Contest Entries

The Choice | Round Two | A Love to be Remembered

A Love to be Remembered

A chest-aching gasp leaves Penny's lips as her eyes snap open only to be met with a bright white light, forcing her to squint and wince away. Instinctively she goes to sit up, her mind hazy with the events that took place in the last day, but bindings around her wrists prevent her from doing so. A cold fear traces through her veins as she looks down, yanking against the leather restraints to no avail.

Frantic and desperate, she begins to scream for help even when it sends a fire up her sore throat. She thrashes against the restraints in a panic, her heart racing and her heart pounding in her ears.

"Now, now, there's no need for that," says a voice from behind her.

She instantly stills, though her chest heaves up and down rapidly. "W-who are you? Where am I?"

"You don't remember me? I'm offended." The mocking tone begins to circle around her. It's a male's voice, a deep one.

A familiar one.

She swallows the lump in her throat and blinks as she tries to recollect her memories of the past few hours. She tries to find a face in her mind to place with the voice, but her head is throbbing so badly it hurts to think.

"That's expected, however. You put up such a fight, I had to drug you up pretty good just to get you to calm down."

Her eyes hurt. Her head hurts. Her body hurts. What had happened?

"Please," she whispers. "Let me go."

"If only it were that easy."

Suddenly, the man is looming over her, his face blocking the light directly above. She would've jumped back if she could from the abruptness of his movements. His eyes are crystal blue and yet as pretty as they are, they glow with nothing but anger. His lips are quirked in a cynical smile as he traces a finger down the side of her face from her temple to her chin.

She recognizes them then, and a whole new pain overwhelms her. "Ryan," she says, her lips quivering. "Ryan, what are you doing?"

Ryan is her best friend. He would never do something this... this... what exactly is he doing? Something insane, clearly, but she doesn't understand why it's happening to her. Why her best friend of four years is acting so... maniacal.

He laughs, and she used to think his laugh was warm and inviting until now. Now, there is a chill undertone to his laughter that makes her skin crawl. "What am I doing? What are you doing, Penny? You're screwing everything up, that's what."

Tears burn her eyes. "What are you talking about? Come on, Ryan. Let me go. Let's talk, okay?" Her voice shakes and her chin wobbles but it's all she has to go on. He's in total control and he knows it.

"No, no, no." He shakes his head, moving out of her view only to shove the light aside. He pushes a button on a remote and the dental-like chair Penny is lying on rises to a sitting position. He tosses the remote aside and begins to pace. "You don't get it. You never comprehend the bigger picture."

She struggles against the restraints again, as if her new position would make escaping easier. It doesn't.

"Ryan, please—"

"Shut up!" he snaps, causing her to jump. His enraged glare locks with her terrified gaze again as he drags his hands through his dark hair. "All you do is talk talk talk, but you never listen, Penny. You never care."

"I do," she whispers. "I care, Ryan. I'm listening now."

"Now is too late," he replies like he's defeated, letting his head hang. He startles her once more when he flips over a small table with books on it. "It's always been too late!"

She's crying now, but she tries to hold her nerve. "Ryan... Ryan, talk to me."

He massages his temples. "Fine," he says sarcastically. "You want to talk? Fine. We can talk. Sure, we can talk."

He drags a stool over in front of her and she stifles the urge to flinch away. He rests his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped between them. He's looking at her strangely with the most twisted smile she's ever seen.

"You and I are soulmates, Penny," he says calmly, tilting his head to the side. "We're both reincarnated from another life. Can't you feel it? As soon as I saw you, I knew it in my heart. In my soul." He emphasizes by pointing to his chest. "You were my wife in our past lives. We were royalty, Penny. We were in love."

She blinks at him, her thoughts jumbled. He's actually crazy. Clinically crazy. "Ryan," she starts uncertainly, not wanting to set him off again. "Ryan, I'm sorry but I don't remember."

He clenches his jaw. "You think I'm crazy? You don't feel it? How can you say you don't feel it?" He leans closer to her, his hands on her knees now and it makes her nauseous. "You weren't meant to be with Daniel, Penny. You were meant to be with me."

Penny thinks about Daniel, her boyfriend now of two years, and her nausea increases in volumes, nearly making her hurl. "Where's Danny? What did you do to him?"

"He couldn't stay, Penny. Not when you're supposed to be with me."

"Did you...?" She can't finish the sentence, bile rising in her already burning throat.

"He's where he deserves to be," Ryan says instead. A joyful look replaces the hate in his eyes as he leans closer to her. "Don't you see? We can be together now, like before."

She can't form words through her sobs; she sobs harder when he puts his calloused hand on her cheek.

"It's okay if you don't remember, my love. I can help with that. I want us to be happy. We can be a king and queen again. We can start a family."

He pushes away from her excitedly, retrieving the remote he had thrown. With a press of a button she's being lowered again. As if it's a cue, she starts to beg him futilely. She knows he won't let her go. She knows her best friend was a facade to make this twisted fantasy a reality. She knows her parents will think she's only run away again.

She knows no one will come looking for her.

"It's going to be okay now," Ryan says, moving behind her. He resituates the lights, making her tired and heavy eyes close with tears still leaking from them. "I promise."

"Please," she whispers one more useless time.

"Once you remember, you'll be so grateful I found you," he says against her temple, brushing her bangs off her forehead. "We can be happy again, darling."

With no warning, he presses two nobs against the sides of her head and her body convulses with the electrocution.

It is not long before she wakes up.

And she remembers.