“Her feelings she hides.
Her dreams she can't find,
She's losing her mind.
She's falling behind.
She can't find her place.
She's losing her faith.
She's falling from grace.
She's all over the place, yeah.”
Chapter Three
IMMI
Sitting on the couch, in this new house, I wondered what was going to happen. Harmony had left me here and told me she was going to get some people. I didn't know and honestly? I didn't really care. All I wanted to do was find out who I was before this happened. Why I felt like I did.
Whilst we went in some large metallic box, which I'd found out was a car, I had been thinking about everything. The way I acted, the way I spoke... even how I felt. Almost like it had been drilled into me.
Taking a look at my surroundings, I saw that the room was very elegant. The walls were a creamy white, with a few paintings. The floors were wood, with a large fluffy mat in the middle of the room. Three white couches, one which I was sitting on, surrounded the carpet.
Above the roaring fireplace, was a large portrait of a family. They looked happy. I wasn't sure if the portrait was real; the members had large white wings. More images flashed before me, this time of people walking around with wings.
Shaking my head I came back to reality. I wanted to put my feet up but I was afraid to dirty the clean couch.
“Immi!” I heard a voice squeal before being pounced on. I saw a black haired girl, with bright brown eyes. They were glassy – she looked like she was going to cry! Feeling her crush me, I patted her awkwardly, what was I meant to do? “I'm so glad you're okay!”
“I-er-yeah? Um...” I was lost for words. I didn't even remember her. I felt guilty for that.
“Emily . I'm Emily!” She didn't seem fazed that I had no idea who she was. “We were best friends when we were up in He-”
“When you both were in school.” Another voice, which sounded on edge, interrupted her. Looking up, I saw a blonde haired woman. Her mouth was turned into a frown and she looked unhappy about something. There was a mix of irritation mixed into her face too.
“What?” Obviously Emily hadn't meant school, unless she was surprised this woman knew her? 'He' didn't sound like 'school' at all.
“Remember what we talked about, earlier?” I heard Emily gasp before nodding.
“Yeah, what I meant was when we lived elsewhere. This isn't our home. Ours is much nicer and... home-y.”
“Oh.” I didn't think that they lived here. They seemed to look out of place. “Do you know what happened to me?”
“No, we don't. Emily, get off Imogen.” I'm guessing that Immi was a nickname for me, it made sense. I preferred it to Imogen, it was short and sweet. Somehow, that phrase reminded me of someone but I couldn't place my mind on it.
I felt disappointment inside me. Was there anyone who knew what happened to me? Anyone? It could have been my worst enemy!
“Anyway, we're going to be here for a while. Harmony's gone to get Gustav so we have to wait here and watch you.” I nodded.
“What's your name? I'm sorry, I don't remember.” I smiled apologetically and she seemed shocked for a second before she righted herself.
“So the rumours are true...” she muttered to herself before actually replying to me. “Caroline. Not Carol, Caroline.”
“Um, okay.” Why would I call her Carol? How odd... maybe she was just making sure I wouldn't call her that? “So, you guys know me right?”
“Yeah.” They both replied.
“Tell me about myself because I don't exactly know who I am.”
After talking to them for a while, I was glad that they had kept me company. They seemed to know who I was and now I kind of knew what I was like but not everything. It turned out that my favourite colour was white (it explained why I didn't mind the white hospital rooms), I was polite and optimistic and that there weren't a lot of things I disliked.
What got me, was that I had the feeling they knew what happened with me. No matter what I did though, they wouldn't spill. They also seemed to stop themselves occasionally before they talked again. I could tell they were hiding something, but I didn't know what. It had to be serious if they were keeping it a secret... right?
“Ah! Harmony! Who are these... beautiful angels!” I turned at the voice of a man. He seemed well groomed and looked cute. His hair was a shining blonde and his blue eyes shone with happiness. They were an extremely dark blue, like the bottom of the sea. He was quite tall but not too tall, only a few inches taller than Harmony.
Angel. The word repeated itself over and over again in my head. Almost like it was trying to tell me something. Nothing worked and I felt frustrated. Stupid bridge was still broken.
“Gustav, this is Caroline, Emily and Imogen.” She pointed at each of us before whispering something in his ear. His face looked surprised.
“Ah! Imogen! Terrible news, I hear.” He bounced over and sat next to me. He seemed very forward and enthusiastic. “We'll get your memories back!” I nodded. Yes, I was excited but I didn't know this man and I wasn't sure about his tactics. I barely knew him. However, it seemed Harmony had great faith in him. Shouldn't that mean I should too?
“How will you do that, sir?” I asked tentatively. He seemed to have some bright idea forming in his mind by the looks of it.
“Oh, in a matter of ways. It depends how... injured you are.” His smile faltered for a second before it went back to a grin. “Let's see the scar then!”
A scar? I'm pretty sure it was a burn. That's what the doctor said. So why was this Gustav telling me it was a scar?
“A scar? Is it not a burn, sir?” Frowning at him, I saw him freeze ever so slightly. I was right – they were hiding something.
“Those doctors don't know what they're on about. You're special – they wouldn't have seen this before. Didn't they say that?” He looked over to Harmony to see what she said.
“They said they hadn't known what it was. It's a scar or a burn. I don't see why it matters so much to you, Imogen.” I had the feeling that she used this voice often with me. It was laced with irritation and something felt familiar with that.
I nodded and without a second thought, turned around and pulled my t-shirt off. Dropping it on the seat in front of me, I let Gustav run his hands on the scar. I didn't like the feeling; it was horrible. Burning was all I could feel.
Hearing murmuring from Gustav, I wondered what he was doing. He'd stopped feeling the scar and was now doing something else. Turning my head, I saw that he was jotting down some notes in his book.
“What are you doing?” He stopped writing for a moment to look at me.
“I'm writing down the severity of your injury. Did Monie not tell you that I'm a doctor?” Not sparing me a second glance, he continued to write. Didn't exactly seem like a doctor.
“No. Did she not tell you I've got amno... amnesia?”
“She may have mentioned it. I'd forgotten that, I apologise.” I nodded. Starting to feel funny, I realised that I shouldn't have felt comfortable in just my bottoms with a crowd, should I? As much as I wanted to say I'd forgotten these people, it was like my subconscious was telling me that I did know them. Shame it wouldn't give me my memories back.
“So, what are we going to do?” I asked. If he was a 'doctor' he should know.
“Well, I haven't seen a case like this in a long time...” It was evident he'd seen this before but a long time? He didn't look that old... “but I think we should see if anything triggers your memory. Is there anything that you've seen so far that you think might be a memory?”
I thought about it for a moment. The only thing I'd seen had been feathers and wings. How did that relate to my past life? I sighed. I didn't care if saying it sounded crazy; maybe it was a symbol for something?
“I've been seeing feathers and winged people.” Saying it out loud made me sound crazy but what if it meant something? It was obvious that these people knew about my previous life but none wanted to tell me. That sent panic through me; what if I had done something terrible?
“Hm.” Hushed whispers happened behind my back before he continued to speak. “Maybe if we go to some sort of fancy dress type party, or shop, it might trigger your memory. You can put your top back on.”
I slipped my top back on and turned back. Emily and Caroline seemed shocked but there was a hopeful look on their faces. When I looked at Harmony and Gustav's, there was determination.
Gustav handed me a dark blue notebook, which had a beautiful gold design on the front. Running my fingers over it, I was trapped by the shining glint.
“Imogen,” he started and put his large hand over my petite one. I could tell it was a comforting gesture, not a romantic one, “I want you to write every dream, every thought... everything you think might help in this notebook. I don't want you to show it to anyone, it's to help you figure out what happened. The only one who can help get your memory back is you. You need to fix the bridge in your mind.” I smiled, understanding him.
I saw Harmony move to the side before she smiled. She seemed sad about something.
“Imogen, we'll get your memory back but until we do, we're staying here. No matter how long it takes.”
I heard a sad sigh and a gasp behind me and then it made me think, who were they and why was it so important to these people that I got my memory back?