Hardy Boys - Lead Me To Myself

Who Are We?

Danny sat at the table and picked at his food. He wasn't hungry right now. Luther had spent the whole day telling him stories and facts, trying anything to get the boy to remember, but nothing seemed to work. Danny was still just as lost as he had been when he awoke from that fated slumber.

Everything just felt so hopeless. It would have been better to be lost but still have his memory, or to be around family and friends and not have his memory. Maybe then he would have a chance at grasping some portion of himself. But he had no identity, and he had no family. All he had to guide him in his path to himself was this middle-aged, red haired man who spent his spare time smoking a cigarette or petting one of his three cats.

"What's on your mind, boy?" came Luther's gruff voice. Danny looked up from his food and met the large man's intense gaze. Never did Luther fail to make him uncomfortable in one way or another, and it wasn't just because he had no memory of the man. Luther was too much business, too many facts, not enough genuine care. All Danny really wanted was for someone to sit down next to him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, even if it wasn't the truth. Was that too much to ask?

"Why are you doing this for me?" Danny finally asked. "Why are you opening your home up to me and feeding me? Why not just send me to the hospital and have nothing to do with me? You clearly have no obligation. So what do you have to gain?"

Luther didn't strike him as the kind of man that would so willingly offer his home out of the kindness of his heart. There must be some other motive behind all of this supposed 'kindness'.

"The hospital was never an option, kid." Luther said after a long moment of contemplation. "Things may have turned out right, but not without some suspicion. We don't know how you came to be knocked out in that warehouse. The last thing we need is cops becoming involved. No. It's better if nobody knows about this little incident."

"Don't we want the police involved? For all we know, I was attacked and left for dead."

Luther sighed and ran his hands over his face. "This isn't easy to explain - especially not to a boy and especially not to a boy who has amnesia."

"You can't just leave me in the dark!" Danny countered. "Unless you plan on caring for me yourself and you don't really strike me as that type of person."

"No." Luther shook his head. "You're right. Just make sure you listen up so I don't have to tell you again."

Danny nodded and sealed his lips.

"It's like this, son." Luther clasped his hands together and dropped them to the cheap, fake pine table. "You got yourself involved in something shady. We knew from the moment that you started working in the warehouse that you'd fit right in with the rest of us. You were young, immature, and eager for money. You seemed like just what we needed after Peters... left our employment.

"I was able to arrange for you to meet Denis, the boss. He took an instant liking to you, much like I did. You started working for us just two weeks into your job at the warehouses. You kept quiet and did what you were told. We couldn't ask much more of you."

Danny couldn't find the words to speak. He was a criminal? Impossible! Surely if that were the case he would have some sort of inclination toward crime, but he didn't. He felt quite opposed to it, actually. How could it be?

"Once you feel up to it, Denis will be expecting you to return to your normal duties," Luther said.

"What if... I never feel up to it?" Danny dared to ask.