Promise That You'll Remember That You're Mine

Her eyes snapped open, shooting up from the bed. She scanned her surroundings, trying to regain composure. She tried to push the thought of that nightmare out of her head, convincing herself that it was all a dream, a horrible, wretched dream. It wasn’t real, none of it was real she kept telling herself. Just the thought of it made her go mad, so she tried her best to forget about it.

Once her erratic breathing went back to normal she looked around, everything was white and blank, boring you could say. She knew exactly where she was, well if her outfit wasn’t dead giveaway or the machines surrounding and connected to her.

It was raining outside, but it comforted her in way. The door creaked open and her eyes were met with a curious pair of eyes.

“Olivia?” it said cautiously, trying to figure out if this was reality or not. She seemed to have figured it out when she screeched her name and lunged at her.

“You’re awake, jesus!” she shrieked crushing her.

Olivia watched as the incoherent words stringed out of her mouth trying to come up with something to say.

“It’s just-jesus fucking christ you’re—“

“Where’s Alex?” she interrupted her rambling.

That shut her up in record time.

“Where is he?” she said harshly.

She knew that her brashness was terrifying the girl, but at this point she didn’t really have any control over her emotions. Frankly, she didn’t care and the look on Analeigh’s face told her the answer loud and clear. Suddenly the wall became a thousand times more interesting than what Ana was saying.

“W-well it’s not like he doesn’t care… It’s ju-just that he h-has a lot to do” bits and pieces of Analeigh’s explanation were meeting her ears even though she was trying her best to block her out. No matter what lame excuse she spouts out it wouldn’t change the fact that he wasn’t here.

“Well he had to go back to Europe to do stuff, so he had you transferred from New York to Phoenix while you were unconscious. You lost a lot of blood and were given various medicines so you were slipping in and out of consciousness. So you were asleep almost the entire time. This is the first time that you’re actually awake and functioning. And it’s not that Alex doesn’t care but, you know Alex always a busy bee. Just like you! Not that you can be busy right now given that—“ she stopped herself, knowing that she was rambling again.

She rolled her eyes as thunder cracked in the sky and the rain poured harder. It looked like the universe knew how she felt and was providing dramatic a dramatic backdrop. She sighed and leaned against the headboard.

She got lost in her own head and didn’t notice when Ana left the room. The nurses changing her bandages and checking the machines went unnoticed. Their attempts at small talk were ignored. Everything flew past her head because there was only one thing running through it. Alex left her. He left her alone just like everyone else did. She knew that he had other things to attend to but she couldn’t handle this without him. She wouldn’t be able to handle the realization sinking in. Sure, Ana was there but it’s Analeigh she could keep her company but wouldn’t be able to actually help her.

She didn’t know how long she stared, trying to calm her mind down from overthinking. She tried to distract herself with the food they were serving her but everything was either too bland or just plain awful. The television was next but nothing kept her attention for too long. Sleep wasn’t an option, she knew the second she closed her eyes images and memories would dance behind her eyelids and haunt her. It would drive her to somewhere she didn’t and never wanted to be. So she resorted to staring at the rain pouring outside her window. The continuous flow of the rain was enough to simmer down the poison surging through her thoughts.

The rain continued to pour as she continued to ignore everyone trying to strike up a conversation with her. She didn’t know why they cared so much it isn’t like they were the ones strapped to various machines. They weren’t the ones who had ghosts from her past haunting her, taunting her. They weren’t the ones who had voices rehashing her every mistake. No, they were the ones who couldn’t see the gigantic leave-me-the-fuck-alone banner she was waving under their noses.

Her nurse was this middle-aged, stocky lady who didn’t know how to not stick her nose in every little thing that was occurring. She knew this lady for less than an hour and she knew immediately that she wasn’t going to get along with this lady. She kept blabbing on about how she was an idiot trying to take her own life, she was young yada yada yada. Kept asking about the attractive boy that was with her when she was transferred and how he obviously didn’t deserve a train wreck like her. How she knew her type. She was just those air headed bimbos who obviously relied on their father’s money. How she was never going anywhere, if she kept this up. The woman was lucky she was a patient person and that she was attached to a machine or else she would have thrown her out the window.

After an excruciating 15-minute lecture, which was supposed to be just an explanation of what happened to her the past days, she finally left. Finally she was left alone which was both relieving and dangerous. Analeigh was probably somewhere out there, by now she would have realized that she had no plans in socializing anytime soon. Besides she was content on staring at the pouring rain.

Who knows how long she had been watching the rain, when the door swung open revealing a 23 year old white male.

“Olivia” he breathed.

She was dazed to say the least. Suddenly she was light headed. In the short time she was awake she hadn’t prepared herself for an encounter with him. Her mind was preventing her from responding.

“Olivia” he repeated louder this time as he got closer.

This time he sounded familiar. It was as if she was hit by a ton of bricks, it was a sickening case of déjà vu. Her face suddenly contorted into a horrified expression. Everything suddenly felt too real. She used all her will power to not look at him because she was afraid that she would see his face instead of John’s and that would kill her.

By now John was beside her. He desperately tried to make their eyes meet and when he did all he saw in her eyes was fear. She looked so terrified of him. Was he really that horrible that she couldn’t even bear to look at him? Was he that monstrous in her eyes?

His thoughts were interrupted by a flash of light from the door. A sharp gasp came from the girl beside him. Almost immediately his attention was on her, she had her arms wrapped her knees and she was shaking. Worry was filling his system, what had just happened? He didn’t know if it was appropriate to put his arms around her and try to calm her, he feared that it would worsen the situation. Returning his gaze to the door he left open he saw that it was just some kid playing with an iPhone. Olivia was definitely not afraid of light, so why?

Suddenly Olivia’s sharp inhales turned into screams. Her shaking had become more apparent and her skin had turned into a sickly pale. John had no idea what was going on, he couldn’t recognize the girl in front of him.

“Olivia?” Ana came rushing in “What happened? I heard her scream.”

“I honestly have—“ he was interrupted by Olivia’s cries.

Everything that happened afterwards seemed to be a blur. Nurses suddenly flooded the room, trying to calm Olivia down. She was yelling about how everything was her fault and that they were coming after her. He and Analeigh were pushed out of the room despite their protests that they needed to be with her. He had no idea what the fuck was going. So they ended up on the hospital corridor fearing for Ivy’s well-being.


The cruel, ominous laughter rang through the air. It was after her.

One foot after another she kept her pace. She was in the middle of nowhere. Tall trees surrounded her, blocking any clear path. The sky held no stars, nothing but darkness. There was nowhere she could hide. Hide from the malicious voices, taunting her, laughing at her misery. So she kept running.

“Olivia” the icy voice cooed “You can’t keep running forever”

“Everything’s your fault, remember?” another voice cackled.

“He’s never coming back” hearing that her knees gave out, she fell straight to the ground. The ground was hard and unforgiving. She tried her best to get away from the voices, crawling on the dried leaves and twigs.

“Stop, just stop!” she begged “Please, what do you want from me? Leave me alone”

Her chest was about to collapse on its self. Constricting against her ribcage, it was about to give in on her. She could feel it. The sounds were getting louder, closer. Then she felt it, something whizzed past her. Her head jolted toward the sounds, it was definitely there. So she ran, ignoring the wails of her lungs and legs.

She kept running and running, not caring where she would end up as long as it got her away from the voices. Her pathway suddenly turned into asphalt. She ended up on the highway but something was off. It was quiet, too quiet.

“Olivia!” a voice called, but this time it wasn’t a taunt. It was someone else, someone she knew. But it couldn’t have been him, he left her long ago.

“Olivia, come here” it called again, but this time she turned around and she saw him.

“Is it really you?” her voice was uneven, overwhelmed by his mere sight.

“Of course, Ivy” he flashed her his perfect grin “I’ve always been here.”

“Y-you… you’re not su-supposed to be here” this couldn’t have been real.

“And why not? Come here” he urged her.

“But, you left me” she cried “You left me all alone”

“I’m here now, Ivy, that’s what matters”

“It really is you” she whispered taking steps toward him.

Suddenly bright lights muddled her vision. Jerking her head to her side, she saw it heading straight towards him.

“NO!” she screeched breaking into a run “NOT—“

Olivia’s eyes snapped open, shooting up from the bed. It was the same thing every night, the same exact nightmare haunting her every time she closed her eyes. Looking around frantically she saw how familiar this place was, then it hit her. She’d been awake for several days now.

Her daily activities never strayed from her bed. Except she didn’t sleep, every time she attempted to sleep wretched things danced behind her eyelids. So she stayed awake busying herself with—well nothing. She’d been staring at the wall or outside the window mindlessly. Eating when she was told to, listening to doctor’s explanations, watching nurses tinkering with the machines she was attached to, and ignoring John.

Olivia had a faint memory of the day she regained full consciousness. The memory of her boring nurses had somehow stayed and how John burst through her door. After that nothing made sense. She couldn’t remember clearly what happened after John had entered her room, but she was sure of one thing. She was scared. At the moment she had no idea what she was scared of but she knew it was there lurking within her.

For the past few months her mind had turned from a well-oiled machine to a puddle of goo. She was seeing things, hearing things. Things she couldn’t understand, things she had buried in the depths of her subconscious. Now all of them were haunting her. Suddenly all the things she had hidden away were all out in the open ready for the kill.

She laid her head back down on her pillow, struggling to push away the images that were poisoning her head. Instead she tried to recall the past few days, anything to distract her. The moment she woke up people started pestering her on and on and she just ignored them. By now they’d figured out not that she wasn’t planning on talking to any of them anytime soon.


John was a zombie, aimlessly wandering through the high end streets north of the hospital. He was getting fed up with the ambience of this place. Everyone around him seemed so content and happy. Couples were littering the premises, their laughter filling the air. People were having a grand time and here he was miserable and lonely.

His body felt heavy, and his mind was clouded. It was filled with thoughts of her. John didn’t recognize the girl that he had been seeing for the past days. The moment he had seen her on the hospital bed he knew something was off, but he didn’t expect her to be this different. That wasn’t Olivia, and if it was that wasn’t his Olivia.

The girl wasting away on the hospital bed wasn’t the Olivia that he knew. Which led him to thinking if he had really known her? This made him uneasy. What if the past few years of being best friends was all a lie? Olivia had always been a secretive person, but did she hide an entire personality from him? Or had he just ignored all the signs of this over the years?

Confusion had seeped into his brain, and he wanted it to go away. But he had forgotten to be careful what he wished were, and suddenly guilt was making his stomach churn. What if he had caused Olivia to change? Were these the consequences of his brash actions? Had he damaged her permanently? His head was swimming with questions and he needed the answers badly.

John felt his phone vibrate in his pocket signalling a text. He took his phone from his pocket and looked at the message he received.

From: Analeigh La Blanc
Meet me at the hospital’s food court.

John walked into the busy food court and spotted Ana in the far corner snuggled into a large chair. He went over to where she was sipping on a steaming cup of tea and sat down. He started to mess with his hands in order to avoid having to start the conversation. He’d known her for years now but he still didn’t know how to converse properly with the girl.

Somehow Analeigh had always scared him; she was like a ticking time bomb. She could go from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds flat. He had no idea how to handle her, even if all she was doing at the moment was sipping on her tea staring at him with those big doe eyes but he was still scared.

Then he heard the solid plink of the ceramic on the table.

“John” she said slowly.