Fractured

Oh, Aaron and Maya are in the house now. They’re coming towards me. Hunter’s not there. They will open the door in three…two…one…
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re ok!”
This ability…it’s becoming much more clear, but I wish there was a way to control it, or at least find out why I have it.
“Aaron, I told you she would be here, and that we can trust her.”
“Humph. Well, she stayed put, but I still don’t trust her. I won’t either, not until she tells us who she is.”
Oh, great.
“I don’t suppose you could tell us your name, could you?”
Oh, that’s good. At least I can answer yes or no questions.
“No?”
“Indeed, it would be a shame if her cover was blown.”
“Why?”
Uh, how do I tell her? There are actually two reasons, but it would probably be easier to try to tell her that I can’t speak. I…. no…uh, maybe if I just gesture towards my throat…
“Oh brother. What is this?”
“You…you can’t speak?”
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!
“Ok, that makes a lot of sense.”
“Oh please! She’s faking it! Have you ever met someone who can’t speak?”
Oh no, he’s coming towards me…I knew I shouldn’t have come back here! There’s so much anger coming from him that I- Gah!
“Aaron!”
Can’t…breathe…
“Aaron, stop!”
“Tell me who you are! NOW!”
“AARON!”
He…he let go…he let go…
“…She’s not making a sound…”
“You should leave.”
He left, he’s not in the room…why was he choking me? What did I ever do?
“I’m sorry, Aaron doesn’t always hurt people like that. But his family was killed as punishment to him, and now he doesn’t trust anyone he doesn’t know beforehand.”
I wonder if that was Aiden’s doing.
“I’ll be right back.”
Oh? Where is she going, I wonder? Hm, that was fast, she’s returning. What is that she’s holding?
“Here, can you write?”
Write? Oh, that’s a good idea! Yes, I can write.
“Ok, here, write on this. Can you tell me your name?”
Well, no, but I can tell you that I don’t remember anything.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t remember anything, including my name.”
“Oh…uh…”
What? That’s not really the response I was looking for…
“Oh, I’m sorry, but I can’t read this language. Could you perhaps, write in a different one?”
What? She can’t read this!? Now what? I don’t know any other ways to write, and if I did I can’t remember them…Hm? Someone is rushing towards this room, I can’t tell who it is though. They’ve reached the door.
“I’m sorry Maya, but some important business has come up involving this girl.”
“Hunter? What do you mean?”
Oh no, not him. Hey, let go of my arm!
“Hunter, can’t this wait?”
“No.”
Gah! He’s dragging me out the door! I guess I don’t have much of a choice, I doubt fighting him would do anything.
“I’m sure you’re confused, but things will hopefully make more sense soon.”
What’s going on? Where are we going!? He’s taking me outside now, down an alleyway…wait, what? This is confusing, I’m completely lost.
“Here.”
Ok, now that I’ve been drug all across town and a ways outside of it, where’s “here”? I’ve been brought to an old house, it appears…very old. Does anyone even live here? This isn’t where Hunter lives, is it?
“Come inside, I need to show you something of yours, I believe.”
I still don’t really trust you, though…
“It’s a letter. I can’t read most of it, but written in our language are the words ‘give this to Anna.’ If I’m right, then that’s you.”
Anna? That’s my name, supposedly? Well, it does sound familiar…Perhaps I should go inside… This place certainly is run-down. It’s well hidden though. I suppose it’s a good place to hide important items.
“What!? No!”
Oh no, what happened?
“They found it!”
Gah! He’s running out here…he’s scary, I hope he isn’t usually this furious.
“Anna, I must leave. Do NOT leave this place, understand!?”
What!? What’s going on, what did they find!? Who’s “they”!? Where is Hunter going!?!?
Agh, I don’t want to stay here. I need to know where he’s going. What was it that he had for me? That must’ve been what was taken, it only makes sense. But, why did he want me to stay here? He seemed so urgent about it too, like it was a matter of life and death… Should I stay here?
…No, I need to find out where he went. Perhaps he was lying, and this is a trap. Yes, I need to leave.
Ok…should I take the path from before? There’s another path…I’ll take this one. It feels right. Oh! I can sense him now! I can easily follow him, I just need to not get caught. He went back into the city, I think… I have no idea where we are. These are like the buildings I first came across when I got here, before I passed out. They are much bigger and more…complete. The houses of the other side of town are practically falling apart. Hunter…where is he going? Towards that huge building up ahead? Well, I guess that’s where I’m going.
Hmm… I don’t see anyone around…where is everyone? It’s only the evening, there should still be some people outside. Huh? Someone’s coming this way all of a sudden, around that next corner to the right. Where did he come from? Oh well, maybe he can help me, I’ll run over to him. I’m almost there…
“Who’s there!?”
Ahh! What? He sounds very dangerous, maybe this was a bad idea… Oh no, he’s getting closer to me…
“I know you’re there.”
Oh, I don’t know what to do, I-
“There!”
GAH! Oh man, I need to get out of here, that sword would have killed me had I not ducked! I need to run, I need to run!
“You can’t run away from me forever, I will catch you.”
Hunter! He’s ahead, I need to get back to him! Hunter, please wait! Oh good, he either saw me, or heard me running. I think he’s stopped. Yes, yes, he’s stopped.
“What? What are you doing- …Oh, no…”
Ok…I’m ok…I’ve reached him… Who was chasing me? Oh no, is that…
“Aiden.”
“…Hunter, what a surprise to see you here.”
“Aiden, there’s nothing we have that you want, especially this girl, and she’s done nothing wrong.”
“Interesting that you don’t say the same for yourself.”
Wait, is Hunter…smiling? It’s very faint, though.
“In any case, we’ll be taking our leave.”
“Afraid not. This girl must stay.”
“She’s done nothing.”
“She was trespassing!”
“I will not let you kill her!”
Ah! Hunter is practically dragging me! I can barely keep up…but, Aiden didn’t give chase, either. Ok…we’ve made it back to his house.
“What part of stay here confused you!?”
Oh, I’m not really sure I’m safer here…
“Let me give you some advice, if Aiden catches you, you will be dead. No questions asked. The only thing that could be worse for you, is if someone finds out who you are.”
What? What would be so bad about people knowing who I am?
“That’s why you have to stay away from the village for now. You are walking on thin ice at the moment, especially since you don’t remember anything.”
There it is again. How does he know that I don’t remember anything? Even if he knew me, I can’t say anything… Maybe I never had any memories? Well, wouldn’t I have memories of this place and these people, then?
“You seem confused. I’m afraid that I can’t give you answers, but I can tell you that I know who you are. That’s how I know you lost your memories, if you were wondering. That’s also why I’m the only one who can help you. I know you don’t trust me, but you have to.”
I have to? Well…he does have a point…but what if he’s lying? Although, he saved me when Aiden found me…
“So? Do you trust me?”
Do I? …Yes. I trust him…enough, anyway.
“Good. Now, on that note, here is the letter. I don’t know what it says, but hopefully it has some answers for you.”