Bad Memory

"You're trying to tempt me."

"An invitation isn't temptation, sweetheart. Unless it's an invitation to something you secretly want."

"Stop."

"Stop what?"

"Messing with me. You don't control me."

"Nor would I ever want to. But making you lose control? Now that's something I think about far more than I should."

***

Shiloh Abbott wakes up with no memory of her marriage, her best friend Lillian's death, or the four years she spent as a captive of a terrorist group, the Shadows. But rather than dwell on a past she can't remember, she chooses to focus on the future that was almost stolen from her. Now reunited with her husband, she devotes herself fully to her sacred duty: repopulating a planet ravaged by a deadly parasite.

Unfortunately, the Shadows have no intention of leaving her alone. And as their attempts to recapture her escalate, Shiloh starts to realize that what she's forgotten could hold the key to everything: Lillian's death, her kidnapping, and most importantly-a cure.

But can she uncover the truth when others will stop at nothing to keep it hidden?

*Written for the 2025 Open Novella Contest*

Main Prompt: 68 - In a world where a parasitic virus has taken control of the population, only a cure can end the tyranny, but finding it may be impossible.