Remember

Chapter 3: Knocks

I wake up in a room I don't recognize.

For a few seconds, I don't move.

It's dark except for a small lamp beside the bed, and somewhere beyond the closed door, voices carry through the house.

Where am I?

My heart starts pounding.

The police station.

Keiltskin.

That horrible ringing.

Running outside.

Then nothing.

I sit up too fast and immediately regret it. My head throbs, and I grip the edge of the mattress until the room stops spinning.

There's a bottle of water on the nightstand beside a folded note.

I reach for it.

Drink this. It'll make you feel better. When you're ready, come out to eat. —Drew

Drew.

Relief washes through me.

So I'm not kidnapped.

Probably.

I twist open the water and take a few careful sips.

The voices from the other room become clearer.

One belongs to Drew.

The other is a woman.

And she sounds pissed.

I quietly climb out of bed and move toward the door.

"You can't keep her here," the woman says.

I stop.

Keep me here?

Drew lets out a heavy sigh.

"Why not? You brought me in. I was like her a couple weeks ago. You gave me a chance. Why not her?"

My hand freezes on the doorknob.

I was like her.

What does that mean?

The woman lowers her voice, but Drew apparently can't whisper to save his life.

"You were different."

"How?"

"You know how."

"No, actually, I don't."

There's a long silence.

I lean closer to the door.

"Drew," she says quietly, "we don't know anything about her."

"Neither did you about me."

Another pause.

I don't know whether I should feel comforted or extremely concerned.

Apparently Drew has his own collection of secrets.

I slowly open the bedroom door.

Their argument continues as I follow the hallway toward a small kitchen and dining area.

The moment I appear, they both stop talking.

Great.

Nothing suspicious about that.

Drew looks at me first.

The woman beside him turns toward me, her expression immediately guarded.

For a second, the two of them exchange a look.