Kayden
The howling wind.
A pounding heartbeat.
A sharp pain.
My eyes snapped open to a bright room. I squinted as I sat up. The air was stagnant and reeked of chlorine. My head throbbed with every breath I took. I tried to lift my hand to my head, but was stopped by cold metal around my wrist. Why was I handcuffed to the bed? I looked around wildly, hoping to find a security camera. Listening intently, I heard a humming. Turning towards it, I found my target. "Hey! Is anyone there? Someone come in here and explain!" I coughed after shouting out from my dry throat. Two people barged in from the right side of the room. One was a tall, dark-haired man who went over to a rack of tablets. The other was a woman with red hair and beautiful sapphire eyes. She brought me a glass of water. After draining the cup, I started asking, "Who are you? Why am I handcuffed? Where am I?"
"Calm down, everything will be alright. Are you able to tell me your name," She calmly responded albeit a bit tensely.
"N-no, I don't know who I am. Answer my questions."
"My name is Elsie Jerome and this is Edmund Walton. He's my teammate. You are at the Unit of Celestial Beings headquarters in the hospital wing. Do you remember anything?"
"Um, I like flowers."
She gave me a small smile and turned to her teammate, who'd made his way over with a tablet, "What do you think doc?"
He responded with, "When she hit her head, she got a concussion. That resulted in what we see now, amnesia. It is unknown how long it'll take to get all of her memories back."
At some point during Edmund's speech, something tugged in my gut, deep inside. More of a subtle pulling causing my mood to worsen the tiniest bit with a mingling taste of somber melancholy and confusion in the pits of my mind. Not wanting to bring too much attention to it at the moment, I ignored it, playing it off as a sense of disorientation with my new surroundings.
"What is the Unit of Celestial Beings anyway?" I furrowed my eyebrows as I grew irritated at the lack of information.
Elsie brought a small chair over and sat down in it before explaining. "The U.C.B., for short, is an area of the U.S. government that covers all unconventional and paranormal happenings. Its agents are controlled by Superintendent Celeste Woodberry. I am Blue Jay, the leader of a small group that defends everyone on this planet and other planets if it ever comes to that. Other members are Edmund - who is known as Mechanic - and Warlock. Warlock is Sebastian Paine. You'll meet him later."
"Why are you called Blue Jay?" I asked with curiosity.
She shrugged, "I can fly. Also, I'm kind of an air-bender."
"Air . . . Bender?"
"You have much to learn."
I cracked a smile at that, ignoring the double meaning. Edmund cleared his throat, "Celeste needs to talk to her now," Edmund announced.
"Of course. Can't keep the Superintendent waiting and all that," she said, getting up, "Seeing as you're in a hospital gown, I'll get you some of my clothes. Wait here."
"I'm not going anywhere," I responded.
As their footsteps faded, I pulled at the bit of silver holding me to the bed. There was so much I didn't know. Did I have any siblings? What's that feeling I get when someone talks about me? Why am I here? Suddenly, I felt a searing pain behind my eyes. Images of a tan lady in a suit, another woman in all red, a metal beam, and the night sky flashed as I fell to my knees.
"-ey. Hey! Are you alright?" My vision came into focus and Elsie was there, holding my head between her hands.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm alright." She let go of me at my words.
"Here, some clothes. Just like I said." She handed a stack of clothes over to me then pulled out a key that matched my handcuffs. She took them and tucked them in her jacket pocket. She made a motion to follow her with her hand and strolled out. I followed her after a second of hesitation and wobbliness. It took a moment to get my balance before I started to walk after her retreating figure. What were those images about? Who were those people? I just want to get back to my flower shop. Wait, flower...shop? I own a flower shop. It's called Kay's Flower Emporium and I own it.
"Hey, Elsie?" I asked.
"Yes?" She responded.
"Do you know what Kay's Flower Emporium is?"
"Yes, I do. It's right across from the diner I work at. Why do you ask?" she inquired.
"Funny story, um, I own the place. Do you think I could go there after meeting Cele-whatever-her-name-is?"
She froze and turned to me, "You own the place?"
"Um, yeah?" I stopped and raised an eyebrow, "That is what I said."
She cleared her throat and continued walking, me following her once again. "Yeah. After you talk with Celeste, we can go there together."
"Together?"
"My shift starts soon, might as well take you to your flower shop when I go to work, right?"
"Right."
She paused and opened a door to our side. She walked in and motioned for me to follow. I did so and was greeted with a room that was warm and uplifting. "This is my room. You can change in the bathroom over there." She pointed to the right and I walked into the specified room.
~~~~~~
Elsie dropped me off in front of a door and knocked. "Come on in!" a voice shouted from inside. We stepped inside and a dark-skinned, regal looking lady stared at us with distaste. "Well?"
"Ma'am, this here is Kayden Briggs. She is the amnesiac case that you asked to see." Elsie stated.
"Of course, you are dismissed, Agent."
Elsie nodded and whispered, "Good luck," before walking out.
Celeste looked at me, "Take a seat." I sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk briskly. "What has Elsie told you so far?" she asked me.
"Um, just a basic rundown of who everyone is and where I am. Also, what this place is." I answered.
"Alright, then you know who I am?"
"Yes."
"Do you know who are?"
"No. All I know is I own a flower shop and my name is Kayden Briggs. I also have a cat." I widened my eyes at the last part, "I didn't mean to say that."
Celeste's eyes narrowed in suspicious apprehension, "You really don't know who you are?"
"No." I knew my name and other random facts, but I assumed that she meant something else. For some reason, it didn't seem that she liked me very much.
She nodded, "Alright. For now, I have no questions. However, be prepared for any questions in the future, understand?" I nodded. "Good. You are dismissed." I walked out, seeing Elsie by the door, waiting for me. She was tense, body positioned in a way that appeared as if she was prepared to strike at any moment, on guard for anything.
"Ready?"
"Definitely."
Elsie
The silence was filled with the sounds of the city around us. I sneaked a glance down at Kayden and noticed how the chilly air tinged her face pink. Looking at her now, you'd never realize she was a villain.
With my gray sweatshirt hanging off her smaller frame, she seemed so innocent, like she wouldn't dare harm a fly. But I knew better than to fall for that. She may not remember being evil and hurting all those people, but I do.
All those people, the ones I couldn't save.
When she gets her memories back, she'll probably just go back to that life. That life of causing so much suffering and laughing at it.
But, you know what, maybe, just maybe, I'm wrong. Maybe she'll turn their back on evil and become good. Who knows, maybe she'll even become a hero instead.
The thought almost made me laugh.
But, I did have to admit she was cute...in a lost puppy kind of way.
"Elsie," Kayden's voice interrupted my thoughts, "Are you alright? You kind of faded into space for a moment there." She giggled softly and scrunched up her nose a bit.
I cleared my throat, "Yeah, I'm fine. Here we are." I gestured to the brick building in front of us. Its mint doors were closed, but the flowers set up in front of it seemed fresh.
Kayden walked up to the doors and twisted the handle. The door shook as she tried to open it.
She turned back to me and said, "It won't open."
I sighed, "That's just great. Well, are you getting anything from the front of the store?"
"No, not really."
I smiled softly, "That's alright. We can try again when it's open. For now, let's just head over to the diner."
"Alright," Kayden walked up to my side and nodded, "Let's go."
We turned but froze at the sight of a wide-eyed female in front of us.
"K-Kayden?" She stuttered. She raised a hand up to her lips and let out a sob. Her broken breaths could be heard from our position as she fell to her knees in a miserable display of disbelief.
"Um, yeah? That's me, according to Elsie. Who are you?" Kayden responded, bewildered at the whimpering girl in front of her. She knelt and placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to console her.
The distraught girl lifted her head to reveal a tear-stained face, "What? My name is Freya, your friend, remember?"
"I-I'm sorry, I don't..." Kayden trailed off.
"No, no you have to remember. I used to braid your hair before you chopped it all off and you'd edit my blog. We'd go out with Kyle and Lillith on Saturdays to the diner down the street and you'd always roll your eyes at how cheesy we were, but you'd enjoy it just as much an-and-" I cut her off.
"I'm sorry, rewind, you know Kayden?"
"Yeah," She wiped some tears away and stared crestfallen at Kayden, "You'd call me your little sister."