When she finally got rid of the fog that involved her, she woke up in a completely unfamiliar place. She had no idea how she had gotten there, and worst of all, she could not remember her name. All the information she had come from people she did no...
Clara opened her eyes and saw the tall, peeled walls of the auditorium while in the distance she heard the murmur of voices arguing in the hallway. With a gasping breath, she bent her head against the wall behind her. She had remembered what had happened that night and was relieved for that. But soon after this feeling, another appeared, a breathtaking one: why Daniel attacked her? Why had he saved her later? What did he want? Why was he following her? Why did he lie? And the most importantly: Nana had told that the soldiers had called her by name, which led her to believe they knew her, but her memories showed just the opposite...
She felt frustrated since, to each memory she recovered, more questions arose unanswered. She heard the voices getting louder and remained motionless in her place, observing through the small gap between the chairs. Daniel entered the auditorium with Marisol right behind.
"Clara! Clara!" he searched all over the place.
Daniel had followed her the day before that night, she was sure of it now. And if he could find her in the middle of nowhere, he would find her in a closed place like the auditorium, so she stood as still as possible. She had to put herself together and a confrontation with him and Marisol, was out of the question.
"Clara!"
"What the hell, Daniel! What does this girl have you're always after her?" Marisol pulled him by the arm and made him face her. "You should call for me, not for her! Since this girl came here, you look different! What's wrong, Daniel?" his silence visibly irritated the girl. "I am going to Gaspar's room!"
"No!" Daniel sounded desperate, holding her by the arm.
"Let me go, Daniel! You're hurting me!"
Both stared at each other in silence for some time. Daniel had his back to where Clara was, but she could see Marisol's irritation with a gloomy expression.
"Then tell me what's going on! Who's this girl that even Mirela is involved in this ridiculous lie??" as Marisol didn't have an answer, she raged again and yelled wildly, "What's going on, Daniel?"
"She is my wife, Marisol! That's it!" Daniel shouted as Marisol blinked unbelievingly and Clara from her place simply forgot to breathe.
"What??" Marisol blinked several times, trying to recover from the shock.
"It's what you heard, Marisol. Clara is my wife whom I thought had died three years ago." Daniel dropped his arms along his body as he was tired or relieved.
"But... how... How is this possible?" Marisol stammered and lowered her voice, frowning in confusion. It seemed that she was verbalizing all the questions in Clara's mind.
"I don't know, Marisol. I found her a few days ago in a nearby village after being attacked by some guards of the Government troops. So, I brought her in secret and Nana took care of her."
"You didn't ask her? Where had she been all this time? Why didn't she look for you before?"
"She doesn't remember, Marisol. When she was attacked, she hit her head and lost her memory."
"Anything?" insisted the girl, staring back at him while he shook his head. "Can't she be faking it?"
"She remembers nothing, Marisol. Nothing at all. Nana assured me, and I trust Nana. Do you understand why I brought her in secret? I couldn't just go around with a dead wife who is actually alive and forgetful. Gaspar would kick her out before she got better... I couldn't allow it. I needed her close, to know she is fine..."
"Stop it, Daniel. Stop. I got it" Marisol silenced him with her fingers to his mouth. The girl stared at him looking... what? Sadness? "It has been tough to fight a ghost for you all this time, but now ... fight a wife who has returned from the dead?" she finished in a trembling voice and walking toward the door.
"Wait! Marisol, I..." Daniel said, pulling her arm gently.
"Don't worry... I won't say anything to Gaspar or anyone... after all, although I couldn't understand everything, Mirela was part of it and I don't want to cause any harm to her... For Mirela, Daniel." Marisol concluded, getting out and leaving Daniel alone.
He glanced over the place once more, and with a resigned sigh, he left.
"Marisol, wait!" his steps were distant now.
Clara felt as if a truck had hit her. As much as she longed to remember her life, she was not prepared for those memories, let alone to know in the past she had been engaged someone... With Daniel! She tightened her eyes in a deep anguish, trying to remember how this would have happened, where she would have known him, but again, nothing. Only the blank and the silence once more. Blank and silence she thought were turning into a thin veil while memories returned, but that part of her past still at a distance, impossible to be accessed no matter how hard she tried.
'What should I do now?' This was the question looping in her mind. 'What do I do? What do I do?'
She opened her eyes and stared at the auditorium's ceiling as if supplicating for orientation and rationality in her thoughts; tears fell quietly. With her arms still around the knees, she closed her eyes once again and took a deep breath trying to calm down. After a few minutes, something came to her: there was no way out. It was the wisest thing to do.
Clara went to the dormitory being careful to not bump into Daniel, Mirela or Nana. There, she gathered a few belongings deliberately caught from Mirela's closet, like a gun, a few bullets, a knife and a change of clothes. She put everything into an old backpack of Mirela as well, picked up her bow and the quiver while she took out a folded paper she had hidden beneath her mattress. Clara took one last look and left, closing the door behind her.
She made her way through the corridors taking care to go unnoticed by the few people she met on the way, pretending she was going somewhere in the building to train. Luckily, everyone was so apprehensive and worried about the recent events they had given little attention to her. Fast as she could, Clara reached the hallway where the kitchen was. She passed the door, noticing the movement inside of busy people preparing lunch, and when she turned right, saw a small door where 'Garbage' was signaled in a black ink faded.
During her rounds, Clara had noticed the rustling all over padlock and knob. The place had been used extensively in the past, but with the chronic shortage of food, everything, absolutely everything, was reused. Time had passed by and people forgot its location. She felt a small remorse for not having warned the leader about that fragile spot, but it was too late now..
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