Amnesia
By Key Cook
It was dark
when I woke up; I was buckled into the seat of an upside-down car. I looked
around; there was shattered glass everywhere…and blood, lots of blood. I
checked myself for injuries but I couldn’t find any, which meant that the blood
had to be someone else’s. I looked around again, but I didn’t see anyone, I
called out, but there was no answer. I tried to unbuckle myself, but the belt
was stuck. I could feel the blood rushing to my head as I hung there, I looked
around for something to cut the belt with, but all I could find was glass. I
picked up a shard as delicately as I could, it was razor sharp, just as I
reached to cut the belt it came unstuck and I hit the ground…hard. My hand
clamped down on the glass and it cut deep into my palm. I didn’t waste any time
climbing out of the window.
I tried to
get my bearings as I surveyed the landscape. I was in a small clearing,
surrounded by thick brush and trees. I tried to figure out how the car had
gotten through such thick forest. That was when I realized it… I couldn’t
remember my own name. I looked around for a wallet, but to no avail. I looked around the car for clues as to whom
or where I was, but there was nothing to go on.
I turned on
the radio to try to see what local stations it would pick up, but there was
nothing but static. Next I checked the back seat, where I found a small piece
of paper, I opened it up and it read 3 simple words: we’re watching you…My blood ran cold. I ran, trying to put as much
distance between the wreckage and myself as possible. I don’t know how long I
ran, or how far, but by the time I became too tired to run anymore, I had
become completely lost.
I decided it
would be best to try to camp out for the night, and conserve my strength. I was
heading out to try to find firewood when I heard something moving in the brush
behind me, I whirled around to face whatever was coming… seconds felt like
hours as I heard the noise steadily growing louder, my pulse was racing, it was
dangerously close now. A raccoon came waddling out of the brush. I laughed out
loud at how scared I had been of a small animal. I was just starting to regain
my composure, when I heard a gunshot and felt a needle slide into my neck, I
became woozy and everything went dark.
I woke up in
a hospital bed; the harsh fluorescent light hurt my eyes as they adjusted. I looked around me, all of the other beds were
empty, I tried to sit up, but my hands were strapped to the bed, I called out
but again no one answered. I pulled as hard as I could, struggling against the
straps with all of my might, just when I thought I couldn’t fight anymore the
straps broke apart. I got out of the bed, and tried to walk, but I was too
weak. I lost my footing and fell to the floor. It took me a while to regain my
strength but eventually I recovered enough to make my way out of the room. I entered
a darkened hallway, it was completely empty.
I made my way to the exit, but the door was locked.
I beat on
the door in frustration, badly bloodying my hands, I eventually calmed down and
swept the frame for a key, no luck. I then turned to the other side of the
hall, I couldn’t see much, so I kept one hand on the wall to guide myself. I
walked that way for some time until my hand came to a gap in the wall, I
reached into it, straining my eyes and trying to see what was ahead of me. My
hand hit the handle of a door, I turned it, and to my surprise it swung open. I
ended up in what looked like a break room, guards uniforms hung from the wall alongside
what looked like orderly’s uniforms. There was a TV in the room; it was bolted
to the table and off. I turned it on; a reporter on CNN read “… A local man labeled criminally insane after
attempting to flee from the scene of an attempted homicide, was captured just
outside of state lines by a DNR agent who spotted him attempting to make a camp
in the forest. Upon further investigation the agent also discovered a hostage
laying not far from the scene of his overturned car, badly bleeding. The victim
remains in critical condition….” What followed was a picture of a man who
looked hauntingly familiar to me. I turned off the tv, and the reflection I saw
shook me to my very core, it was the face of the man; my face. My head was
spinning, I noticed a sign that said Colorado Institute for the Criminally
Insane hanging on the wall. I stared in disbelief. I heard footsteps
approaching from down the hall, two large men entered the room, one spoke into
his radio saying he had found the patient. They grabbed me by the arms and
dragged me back to my bed, they re-fastened my straps and injected me with what
I was sure was a sedative, I could feel myself fading out of reality. I
struggled against the straps with what waning strength I had left, but It was
too late. The room slowly faded to black, and so did my mind.
