"Time heals all wounds, I presume," the interviewer said, warming his butt on my turquoise Serena and Lily armchair in my lounge room.
"That's ridiculous. What wounds can I heal when I don't remember a damn thing from my years as a child. The media covered this already. What more information do you want?" I said nonchalantly, blowing at my cigarette. My gaze was fixed on the scrawny man, his short dyed black hair to blonde threatening my breakfast.
He took out his notepad and jotted down what I had just said.
"There isn't anything to write. We are done here. Get out!"
"So you are saying you have amnesia? Then why are you always cold, harsh and brutal when you don't even remember your past? Why are you always intimidating? Why are you on demand on every police checklist, them desperately wanting you to join their force? How is it possible..."
I pressed the cigarette butt that had been burning between my fingers on the ashtray and stood up as the man continued bombarding me with all the questions he could think of. Gawd! Where did I stash my painkillers?
It bothered me he couldn't read the emotions screaming loudly on my face. Over the years after being kicked out from the only place I tried calling home, I learnt to hide my actual feelings. Not even a twinge of emotion could be evident on my face. But at that moment, anyone walking on the other side of the street would wish there was another side to walk on, further away from me. It was that clear.
Hiding feelings though was also part of the job. You don't want to sell out your emotions to strangers. It only showed weakness. We can't control what will happen tomorrow. You'll never know who will step on you and who wouldn't. That is why life was overpriced and tagged as unfair. All you have to do is adapt and fight the world before it fights you.
"I said get-out! Normally, I won't repeat myself," I said, still keeping my cool but I was about to lose it, Lord have mercy.
"Clearly, but I'm doing my job. I'm being paid for extra hours."
"Look at my face. Do I look like I give a damn about your job? You go by my rules under my roof, so I'd suggest you stop being a stubborn pig and get the hell out of my house before I throw you out myself."
The interviewer stood up, scrambling uneasily as he gathered his things. His eyes met mine.
"You don't intimidate me at all." His voice sounded strained and brittle.
"Oh! Well, that's very good to hear," I replied sarcastically, looking down at him as he was shorter, and smiling, hiding the rage of madness that was boiling in my veins.
I moved even closer to him, brushing my black robe against the grey granite tiles. And before he knew it, my leg met his back and he fell from the contact his stomach meeting the tiled floor, and an agonised groan escaped his throat.
I squatted next to him and took him by his ungodly hair, whispering in his ear. "I think now you know why I'm on demand at every police department. So, if there are no other questions, you know where the front door is."
I walked to another room painted cream and contrasted by a dark maroon wool carpet that had a smooth and satisfying feeling on bare feet. I sat on one of the couches in the room, laying back my head on the headrest and placing my booted feet on the coffee table opposite the couch, sighing in exhaustion.
'Twenty-four unread mails,' my digital monitor announced, earning a huge loud groan in response.
I lazily stood up to reach for the remote and checked on all the received and unread emails."Please write back. We need your help; You are highly considered, blah, blah, blah; The LAPD wants you to kindly check in as soon as possible to interrogate a new suspect. Payment is done for every hour." I read.
"Crap!" I concluded, slumping back on the couch.
As I scrolled down the list of endless emails, the last one drew my attention. It had not been read for the past eight months. It immediately called for my attention as the subject was a single dark heart and three continuous dots.
The hell? What was that supposed to mean?
Dear Becca Monroe,
It would probably take a while before you open this mail but I'll be patient enough until you read what I have to say,
I'll cut to the chase. I'm the doctor who attended to you when you were six and an old couple brought you to my hospital after they found you bleeding near a railway station. You might be wondering what happened, I do too but I may have an idea. Since nineteen years ago, ever since you were admitted here, I never stopped checking on your brain scans. Together with a neurosurgeon, Mikael Baldowski, we discovered you had memory loss but as the years advanced, we figured out how we could help one remember by connecting the cerebrum which is associated with memory in the human brain to a machine designed by the Chinese to record dreams.
We have not yet tested it, but of course, dangers and risks may arise. You'll be our test subject as everyone else with memory loss bailed. We will not force you to but we'll push through with your consent.
I believe you'd want to know what happened that caused your memory loss.
Feel free to reply and give your opinion.
~Dr. Xander
"Do I really want this?" I asked myself after re-reading the email one more time.
Would it be worth it?
"Look! I have a four-year-old son at home, alone. He's waiting for me. So, can we please make this quick?" I lied for the fortieth time that day in the most sweetest voice I could muster.The man still won't budge. I rubbed the sides of my head with my thumbs in frustration, head facing down feeling defeated but then looked back at him, adamant to get him to talk."Can you please say something? I'm trying to help you," I said, on the verge of giving up. "Who was with you? What happened, really?"Nothing!"I'll be your lawyer pro bono. Just...just say something," I said desperately, frustration growing in the pits of my stomach. It has never been this hard I had to throw my intimidating personality aside and put on a fake mask just to get him talking.I stood up from my seat, angrily slamming my hands on the metallic table, pushing my chair away from my legs and walking out of the dimly lit interrogation room."I've done my best. The man's a wall," I told Mark, the head of LAPD."Get ba
Xander's POV I had already anaesthetized Becca when Dr. Baldowski walked in. Without much further ado, we connected the machine and set it up. We placed nodes on her forehead, at the back of her neck and somewhere between her root hairs on the scalp."This is it!" I said anxiously but yet still excitedly as I took the specialised hospital drill.Dr. Baldowski held her head firmly as I drilled a hole at the back of her head, careful not to cause any damage. Despite my hands being clammy, I took in a breath and successfully passed the camera and the sensory cable into her cerebrum."Turn on the machine," I instructed, fingers crossed.I was using two monitors. One to see where I was to stop and the other to scan the passage I was using for the purpose of recording the memory."Anything?" Baldowski asked."Not yet!"I finally settled at the downward edge of the cerebrum. "Now, we just have to wait." "How long do you think it might take?" Baldowski asked. I shrugged my shoulders. "Pati
Becca's POVWhite, bright blinding light! Heavy breathing! Pain at the back of my head, throbbing.It took a while before I familiarised with my surroundings. I was in Xander's lab, laying surprisingly on a comfortable bed, a gas mask masking my nose and mouth.I stretched my hand towards my head to try and massage it.
After two long weeks of recovery and two long weeks of Xander's boring company, I got back to my usual routine. Waking up, having a long cold shower, wearing something dark that matches my personality and showing up at LAPD if I didn't have any interesting engagement. Boring? You'll get used to it."Good to have you back, sunshine." Marlon acknowledged as he appeared through the door to his office, a file in hand.
Stood outside of the large grey LAPD building and taking in the fresh air, staring at nothing in particular. The damp air inside the building was making me nauseous. How do the cops survive in there? Or was it just me?My phone suddenly buzzed in my front jean pocket, jolting me out of my daze. I took it out and looked at the caller ID.
I picked a lollipop from the lollipop jar I always keep by my door as I entered my house, slumping on my settee. I was just from the coffee shop after been bailed. Guess I just didn't rethink my plans.Never before have my plans failed. The guy I was dealing with at the moment was different. It's like he knew my every move, knew what I was thinking or what I was to say. That explains the constant interruptions. Maybe he had heard the lines one to many times but he was manly and mature enough to finish the sentences in his head rather than blurt them out like a five year old.
"Becca! Becca! Wake up!-Goddamn it! Wake up, Becca! You've never slept in." Someone said in my ear, stroking me lightly.As far as I was concerned, I lived alone and no one but Xander and the police knew.I didn't open my eyes because I thought I was dreamin
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I had on a short, two-piece, black bodycon dress with a slit on my left side for flexibility. I was left-handed in writing and in fighting. The slit was an added advantage.I accompanied my look with some light make-up, peach lip gloss and black ey