The Difference Between

Chapter one

I woke up in a hospital bed. It is my first day of consciousness. All I know is that my name is Ashten Kollins, and that I was in a five month coma. Before waking up, I remember feeling completely lifeless, then being shocked with a tightened burning pain in my stomach then rising up to my head, where I then shot up aching with all my muscles flexed. Why was I in a hospital though. That was the question. While I was contemplating, a woman about my age walked in with a tray of food in her arms. My stomach growled, and I tried to get up, but a blast of pain shot up through my legs to my neck. I then realized how bad I was. I could barely move! The nurse... I think she's a nurse, rushed over to the side of my bed, and told me to lay down and rest.
"You're lucky you can still move." She told me with a worried expression. She had short hazel hair, with light brown streaks. She had green eyes, and a grey leaf patterned dress on. I started staring at her face and hair, without noticing. I was stuck on it. The way she looked just seemed familiar to me in a way.

A pin on her dress read Anna Waltom.
"Anna" I mumbled. She smiled.
"That's my name. Um, do you need me to get any painkillers or are you okay? "
"No, I don't thi- Ow!" I twitched. Uncomfortably, I felt down the Side of my left cheek. From under my eye and down, there was a vertical stitch line running down to just above my jaw. It was a scar. What happened to me. I wanted to know more than anything now.
"Anna... What happened to me?" I said with undying confusion in my voice. Anna Took a shaky breath. She knew something.
"There is a man who wants you for something. We don't know what." I was confused on what she meant by "we". "His name is Marco Tallman. The reason why he wanted you so bad Is the exact reason why you are alive right now. It's a long story." How Anna knew about all of this was beyond me right now. There were so many questions spinning around In my head, and so many distant memories. I wanted to know.

"Can I ask you a couple of questions." I said.
"Later, aren't you hungry? " Anna replied. Truly, I was really hungry but I actually forgot due to my curiosity. She put the tray on her lap and started to feed me. I guess you could tell that I thought it was silly, because I held a sour expression.
"What? You can't use your hands. You're immobilized remember.
" She giggled and looked at me expectedly. I could tell she was trying to ease the mood. I laughed awkwardly and looked back at her. (Although it hurt to laugh) Anna picked up the tray and stood up.
"I should go. You need to rest." She said as she walked away. I lay back down in my bed as she closed the door. Anna stopped and looked back at me with teary sad eyes. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but a baffling silence fell over me that I didn't expect. She looked as if she was going to break out in tears before closing the door, and leaving me in pure silence.

I looked around the room. There was a bathroom to the far left of me, and a dresser next to the bed. To the right of me, there was a small desk with a lamp and some flowers. The room itself smelt like paupery. It relaxed me. I was about to drift asleep, when I noticed that there wasn't any heart rate tracker, or plasma, or mask that I had to wear.(whatever they're called) In other words... There was no life support. How could I be this bad, and not need anything? This weirded me out. Maybe I was on life support, but was recently taken off? I hated not knowing anything. Nothing felt real. But maybe the reason that I didn't remember anything is because it wasn't real. Maybe I was dying somewhere, but just having a dream. I didn't know. I didn't know anything. Just thinking about the whole thing made me fall asleep. I was tired and ready to sleep.

All of a sudden, I woke up. It felt as if hours had past. It was pitch black and baron. I couldn't see myself, and I was urging closer to to a small light in the distance. Where was I? I thought to myself whether this was a dream, or whether I was dead or dying. Death or dream, I was getting uncomfortably close to the light. I squinted, and tried to turn my head but my eyes were locked on. I shedded tears, then closed my eyes again. I opened them, and I was in the backseat of a Honda Subaru. I remember that my parents owned one once. Wait. My parents! Where were they? Who was I with? What am I doing?

There was a man driving, and a woman in the passengers seat. The man had blonde low cut hair with a touch of brown here and there, and brown eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt and camouflage pants. He had a fixed determined look in his eyes, and was rapidly sweating. He looked six feet, buff, and very clean shaven.The woman had long hazel coloured hair, and light green eyes. She wore a torn buttoned, purple top, a long skirt, and short heels. The window on her side was smashed, and she had a small cut on her face. I looked back and saw that the back window of the Subaru had bullet holes in it. We seemed to be in the country, because all I could see was plains upon plains. I plugged my nose. It smelt like compost. I absolutely hated that smell. My back ached, and my feet fell asleep from the long trip. What bothered me is that no one spoke a word.

Then the man pulled into a gravel driveway that led to a small abandoned house. It was littered with cobwebs and chipped white paint. It was kind of like the houses you see in horror films. Except, there is usually a little girl with black hair, wearing a white gown, holding a teddy bear on a tire swing with her back to the audience. (Long breath) The man then looked back at me. He spoke to me in rushed stutters and mumbles.
"Okay, Cameren and the others that we told you about, are waiting for you in there. They will show you where you need to go, in terms of stopping Marco. We can't stay with you. We'll just draw attention." By this time, the woman in the front started to bawl. I started to cry uncontrollably too, even though I had no idea what was going on. Maybe... Just maybe this was a memory. The man urged me out of the car and handed me a duffle bag. They both have me one last goodbye, and pulled out of the gravel driveway.

Right then, I shot up out of the memory. I then stood sweating in the bed. I wiped the sweat off my forehead. My arms! I could move them again. I could move all of my limbs. I dared not touch the scar on my face, cause it would still hurt. Not physically, but mentally. That scar was going to be with me for the rest of my life. I knew that much. I got up out of the bed, and nearly collapsed. It then occurred to me that I hadn't stood up in five months. I slowly walked over to the bathroom, trying not to fall over. I looked in the mirror. I had dark green, almost brown eyes, and black hair. I tried to completely ignore the scar.
"I'll have to get used to it." I said to myself. I looked skinny and felt starved. Someone had been taking care of me for five months straight. I immediately thought of Anna, and how sad she looked when she left earlier. I had a feeling that I knew her somehow. After the bathroom, I took a good look around. I missed something. On the dresser was a newspaper article. I hobbled over to the article and picked it up. It read..."Four people in late teens/early twenties wanted for treason, fellany, and murder. Please contact 555-***-**** or 911 if you capture them on camera or video." The rest of the article was about witnesses. I glanced at the photo. There were four kids that looked around my age or older. Wait!? I was in the photo. There were two other people that crossed my mind, but I also caught a glimpse of something unexpected. So... She did know me after all. Anna was in the photo too, holding an M-G rifle to someone's back.