The Memory Machine

Chapter 1 - Dazed

Voices filled his head. They stretched to every corner of his skull, pressing against it and threatening to shatter it into a million pieces. The voices were not soft. They were loud and angry sounding, at least to him. He could not see. Only hear. Some of the voices called out his name. But what was his name? They were talking to him. They knew him. Did he know them?

Connor's eyes opened. Everything around him was shining white and pure. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust. When they did he could clearly see where he was: a hospital room. The light above him was what caused the room to glow so violently with that white light. It felt like the light was illuminating from the room itself, and everything in it. But of course that wasn't possible. Connor looked down and saw that he lay in a bed, the sheets smooth and pristine, much like the rest of the room. He tried to sit up but found he couldn't; his limbs were numb. He wondered how long he had been here. Looking around once more, Connor noticed a chair beside his bed. Had someone been here? If so, who had they been? Connor could remember no one in particular to whom he was close to. He knew he must have parents, but he couldn't remember what they looked like or what their names were.

"Hello?" he called out.

He was surprised by his own voice. He didn't feel like he should have a voice, and had no memory of ever having one. A moment later the door of the room opened and a woman peered round. Upon seeing him her face lit up and she left in a hurry. In the distance Connor heard what he assumed to be her voice. She was already too far away for him to hear what she was saying. A few minutes later the door was opened again. This time, it was three people who entered. Two girls and a boy.

"Connor! You're awake!" cried one of the girls, running to the bed and throwing her arms around him.

Connor wanted to push her away, but his stiff limbs wouldn't allow him to. He didn't know her! However, she sounded as if she knew him quite well. When she stepped back from him, Connor could see that she had long, curly red hair and bright blue eyes. Her face was covered in freckles and her grin was so wide that Connor was shocked that her face hadn't split in two.

"Give him some space, Ingrid. Geez," exhaled the boy.

Ingrid glared jokingly at him as if this kind of behaviour was normal for him. Her grin had by now faded and allowed Connor to admire her bright red lipstick. It didn't suit her innocent looking expressions at all, but Connor was impressed by the neatness of it. Though he didn't know her, he could tell that she liked to experiment.

"Stop being such a pessimist!" she accused with a cheeky smile.

"Why don't you try smiling sometime? It might make you a nicer person, eh Andrew?" said the second girl, stepping forward and joining the discussion.

"Shut it, Jodie!" cried Andrew.

The whole time Connor had been watching in amazement. He had no idea who these three were, save for their names and appearances. Ingrid, Jodie and Andrew...

Andrew had wavy, dusty brown hair that covered the whole of his forehead. His eyes were a dull grey, and they showed little emotion. Jodie, however, had more character. Her hair was long and dark. It covered half her face so that all that could be seen was one green eye. Her skin was slightly tanned and she wore mostly black. She smiled, amused, at Andrew's annoyance towards her, but it was not a pretty smile. It was sly and mischievous.

"I don't care if you don't like my hugs. I bet Connor liked it."

Ingrid was smiling at Connor. It was an expectant smile, as if she was waiting for him to do something. He blinked at her, confused. He didn't know what she wanted from him. He wanted to know what it was, out of curiosity, but he couldn't bring himself to ask. She was a stranger to him, but he was not a stranger to her. She knew him from somewhere, and that to Connor was ominous. After a few silent seconds, Ingrid's smile disappeared and she looked worried.

"You did like my hug, didn't you?" she asked it as if it were the most important thing in the world.

Realising how much this must mean to her, Connor replied in the only way he could think of that would please this mysterious girl.

"Yeah, I guess."