The Forgotten: Book One

Chapter 1

Bright light shining on my face made me crinkle my eyes as I groaned and moved to cover them. The first thing I noticed was the pain and soreness that ached along my body. It hinged in my elbows and knees, yelling at my back and torso. My muscles felt s if I had just worked out heavily and they screamed in protest as I tried to move my legs. As I moved, there was an intense stabbing pain to my chest and upper thigh and I inhaled sharply, my eyes flying open and my body trying to force its way into a sitting position before I fell back in agony.

An older, round woman in a white outfit came running from across the room and her face creased with worry, "No, no, Dear. Lay down and rest, Clare. You don't want to strain yourself after what you've been through."

I looked at the woman strangely, her face not registering in my mind. I pulled away as her hands touched my arms and then inhaled sharply again at the sudden movements.

She raised her eyebrows curiously, "Clarisse, calm down, Dear."

I lashed out fearfully, pushing her hands away as they came closer, "Stop! Get away from me!"

Shock crossed the woman's face before she grabbed my hands away from my stomach, "Stop, Dear! You're bleeding!"

I looked down and cried out in shock. Wrapped around my torso and stomach were blood soaked gauze and I touched it gently, lifting my fingers to my eyes and watching blood smeared across the tips. I was badly hurt, but how? Why was I here?

"Whats going on? Where am I?" I said with a shaking voice. Fear twisted its way around my boy and sent shivers down my spine.

"Oh, my Dear. I'll go and get Kio. Stay here and don't move." She said with the stern tone of a mother scolding a child.

I raised the wool blanket over my waist only to find I was wearing lacy red underwear and covered myself back up quickly, embarrassment flushing my cheeks a deep red. The gauze around my chest revealed nothing, but when the doors the woman left through open again opened, I pulled the blanket up with a deeper red color adorning my face. Behind her walked a fiery-red head man. His hair was spiked backwards and he had thick black liner adorning his yellow eyes. He walked with a hurry, but still maintained the posture of a business man. He was tall and must be in his mid-twenties, but with the sharp way he was dressed and the amount of pride in his step, I could tell he was into his thirties at least. He also must be the one in charge.

Worry swarmed on the edges of his yellow eyes as he approached me and looked down,

"Clarisse, do you know who I am?" He asked, lips pursed with unease.

"The woman said she was going to get Kio. I assume you must be him." I said, sarcasm edging my tone. This made him smirk.

"Mary, go and bring in the other three, please." He commanded, his tone stern, but soft at the same time. It made the nervousness ease its way out of my chest.

Mary rushed from the room and Kio adjusted himself so that his hand was on my shoulder gently and his face lowered down towards mine. My face felt another shade deeper, but I maintained my breath surprisingly well as I stared back at his soft, yet sharp features.

"Your name is Clarisse Jayde Morgan. You are a demon hunter here at the Institute of Demon Art." His voice was like butter, but I felt like the one melting.

I blinked, "A demon hunter?" Sarcasm was heavy now in my tone.

He didn't waiver, "Yes."

"What-"

Before I could get another word out Mary returned with 3 people flanking behind her quickly. I stared at them in wonder. One was short and red headed like Kio, but more round and soft, her expression filled with distant worry, but composed and her sharp chin upwards. Her hair hung in curls to her waist and her blueish gray eyes were hard, no emotion besides that one shred of worry tucked away. I couldn't imagine her to cry and she probably didn't handle situations like this well. She stood halfway behind another girl who wore a tight bun on her head, not a single hair out of motion. Her hazel eyes, unlike the first girl's, were flooded with tears and most were spilling out amongst her cheeks. She was letting out his high pitched whine and I felt annoyance twinge in my chest before gritting my teeth and letting my eyes land on the final person who made me freeze, my heart stopping in my chest nearly.

He was attractive and by far the tallest of the three. His blonde hair hung in soft curls around his chin and his blue eyes had speckles of green that were illuminated beautifully by the tears that had once plagued his eyes. His nose was red and eyes puffy from crying, but that didn't take away from the fact this man had my heart stopped in my chest. His muscles were noticeable under his black T-shirt and I felt my face turning red again so I averted my gaze and Kio cleared his throat and my attention was then on him.

"Do you know these people, Clarisse?" He asked gently, his voice hopeful I would.

As I opened my mouth to speak I gasped as the image shifted before me and I watched as the red haired girl leaned over me, blood splattered on her face as she screamed my name. The girl with the painfully tight bun stood back in the distance with a pale, shocked face and then I was staring back at Kio whose eyes eagerly took in my face.

"What did you remember?" He asked.

I shook as my eyes looked to the two girls, "I saw them standing over my. She," I pointed towards the red haired girl, "was screaming my name."

Kio clapped his hands together excitedly, "This is good. This means your memory is not forgotten."

"Who are you people?" I asked again, feeling dizzy as Mary began to change my bandages. Everyone looked away.

"My name is Kio. I run the Institute. I am one of your closest advisors and also your teams boss, in simple terms. The shorter of the two is Haley Demitrec and the other is Maria Ruskavold. The man accompanying them is your second in command, Terren Jameson."

"My second in command?" I questioned, my head spinning from the new information.

He nodded, "Yes. You are your teams number one."

"I'm the leader?" I scoffed, looking down at my fresh gauze and then back to Kio with disbelieving eyes.

"You've suffered great wounds, but that doesn't discredit the amazing abilities that you hold. You are the top of the Institute. Perfect numbers, barely any losses in terms of team mates and extras. Your kill count is the highest and you are the best." Kio awarded me these good words and I took a deep breath.

I looked towards the stone ceiling, "Then what happened?"

I felt coldness from Kio as he addressed the other three, "That is exactly what I would like to know."

Haley spoke softly, "We didn't anticipate an attack. We went out for shopping and-"

"And they came out of know where! I didn't even have time to react before they grabbed Clarisse and started ripping her to shreds." Maria interrupted with a panic in her voice.

Terren shushed her harshly and Kio pursed his lips tightly, "What were you even doing out without weapons?" Panic seemed to edge his voice as well.

"We went out to the Gallagher's home. It wasn't a mission and we didn't anticipate-" Haley was once again cut off.

Kio exhaled through his nose, "An attack. I understand. It was just reckless."

Maria was at it again, "We tried to out run it, hoping that if we went to the roof tops, we could lose it, but it got in too close and Clarisse went all power crazy and did the eye thing and suddenly she was down on the cement."

"I don't need a full report, but thank you, Maria." Kio seemed to brush her off. As if he didn't like her.

Mary piped in then suddenly, "The fall must have been what jammed her memory. She's just a little disoriented is all."

"I feel more than disoriented, unfortunately. I feel lost. I feel like I've forgotten everything." I pouted, trying not to move as the pain began to build back up.

Terren's eyes sparked and he stepped forward, bowing a little to Kio before speaking to him, "When she looked at the girls she had a flashback," Something else edged in his tone, "Perhaps if we take her to other places and moments from her life she will get more?"

Kio nodded, considering this, "It would be interesting and she is out of commission for at least right now. I can't risk losing her in this state. We'll try it first in Marysville and then expand the possibilities from there. For now, lets allow her to rest and seek more time to let these new events sink in."

I yawned in agreement and laid my head back against the pillow. The next thing I knew they had all touched my shoulder in remorse and I had drifted into a deep sleep.