Adenah

“Ugh…w-where am I?” I muttered, looking around.

The bed I was on creaked as I moved. White walls, white tile floor, white sheets, white clothes. The bright lights overhead made my eyes ache. Too bright. I closed them.

“Ugh…” I groaned again.

“Adenah…? Are you awake?” a soft whisper came from my left.

I scanned the stark white room until my eyes came to rest on a pair of light brown eyes.

“Alec?” I asked the slightly familiar slim form.

He grinned.

“Oh thank goodness!” he sighed, slumping against the white head board of his bed. “I thought you’d never wake up!”

This confused me and I looked around the room again, trying to recall anything familiar. My mind was blank, a slate wiped clean.

“Where…are we?”

Alecs eyes darkened.

“A lab. This is where they keep ‘patients’.”

His hand went up to make air quotes when he mentioned the word ‘patients’.

My eye brows furrowed in confusion.

“Why are we here..?”

“Shane.” He spat.

The name seemed to leave a bad taste in his mouth.

Head cocked to the side, I searched my memories, trying to remember the face that belonged to that oh-so familiar name. All I could come up with were faint clips and fragments of Alec and I as children. His hair was darker, longer then. The memories brought me a sense of warmth. Smiling, I looked over at him, just in time to see something flash across his features –though I couldn’t make sense of it- before he went back to his normal look.

Tap tap tap

There was someone at the door. I stood but Alec’s hand on my wrist held me in place. His face was hard again as he stared at the opening door.

“Here’s your food Alec-“ the pale guy with black hair stopped as he caught sight of me.

He was slightly taller than me and skinny as a rail. He was carrying two trays of food. His presence brought back that feeling of warmth I felt from my memories, which confused me. His eyes held a soft look but quickly flicked to Alec and turned stony. He set the food down on the stainless steel table between the door and our beds and left. He stole one painful glance back at me before shutting the door.

“Let’s eat!”

Alec’s cheerful voice startled me from my thoughts as I was pulled toward the table. We sat across from each other. The metal was like ice in contrast to the steaming bowl of stew in front of me. I watched Alec as he happily gulped down his bowl and started on his roll.

“Eat.” He said, reaching over and placing a spoon in my hand.

His grip was gentle, comforting, though it was almost as cold as the table. I returned his smile and ate.

After our meal was finished we pushed back our trays, full.

“Woo! I’m stuffed!” he sighed happily.

I nodded in reply.

Silence settled between us as we stared at nothing in particular.

“…So why are we here exactly?” I pondered, looking over at Alec, who was busy popping his knuckles, back, neck and anything else that would pop.

He was tall, much taller than me. His knees almost hit the table sitting down and his long arms could reach me without leaning forward.

“I don’t know… they never told me…” he confessed.

“Well, how long have we been in here.?”

He shrugged.

“I think a few weeks. I’m not really sure. It’s hard to tell time in here…” he trailed off.

I was about to ask him another question when the door opened again. The guy from before walked in and went straight to work cleaning up our trays without looking up from his hands. The faint smell of mint drifted through the air. I inhaled, closing my eyes. I remembered this smell had a certain importance to me but I couldn’t figure out why. Something inside me told me to dismiss it, but something else whispered for me to hold onto it.

He picked up the trays and left, glancing at me once more with the same painful look in his eyes before shutting the door quietly. Every time he looked at me like that I felt a slight pain in my chest. I looked over at Alec to ask who he was but I stopped short, stunned by the hateful grimace that covered his normally soft features.

“Alec..?” I said carefully

He snapped out of his trance and smiled softly at me. Silence overtook us once more

“…Alec?” I asked again.

“…Hmm?”

“How long have we known each other?”

“You don’t remember?” he asked, sounding concerned.

I shook my head.

“It feels like all of my memories were pulled out of my head. It…worries me…” I sighed, looking down at my folded hands.

“I’m so sorry Adenah.”

His face was riddled with guilt, like he was the one who did it.

“What happened to me…?” I whispered.

“It was about a month ago..” he started. “You and I were working on an experiment. Top secret. When Shane came in, demanding we tell him what we are working on.”

“How come?”

“Well, you see, you and him were partners, but he got jealous of your fame. He tried to poison you, play it off like it was some sort of lab accident but he was caught before he could finish the job.”Alec’s expression took on a strange feature. I couldn’t place it but it made me uneasy.

“After that you were assigned to me and we continued the work you two had started and he didn’t like it. So he kidnapped you and erased your memory, so you wouldn’t be able to complete the experiment.” he finished.

His expression was sorrowful but there was something else in his eyes.

“Wow…” I whispered, looking down. “but wait, I’m only 17? How could I have been some famous scientist??”

He chuckled.

“You were a prodigy. You came from a long line of wealthy, intelligent scientists. Your parents always had you cooped up in the house studying.”

“I don’t… remember my parents being that… cruel about learning…”

Suddenly Alec’s chair scraped across the white tiles as he stood.

“Well, maybe we should get some rest.” He said, his voice slightly strained.

I paused, thrown off by his unexpected eagerness to get to sleep.

“O-okay…” I stood and pushed my chair in, flopping onto my bed with a squeak. Alec shifted so his back faced me and switched off the lamp next to his bed.

~~~

"C'mon Adenah!" a small, dark haired boy yelled.

I ran as fast as I could, following him up the hill.

"Wait for me!" I replied.

As we reached the top of the hill, we stopped to catch our breath.

"Look." he said, pointing out to the horizon.

The sun was setting and it sent a soft rainbow of yellows, pinks, purples and oranges across the prairie below.

"Wow..." I gasped, sitting down next to him.

"I thought you'd like it." he said grinning.

~~~

I opened my eyes, smiling softly from my dream. It was a memory from my childhood. My first sunset with Alec. I stretched and yawned, standing.

"Good morning!" Alec said in a cheery voice.

"Morning." I replied, joining him at the table for breakfast.

I looked over my tray. A bowl of oatmeal was placed in the center with a glass of orange juice, a slice of toast with strawberry jelly, and a spoon.

"How'd you sleep?" Alec asked

"Pretty good. How about you?" I replied, picking up my spoon and taking a bite of oatmeal.

Mmm, apple cinnamon.

"Good." he said, taking a drink of his juice. "Heard you muttering in your sleep. What were you dreaming about?"

I swallowed and grinned.

"Just a childhood memory." I said.

Something flashed behind his eyes and he leaned forward.

"What memory?" he asked.

There was something in his voice that I didn't like.

"Just some memory from when we were kids." I replied. "Why?"

He grabbed my arm, his fingers like ice dug into my wrist.

"Tell me." he stated.

"It was silly! " I said "Ow! Stop it, Alec! That hurts!"

I winced as his grip tightened.

"Just tell me, Adenah. I'm curious." He said, forcfully.

"It was just our first sunset together! Jeez, Alec. It's not that big of a deal." I gasped.

He let go of my wrist and I cradeled it close, rubbing it.

"Jeez, Alec. What the hell?" I said.

"Sorry. I guess being in this place so long has gotten my head all messed up." he replied, not meeting my eyes. "I'll, uh, go tell them we are done..."

He got up and went to the door. I just sat there, frozen, rubbing my sore wrist.

A few minutes later, the same boy from yesturday came in and started to pick up the table. I snapped out of my trance when he started to take my tray. I grabbed his arm softly and he looked at it. His face changed when he saw the angry red stripe across my wrist and he looked at my face, worry and pain flashing in his eyes.

"I- can I keep this?" I ask in a shaky voice, taking the glass.

He nodded, that look still in his eyes. He finished up the table, glancing at me every once and a while and at my wrist before he stacked the trays and left. I sat there, staring at the glass, watching the condensation roll down the clear surface in small beads. That look that boy kept giving me tugged at something in the back of my brain, very faintly. Why did I care that that boy looked so upset to see me hurt? Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe I just imagined it. i sighed and slid my chair back, downing the glass of warm orange juice and walking over to my bed, flopping onto it. Alec looked at me over the top of his book.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing... just thinking too hard." I replied, my voice muffled by the pillow in my face.

"Don't hurt yourself." he stated, returning to his book.

I sat up quickly and threw my pillow at his face.

"hey!" he yelled as the pillow made contact with his face, knocking the book out of his hands.

Laughing hard, I braced myself for his retaliation, curling into a ball quicklly. He always got me back for whatever I did to him.

The pillow hit me in the back, I uncurled, only to be inches from his face.

I squealed and backpedaled, falling off my bed onto the floor and hitting my head on the floor.

END