the beautiful grave (book II)

light in a darkened world

krista

"I still can't believe you don't remember anything."

          The waitress provided me with free beverages and plate after plate of food. She'd been so helpful, mistaking me for a starving child rather than someone who might've just escaped from a castle full of criminals. Of course, I didn't correct her, I was too happy to receive free food from a restaurant for the first time in my life. I wolfed it down like I hadn't eaten in a week.

          She was pretty, with full cheeks and an honest smile, but she looked at me sometimes like she knew me. Like I'd been feeling since I woke up, I didn't know who she was.

          A boy from the booth next to mine was leaning across, gaping at me. He was quite nerdy, with black horn-rimmed glasses and terrible acne. I resisted the urge to go tell him to moisturize his face some more.

          "I remember you."

          I stopped mid-chew and raised my head to meet my waitress in the eye. I swallowed and hoped she could give me enough information.

         "When was this?"

          "I don't know..." She cupped her hand around her neck and pouted her rosy lips. The boy was practically drooling, not that I blamed him. What a tease, I thought. "It must've been more than a month ago. You were with a really hot guy and two teenagers were pestering you."

          A hot guy, really? She couldn't be talking about Elliot, could she?

         "Brown tawny hair?"

          She shook her head, hair coming loose from its band and resting peacefully on her broad shoulders. From behind the till, the chef called her to quit chatting. She stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to me, tapping her chin in gesture of thought.

         "No," When I narrowed my eyes, she sighed dreamily. "It was dark. Black, I think. Ooooh, he was so handsome."

          Black hair. Okay, so not Elliot.

          But if not him... then who?

          I wanted to erase the question from my mind but it kept pestering me until I finished my meal. The nerdy guy and I talked for a while, discussing how much I could remember, then tried coming up with a logical explanation. Sadly, there were none as far as I was concerned. We came to a dead end once I backed up to my waking up in a coffin.

          Yet, that's not even the weirdest thing.

          No, I realized that, after I woke up, I was dressed in a long peach gown... without sleeves! I had worried over people catching glimpses of my burns and scars – but then I was surprised to find I didn't have any. It seemed that I was completely burn-free.

          For the time being, I had temporary memory loss, but what the hell could make me forget something as colossal as that?

          Once I left the diner, the waitress giving me directions to the nearest phonebooth, I felt hungry all over again. The last thing I wanted to do was go back in there and ask for more free food.

          A triangle of angry-looking men stood just outside the door, smoking cigars and sipping cider. Their eyes thinned into tight slits as I trudged past, not wanting to catch anymore unwanted attention.

          The whole village was practically abandoned, although across the way there was a small bookstore, but I slumped upon spotting it was closed. I wanted to hope that they could've helped, maybe look me up and see if there was a missing person's notice.