PART 1: MEMORIES

November 2018

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1.1

Amy reluctantly lowered herself into the therapist's armchair. She felt queasy and swallowed back the acid that had found its way up. I don't want to do this, she thought. Those memories are blocked for a reason.

"Please try to relax," Doctor Langston said calmly.

Doctor Langston had been working on her locked mind for the past couple of weeks, ever since the Special Forces had managed to liberate her. The moment Amy had realised that she had been rescued, that she was finally free again, her mind had broken. It had placed a lock on every memory of the past decade—they were simply too much for her to bear. However, in order to put her captor behind bars for good, a testimony was needed, making it essential for her to regain her memory. As the standard methods had proved fruitless in helping her remember, Amy had reluctantly agreed to hypnotherapy.

"You're safe here."

The man who had stolen a decade of her life was a genius, no doubt there. He left no evidence at his crime scenes: no fingerprints or hairs, not even a single strand of DNA could be found of him. This made Amy's testimony that much more important, though even without it they claimed to have gathered enough evidence at his house to lock him up for a few years. However, a few years would not cover the sum of all his crimes—several lifetimes would come much closer.

"Just take a deep breath, slowly, and release…"

Though apprehensive, Amy did as she was told. She wanted the guy to be locked away for as long as possible, and she clung to that desire in an attempt to calm herself. Following the therapist's instructions, she inhaled, closed her eyes, and tried to relax as she let the air slowly pass her lips. While repeating the deep breathing exercise, she focussed on the oldest memory to have escaped the blockade. They hoped to follow the trail of that memory into the dark part of her mind where the most important memories resided.

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"Amy!"

She spun around. A man in a police uniform was calling out to her.

Tom Everdin, he was my boss…

At first, she could only see Tom in the blackness of her mind theatre. As she walked up to him the surroundings slowly appeared. They were in a wooded area on a hill, concealed between the trees; in the valley below stood a spacious farmhouse.

"I know I don't need to tell you this again, but please: be careful. This is probably the most dangerous undercover operation we've ever done if it all turns out to be true."

She nodded and saluted her chief. "Don't worry, sir. You know my cover is good: he has accepted me as a friend, and he thinks I'm just like him. If I have to believe his subtle hints, it won't be pretty inside that house, but it will give us exactly what we need to finally take him down. With you all out here keeping him surrounded, I'm certain that even if it goes wrong, it will still end well." She winked and smiled at him. "I trust you, now you need to trust me."

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With wide-open eyes, Amy jerked up from the chair. "No, I don't want to continue this!" she exclaimed and ran to the door.

Doctor Langston sighed as he watched her leave. The session might have been short, but at least they had made some progress. He turned off the recorder and searched for the phone under the pile of documents spread over his desk.

A week later, Amy reluctantly settled in the armchair once more. She didn't want to be there, but they had sent Tom's wife to persuade her.

"I heard you've made quite some progress since the last time we met," said Doctor Langston.

She merely grumbled something in reply. Indeed, she had remembered that she used to be a cop. I would have been happy going through life without knowing that the list of victims included old colleagues.

"Unless you have something you want to talk about, shall we proceed where we left off?"

With a deep sigh, and without saying a word, she reclined and closed her eyes.

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Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Amy stood in the blackness of her empty mind theatre, checking her gear. The bug she was carrying was hidden in the buckle of her belt and a small pistol rested against her hip. The man knew of the illegal firearm—he'd been the one who had given it to her. It was a long walk through the forest, and she was but a lone, young woman. He wanted to ensure her safety.

She huffed and grinned. That's one thing we can arrest him for—if all else fails.

Slowly, she descended the steep hill down to the old farmhouse. Almost all the windows were dark, but she knew he was looking at her, following her every step.

He was a silent man, the thinking type, and, consequently, quite paranoid. The memory of one of their meetings drifted up from the darkness. Ashamed, she remembered what she had done to persuade him into believing that she was not working for the government. His touch had been hot, his skin soft—she quickly pushed the memory away before it would flush her cheeks.

The investigation had come to a halt and she had decided to try seduction as a final resort to keep the higher ups from closing the case. With success. Still, she had excluded the details from her report, fearing it would sooner get her taken off the assignment than a raise. That night she seemed to have gained his trust and since then every time they met he'd hint at his secret passion, his desires. It took a lot of her acting skills to make him think that she shared them, and finally, the time had come for him to make her experience them.

A tall man clad in black stepped out of the house. The spring breeze played with his short, brown hair. His black eyebrows made her wonder if it was dyed. She guessed his age to be around thirty, but she honestly did not know as he refused to tell her. His date of birth, his real name, his place of employment, all were listed as unknown. To the system, he was a mere shadow, and this made him even harder to get.

All they had were rumours on the internet, a recurring alias and forum posts on the deep web, and an ever expanding list of missing persons.

"Ah, Hecubah," he called her by her alias. "My sweet!" He opened his arms in order to receive her hug.

"Lucius." She gave him a kiss on the cheek before taking a step back to observe him.

His slight olive complexion made her wonder if he was born in the UK or if he originated from Southern Europe, Northern Africa, or maybe even the Middle East. Yet, his English was proper, almost lord-like. After a few drinks, she had caught a slight hint of French on certain words and something she could only label as Eastern European. As such, she had nothing to go on in regard to his birthplace or his family's roots.

"How've you been?"

He looked her over, his grey eyes piercing her blue ones. "Good, and you?"

"Just fine, thanks." Amy tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

Lucius gestured towards the open door. "Did you have any trouble finding the place?" he asked as they entered the house.

"Only at first, but once I found the trail it was quite easy."

He smiled. "And, are you excited?"

She smiled back. "Of course I am. I've been looking forward to this moment ever since you told me you wanted to share."

He took her hand and guided her towards the dining room. "Did you bring the gun with you?" he asked out of the blue.

Her heart skipped a beat, but she remained in character. "Of course I did—you told me to."

"Good girl. Now, please put it on the table."

She was wary but did as she was asked. Dropping out of her role now would be too dangerous, gun or no gun.

"Oh, and your phone, wallet, watch…"

She frowned. "Why?"

"If you want to come inside, just listen to me please."

A little hesitant she got out her phone and wallet with fake ID. "Don't look in my wallet then."

He grinned. "Why would I? There's nothing there that I don't already know."

A shot of adrenaline released into her veins. "What?"

"I know your real name is Yllona Watson. I hope you didn't think I wouldn't investigate the people I bring here."

So he uncovered my fake identity, no reason to panic. We expected that much. She swallowed. "Mind telling me your name then?" She knew he wasn't stupid, but it was worth a shot.

He shook his head. "Oh, Yllona… Maybe someday I will, but not today."

With a smile, he turned to a cabinet and got a seemingly heavy, black box out of it. The top was smooth aside from a switch, two LEDs, and a red button. He gently placed it on the table and returned to the cabinet to take out a small metal chest. He opened it and placed Amy's belongings inside.

She followed his actions with a slight frown. Why a metal chest? Does he think my phone might be transmitting our conversation? Would that block it?

He closed the lid firmly and placed it back into the cabinet. "Now, this will only take a few seconds." He slid open the side of the black box, took out a power cable, and plugged it into a nearby wall socket. He flicked the switch on the top of the box and one of the two lights turned green. A few seconds later the other one flashed green too, and his finger moved to the red button.

What is that thing?

"Oh, I almost forgot—do you have a pacemaker or anything of the like?"

"Huh?" Confused, Amy blinked a few times. "No."

"Great! Then this won't kill you."

"What won't?" A slight panic bubbled in the pit of her stomach.

"EMP," he said with a grin and pressed the button. One of the green lights died.

Amy realised what he had done and cursed inside. He's smarter than we thought—the damn bug is useless now!

Lucius switched off the device and unplugged the power cord. "Now we can go inside. Come, sweetheart."

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Amy stared at the ceiling, her heart racing. "Enough," she whispered.

"Come again?"

"Enough!" She sat up and looked into the therapist's eyes with defiance. "You can suck out more of my memories next time—I've had enough for today."

He sighed. "Fine, but we are making great progress. Just a few more sessions and we might ju—"

"I don't care!" She rose and started to pace through the room. "All you want is information. Do you even realise how hard this is for me? I locked those memories away for a reason! Dear lord, I don't want to remember!" She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

"But, we need your—"

"I know! Why the hell do you think I'm even here? I just…" She grunted. "I need time."

"That's understandable."

After a long and awkward silence, she sat back down with a deep sigh. "Tomorrow, after lunch?"

Doctor Langston looked surprised. "Eh… of course, I think." He fumbled for his agenda. "Two o'clock then?"

Amy nodded. "I want to get this over with as soon as possible. Perhaps there is something of a life left to live afterwards."