Ollie walked the halls of Reefside High School, searching for his friends. It felt like it had been forever since he had seen them and he didn't understand why. He was sure he had been going to school every day, but something felt off. Something did not feel right and he could not figure out exactly what it was. He hoped that Autumn, Seth, or Braxton could give him some kind of clue as to what was going on in his life that he might feel like this.
"Autumn! Hey Autumn, wait up!" Ollie yelled as his friend darted away from him and he sprinted after her, finally catching her as they broke into the cafeteria. She didn't normally run away from him like this, so he knew that something had to be up. He just hoped that she could tell him what it was. "Did I do something?"
"I don't know. Did you suddenly stop caring about your parents?" Autumn retorted as she yanked her arm away. What had happened to his parents? As far as he could remember, they were fine. Then again, he couldn't remember the last time he had talked to his parents either. There was so much that he was just missing right now and he needed someone to fill in the gaps. "Your mom has been in the hospital for a couple of weeks and no one knows why. There's rumors about some kind of accident at the dojo, but you've said nothing. You didn't even tell us she got hurt, we heard it from someone else And you're just waltzing around the school like nothing is wrong, ignoring anyone that you've been friends with for years. You've hated when your mom was in the hospital with your siblings being born and now you're asking Maddie Aston on a date while she's been there for weeks. You've changed and I don't like it."
"What? No, my mom. She's fine…she…" Ollie trailed off as pain lanced across his temples and he saw it. He saw the punch that landed his mom in the hospital and he also saw that he had been the one that dealt it. He heard another voice, but he didn't recognize it and that sent a shiver up his spine. He would never hit his mom. He would never do this- was he being influenced? Had someone done something to him that would make him do this? "Oh no…"
"Yeah. So if you don't mind, I'm keeping clear until the Ollie I know is back," Autumn seethed as she walked away from him and he stared at the space she had been in for several minutes, trying to piece together what was happening. Why would he do this?
"Dad. Dad will know," Ollie muttered as he reached for his cell phone and started to scroll for his father's number. There were numbers he didn't recognize at the top of his phone and he realized that he hadn't called either of his parents in weeks, which wasn't normal. How was he losing time? Was he losing time?
"Ollie- hand it here," Principal Miller said as Ollie looked up and saw him pointing at his cell phone. He felt rage bubble to the surface and had to stop himself from pummeling the old family friend. What the hell was going on with him? "I know it's been rough, but you can't be so obvious. You can come get your phone this afternoon, okay?"
"Keep it," Ollie growled as he shoved past him and he heard Principal Miller yelling after him, but he kept moving. He had to figure out what was going on and he was only going to be able to do that if he could get to his parents, if he could get to people that might have answers.
Ollie pulled up to the lab and stared at the doors. He had driven to the hospital and walked past his mom's hospital room, confirming that she was there and that the injury he remembered was real. Not only was it real, she was in the worst condition that he had ever seen her in. His dad had not been there and he wondered if he was taking a day to search for him. Surely his father was looking for him if he knew that he did this and he wasn't sure that he could even explain himself to his dad if he saw him right now. He didn't remember the last couple of weeks.
He walked over to the doors and pressed in the code to release the internal locks. The buttons flashed red and he tried again. More red. He tried a final time and his gut clenched. They had changed the codes. His dad had to know his involvement if he had changed the codes. So why hadn't he come after him? Why was he letting whatever this was continue? Was his mom really in such bad condition that his dad wouldn't leave her side?
"Why are you here?" a red head asked as she came into Ollie's peripheral vision and he jerked around to face her. Her face was familiar, but he could not quite place where he knew her from. "Do you want them to find you?"
"Who are you? Did you make me forget?" Ollie roared as he saw her tense and she quickly reached for a tranquilizer gun. He shook his head as he backed away and he then try to sprint away from her. If she was doing this to him, he had to get away. He had to give himself a chance to recover and get back to his family. The dart slammed into him and he hit the ground, immediately feeling the effects of the tranquilizer. "No. No. I won't keep doing this to them. I will not hurt them again. Let me go!"
"Oh, Ollie. You don't have a choice."