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Chapter 2

The first thing that she felt when she woke up was the warmth of something living laying on her head. It was purring softly, reverberating in her head. It made the horrible headache she had feel slightly better. She hated when she woke up with a headache. They often turned into migraines when she woke up with them. She shifted slightly, pulling the covers up closer to her chin, twisting the sheet to wrap around one of her legs. She didn’t want to wake up. She was having such a weird and fun dream; burning everything in her house, a strange man and lightning blowing them apart. She tried to close her eyes and recapture the dream, but her head protested. It screamed for some painkillers. With a long drawn out sigh, she pushed off the covers and gently extricated her flame point Siamese cat, Makoto, from atop her head. Makoto gave a little hurr of protest.

What time is it? Before my alarm goes off? She grabbed her glasses off the night stand and looked for her phone which was not on the night stand. Where did I leave it? Must be in my jacket. I don’t remember last night very well. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and let her glasses settle back down onto her nose. She stared down at her lap. Why am wearing my Lolita dress in bed? She tried to think harder about last night through the sharp and throbbing pain in her head. Looking closer at her hands, she saw soot covering them. Oh I did light everything on fire last night. How did I get back in here? There was that man too. Startled into the realization that her dream last night was not a dream at all, she turned to look around her room. Nothing seemed amiss aside from the fact that her door was closed. I don’t close my door. Makoto needs to get in and out while I am sleeping. I don’t close the door. I never close the door to my bedroom. A shiver of fear went through her body at the thought. There is someone else in my house.

Taking a deep breath to calm the fear boiling inside her, she clenched her fists to get her adrenaline pumping and stepped towards the door, before she had time to change her mind. With the door open, Makoto gave a happy hurr and wandered out into the kitchen to get her food. Viola followed behind her cat. Makoto would be a lot more alert if there was a stranger in the house. Her cat always heard people coming to the house before Viola did. Viola always knew when there was a living thing in the house by the response of Makoto. Right now, however, her small cat was just happily eating her food, ignoring everything else in the house.

“Hello?” Viola called out breaking the silence that enveloped the house; her house that was now empty of everything personal. She heard a creaking noise as someone moved in the living room and saw the shadow of the man, and then the man himself from the night before, his brown hair an unruly mess and his face covered in a twelve o’clock shadow.

“Good morning. I didn’t want to alarm you or anything, but you were unconscious out there after that light happened and it was cold outside. I put you in bed. Hope that was okay.” He half stood up out of the chair, his stocky body at an awkward angle before he finally decided to sit back down.

“So, that really happened last night, eh? Any particular reason you are still in my house? Or, you know, you didn’t call the ambulance or something along those lines? Why don’t I feel absolutely terrified that you are in my house?” Viola blurted out all at once. She had a tendency to ramble when she was nervous.

“Yes. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Couldn’t find a phone. I don’t know, but I have the same feeling.” The man replied. Viola looked at him blankly while she processed his reply.

“Okay, let’s start this from the beginning,” Viola finally began. It dawned on her that she had left a pile of burnt things outside in the campground. If my landlord sees that I don’t think he is going to be very impressed. She did not continue her though and instead headed towards her front door and out onto her porch. She lived twelve minutes out of town on top of a general store across the highway from Fort Steele. The general store was for the campground that was her front yard. As it was November, the campground and store were already closed, but the grounds keeper was sure to notice a massive pile of ash.

Leaning out over the rail of her porch, she could just see past the roofline of the rest of the building below her and out towards the fire pit she had used last night. The ground around the area was scorched black, but was completely cleaned up.

“I didn’t sleep last night after everything happened, so I cleaned up that mess when it burned out,” The man said coming up to stand beside Viola.

“Thanks.” She drummed her hands on the rail and turned to look at the man beside her. “You happen to know what day it is? I really hope its Saturday or I am really late for work.” The sun was midday already. The man shook his head and pinched his lips together in a gesture that meant “haven’t a clue.”

“Okay, I need to find my phone.” Viola said. She headed back in to the house and checked the pockets of her jacket pulling out her Galaxy and waking it up. The screen read Saturday, November 7th.

“Okay, no need to rush around like a mad person.” She set the phone on the table near the door, moved towards her couch and sat down. “So, thanks again for last night and the whole not leaving me to freeze outside thing. I’m Viola Lavallee, and you are?”

“Eli,” Eli replied taking a seat in the wingback chair on the opposite side of the room.

“Does that come with a last name?” Viola asked.

“I am sure it does, but I can’t remember it, unfortunately.”

“Seriously, amnesia? Have to say that is kind of cool,” Viola said and blanched at the thought of what she had said to the man with no memory. “Well, that’s not what I meant. I am sure it is rather horrible to have amnesia. Actually, one of my worst fears is to not be able to remember who I am. My biggest fear though is to be just a face in a crowd, you know, not special. I think that might be why I don’t like being in big crowds. I tend to avoid them. Kind of have panic attacks if I feel like I don’t have a clear exit. Anyway, I’m rambling…” Viola shifted nervously on the couch.

“Oh I should call an ambulance. We did get struck by lightning last night. We should probably get checked out. I am sure your amnesia has something to do with that.

“You know you have an uncanny resemblance to my brother. You’re younger, but wow, you look almost identical to him. It’s funny, everyone always said I looked so much like my brother. Twins on a time delay.

“Right. Last night. Your eyes totally looked exactly like mine.

“Wait, if you look like my brother that means you look like me. This is really weird. My brother’s name is not Eli by the way, and he is a lot older than you. You look the same age as me. You realize that you can stop me from talking any time you like right. I’m rambling again…” She took a deep breath and just stared at Eli. The resemblance to her was uncanny. His mop of brown hair looked as straight as hers even though it was cut short. He was a couple of inches taller than she was, but he was still short. It looked as if someone had taken her face and transplanted it onto a male body. They said that everyone in the world had a doppelganger, a person that looked identical to them but was not even related. Of course mine would be a man. I only dream about eighty percent of the time that I am a man.

“So I look like your brother, but I am not your brother. At least that narrows down who I am a bit. Cousins maybe?” Eli replied. He seemed ridiculously calm in this strange situation. Even more interesting was that he was completely ignoring the fact that Viola was rambling.

“I don’t really know my cousins,” Viola replied. “My family didn’t really keep in touch with them. So, maybe you were coming to visit me?”

“Well, we definitely have a family resemblance.” Eli replied.

“Okay. Well nice to meet you, Eli, my cousin that looks like a male version of me.” Viola started laughing. “Let me get my keys and I will drive us in to town to get checked out at the hospital.”

“I feel fine,” Eli replied in response.

“We just got struck by lightning and you don’t have a memory of anything but your name. I think the hospital is warranted.”

“Oh I haven’t really thought about what I know,” Eli replied and frowned in reflection. “Name: Eli. Age: Twenty Five. Family: Haven’t a clue. Town of residence: Nothing. Friends: Another big nothing. Practical knowledge: Intact. Language: English and Japanese. Huh, that is cool.”

Viola grabbed the keys from off the table near the door, as well as her phone and started laughing again. “Sounds like something I would do if I had amnesia. Come on, Cousin Eli, let’s go get your head checked.”

Viola made it to the bottom of the steps before she heard Eli close the door behind him. Her steps led from the top of the store to the back of the store. She headed to the left following the stone path that led to her car. She shivered in the cold realizing her Lolita dress was kind of tattered and she had neglected to put a jacket on despite the early morning chill. She could see her breath and there was a layer of hoarfrost on the trees and grass. Making it to her old beat up blue Dodge Neon she looked around for a sign of Eli’s car. Hers seemed to be the only one in the parking lot.

“No car,” she yelled back to him. “How on earth did you get here?”

Eli came up behind her and also surveyed the parking lot. “Practical knowledge only, remember.”

“Name and age too. Same as me,” Viola said unlocking her car.

“What is the same as you? Pretty sure your memory is intact,” Eli replied.

Viola glared at Eli from over the top of the car. “Age. We are the same age.” She stopped before she got in the car and glared at Eli. “Just to be clear, I am trying to keep strange and weird out of my life. You are complicating that. I need explanations about what happened and then we will go from there.”

Eli stared at her confounded and nodded. He felt suddenly guilty for bringing troubles to this woman.

It took them fifteen minutes to get into town and to the hospital. At the triage desk, they waited another few minutes before a nurse came around to check them in.

“What seems to be the problem?” The nurse asked pulling out a sheet to write information on.

“Well me and my cousin we struck by lightning last night. He has amnesia and I feel fine. Thought we should come and get checked out.”

The nurse looked up at Viola. “Okay, let’s start with you. Care Card please.” Viola dug into her purse and pulled out her Care Card for the nurse and turned to Eli. He looked at her with confusion.

“Oh we never checked to see if you had a wallet on you,” Viola said.

“Thought of that. I have nothing on me. If you haven’t noticed, I seem to be in pajama type clothes. Viola looked closely at what Eli was wearing, sweats and a blue T-shirt.

“Right.” She turned back to the nurse.

“Any symptoms you seem to be having?” The nurse asked as she called up Viola’s information via her Care Card.

“I woke up with a headache. Felt like the world was splitting apart. Seems to be mostly gone now though.”

“All right, just step around in here and the intake nurse will take all of your vitals,” the nurse said and pulled out another sheet for Eli. “So amnesia and no identification or Care Card.”

Viola stopped and turned back to the nurse. “Also I should add I said my cousin but really I have no idea who he is. Can’t help with any information. He was just outside my house last night at three in the morning. We kind of look the same so I figure we must be related?”

The nurse looked between the two of them and Viola gave an awkward smile, as did Eli, which the nurse noted were exactly the same. “I better call the RCMP.” She pointed to the intake nurse behind her and looked sternly at Viola. Viola looked at Eli and tried to supress a giggle over the fact that she felt like she was getting sent to the principal’s office.

Viola sat in the chair and let the intake nurse take all of her vitals. Once she had finished, she took Viola to a bed and instructed her to take her clothes off and put on an exam gown. Viola did as instructed and sat on the bed. She heard Eli doing the same moments later in the bed beside her. Once she heard him sit down on the bed, she pulled back the curtain between them. Eli stared at her and sighed.

“I really don’t want to talk to the Police,” he replied.

“Yeah well, what else is there to do? You need help to find out about yourself,” Viola replied and heard a curtain slid back as the doctor came in to her screened off area. She shut the curtain between her and Eli and hopped back onto the bed.

“Hello, Viola, I am Dr. Cushings. It says here that you were struck by lightning?” The doctor questioned. Viola just nodded.

“You said you have a really bad headache?” Again she nodded. The doctor put down her chart and came towards her.

“I am just going to look for any burn marks for entry and exit of the strike.” He thoroughly checked Viola from head to toe for any mark or burn and found nothing.

“That’s odd. You should have a burn of some sort if you were struck by lightning. Are you sure you were struck by lightning?”

“I was just assuming we were. There was a crack like lightning, lots of light and I was blown back about thirty feet from where I had been standing. Maybe the entry and exit point are on Eli.” Viola replied.

“Eli?” The doctor asked.

“Yeah, the man in the bed next to me. I was touching him when it happened.”

The doctor pulled back the screen between the two beds and introduced himself to Eli. He looked him over top to bottom for burn marks.

“Nothing.” You both seem to be well intact for getting a lightning strike.”

“Other than the amnesia.” Eli replied.

“Right. Headache and amnesia. Let’s just order a CT scan for the both of you to make sure everything is all right in those heads of yours. If that comes back okay you can be on your way.” Doctor Cushings left, leaving the screen between Viola and Eli open.

“I’ve never had a CT scan before,” Viola replied.

“Can’t tell you if I have,” Eli replied with bitterness in his voice.

Viola looked at him and realized how callous she had been towards his situation. How would she feel if she had woken up one day with no memories at all in a strange place where no one knew who she was? She furrowed her brow and tried to keep the tears in her eyes. As much as she wanted grounding in reality and no weird stuff, she couldn’t ignore what Eli was going through. She got out of her bed and walked over to Eli. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently trying to convey how sorry she was for his situation. Eli looked up at her uncomfortably and gave her a weak smile. Self-consciously Viola went back to her bed and avoided looking at Eli while she waited.

Two hours later, they were lying in the same beds after having endured a CT scan and some blood work Dr. Cushings had ordered just to be on the safe side. Viola was glad she had at least brought her phone. She didn’t read a lot of books digitally, but she had some on her phone in case of emergencies. As Eli was being drilled by the RCMP, she was just scrolling through the books she had on her phone when she realized what she had done at home. She had destroyed all her personal possessions. She had burned all her books. Her stomach lurched and she felt suddenly sick. Eli looked at her with alarm as the RCMP left.

“Are you okay? Should I get the doctor to come back?” He asked her.

“Oh god, I burned all my books. I burned everything,” Viola said sitting up and setting her phone on the bed.

“Your house did look a bit empty. You still had some books though,” Eli supplied.

“I kept all the nonfiction books.” Calm down Viola, you did that because you are changing your life. Grounded in reality remember? She scoffed at her own thoughts. Grounded in reality my butt. The night I decided to give up fiction worlds I get struck by lightning and an amnesiac ends up in my house. A pit formed in her stomach as she thought about all the friends she had destroyed. No more hobbits on epic journeys pulling me along beside them. No more crying at their hardships and cheering at their triumphs. No more Jedi knights learning of the force while she tried to pull a water glass to her from across the room. No more day dreams of Summoners that have monster friends to help them fight. No more finding parts of herself in every character in every story. No more discovering things about herself she never knew through the trials of others. She felt a rising loneliness within her. It was suddenly hard to swallow as the lump of all she had given up caught in her throat.

Dr. Cushings came back at the moment and Viola tried to breathe away her sadness.

“Alright Eli, all your tests came back completely normal. You can head out as soon as you feel able.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Eli replied and pulled the curtain into place and began dressing.

Dr. Cushing turned back to Viola. “Your CT came back a little concerning, Viola,” He started. “It looks like you have a small cranial hemorrhage. I would like to keep you overnight to monitor it.”

“My brain is bleeding?” She asked mouse-like.

“Yes. It looks pretty minor. Not very big at the moment. I am going to give you some Mannitol to help with the raised intracranial pressure. Do you still have a headache. Any nausea and vomiting?”

“Headache is mostly gone. I am a bit nauseous though.”

“I’ll make sure the nurses bring you something for that as well. I will come back and see you in a little while once you are checked in, all right?”

“Okay,” Viola replied. When the doctor had left, she leaned over and pulled the curtain aside again between her and Eli.

“Uh, so if you haven’t got a place to stay, feel free to crash at my place.” She tossed her set of keys to him. “Looks like I am going to be staying here for a bit.”

“Are you sure about that? You don’t even know me? Besides, I feel weird leaving you here by yourself,” Eli replied.

“I’ll be fine. Headache is already gone. Sure it will clear up quickly. Anyway, I need you to look after Makoto for me, my cat. She hates being left alone and needs lots of cuddling. I would feel a lot better if you were there to look after her. And I burnt all my possessions in my house last night, remember? Nothing much for you to steal. My car is a piece of junk, so have at her if you want. Though if you hurt my cat, you are a dead man.” Viola said the last sentence deadly serious.

Eli laughed and rattled the keys. “All right, have to head to the Police Station and then I guess wait for you at home? How are you going to get back if I take your car.”

Viola tossed her phone to Eli, “Don’t know why I trust you so much, but anyway, take my phone. I will call you when I need you.”

Eli waved goodbye and left Viola lying in bed. The nurse came in later with a couple of medications for her to take and placement of an IV for the Mannitol. Afterwards, she was left with nothing to do but listen to the sounds of the sick around her.

She woke groggily in the middle of the night, her left arm cold from the liquid coursing through it. Her dreams had woken her. A long time ago, when she had been in high school in psychology class, they had discussed dreams and the meanings of dreams. It had gotten her intrigued to see if she could remember her own dreams, and even more interesting than just remembering them, to lucid dream - the state where you know you are dreaming and can thus control it. She had begun that year to wake herself up in the early morning hours, the best time to remember your dreams, and write down whatever she could remember. She had done this consistently for two years, remembering her dreams in more and more vivid detail until one day she did lucid dream. She had been so excited about controlling her dream. However, she had only lucid dreamed that on time, and never again. She discovered that her subconscious mind was much better at producing interesting dreams that she loved to be lost in than anything her conscious mind could come up with. After that point, she decided not to write down her dreams unless they were ones she wanted to use for story ideas, and more recently, had decided not to write them down at all. It was part of the decision she had made when she had stopped writing. Unfortunately, her mind was too steeped in the routine of making her remember her dreams, and of waking her up and forcing her, like a nagging mother, to write them down, for her to ignore it. Lying in the hospital bed with no pen, paper or electronic device to write with, her hand burned with the need to write. She clutched her imaginary pen and began to write in the air.

I lived in an orb, cut off from the rest of the world, because the world was dying and the orb was keeping me and others alive. A crack formed in the side of the orb and I watched the world outside burn. I cried for the loss of it all. But after all that destruction a new race appeared on the earth that shared a melody, a song unlike anything I had ever heard before. The song rang throughout the world and inside my mind. It was a song of hope.

Lying her hand back down onto the bed, she fell back asleep and the dream was lost to the air.

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