Unknown Secrets (Chapter One)

NOTE: i named one of the characters after a close friend



I OPENED MY EYES. Looking around didn’t help my current state of confusion since I didn’t remember my age, let alone how I got here. Had I gotten drunk? That seemed unlikely, even though I didn’t know what I would do before. What was my name… what was my name… I knew it was a German-sounding name… Rozalind? Yes, that was it. Romey, it will be okay. Just stand up. Stand, I thought to myself. I looked around for a minute, seeing if I was truly alone. I was. Looking down on my body, I saw that I was not wearing clothes. My body had deep, meaty gashes on it and blood was everywhere. But I felt no pain. Nothing. I felt nothing. Sitting up didn’t cause me to feel anything as well. My eyes were just not able to focus on anything.

“Hilfe… hilfe… ” I said, my voice raspy. I probably had been out here a while if my voice was rusty. That also explained why bugs were crawling on me.

“Helft mir…” I cried but I wasn’t able to feel it. I was scared now, I could tell by the way I was getting antsy and I wanted to run. Anywhere, anywhere that had answers. I stood up and some of the dirt fell off me. I looked around, knowing my body wanted to give up on me. I looked around for something to cover myself with. Hanging on a tree was a tattered and bloody plaid shirt. It looked like a farmer would’ve warn it before - before the blood was splattered on it. I lifted my hand and my slender, pale fingers closed around the fabric. I yanked on it until it came lose, then put it on. The shirt smelled of coppery blood, sweat, and cigarette smoke. It smelled bad to me but it was all I could cover myself with so I didn’t care at the moment. I looked down at my body. I had a small waist and my body overall wasn’t too big. I had blood and dirt caked into my skin so I couldn’t tell what color I was.

I walked slowly, not wanting to work my body too hard even if I couldn’t feel it. It didn’t take long to find a town. It seemed small, by the looks of it. The school looked like a three-story house instead of a… well, really, I didn’t know what schools were supposed to look like. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl and a boy talking. The girl seemed angry and the boy looked like he was trying to defend himself. I didn’t understand what they were saying. Well, maybe I would if they weren’t speaking so low. I hesitantly walked up to them and they stopped talking to look at me.

“Excuse me… können Sie mir sagen… wo die Polizei ist?” I asked, not knowing if they would understand me.

“English, you weirdo,” the girl sneered and for some reason, I knew what she said. I spoke… English, I assume.

“Excuse me… can you… tell me where… the police station is?” I repeated in the language I hoped they understood. My accent was still thick but they seemed to understand me now.

“Are you okay? You look like hell. C’mon, I’ll take you to the police station,” the boy said and took a step toward me. The girl cast a nasty look his way but he ignored it.

“You must be freezing! Its around forty degrees outside,” the girl said and shrugged off her jacket.

“I… can’t… feel it. My… nerves… I don’t know… I just can’t…” I whispered, some part of me wanting to curl up in a little ball.

“Whats your name?” the boy asked and placed his arm on my shoulders.

“Rozalind… but I guess my short-name is Romey,” I said softly, not meeting either of their eyes, not even when the girl wrapped her jacket around my shoulders and forced the boy to drop his arm.

“Well, c’mon, Romey. We need to take you to the police station,” the girl said and took me away from the boy. He seemed annoyed by this but he didn’t say anything. She led me away from the school and I wondered why they had been speaking behind the school. That seemed rather odd to me.

“Is… school open?” I whispered meekly, looking at the girl as we left the boy behind.

“Of course. Just not today. That’s our usual meeting spot. What’s your last name, Romey,” the girl asked me, looking at my face.

“I’m… not sure. I don’t… remember… whats yours?” I replied. I had to think about the words in English, so I didn’t slip up and reply in German.

“My name is Vanessa. Vanessa Edwards,” the girl said and continued walking with me. Apparently she didn’t have a car… that was strange for a girl that looked a bit older than I thought I was. Rozalind Edwards… no. I didn’t like the sound of it.

“What was the… boy’s name? The one you were… talking to?” I whispered and she looked at me strangely.

“Joshua Barnard,” Vanessa Rayne replied. Rozalind Barnard. I liked that much better. We walked for a while until she took me to a small house-looking thing. The town seemed to be tinted green. Some towns were tinted gray and some a dusty brown, I remembered. I remembered very basic things, I realized. My first name, my hair color… it was the color of dark chocolate and wavy. I pulled at the end of my hair and saw pale blonde hair. What…? But I could’ve sworn that my hair was black.

“Romey? Are you here?” she asked me and shook me gently. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, trying to focus my thoughts on the police station.

“Yes… thank you, Vanessa,” I said softly and opened the old, wooden door of the small building. There was only one person in the one-story building, even though there were two desks. The nameplates read: Deputy Edwards and the other read Sheriff Miller. But by who was sitting at the desk, only Deputy Edwards was in. Edwards… was it possible that the Deputy was Vanessa’s father? They had the same milk chocolate brown eyes, and same olive complexion.

“Miss? Whats the emergency,” he asked me and gave me a friendly, crooked-toothed smile. I found that reaction a contradiction to his words.

“I don’t know who I am,” I responded and he just looked at me.

“Sit down. Tell me about it,” he said kindly and I sat down on the hard, plastic chair. I must’ve been a sight to see, with the tattered plaid shirt with blood and dirt covering every inch of my body. But I guess it was nothing compared to how I woke up.