The Haunted Orphanage

Chapter 13

Mark's POV

"Dude, it's me? And what do you mean 'who's Nate'?" Jason asked.

"I mean WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT AND WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER MY OWN NAME?!" Nate screamed as he started hyperventilating. He held his head in his hands and backed away from Jason and Reagan.

Jason looked back towards us, then he ran over to Dan. He grabbed Dan's arm and dragged him to Nate. "Nate, it's your favorite YouTuber!"

Nate stopped backing up and stared at Dan. "How is something supposed to be my 'favorite' if I don't know what it is?"

"Dude, it's Dan," Reagan told Nate.

"Dan who? And what's YouTube?"

"DANISNOTONFIRE! How do you not remember him! How do you not remember us! Me!" Jason screamed. He would start crying any second if someone didn't step in.

"Sorr–"

"HOW THE FUCK DID YOU FORGET HELLO INTERNET!"

"Buddy, I don't even know who you are. Would ya mind backing off?"

Dan stepped in between them. "Guys, there has to be a perfectly logical explanation..." his voice trailed off, and the last thing I heard him whisper was, "Phil."

He looked me dead in the eyes. "Mark, the voice had to have taken Nate's memories. What do you think happened to Percy, Jack, and Phil?"

Shit.

My eyes widened instantly. Not only did we not know what was happening to the others, but another realization hit me. "Nate, can you come here?"

He looked around cautiously. "Why?"

"I just want to check something." He slowly walked towards me, carefully examining all of our faces.

I bent down a bit to get to his height. "Can I lift up your shirt?"

"Uh, that's a weird question. Why?"

"I want to prove that you know us. You were being tortured while you were with a person we've been calling 'the voice'. You should at least have bruises on your body. I want to show them to you. If I had to guess, I'd say there's some on your chest and back."

I noticed Reagan's eyes go wide. Jason looked perfectly normal other than being shaken up.

"I'm pretty sure I would remember being tortured." Reagan had tears in her eyes and was clenching her fists at her sides. She really did look like she was freaking out.

I kept my eyes on Reagan. "If your memory was taken away you wouldn't." Now, Reagan looked on the verge of tears. What the heck does she know about Nate that no one else does?

"Sure, I guess," Nate replied.

I smiled warmly at him. "Thanks, kiddo."

I slowly lifted his shirt off his body. Reagan was silently crying, now, and Jason looked just as surprised as me to see her crying. Once I got the shirt off of him, I saw Reagan cringe. Dan covered his mouth but quickly attempted to cover Jason and Reagan's eyes. Jason was too in shock to push him away, but Reagan was quick to move Dan's hand.

Just as I had suspected, there were bruises lining Nate's chest and back. There was also, what seemed to be, scars across his back and arms. Nate looked at his chest with wide eyes. "What the–ow!" he yelled after touching a bruise.

"Told ya we weren't lying," Felix mumbled beside me. Nate was frozen, staring at his bruised and scarred body.

Seeing Nate like this only made me want to save everyone else sooner.