ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴏʀɢᴏᴛᴛᴇɴ ʟɪʙʀᴀʀʏ

ʀɛʍɛʍɮɛʀ...

I groaned. I had that feeling when you finally get to bed and then remember you still haven't completed an assignment that's due the next day. I tried to get up and open my eyes, but it felt slow. I was in slow motion.

I looked around.

Since when does my bedroom take my own blood from a tube? And what is that needle injecting me with exactly?

I noticed that I was alone, the curtains around my bed were drawn. Then my stomach dropped.

Oh My God.

What if someone kidnapped me, brought me here and stole my kidneys?

Should I scream?

Should I take out these tubes and make a run for it?

And if I'm doing both...which one should I do first?

Just when I thought of yelling my lungs out, I got startled by another gasp. I stay quiet.

I hear someone cursing, and I wince, knowing what Mama would say. "You may be a woman but you're not an adult yet. Plus, You kiss your mother with that mouth", in that exact order, she would scold me and Pietro.

I paused.

Mama. And Pietro too.

God, they must be so worried.

I hear a shuffle, breaking away my thoughts. I wait.

Then the curtain gets yanked open, making me shield my eyes from the bright light.

"False alarm! It's just a kid!" yells a man, wearing protective gear and holding out a gun. I scream and try and back away, but one of them catches me and holds me firmly. "Let me go!" I demanded.

"It's ok kid, we're not going to hurt you. Can you tell us your name?" asked the man kindly. "YOU'RE HOLDING A GODDAMN GUN AND YOU TELL ME YOU'RE NOT GONNA HURT ME?", I screeched.  I looked into the man's eyes and it looked innocent...but old. Like they've seen some crazy stuff before. People who I assume must be the police were also talking to two other kids.

"Tilly" I reply, shaking slightly.

"Ian, you heard the girl. Is there any name like that in our database?" asked the man, gazing at me thoughtfully.

"First of all, Agent Milton, it is my database. Second you stupid fool, ask the girl her full name. There are many people who go by Tilly"

Agent Milton rolled his eyes and nodded towards the man who was holding me tightly. I was still in bed, in a hospital gown with some sort of government agency around me.

"I've never met someone so bossy as Ian, he's artificial intelligence by the way" said Milton, giving me a smile. I don't reply.

"Where am I?"

"At a hospital. Tilly, can you tell us your full name? Do you remember what you did last?" he asked kindly.

My throat feels dry. How can I trust these people? Just minutes ago, they pointed a gun at me.

The other officer hands me a glass of water and I drank it without hesitation. I was thirsty after all then.

"My- my name is Tiliana Nixie Robinwood. I'm at Year 10 in Cosmic Institute" I pause. Mama and Pietro...I couldn't remember what they looked like. I couldn't remember my house, my country... I try not to panic. "I can't remember.... why can't I remember?" I ask desperately. They looked at me, unsure how to answer. "Ah hah! Found her at last. Sorry- database and I were just playing a little game of hide and seek. Well let's see...Oh...Agent Milton" I couldn't hear what Ian said any further, Agent Milton left with a frown on his face.

I turned my attention to the other kids, looking at them curiously.

One of them was slightly taller than me. She had grey eyes, short black hair with bangs and electric blue highlights, which I thought was pretty cool. Mama would never let me do that to my own hair. Not by myself anyway. She was also chewing gum while the agents were interrogating her. 

"I love sleepovers", she said. 

"Sweetie, this is a hospital, it isn't a sleepover", the officer replied with a calm look on her face. 

"Then how come I have a nightgown?". I could tell the girl was teasing, her doe eyes didn't fool me. I was also slightly awed. You wake up in a weird place and you make jokes to the officer. That's...something. 

"That's a hospital gown".

"Truth or dare?".

The lady looked so done. 

"TRUTH!", Ian replied, making me laugh.

The officer looked exasperated and stared daggers at Ian, who stopped chuckling. 

The other kid's interrogation was already over. He was staring quietly at the floor. I slowly got out of bed and made my way toward him. The other agent didn't try and stop me.

"Hi" I said.

He simply looked up. He had brown eyes, curly brown hair and had a dog tag around his neck. "Hello" he replied cautiously. "Why are you here?" he asked. "I wish I knew" I scoffed. I noticed one of the agents were looking me from the corner of her eye. I tried to ignore it. "Do you...remember anything? Like, what happened before you came here?" I asked carefully. I didn't want to scare him. "I don't remember anything from what happened before I woke up here. I remember going to the coffee shop, but that was it. Rest is like a clean slate" he shrugged.

"I'm Tilly Robinwood by the way" I introduced myself and we shook hands. 

"Glad the intros are outta the way, Alayah's the name.", the blue highlights girl came to us. 

"So, any idea where the heck we are?", she asked casually. 

"No", the boy replied. He still didn't say his name. 

"You didn't tell us you name...unless it's the one on that weird tag around your neck. Mine's apparently EX20341"

My hands flew to my neck and I felt the tag on my neck. "So EX204352, what do you think?"

"It's Nico...and...I don't know", the boy looked at Alayah furiously. 

My head hurt. I was so tired. I'm in god knows where with officers and two kids...

And I still can't remember how I got here.