The Lone Survivor

Chapter 6 - Flashback

Fabian's POV
The city was too loud, too crowded.

I latched myself tightly onto both Chase's arm and Zion's arm, gaining lots of annoyed looks from passersby since we were taking up most of the pavement. Every single person who passed by stared at me, pointed at me, talked about me.

I don't like cities. They're full of people and pollution. You couldn't take a breath without breathing in the toxic fumes, and people were just rushing to get to work or the shops, no awareness for others around them.

Safe to say I wasn't loving life at the minute.

So far, I'd been dragged into what felt like millions of shops and been bought more clothing than I'd ever owned in my whole life combined, but the twins still didn't seem to be satisfied.

Every so often we'd have to stop so I could roll up my trousers. Despite Chase's best efforts to dress me, they were both a lot bigger than I am, so their clothes swamped my small form. But I'm not exactly complaining, it's better than being naked.

Naked... so cold...

I stopped suddenly, a feeling of anxiety washing over me. I vaguely heard Chase asking if I was alright and felt Zion tug on my arm, but they seemed so far away.

I don't know where I am, the walls surrounding me were so unfamiliar. I panicked, thrashing around only to realise I was being held down by metal restraints.

I slumped back down onto the cold, hard surface, where I lay staring at the ceiling. I struggled against the restraints again, tugging at them, but they remained tight. I noticed that my joints felt achy and stiff, as if I'd been here for a while.

I don't remember how I got here, in fact, I can't remember anything. I don't even remember my own name.

"Fabian!"

Fabian? Who's Fabian? That name and that voice sound familiar...

"Fabian! Please come back to us!"

Me? What are they on about? I'm laying right here...

"What's wrong with him?! Zion, please do something!"

Zion? I've also heard that name before somewhere...

"I can't lose him, Zion! We can't lose another! Please!" Another familiar voice cried in desperation.

Nobody will ever love you. You're just a creation. My creation.

Who's that? I can recall somebody saying that to me...

Suddenly, my body jerked forwards, breaking the restraints. I didn't even released that my eyes had been closed until they snapped open, two blurry faces coming into view. My first feeling was 'they're going to hurt me!'

My eyes widened and I lashed out at the nearest face, cowering away as I did. My eyes widened further when I realised where I was, and who I'd just hit.

I lay on the busy pavement in the middle of the city, a small crowd of onlookers sharing concerned glances. And I'd just hit Zion.

He glared at me, clutching a hand over his eyes.

"So-rry" I stuttered looking down as Chase scooped me into his embrace.

Zion just rolled his eyes, whilst Chase scowled at the the onlookers. "Nothing to see here! Can't you see the poor boy needs space?!"

Slowly, the crowd did indeed disperse, and I was taken into a nearby café, where the brothers proceeded to interrogate me. Well, Chase did. Zion continued to give me the silent treatment.

"Are you okay?" I was asked first, to which I nodded mutely. I felt far from okay, that's never happened before. Did I panic because of the crowd, or was it something else entirely?

I explained everything in detail when they asked, and they both nodded in response, sharing meaningful glances, as if they knew exactly what was wrong with me.

"I think your memories of an event have been suppressed somehow, but they're starting to resurface. Makes sense that you'd hit me if you thought I was someone else. You could've thought I was Chase, I mean, I would've hit him too. He's such a pushover, right?" Zion chuckled as his twin shoved him, his previous annoyance at me seemingly forgotten.

I coughed quietly to get their attention, feeling as if I had to tell the, about the nightmare I had before I became human again. I can't escape the feeling that somehow, it links to my forgotten memories.

I told them everything, from the strange bottles labelled 'dipothemine' to the fragments of speech that I could recall, clinging onto Chase the whole time, scared of what he would say. They both probably think I'm a freak now...

I just want someone to love me...