The wind was louder that night.
Like it was whispering things the stars didn’t dare say.
I stood on the edge of that abandoned cliff road, the headlights of the black truck casting a pale circle of light behind me. The grass danced with every breeze, and I clutched the golden locket tight in my hand like it was the only truth left in this spinning world.
He was there.
The man who saved me.
The man who brought me to this place and opened doors inside my memories that I didn’t even know existed. He stood beside the old van now, arms crossed, eyes unreadable under the moonlight.
"You sure about this, Allison?" he asked, voice low.
I nodded. "I came this far. I can't turn back now."
He looked at me, long and quiet. Then gave a nod. "Alright. The last piece. It's inside."
Inside the old warehouse.
It looked abandoned, quiet. But I knew the truth. This was the end of it. Or maybe the beginning.
My feet stepped onto the gravel slowly. Every crunch under my shoes echoed through my veins. My heart beat louder than my thoughts. And as I pushed the large metal door open, the silence inside swallowed everything.
Until it didn’t.
"Took you long enough," a voice said from the dark.
I froze.
And then a light flickered on.
My eyes widened. My breath caught.
There were pictures.
Of me.
From years ago. My childhood. My school. The recent party. Me and Leo. Me and Lily. Me and—
Everything.
A whole wall filled with my life.
"What... what is this?" I whispered.
The man stepped out. Not the one who brought me. A different one.
Dark hair. Thin glasses. A white scar on his lip. And an expression that chilled me more than the air.
"You really don’t remember me, huh?" he said, almost laughing.
I squinted. Something about him...
"Should I?"
He raised his hand and pulled out a lighter. Flicked it. A flame danced in the shadows.
"You will," he said, stepping closer. "I was your father’s friend. Before he betrayed us all. Before he made you forget."
My heart dropped. "Forget?"
"Your memories, Allison. You were part of something big. Before it all crashed down. Before he erased everything from you."
My hands trembled. "You’re lying."
He stepped even closer. "Then explain this."
He threw something at my feet.
A file.
I bent down slowly. Picked it up. Opened it.
My name. My photo. Dates. Experiments?
"What is this..."
"They were testing something. You. Your abilities. Your mind. And when your father found out they were going too far—he ran. He took you. Hid you. Locked the memories away."
"No," I whispered. "No, that can't be real—"
"Why do you think you've always felt... different? Like something is missing?"
Tears started to sting my eyes. My knees felt weak.
"But why now? Why are people after me now?"
He smiled bitterly. "Because the program is back. And they need the missing piece. You."
My voice broke. "I don’t want to be part of this. I never did."
"But you were, Allison. You still are."
A loud thud echoed from the side door.
"They found us," the man who brought me said, rushing in.
Everything happened fast.
Glass shattered.
Flashes of lights.
Men in black suits stormed in.
"RUN!" the man screamed.
He grabbed my hand and yanked me toward the back.
Bullets flew. I could hear the cracks of shots, the burning sting of air passing by. My legs moved before my brain did.
We burst out into the night, running down the hill behind the warehouse.
My breath came out in sharp gasps. My legs ached. But we didn’t stop.
We couldn’t.
Not now.
Not when I knew too much.
When we finally reached the old road, a car waited.
"Get in!" someone yelled from the driver's seat.
I didn’t ask questions.
We jumped in and the car sped off before I even closed the door.
My lungs screamed.
My heart pounded.
The man beside me was bleeding.
"You're hurt!"
"Doesn’t matter," he winced. "They were supposed to be slower."
I pressed my hand to his arm. He looked at me through gritted teeth.
"You’re still part of this, even if you don’t want to be. And soon... you’ll remember the rest. All of it."
"I don’t want to remember," I said. "I just want to go home."
He looked at me. "You are home. In this chaos. This is the life they gave you."
And that broke something inside me.
I didn’t want this.
But maybe... I needed to face it.
The truth.
The past.
Me.
As we drove off into the night, far from the place that tried to own my life, I stared down at the golden locket.
It was still warm in my hand.
And I finally understood.
This wasn’t the end.
This was the start of my story.
And I was finally ready to tell it.