Samuel!" a man called from behind me. I whipped around and was pulled into a hug. "I was worried you wouldn't make it, the monster didn't hurt you did it?" the man said in his thick Irish accent. I didn't say anything, just stared, not recognizing the man. "Samuel? Do you not remember?" he asked, tilting his head. I shook mine. The man held out his hand, "Charles Nahn, and you are Samuel Stallton, SS for short remember?" I shook his hand while he was still smiling brightly. I nodded, telling a little white lie that I didn't feel sorry about.
"Where am I?" I asked faking a smile.
"In the hallways of my library!" Charles said putting an arm around my shoulder while leading me down the hallway. The walls were covered in a red wallpaper with golden polka dots. There were small lamps lit across the ceiling. "You're looking a little messy, why don't you bathe and change clothes, meet me in my office when you're finished." He smiled, leaving me in a well furnished bedroom. I nodded and thanked him.
After bathing, I put on a new shirt, pants, and suspenders I found in a closet. That looked like the one I hid in. From that horrible thing. I shivered, hopefully that was over. My left arm still throbbed and I took a closer look. The shard seemed to be imbedded into my skin. A long skinny stitch-scar with drops of the purple blood dotting the openings. I pressed on it, no pain but I could feel the shard. I also felt a heartbeat. I checked my own pulse then pressed on the shard. It had it's own.
Just then there was a knock on the door. I reached for the knob, turned it, and swung the door towards me. Nothing. I looked down the hallway to my right but saw no one. I looked to my left and saw just a wall with a picture of a man. I stepped out of the room to examine it closer. "Alexander" it said on the bottom. It was a pink faced man with white hair and mustache. He had pale grey eyes and a bumpy nose. I tried to remember every feature on "Alexander" for it felt good to be able to remember something.
I turned, deciding that I should go find Charles in his office. All the corridors were the same, every door, every light, exactly the same. On my way, I tried to remember what the monster had looked like, it was a marble color. Forever mixing white and black. It looked as if it was made of cloth, its hands and feet sewed to a point, leaving long claws at the ends. I took a deep breath and took a left turn almost running into the abrupt ending. A different patterned door was in my face. I shrugged and knocked.
"Samuel? Come in." I heard Charles say from inside. I walked in and what I saw did not look like an office at all! The room was lit up with an eerie green light coming from old torches. The walls were stone, like on the second floor.
There were shelves on my left and right, filled with different substances and bottles, all leading up to a huge table in the back of the room. More like a laboratory! Charles, bent over the table, was humming softly over the sound of squishing and ripping. Walking slowly towards him, I took the time to observe the bottles and chemicals.
Some of the bigger jars had small animals, or pieces of bigger ones. Others had body parts, and a few had insects. The little bottles had all sorts of chemicals from A to Z. Some were sparkling, other held what looked like lighting. I spied a small bottle of Laudanum and silently swiped it right off the shelf, stuffing it in my pocket next to the tinderbox.
Charles turned to me, "Oh Samuel! It's so good to see you cleaner! See, at first I was wondering what had awoken...it, but then I thought 'It must be someone with that'" he said pointing to my scarred left arm, I tried to slide it behind me. "Oh don't try to hide it Samuel!" Charles said smiling weirdly, "You took it, you wanted it, therefore you have it!" he laughed maniacally. I could see sweat drops on his forehead. He continued laughing while slowly turning back to his work. Feeling very uncomfortable, I turned to leave.
"Samuel...." Charles said, cocking his head towards me. "No need to be ashamed, I have one too." He spun around and lunged at me, slamming my weak body against the door. "I've tried to remove it!" He said still smiling, "It won't leave you!!" He pulled down the collar of his shirt, revealing a purple glow coming from the center of his chest. Long, black lines weaved from the wound. Scars. He backed up a little. "You'll never bleed real human blood ever again," he said shaking his head. Smiling. "except from here!" His fingers pointed to his eyes. I swallowed hard.
"I-I don't understand." I murmured.
"Soon, you will. Just like the rest of us." Charles' smile dropped, a fat red tear dripped from the corner of his eye. His lip quivered. "Leave
me."
He then turned back to his project (which I personally don't want to know about). I stood for a minute, until the sounds of his knives became too gruesome, then ran out of the "Office".
YOU ARE READING
Amnesia
Misteri / Thriller"Samuel. My name is Samuel." After waking up in a cold stone castle, Samuel cannot remember anything. He is forced to trust the only man in his sights who says is his friend. Samuel must learn who this man is, what his past was, and what his future...
