An empty void.

Darkness.

These are the things that accompany my dreams…

I opened my eyes to the ceiling of a hospital room and blinked until my vision became clearer. An IV in my arm, a tube in my nose that gave me air, and a splitting headache. I felt like I got hit by a train.

I felt like shit.

The nurse strolled in, humming a song to herself and grabbed the clipboard attached to the edge of my bed. She wrote something down on it, then came around to adjust one of the knobs on my IV. I shifted a little and she met my eyes with a smile.

"Oh! You're finally up," she said. "I thought you'd be asleep for another day."

"How long was I out?" I rasped, my voice barely audible. I reached up to massage my throat. It felt fine, just dry.

"Two days."

"Two?"

"You were critically exhausted and dehydrated."

I looked toward the window on the far wall. Though the blinds were down, I could tell it was night, and I could hear the rain lightly beating against the glass. I shifted my eyes to the clock on the wall across from me. 9:42pm. At least I knew this time why I was here. The parkway. The wolf. Sitting up, I reached my arm around to touch the back of my bandaged head. A small sting surged through my scalp.

"Don't worry," the nurse started. "We didn't have to cut your hair or anything. It's just a few stitches you can have taken out in a week or two. The doctor said you also suffered from a severe concussion, so it's okay if you don't remember the events from the other night clearly."

She had no idea. I couldn't even remember my name or… anything. Did they have stitches to sew my memories back together? I thought about asking her, but instead I just settled for, "Thank you."

"Of course, dear." She copied down my vitals on the clipboard, my patient form.

A wave of alertness washed over me. "May I see that?"

The nurse laced her eyebrows upward, pointing to the clipboard. When I nodded, she shrugged, handing it over. "I don't see why not."

I sat up as my eyes went straight to the top of the form.

Hospital Room: 285

Patient Name: Unknown

Of course not. How would they know who I was? There was no way of telling since I had no identification on me at all. A crack of lightning illuminated the window as I scanned further down the clipboard: severe concussion to the back of the head, no bruises or signs of attack, blood type:O, hair: black, eyes: green. At least that answered a few questions for me. I handed it back to the nurse as the thunder grumbled outside. "Thanks."

"Sure, dear. I'll grab you something to drink for your throat. How does tea sounds?"

I nodded, and she smiled again. She wrote down a few more things on the clipboard and reattached it to the end of the bed. On the way out, she stopped abruptly, turning in the doorway. "I almost forgot, the officer who brought you in has been waiting to see you. He needs to ask you a few questions. Is it alright if I send him in now?"

The North Sullengrove officer from the parkway. Officer Levi Taylor. I opened my mouth to say I wasn't ready for visitors, but I wired it shut again. He could help me piece together what happened to me that night. And with my prints, he'd be able to identify me, give me a link to my existence. I told the nurse to send him in, sitting up and raking my dark, stringy hair back to appear as presentable as I could, though I knew I probably looked as shitty as I felt.

It took a few minutes before I heard a knock on the door, and Officer Taylor peeped through the door, making sure I was decent.

"Hello, ma'am?"

"Yes," I said so raspy that I was sure he didn't hear me. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Yes. Come in."

He did. Dressed in black jeans and a red tshirt, he modestly entered and stood by the door. The first thing I recognized were his electric blue eyes, the same eyes that assured me everything was okay that night on the parkway. He was young, 24 or maybe a little older. His voice deep and smooth when he said, "I'm not sure you remember, but I am Officer-"

"Levi Taylor," I finished. "I remember your badge."

He nodded, a small smirk appearing in the corner of his mouth. "Please, call me Levi. How are you feeling?"

I shifted the sheets around my waist, thankful this time I was covered by hospital gown. "I'm alright."

"Good. I just came to ask you some questions." I watched him as he went for the chair in the corner of the room, then dragging it over to my bedside. He was tall and lean with a tattoo on his arm just under the sleeve of his shirt that I couldn't make out. His movements were confident, like he had done this several times. Probably part of being a cop, questioning people, though he didn't really look like a police officer. He was off duty, sure, but there was also something unpolished about him. He didn't look like the type to follow rules. But he knew where he belonged. I wished I could say the same thing.

"When you fell unconscious, I called for an ambulance," he explained. "You were bleeding from the head pretty bad. When we got here, the doctors said you were also dehydrated and exhausted, so I had you admitted."

He sat down in the chair at my bedside, resting his elbows on his knees and locking his eyes with mine. "Do you know why that is, ma'am?"

"First, Officer-,"

"Levi," he insisted.

"Okay, Levi," I agreed. "First, I want to thank you for saving me on the parkway."

He muted a laugh and scratched at the new stubble coming in on his strong jaw. "I think I almost killed you too. In fact, if I hadn't been there, you probably would have made it across unharmed."

I didn't know about unharmed. What about the wolf?

"I'm sorry," I said. "I was startled."

"By what exactly?" His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to recount the events. "You were screaming something, but you weren't really clear… It seemed like you were in some sort of shock. Now, I know the nurse said your memory may..."

"I remember. It was a wolf," I told him. I waited for his response but he didn't give one. He just stared at me, waiting for me to continue. So, I did. "It came out of the woods, right where I was sitting, looking right at me and I panicked. My instinct was to run away, not run into oncoming traffic."

"A wolf? Wolves aren't usually in the North Sullengrove area, not for several hundred miles actually. It probably was a coyote."

"No, this was a wolf." I was sure of it. I still remembered it's yellow glowing eyes.

"Alright. It was a wolf. I'm sure you know what you saw."

I appreciated that. If he thought I was crazy, he kept it to himself. He continued, "I am curious as to what you were doing out there in the first place, ma'am. Do you mind sharing that with me?"

I swallowed. I didn't have an answer for him. I didn't even have an answer for myself. Maybe dehydration is why I was passed out on the side of the parkway, but that didn't explain how I got there, or where I was coming from, or naked, or had no memory. I pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger as the pain started behind my head again.

"How about why you were unclothed? Were you running away from something, or someone?" Levi pressed. "If you were running from someone, you should tell me immediately."

The more he asked the more the pain surged behind my eyes. Whatever this block was on my brain, it was a good one. I exhaled through my teeth, "I can't remember."

"It's alright," Levi said. "It may not come right away. Just try to piece together the first part of the night."

"No," I said, frustrated with my own brain. "You don't understand."

I met his eyes again, the pain subsiding a little. I was helpless. I had accumulated a thousand questions and no answers, not one. Levi sat up, backing off. "I may have jumped the gun. Let's just rewind a bit. Can you tell me your name?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "No."

"Ma'am, you're not in any trouble. If you just-,"

"I can't remember," I snapped louder than I intended. I raised my hands to get him to stop for one second as I closed my eyes and caught my breath. This was already spiraling out of control. Just tell him what you know. "I can't remember anything except for the parkway."

Levi took in a deep breath. "Okay."

"I suffered from memory loss well before our encounter. I woke up that night on the side of the parkway with no idea where I was or who I was. I still don't know. And-" I bit my lip to keep it from trembling as I replayed my first memories in my head. The nurse came back in with a steaming cup of tea, and I feel silent. Levi quickly stood and pulled the chair out of the way so the nurse could come over. She handed the tea to me, and then pushed the remote to bend my bed fully upright. I took a sip, which burned my tongue and I set it down on the end table next to me. The nurse removed the IV bag and replaced it with a new one while Levi stood back and watched. We exchanged glances and understood that our conversation would continue after she left. Thunder crackled as rain pattered against the window.

"Thank you, again." I said to the nurse. I felt Levi's eyes still on me.

The nurse smiled. "Sure, after this IV is up, you'll be all set." She turned to Levi. "Should I release her to the authorities?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be taking her over to the station to get her squared away."

Good. At least I wouldn't have to wait for answers because I was trapped in a hospital bed. The nurse finished up, and excused herself from the room, leaving Levi and I alone. Levi pulled the chair back over, this time turning it the opposite way and swung his leg over to straddle it.

"I'm listening," he said, resting his arms over the back. His eyes were intense but imagined they always were. The clear, sharp shade of blue naturally demanded your attention. "Whenever you're ready."

I shrugged, looking away from him. "There's not much more to tell. I was afraid. I don't know how I got there. I don't why I was there. I don't know why I was naked. So, I started walking until I could find some answers."

"How far would you say you walked, if you had to guess?"

"A couple miles or so, until I reached the North Sullengrove sign. That's when I saw... the wolf and when I tried to run away."

"Okay," he said again, processing the information given to him. "We need to get you some answers. The doctor said you were unharmed apart from your concussion, but this still may be part of a crime."

"How?"

"Someone could have drugged you and dropped you on the side of the parkway, you could have been running away from something and got tired, you could have-."

"Okay. I get it. Conscious for less than 24 hours and I've already caused this big mess." I said to myself.

Levi reached out and set his hand on top of mine. It startled me at first, but then I felt calm. His eyes were certain when he said, "It's not your fault. Things like this don't happen often, but they do happen. We'll figure it out."

How would he know? How would I know? For all we knew I could have done all this on purpose, but what sense did that make? Honestly, none of this made any sense.

"Can you help me find out?" I asked, catching his gaze.

"Absolutely. What we'll do first is get you squared away with the hospital, then go to the station to get you printed and identified." He looked at my gown at then back at me, a flicker of amusement behind his eyes. "I think I've got some extra clothes in my trunk."

I lowered my eyes, feeling my cheeks grow warm and praying that I wasn't turning red. Levi stood and dragged the chair back to its corner.

"I'll let the IV run it's course. You try to get some more sleep and I'll be here when you wake up," he said, pulling out his cell phone and wiping the screen with his thumb. "Deal?"

I nodded, feeling a glimmer of hope. "Deal."

He smiled, and started for the door.

"Levi?" I called after him, my voice gaining some strength.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry about your ruining your shirt."

He raised his eyebrows playfully. "Don't worry about it. It was old anyway."

I fell in and out of sleep as the IV supplied me with one more kick of hydration, and at some point the nurse had come in and turned off the lights. The objects in the room cast strange distorted shapes across the floors and walls, rain picking up heavily against the window. The only other sound was of the air conditioner when it would shut off and start up again.

This time when the air started up, I felt the cold draft that woke me from my sleep. I pulled the blanket up to my shoulders and turned over on my side facing the other half of the room when I saw a dark figure by the window.

I sprung up in the bed and rotated to turn on the table light. When I turned back the figure was gone. My heart raced as I stared at the spot, the blankets gripped between my fingers. Nothing was there, just the window and the still curtains, but I know I saw something, well, a figure of something, and the room still felt uneasy, as if something was still present.

"Hello?" I called out.

Just rain against the window.

I held my breath as I waited, surveying the entire room. Everything was the same, except for the clothes Levi left for me.

I got up from the bed, dragging the IV stand with me and flipped on the room lights.

Nothing.

I pressed my palm to my forehead. What the hell was happening to me?