Chapter 24

                                    

                                          
Ahren sees I've stopped and takes my arm to continue walking towards the man waiting to greet us. 
                          
I Would have thought the shock is well displayed on my face. But Ahren doesn't seem to notice. 
                          
"Avy, this is Dr James Mitchell." 
                          
Am I dreaming? I have to be.
                          
I pinch myself to make sure. The pain assures me that I am not.
                          
This man, this Doctor, is the crazy man I saw when I hallucinated.
                          
"Do you recognize this man?" Ahren says.
                          
I shoot my eyes over to him. Does he know that I recognize him from the hallucinations?
                          
I say nothing.
                          
"He was your Doctor when you were younger."
                          
I'm taken aback by the unexpected information, "What?" 
                          
"Of course, you won't remember him. But I found him, and he remembers you!" 
                          
What has this man really got to do with me? Why did I hallucinate about him? 
                          
"Ahren, can I talk to you for a moment?" I ask quietly.
                          
He nods and takes me aside.
                          
"How do we know we can trust that man?"
                          
He scoffs slightly, "why wouldn't we? I just told you he is your old doctor."
                          
"I know, but...something just doesn't feel right..." 
                          
"What is it? Come on, talk to me." he says compassionately but with a sense of urgency in his eyes.
                          
I am unsure whether I should tell him. But maybe this will make him nervous and knock him off balance. I might be able to psych him out somehow.
                          
"Well...do you remember when I said I was having hallucinations in the hospital? And a person kept appearing and tried to kill me?"
                          
"Yes, I do. That was a tough time for you." He smiles warmly.
                          
"Well that person was him; that doctor right out there."
                          
I can see Ahren is taken completely by surprise. 
                          
He takes a moment to process it. But then turns serious and moves to leave.
                          
He stops before doing so, "Go to your room." He demands.
                          
That is the first time he has actually demanded something of me and I am not having it, "Excuse me?"
                          
"I need to speak with the doctor" He says impatiently.
                          
"Let me come too! I am the one who saw him, I want to know what's going on, too!" 
                          
"No, Avy, go to your room!" He raises his voice, I can see the anger rising in his eyes. 
                          
"You don't tell me what to do!" I shout back at him, grabbing his arm.
                          
"I SAID GO!" He pushes me off his arm, but not realizing his own strength makes me fall over and smack my head on the ground. 
                          
I throw my hands to it and hold it, almost trying to absorb the throbbing going on in my skull.
                          
Ahren sighs loudly and picks me up off the ground. 
                          
He carries me bridal style to my room and lays me on the bed.
                          
"I'm sorry, I'll be back later. Put some ice on the bruise and rest up." And with that he leaves.
                          
I had hardly concentrated on a thing he said for the pain. 
                          
The throbbing has eased a little, but now it feels so numb and tingly. 
                          
I decide to stand up to see if I'm dizzy. The blood rushes to my head so quickly that it makes my vision blurry.
                          
All of a sudden, with a sharp pain and a high pitched ringing in my head, I literally see my life flash before my eyes.
                          
My life...My life...everything...it's all here.
                          
My mother, my Father, Maggie, Kaius and...Ahren.
                          
My eyes shoot open. Anger fills me inside, but then it melts into sadness and disbelief.
                          
"Oh my Gosh. I know what happened."
                          
So many emotions swirling around my head makes me sit back down on the bed.
                          
Tears fill my eyes. I can't believe it's all back. 
                          
My hatred for Ahren.
                          
My love for Kaius.
                          
...Kaius. 
                          
I grit my teeth and storm out of the bedroom. 
                          
I run to where Ahren was with the Doctor, but no one is there.
                          
So I decide to head to Kaius. I can't believe I didn't know who he was...How could I forget the love of my life. 
                          
I get to the passage and almost stumble down the stairs in a hurry to see him. 
                          
It's amazing how, even within these few hours since I saw him, my whole attitude to seeing him sitting there has changed. 
                          
He looks at me with confusion, "I wasn't expecting you back until tomorrow."
                          
I say nothing. I just rush up to him, grabbing his face and kissing him with all the love I remember. And as I do, I see all the good times and bad that we spent together. All those memories that made me who I am.
                          
I pull away, he still lingers there, but when he realizes what just happened, his eyes become wider than I've ever seen. "You...you just..."
                          
"I did." I laugh a little as I tear up, "Kai' I remember everything."
                          
The overjoyed look on his face as he pulls me in to a tight hug warms my heart.
                          
"I can't believe it. I have you back." I hear his voice crack almost into a sob. 
                          
"I am so sorry I forgot you." I whimper as the tears finally stream from my eyes.
                          
"Hey, hey no. No, you didn't really. You stayed with me because I was familiar. You never stopped coming and believing me. Because you knew who I was deep down." He hugs me again. We stay like that for a few minutes.
                          
Then the reality hits me. 
                          
I pull away and take the chain on his wrist in my hand.
                          
"Ahren did this." I set my jaw, then I get up and storm away, "I'll be right back." 
                          
I hear Kaius shouting protests at me to stop. But I will not be swayed. 
                          
I check every room. Every unlocked door for evidence of a key.
                          
I have no idea where I'm supposed to find it, but I am not giving up.
                          
As I am searching upstairs, I realize that behind one of the doors there is a stair way that leads to an attic.
                          
I jog up the stairs. Completely not caring if I am being loud. 
                          
There are about 8 TV's set up hanging on the wall. 4 Above, and 4 below.
                          
There is a remote on the desktop under them. 
                          
I pick up the remote and click the red power button.
                          
One by one they flicker on.
                          
The first one is a view of the garden, The second the front hall way, the third my bedroom, the fourth....Oh no.
                          
The fourth...is a CCTV camera hidden in the room where Kaius is.