Angel *ON HOLD*

Chapter 20

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There I am standing beside Luke, our faces both serious. Rifles are slung across our shoulders; we have on military boots, military pants and heavy body armour. We look dressed for war. But that's not what seized up every muscle in my body, it was the fact that I was there.

Literally there, in the flesh beside Luke, I'd been so focused on the picture I hadn't noticed Luke standing beside me, looking at the picture with a troubled face, he seems to be lost in his own thoughts. He picks up the photo album.

"Norah" he sighs, his breath fans my face I hadn't realized that only centimeters of air separates us, I take a few steps away from him and point at the photo album. "Explain" that's all I'm capable of saying at the moment.

He takes my hand and leads me toward the bed, I follow and sit beside him at a reasonable distance. "That photo was taken a year ago, just before you" his voice wavers for a second "just before you supposedly died" I don't tell him what his saying is absolute bullshit, but instead ask him a question before telling him his lying.

"How did I die?" I feel his body tense beside me. "You were shot on the neck, the bullet went straight through, I saw you, I saw the bullet rip through your neck. I thought you were dead"

"But I wasn't" I find the idea of me supposedly being dead but siting here alive amusing. "Because I'm sitting here right now, you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"

I can see the frustration building up on his face. "You don't believe me"

"Oh, I'm sorry was I meant to" I roll my eyes at his naive act.

"Yes"

"Right, so if I told you that you were living a completely different life only a year ago you would believe me?"

"No" I snicker at him. He stands up and points around the room. "The proofs everywhere you're just not looking!"

"What proof is there? A photo shopped picture" I stand up, matching his frustration.

"That bed, that photo album, that laptop even your memories" he taps my head "They're all proof, proof that I'm not lying I won't lie to you. I know you remember it's in there, buried deep down you got to dig them out and I'll help find yourself again" by the time his finished his puffing, out of breath.

I don't know what to say to that, so I don't say anything instead I walk back to the photo album. I skim through it, and there I am over and over again, smiling in some pictures, laughing in others. I take a closer look at the pictures hoping to find something to show me its fake, but I don't.

There real, the thought taunts me. Real. I turn to Luke my thoughts in a mess. "Is there anything else?" he heads towards the cupboard with a limp and returns with a phone in his hand.

I turn the phone on, thankfully there is no password, I skim through more pictures, but I don't need more pictures I need something to show me his lying, that his a dirty liar. He is a stranger I only met a few days ago after all what reason has he given me to trust him, his given me more reason not trust him and shown me his more psychotic then he appears.

I hand the phone back to him, this is too much to take in. what If he is telling the truth. Did my parents know? "My parents" I sigh remembering what state my parents were in when I left them, I take a seat back on the bed.

"Your parents disappeared when you died, most likely they were with you their minds whipped clean as well" I'm disgusted that this is the kind of thing UNA does, they were the ones who did that to my parents and me, they were the ones who took my parents life, they are the ones who had those girls locked in the room feeding them god knows what and they are the ones training children to fight.

"Can people really do that?"

He takes a seat beside me. "Yeah, they took pieces of your memory away, altering it, twisting it to show something else, to show what they want"

"Why would someone do that?"

"I don't know but I plan to find out" as he says that his voice lowers a level, and I swear to god his eyes darkened a shade.

"I still don't understand-" I start but am cut off from the doorbell being rang. Luke walks over to the to bed side table and pulls out the hand gun from one of the draws, checks to see if it's loaded then turns to me.

My heart picks up a beat, "what are you doing?"

"Come on, let's go see who that is" I get up and follow him back down stairs, we head out past the kitchen with Luke's blood still splattered on the ground and into the living room. We can hear voices carrying in from the front door.

Luke holds up the hand gun before opening the door, surprise is written on the faces of the people behind the door, before humored expressions take over. One boy steps up a smile plastered on his face and the recognition hit me like a brick wall. A name dances at the tip of my tongue, ready to slip out.

"Well hello to you too" he snickers.

"Jai" I whisper to myself. That name what is it about that name that's itching at the back of my head. What is it? My voice catches the attention of the boy, his gaze moves from Luke to me.

"N-Norah"