I had to wonder if I was back at the Dursley's, however, that didn't explain all of the beeping and bright white all around me. I began to thrash around, trying to free myself. I started crying, I had just gotten free from that place, and now I was back. I had no idea when or how they had caught me. The beeping had gotten louder and faster, and there were people running around me, shouting at each other. There was a sharp pain in my neck, and I felt my limbs go numb, and my eyelids grew heavy. I began drifting out of consciousness, still unaware and curious of what had happened to me.
I woke up to the same blinding whiteness as before, slightly calmer this time. I tried to stay calm as I tried to figure out what was going on. I remembered getting out of the Dursley's house, and making it to London, then I remembered getting scared and getting hit by something big, then I woke up here.
Someone came over to me and looked down at me. It was a woman with a kind face, dark brown hair, and light gray eyes, kind of a silvery color. She smiled at me and put her hand on my shoulder. I flinched at the touch, and the action hurt my arms and legs. I realized that they were still bound to the bed I was in. I blinked at the woman. "My name is Dr. Olsen, you were hit by a car about an hour ago. You have several broken bones, the most severe being in your legs. You also have a minor concussion. But you are safe now. I am glad to see that you are awake." So that's what happened. I was still confused. "You were found a few blocks into the city with a knife in your hand, looking very confused and frightened, do you remember?" I nodded, figuring that answering her questions would help me stay safe. "Do you know where you are?" I shook my head, 'Finally,' I thought, I was getting answers that were actually helpful. "You are at St. Mary's hospital in London. Can you tell me your name?" My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and I spoke for the first time in a long time, my voice shaking and raspy. "I don't have a name."
Dr. Olsen looked affronted at my answer. Her smile faltered, but it was immediately replaced by another one. "I will be right back," she said, patting my arm again, much to my disliking. I was astonished that she was so nice to me, no one had ever been nice to me before. Granted, I had never been away from Number 4, so there was that.
Dr. Olsen came back with another person, this one a man. He was taller than the woman beside him, but not too much, not enough to be threatening. Like Dr. Olsen, he looked kind, and I felt I could trust him. The pair walked over to me slowly. The man spoke first. "Hello there. My name is Arthur Kirkland, I'm a social worker here at the hospital." I tried to manage a smile, they were being nice to me, the least I could do was try to be nice. "Hello," I said, figuring I was supposed to say it as well. Arthur smiled at me and spoke again. "I've been told that you looked like you've had a rough time leading up to you getting here." He was handed a file by Dr. Olsen. "Let's see," he said, flipping through the pages. "You have multiple broken bones, your legs, both upper and lower, your knees, those are from the car. This is where we are worried, you have many breaks in other parts of your body, some that didn't heal properly and some that are more recent. Judging by how much some of these had healed, they are several years old, the earliest one from about ten years ago. Do you know how old you are?" I replied shyly, "My birthday was a couple weeks ago, on the thirty first, at least that's the day I picked. I turned 15 I think."
Arthur looked at me curiously, "And you don't know your name?" I shook my head, and Arthur looked surprised. "I don't have one," I corrected him, the Dursleys never called me anything. Whenever they wanted me to do something they just looked at me and told me to do it, I knew they were talking to me because Dudley never had to do anything, so they wouldn't ask him. "Right," Arthur said, smiling once more. "Do you have a name that you would like us to call you, because Jane Doe #2447 doesn't really suit a young lady like you. You don't have to pick right away, I can give you some time to think about it, but I think that you should have one. I'm going to go now, I have to take care of some paperwork, but I will see you tomorrow, alright?" I nodded, not really paying attention. I was going to have a name, no longer would I just be 'girl' or 'you'. I was going to have my own name, all to myself.
After Arthur left, Dr. Olsen pulled a chair up beside my bed. "Do you have any names in mind?" There was one name that I had always particularly liked. I had read a story about it in one of Dudley's schoolbooks, it was about a beautiful young woman who was in charge of raising the moon in the sky at night. She was a goddess, and everyone loved her. She had always been my hero, my hope. I wanted her name, I wanted to be like her, loved by everyone. That was the name that I would choose. "I have one." I said to Dr. Olsen. She looked over at me with intrigue. "What name would you like?" I smiled shyly. "I want my name to be Artemis, like the goddess, she is my hero, she was my favorite story." Dr. Olsen smiled, "That is a lovely name, it suits you well."
A/N: So I have to change the summary now, I'm sorry if it turns out crappy, but I got the idea for her not knowing her name (or in this case believing she doesn't have one) as I was writing the beginning of the chapter, I had been thinking of changing her name and didn't know how to do it. In regards to the last name, I have no idea what I'm going to do, so if anyone has any good suggestions please review, and I'll choose one that I like. Please don't list Potter, I am not doing it. I relocated the Dursleys to just outside London. Please forgive me, I am an American, I have no knowledge of the geography of any other country besides my own, so I am sorry if the unexplained relocation confused anyone. Also, I chose Artemis because she is my favorite Greek/Roman god/goddess and honestly I just like the way it sounds. I realize that I could have done a more modern name, even going so little as to use her Roman name Diana, but I liked it, and my backstory of her reading it while doing Dudley's homework made it fit. Please give me surnames! I have none to give her!
Love ya guys!
~Sam