Forgotten

Untitled Part 2

Chapter Two

July stirs in her hospital bed trapped in her current dream and unaware of where she is or that she has serious concussion and a scalp laceration. In the dream she is young . . . maybe five years old. She is playing in a beautiful garden at the back of a small cottage. She sits in the grass surrounded by stunning brightly coloured flowers placed neatly around a small pond. Orange goldfish swim in circles while she plays. This place seems familiar to her yet she has no clear memory of ever being there. Playing quietly with her toys the only sounds she can hear come from someone pottering around inside the house and the crickets hopping among the grass. She seems so peaceful and content, her blonde hair flowing freely in the breeze, her pale skin turning pink in the sun. This is such a serene place.

"Jules, time for lunch". Comes a female voice from the cottage. It's a sweet voice with a song bird note to it.

July watches her child self stand up and run into the house smiling. This is all so familiar . . .

Suddenly everything changes and she is inside the cottage looking at pastel yellow wallpaper with cherries all over it. The beige carpet under her feet is so soft it warms her. Looking around she realises she must be standing in the family room. Pictures adorn every inch of the walls. Pictures of her as a baby leading up to her five year old self. Pictures of people she recognises but cannot find any memory off. The small piano in the corner that brings a feeling of happiness and laughter. The book shelves with children's books crammed onto the lower three shelves while the upper three are filled with novels of all kinds. She steps silently closer and finds herself drawn to specific books on the shelves. Yet she still cannot find a reason everything is so familiar. She hears sounds coming from a room to her right and wanders closer, understanding that she wont be seen.

She sees her younger self sitting at a small wooden table with two other people. It's dark outside now and they seem to be tucking in to dinner. She watches herself shovelling roast potatoes into her mouth until there is no more space as the adults with her laugh playfully. Through the laughter she hears the man say 'Jules, not so fast. you don't want to turn into a potato, do you?' Little July nods her head while trying not to laugh herself.

The adults at the table seem so familiar to July, she feels a pull to them. She studies them more closely forgetting her younger self for a while. The woman is beautiful in her late twenties. Her eyes a bright shining blue just like July's. Her sleek blonde hair trapped in a high ponytail. She is elegantly thin and tall but she has a welcoming soft air to her. July feels her stomach knot for an unknown reason. She feels tears forming in her eyes as she turns to look at the young man.

He is somehow just as beautiful as the woman. His eyes a soulful brown that seemed to contain all the knowledge of the world. He is tall and slender but his muscles are clearly defined even through the black shirt he wears. He has a kindness about him, like he can be trusted no matter what. July watches his face change as he laughs. Laugh lines are starting to form around his mouth and eyes and his short brown hair is jumping along with the bobbing motion caused by his laughter. The sound of his laugh brings the tears the rest of the way and they begin running slowly down July's face. She considers how much her younger self looks like these people. She wonders how this can all be so familiar when she has no memory of any of it. She thinks while watching the happy little family lost in her own thoughts, she doesn't notice the strange things happening at the table.

Again her view changes. Now, she stands in a small hallway upstairs. Turning her head slightly she sees her younger self being tucked into her bed. The woman reading from one of the books on the shelves downstairs. July watches as the man comes into the room, now dressed in plaid night clothes, he walks over to the bed, leans towards the small girl and kisses her forehead. "Goodnight my little lightening bug, have yourself some magical dreams and don't forget to remember them". This made the girl giggle as she says goodnight to them. They leave the room switching the light off and leaving July watching her younger self fall asleep. It is a few minutes before July hears her light snoring and notices a blue light outside the window.

The second she acknowledges the light is there she is suddenly standing outside in the wet grass. Around 10 feet from the bedroom window she looks towards the blue light and is astonished to see a man within it. He is tall and extremely large. His hair is jet black and clearly hanging down past his waist. He has an almost sinister feel to him.

July moves closer and steps around him to look at his face. She takes a step back as she looks at the snarling mouth filled with sharp yellow teeth. His eyes are completely black and he is holding his hands out in front of him fisted like he is struggling with something. July realises he is focusing on the bedroom. She turns and looks through the window to see her younger self floating 2 inches above her bed. Her little face is peaceful but strained almost like she is trying to figure out a difficult maths problem. July looks on as the girls skin begins to glow the same blue as the light surrounding the man. Her hair plaited down her back turning a fiery red.

Suddenly her younger self drops back onto her bed looking the way she had before all of this. July, confused turns to look at the man only to find him staring straight at her.

"You shouldn't be here!" He snarls angrily clearly outraged at her presence. "You shouldn't remember any of this! How did you get here?" He asks quickly, the words tumbling from his mouth.

July feels a lightness spread through her body and looking down at her hands she sees herself disappearing. Somehow she understands to stay calm. She closes her eyes and breathes deeply until she feels a cold breeze on her skin. Opening her eyes she finds herself back by the pond and it's daytime again. Hearing a sound she turns to see her younger self clearly throwing a tantrum about something.

"I don't want to go to school and you can't make me!" Shouts the girl at the slender woman from the kitchen table. Sounds are coming from inside the cottage where the man from the kitchen is clearly using power tools on something.

"Jules, you have to go, you know that. Why are you acting like this? Tell me what's wrong". The woman replies calmly although she is clearly worried. She steps closer to wrap her outraged daughter in a hug but is stopped short.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Little July screams at the woman.

July watches in horror as her younger self begins to glow deep blue and her hair turns fiery red. She watches unable to do anything as this tiny little girl screams a sound that no child should be able to make. The woman begins to yell as blood runs from her eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Quickly her entire face and chest is soaked red.

Little July stops making the guttural sound and watches the older woman fall to the ground, slumped over and clearly dead. She turns to look at the house and with a wave of her hand flames shoot out of the roof. Within minutes the entire cottage is reduced to rubble. She turns back to the dead woman and with another wave of her hand, the woman's body bursts into flame and burns until there is nothing left.

July screams loudly wishing with all her might that she could be anywhere else. The scream halts in her throat at the sight of her younger self staring at her with soulless black eyes. She brings her hand up the way she did before but just as she waves it, July wakes up screaming in her hospital bed.

It takes three nurses and a whole lot of tranquilliser to finally calm July enough. She lies in the bed staring at the white ceiling thinking about her dream that night. Turning it over and over in her head trying to figure out what it meant, why everything was so familiar and why, the minute she woke up she felt like her skin was on fire.

She has no memories of that place or the things that happened there and yet she feels a strong urge to find it. She feels that this place is incredibly important even if she can't think why. She has to find it and go there to uncover the truth of what is going on. She has to go there to help her find her kids.

With that thought she silently steps out of bed and grabbing her clothes and shoes from beside the bed, slips into the bathroom to get dressed. Once fully clothed in her jeans and hoodie, she slips on her trainers, pulls her hood up over her head and walks steadily down the hallway and out the door. Her last thought inside the hospital telling her she will need to travel north to find her answers. But where north, and how far?