Imposter

Zaria

Are you supposed to feel pain after being shot? I slowly opened up my eyelids to find I was in the hospital, connected to an IV. "Stella?" I turned my head to find Bailey sitting in the hospital chair. "Zaria." "Huh." "My name is Zaria Rose Heart." "I don't get it." "It's a long story. How did I end up in the hospital?" "Zoey called 911. Then she called me and told me to go to the hospital. " "Where is Zoey?" "I don't know; all I saw was the cops detaining her. What happened?" "I was kidnapped." "Oh." "Yep." "Before I forget, Zoey did give me this letter before she was detained. She wanted you to read it." I watched as Bailey placed the letter in my hand.

"I was wrong; my family was wrong; everything was wrong. We shouldn't have taken you from the people you loved; we shouldn't have killed Evan; and we shouldn't have tried to kill you. Not all of us were in a mental hospital; some of us actually had morals. I knew what we were doing was wrong, but I never stopped it. I felt awful. The truth is, yes, you and Stella looked so much alike, but you were way different than she was. You were more open-minded, while Stella was more closed-minded. Yes, I was depressed, but having you around made me feel a little happier. I am sorry for all the pain we have caused. When you looked at me in your final moments and called out for help, I knew I could save you, even though I couldn't save Stella. You never deserved this. I called Bailey and told her you were at the hospital because she was the one friend you had who didn't lie to you. I am now alone. In order to save you, I had to kill the only people I had left. Well, come to think of it, I had no one when Stella left. She was the only person I actually trusted. I hope you can find peace and forgive me. Whenever you read this, I would have turned myself in and probably be facing 10 to 15 years. I hope you remember who you really are. Goodbye.

Tears came down my cheek, and I just let them. Bailey wrapped me in a deep hug and let me cry on her shoulder. "Excuse me." I turned around and saw a nurse with three familiar faces inside my hospital room. "Zaria." "Marcello, mom, dad." Shot or not, I jumped out of bed and squeezed my family so hard that my stitches almost popped open. "I missed you so much." Marcello said this while hugging me. "I missed you as well. I might have lost my memory, but I always felt like I was missing something. Now that my true family is here, I felt whole. I felt connected." Marcello held me tighter. "Oh, I forgot. Guys, this is Bailey. My new best friend." "Nice to meet you, Bailey. "Thank you for looking after Zaria." "She mostly looked after herself." "Marcello, can we go to that concert I wanted to go to?" "Yeah, but this time I'm carrying a gun." "That's fine with me." I got back on my hospital bed and smiled so brightly. I found peace.