Faceless

I could hear voices coming from outside the room as I lay on a soft mattress against a soft pillow. I hadn’t felt this comfortable for a long time. I didn’t want to open my eyes yet. I lay still as I continued to focus on the voices outside. I could hear a woman speaking.
“I wonder why Adelaide didn’t try to defend herself. It would have just naturally…” another voice cut her off before she could continue.
This was a male’s voice with a British accent, “We don’t know what could have happened to her in those two days she was missing.”
“Nothing happened to her, okay! Adelaide knows how to defend herself,” came a rough voice.
This voice sounded familiar. That voice was the same voice that I heard just before I passed out. I slowly opened my eyes to see a barren wall starring right back at me. I sat up slowly as I soon realized that my body ached with every movement I made. When I sat up I was confronted by a dresser that had a mirror. In the mirror I could see my bruised face. I gently touched my swollen cheek only to wince at the pain. Even though the room didn’t contain any windows, there was still a small amount of light in the room. Enough to make my eyes hurt a little. Suddenly, the door opened and in came a woman with blonde hair and a warm smile.
“Adelaide! I’m glad you are awake,” she said as she began to approach my bedside.
“My name isn’t Adelaide! I’m Camila. Who are you? Why am I not in the hospital?” I replied frantically at this stranger.
The woman‘s smile quickly faded as she suddenly had a look of concern. “But Adelaide, it’s me, Laurie!” she said.
“For the last time, I’m not Adelaide! You have the wrong person!” I spoke angrily. Dumbfounded, Laurie quickly stepped out of the room.
I could hear her tell the men outside, “Something is very wrong. When is Dr. Beth arriving? Oh there she is!”
I moved to the side of the bed with much pain and was about to get up to leave when the door opened again and in walked an older woman. She had blonde hair tied up in a bun and wore a black coat that reached her knees almost to conceal what was underneath.
“I wouldn’t suggest you do that, dear,” Dr. Beth exclaimed as she quickly closed the door as to not let the other people in without her full diagnosis.
Her kind and warm smile made me feel safe so I slowly listened to her. “Wh-where am I?” I asked as Dr. Beth approached my bedside.
“Don’t worry. You are safe. Laurie tells me you don’t respond to Adelaide. Tell me, what happened to you dear?” she now pulled a chair from the corner of the room and was sitting near the bed.
“My name is Camila, not Adelaide. I don’t remember much. I just remember waking up at a park bench. I was assaulted by this stranger as I got off the city bus and passed out. Now I am here and I still don’t know where I am,” I replied.
“Do you recall anything before waking up from that park bench?”
I had not thought about this before. I racked my brain for a while until an image appeared in my head. I was at the foot of wooden stairs. There was water on the steps from the rainfall earlier. I was about to step down the first step, when I felt a push from behind me.
“Stairs. I remember falling from stairs,” I replied slowly as I tried to recall anything else.
She smiled greatly as if I had just spoken a piece of information that might lead her to some truth. “Yes the stairs! Do you remember anything after that?” I shook my head.
“I just know I have a family. I’ve been trying to find them but everything just seems so fuzzy. You’re a doctor right? You can help me!” my voice rose at the end as I felt a bit of excitement from this new found help.
Dr. Beth’s smile slowly faded as she proceeded to shake her head, “I’m sorry Camila but I’m afraid I can’t. You see, the reason that everyone here calls you Adelaide is because that’s the person that we found almost a year ago. From what you are telling me, it seems as if you maybe suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder. I can’t really diagnose you this unless I study you more thoroughly.”
I was stricken with shock. I couldn’t seem to put all the pieces together and this only continued to frustrate me. “I-I have what? I can’t. I have always gone by the name Camila. Even though I don’t remember where my family is I do have distinct memories of my father calling me by that name. I have never heard the name Adelaide in my life. I-I…”
Dr. Beth put a reassuring hand on my shoulder as she could see that I was about to freak out on her.
Her voice lowered as she seriously responded with, “If you let me, I can take a look at your brain and have a better understanding of what’s going on in there.” I nodded as I wanted an answer to all this craziness as much as she did.
“So we have to go to the hospital right?” I said as I began to maneuver my way out of the bed.
Dr. Beth sighed slowly as she said, “That won’t be necessary.”
Before I could inquire as to why she wasn’t going to take me to a hospital, she placed her warm hand on my cheek. I felt a slight burning sensation on my cheek as she kept her hand on it. After a few seconds, the soreness of my bruise seem to have faded. She replaced her hand back to her lap as I slowly turned to face the mirror. My swollen bruise had completely vanished and the puffiness of my cheek reduced to its normal state. I tried speaking but no words could come out. I was completely mystified and a bit petrified of what had occurred. “We have a lot of things to explain to you, Camila.”
I felt relief as I walked around the room. My muscles enjoyed this as I had been cooped up in bed for a long time. It had only been a few minutes since Dr. Beth had left the room. She had left me alone to digest everything that she had told me. Powers, abilities, gifts, skills, whatever it was called it was almost incomprehensible. A fictitious phenomenon if I had not witnessed it with my own eyes. My body felt better than ever when only just an hour ago I was practically incapacitated. Dr. Beth’s ability was to heal wounds, something that suited not only her profession but her personality. She had said that my other persona, Adelaide, also had an ability, incredible strength. I stopped my pacing and looked at my hands. They were flimsy, almost fragile. How could I have incredible strength? But then again it wasn’t me. Of course not me, never me! I felt as I was going insane. I just craved the truth. Was I Camila or Adelaide? No, no, no! I’ve been Camila since birth and this was the truth; it had to be. At least I knew I had a family. According to Dr. Beth, Adelaide had no recollection of family or friends or anything. I did. I could hear gentle footsteps just outside my door. Dr. Beth informed me that Reed was the first to discover me, or I mean discover Adelaide. He brought her here where she was then introduced to the others. Apparently this place was almost like a hiding place for people like us, or do I mean them? Either way, they are being hunted by another group of people that have abilities too. It was all unclear to me; it came across as if we were in some type of fictional book. Here I thought that I was just a normal person. I began to get lightheaded with all the information running through my head so I went to sit at the edge of my bed.
A soft knock came from the door followed by, “Hey it’s Laurie. Can I come in?” I recalled that Dr. Beth insisted I talked to Laurie first since she was my-I mean Adelaide’s close friend. This transition, or whatever it is, will be difficult.
“Come in,” my voice sounded raspy since I hadn’t really spoken for a while.
Laurie came in slowly almost waiting for me to freak out on her again. I used a half smile to signal her that it was okay. She made her way to the bed beside me and sat down. She was looking at me as if I was a creature from a different planet. “So you’re Laurie right?” I asked as to break the silence that was beginning to make its way into the room. She smiled and nodded.
Before I could say anything else, she hugged me furiously as I froze in surprise. “I’m so sorry,” she started as she released me, “it’s just that we thought they had killed you.”
I looked down as I felt a sudden shame. Even though I did not know these people, I felt as if I brought an unnecessary burden to them.
I quickly became frightened of this sensation I felt so strongly. I responded with, “You mean you thought Adelaide was dead. I-I’m Camila.”
“Yes, Yes! I’m so sorry Camila but I’m just used to calling you Adelaide. I will fix that, I promise. Dr. Beth told us about what you’re going through and we will help you get through it once you’ve settled in here. I know we helped Adelaide,” she said smiling gleefully.
“I’m grateful for everything you guys have done but I don’t think I will be staying here,” I replied softly. Laurie was taken aback. “I’m not Adelaide anymore. She had an ability and I don’t. I’m not in danger from that group. I need to get back out there and find my family, my old life.”
Laurie looked at me with a concerned expression, “I’m afraid the group already knows Adelaide has an ability and if they find you they won’t hesitate to kill you because you are¬¬¬-I mean you look like her. Please, Camila, consider staying here. We will help you find the answers you seek and keep you safe.”
This felt strange to me. Someone was pleading me to stay; someone that I don’t even know whereas when I was searching for the past two days for my family no one wanted to help me. I was scared, though. I didn’t know much about these people but just what I was told from Dr. Beth. Would they harm me with their abilities? Was this all just a lie? Something in my body told me otherwise, though. A strong feeling pulsed through my veins to trust these people but all I could reply to her was, “I will consider staying.”
She breathed out in relief as she said, “Good. We will be having dinner shortly and you can introduce yourself. Dr. Beth said she was going to let everyone know beforehand about you since the rest know you only by Adelaide. After that, if you feel that you can’t stay then we will not hold you back.” I nodded in agreement. “Before we go, though, there is something I should warn you about,” Laurie said almost hesitantly, “when Adelaide was here, it was different, I mean you were different. The people out there sort of expect a certain personality from you which is obviously very different from that of Adelaide’s. Of course everyone is aware of whom you are now but it doesn’t mean they will be used to it.” I felt like she needed to say more but before I could ask a man knocked on the door and then came in.
This man had mesmerizing colored eyes. His dark brown hair was not long at all and his face, although young, showed years of life experience.
“I’m sorry to disturb but dinner awaits you ladies,” he said with a British accent. Laurie gave him a stern look and the man quickly apologized again but this time to only me. “I apologize but I had forgotten you are not Adelaide. My name is Colden,” his soft smile infiltrated his hardened face. I looked at Laurie for reassurance as I slowly got up.
“I’m Camila,” I said as I took out my hand for him to shake. His smile only widened as he shook it.
“It’s very nice to not only meet you Camila, but to have you here with us again.” Laurie got up and stood beside Colden as she wrapped her arms around his waist lovingly.
“Colden here helped us all escape from the group. He’s kind of our leader in a way,” said Laurie lovingly.
Colden returned the love by gently kissing the top of her head. I looked at Colden and could automatically see the leadership just by his poise. He didn’t seem like a ruling leader, though. He looked more like a leader who wanted to guide his people to safety. This again only reassured my senses about staying here but first I needed to see how I felt around everyone else.