Amnesia

Chapter 16

We are in a police car. Heading for my home. My home. The excitement within me is unreal. I just want to be home again.

We have just been to the police station for them to take my statement. They took me to a private room and asked me lots of questions. And I told them everything I had experienced with Anthony. From the medicine he gave me to the suspicious lies he always told me. 

They said he only gave that medicine to specific patients- the only thing it did was effect their brain and made them hallucinate. Making them feel like they were going crazy. That way Anthony could keep those patients and use them for his own purposes.
They were essentially saying he was an obsessive psychopath that ran a mental hospital. How ironic is that?

I asked them if they knew if anything i experienced was real, like seeing a person I thought was real but nobody knew them. I mentioned the crazy man and Lilly, but I left out Kaius. They said I did a lot of hallucinating and wouldn't be surprised if I made up people all together.

After that, they gave me some clothes to wear that were not a hospital gown. It felt good wearing real clothes after such a long time.

I stare out of the window of the police car and wonder about things. If I had been hallucinating, then was Kaius not real? Was Lilly not real? 

"Ahren?" 

He looks at me and smiles.

"Do you...remember Lilly?"

"Nurse Lilly?" 

He knows her, this is amazing. 

I smile and nod my head fast, "Yeah, you met her that time I fainted and woke up in the hospital emergency room."

He furrows his eyebrows, "No. I never met her. But you talked about her. And said she was really nice to you."

Suddenly the hope inside me fizzles out. "Oh. You never met me in the emergency room, did you?"

"No. I was there. But you weren't."

I look back out the window. A tear trickles down my cheek. Maybe I did hallucinate about Kaius.

We pull up to a large set of gates. They open slowly, and the car proceeds through them. It looks like we are on a big estate. We drive a little further and I see a house come in to view. An old looking mansion. 

Ahren looks at me and exhales, taking my hand, he says, "We're here."

when they told me that I was going home I promised myself I wouldn't get my hopes up. But this is it. I am here. I am going to try and forget what happened to me. And focus on remembering the real me.

The policeman opens the door for me and I step out. Still holding Ahren's hand since he hadn't let go.

I take a deep breath, and we walk up to the house.

I knock on the large wooden doors. This seems like a very old building.

a bald man in a posh suit comes to the door.

"Miss Avyanna, welcome home."

I glance at Ahren. He gives me a reassuring smile and a nudge to go inside.

The butler- from what I gather- asks us to sit and wait while the lady of the house prepares herself to see me. Apparently she has been very excited in anticipation of my arrival.

I take a quick glance around the high ceiling-ed room. It doesn't seem very homely, but then again this is only the front room.

Oddly, I am feeling slightly nervous. It could be just purely excitement. But I know it will all be okay soon.

I look at Ahren to see if I can read what he is feeling right now. But he just sits on his phone texting someone. I didn't even know he had a phone. Maybe they gave him it at the police station.

I am going to ask him about it but I hear heels clicking along a hallway behind the door that the butler disappeared into.  

My heart is pounding, my knees are shaking.

The doors swing inwards, opened by a tall well-dressed woman with short blonde hair. 

She sees me and warmly smiles. She then proceeds toward us- walking like a model on the catwalk might I add.

Me and Ahren stand up.

She puts her hands on my shoulders and squeezes them gently.

"My Avy has returned." Her eyes well up and she hugs me.

I see Ahren out of the corner of my eye smiling in admiration.

But something is wrong. 

I have to admit, I have lied to Ahren about something before. That time I dreamt about my mother, I told him I didn't remember what she looked like. But that was a lie. And this woman is not my mother.

She draws away from me, still smiling.

"I missed you so much!" She says.

I decide not to address it right now, so I play along.

"Are you...my Mother?"

"Yes! Oh Darling, I wish you could remember me."

My mother called me 'pet'. 

I smile, "me too."

"You look so thin, I'll go and get the chefs to make you you're favourite meal! Thobias will show you where your bedrooms are. It's good to see you again as well, Ahren. Thank you for bringing my girl back to me." 

Ahren nods, "It's good to see you again too, Mrs Buresqhuran."

I shoot a look at Ahren, "Is that my surname?" 

He nods. "Yeah, why?"

"I don't know. I just remembered something about it. We never said the full name, we would just say 'Buresq'..." I watch closely to see if I have made him nervous.

My 'mother' turns and gives him a look I can't read. But Ahren just stands there with his jaw clenched. 

I was wondering if anyone would say something, when she decides to, "That's right, we usually do, all that time away must be making Ahren a bit forgetful himself." She laughs, but not very convincingly.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a bit tired actually. I think I'll go wash up and head to bed. I know where my room is." He smiles faintly, but fails to hide the irritation on his face. 

He doesn't even look at me, then he turns and heads along the corridor. Where is he going to be walking with such purpose? 

I don't get a chance to see, the butler, Thobias, ushers me up the stairs and leads me to my room. 

More suspicions. More lies. Just when I thought it was all over, it has only just begun.