Remember

Chapter 2: I know you

Turns out  Drew is a prankster and is only messing with me. The police station is not forty minutes away. He laughs to himself once he realizes I believed him. The drive over is quiet after that, so I take the time to analyze him. He seems pretty comfortable for us being both complete strangers. I still find it hard to put my full trust in him. He's kind, tries to be funny, and is going out of his way to help me.

He doesn't look much taller than me when sitting. I think I'm five foot three maybe he's a lot more taller, guessing six foot one. He has dark brown hair, it isn't long, a simple buzzed cut.

He has light features, a round face, and round nose. His eyes are, I'm assuming brown, can't see them from how dark the car is. His lips are chapped from the cold weather outside. Just by the way he's driving he looks laid back, not too worried. I see no sign of cockiness or rudeness, just a jokester and all smiles. I feel safe and warm. Welcomed.

Looking at him makes me wonder what exactly I look like. I pull down the visor and open up the mirror, and from the small amount of light illuminating, I study myself. My eyes widen, wow. I'm pale, I almost look sick. My hazel round eyes are rimmed with red like I've been crying and full of confusion.

My nose is petite, my lips are plump and dark red from the cold outside. My face is square, my hair sable brown and extremely unkept, curls dangling in all directions. My eye brows are thick, and dark. I move in closer, examining myself a bit more. I have freckles, and on my neck, on the right side just below my ear, I have a light pink birthmark.

     My attention is cut short when I notice we are parked. For how long, I don't know. I close the visor sheepishly and look at Drew. I guess I wasn't the only one examining me. It looks like he's trying to figure me out. He lets out an awkward cough, and he turns away to look at the inside of the station.

"How long have we been parked?" I ask.

"About five minutes, you seemed really focused, I didn't want to interrupt,"  he says not looking at me, he pauses for a moment and finally turns to face me, "Almost like you were trying to remember something." He shrugs and looks at me again, "like looking at yourself would bring back a string of memory."

Intuitive? Creepy.

I look at him and sigh heavily, that's exactly what I was hoping for, but my mind is still drawing a blank. I open the door to his car. I'm about to jump out of the car when Drew grabs my arm. I turn towards him,

"Are you sure you want the police involved, they might keep you contained here over night or send you to a hospital. I mean you're only lost, but who knows...." He looks at me worried.

I stare at him for a long second. Do I really want the police involved? Is this really a good idea? I mean they could help me, should I trust them, police are supposed to help, but I don't like the idea of being detained.

I give him a worried look and eventually nod, yes. "Maybe, I need help and they can help me." I shrug.

He looks at me still with that worrisome face, then smiles, "It's your call kid."

I start walking up the steps to the police station. I stop. I see the offices clearly from the outside. It's lonely, maybe one or two people waiting. Everyone looks tired, it is really late.

There are about five officers inside all talking, they seem friendly. I breathe one last time before opening the door. Drew is following right behind. I don't know how I feel with him following me in, we only just met. But I'm still grateful he's here. I walk to the front desk. What do I say? Where do I even start?

"What can I do for you young lady?" a woman around her forties asks, she looks young for her age. She has a tight bun on making the skin on her face look so pulled back.

Oh no...

I glance back at Drew, and he gives me an encouraging nod.

"Umm, I was wondering if you could help me find umm..." I freeze, I can't finish my sentence.

"Help you find your what?" She raises her eyebrow.

"My umm.." I stutter again.

I'm looking more and more suspicious. "Judy!" I hear a man call out from behind the woman. He comes out from an office door. The woman looks at me apologetically, and I look up at the owner of the voice.

It's hard for me to breathe and I stand frozen. It takes everything in me to take a few steps back, away from the counter. Drew notices and moves closer. He whispers into my ear, " Do you know him?" I nod slightly, not sure if I do. He looks familiar. My eyes are glued to the man, anticipating for something wrong to happen.

"Judy, I'm heading home. I have a pile of cases I'm going to work on. See you in the morning." I feel goosebumps running along my arms, the sound of his voice alone gives me the chills.

"It's your turn to bring donuts in tomorrow, Judy."

"Alright Keiltskin, Alright. Get your cranky butt home." Judy playfully replies, laughing as she does. The name doesn't sound familiar, or like a real name for that matter.

He is tall, and a bit over weight, his stomach protruding a far distance. He seems bossy, and rude. A stink eye alone from him would send you running. I start feeling a buzz in my ear. Ignoring it I keep staring. He carries himself cockily, stuffing his face as he looks through some files. He doesn't seem friendly, a permanent grimace glued to his face. Even with food in his mouth he's frowning.

I know him, Keiltskin, Keiltskin,  Keiltskin, but no matter how many times I repeat it, it starts sounding like a funny word.

The damn buzz is getting stronger. I look down trying to concentrate, my hands fly up to my ears.

"You alright there girl?" Keiltskin gruffly asks.

I look up, the ringing gradually getting louder. He doesn't know me, but he's looking at me like he does. I can't talk, the ringing being the only thing I hear. The sheriff watches me and heads around the counter. I move back when he comes closer. I feel Drew grab my arm. He's quiet during all of this, I think. I can't hear anything. The ringing is not stopping, no matter how hard my finger jabs into my ear. I can't take it anymore, I scream from the pain and grab my head with both my hands and run out of there.

Once I make it out of the station, I feel weak, my vision blurring as red lines appear every time I blink. The pain from the ringing makes me want to throw up and I can't keep it in much longer. I start losing strength to hold myself up, and I lean against the wall for support. Black starts closing in all around me and that's when I feel myself falling. The last thing I see is a blurry outline of the sheriff and Drew running after me, yelling.