Deadly

Chapter 2

As the car backed out of Doctor Owen's driveway, Mia assessed her situation. She had lost all of her memories in a car crash, and was now sitting in a car with Melissa and Tom Hendricks, two strangers who claimed to be her parents. She assumed that they weren't actually kidnappers, but her parents were the ones who crashed the car in the first place. The whole thing didn't feel right, but as Doctor Owen told her, she was only eight years old, so there wasn't much she could do.

They drove down the highway for only fifteen minutes before exiting into town. After the car crash, Mia's parents decided to move, so that they could live near Doctor Owen. The location of her house didn't make a difference to Mia. It's not like she was able to remember anyone from before.

The town they entered was small, with the main street consisting of only a few small shops. After passing a school building, they reached the rows of houses. They turned down one of the streets, and stopped at a small white house.

"We should paint it," Her mom remarked. Yeah, thought Mia. Just like you're painting over the blank canvas that is my memories. But she didn't voice her thoughts.

As she stepped onto the porch, she could see that the house did in fact need a paint job. The white layer of paint was faded, and in some places it was cracked and peeling. Her dad took out a key and unlocked the door.

The inside of the house smelled like wood. The entire house was bare, as the furniture hadn't been brought in yet. The only rooms that had furniture were the kitchen and the bathroom, both near the back of the house. A set of stairs led to the second floor, and Mia bounded up to go pick out her bedroom.

To start her new life.

-

A few weeks later, summer came to an end, bringing with it the start of school. Mia's parents were afraid that she might have forgotten what she learned the previous years, but she seemed to have retained her skills, so she was starting third grade like any eight year old. She was currently arguing with her mom over how she was going to get to school.

"It's only a few blocks away!" Mia protested.

"You can run into a dangerous person!" her mom yelled back. "How many times do I have to remind you about the bad part of town!?"

At the edge of the suburb, the area was filled with abandoned buildings, dirty streets, and dangerous people. Mia's mom was constantly reminding her not to associate with strangers, or go near that part of town.

"But the school isn't even close to that part," Mia whined. "And it's only a few blocks away. Why can't I just walk?"

"Why won't you just let me drive you?" Her mom retaliated. "I don't want you to go alone because as your mother, I would feel responsible if anything bad happened to you."

"You're the one who crashed the car!" Mia screamed. She immediately regretted saying it. "Can I take that back?" she asked, her voice sounding very small. Her mom just turned pale, and didn't say a word.

Mia walked to school that day.