The soft humming of the wind outside the shattered glass windows was the only sound Allison could hear. Her fingers trembled, her chest rose and fell too quickly, like something was breaking inside her but she couldn't reach it. Her head felt heavy, like thousands of bricks were being pressed onto it, and then it started.
The flashes. The memories. The pain.
Everything came rushing in.
She clutched the edge of the table beside her, nails digging into the wood. Her eyes widened as her breath got caught in her throat.
“No,” she whispered. “No, not again…”
But it was too late.
The memories broke through like a dam flooding after a storm.
She saw herself…
A small girl hiding under a table. Screams. Glass crashing. Someone yelling her name.
“Allison, run!”
It was her dad’s voice. She turned, and there he was. Blood on his shirt. His eyes full of fear, not for himself, but for her.
She remembered. She REMEMBERED.
Her mother, lying on the floor, her white dress stained red. Her hand outstretched, not moving. The sound of sirens in the distance. The smell of smoke.
“No—stop—please!” Allison shouted, falling to her knees in the present, but her mind was trapped in the past.
She was crying.
Not because she was weak.
But because everything made sense now.
Why her father never looked her in the eyes again.
Why people wanted to find her.
Why her memories were locked deep inside her like a sealed box.
Because the truth… was too ugly.
Too painful.
She saw herself, a few years older, standing in front of a group of men. She was crying, yelling, begging them not to hurt someone. A voice screamed again—her voice—
“I’ll do anything, just don’t hurt them!”
Then the voice of a man, deep and filled with disgust.
“Then give it to us.”
Give what?
What did she give?
Another flash.
She was back at her house. Her father was handing her a small, carved box.
“Don’t open it. No matter what. When the time comes, someone will help you.”
Her fingers twitched. That box… it was real. She had it. It was with her all along.
Tears blurred her vision now as she came back to the present, gasping, coughing, as if she was drowning in the weight of all her memories.
Someone placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned quickly, her body still shaking.
“Hey… Allison, breathe. It’s okay,” the man whispered. The man who saved her. The one who never left her side.
She didn’t even notice she was screaming until her throat hurt.
“I—I remember,” she muttered. “Everything… I remember now.”
He looked at her, worried. “Then it’s time.”
He handed her something, a photo. It was her, her parents, and someone else. A man in black suit. She couldn’t remember his name… until now.
That man was her father’s old friend.
The one who betrayed them.
She stood up, shakily. Her hands were clenched. Her body still hurt, but her heart was finally awake.
“They wanted me to forget all of this,” she said, voice shaking but angry. “They made me believe my life was normal. That I was just some stupid girl with no past.”
The man nodded. “They’re scared of you, Allison.”
She turned to look at the broken mirror nearby. Her reflection looked different.
Eyes red from crying.
Lips trembling.
But there was something else.
Fire.
Determination.
She touched her chest. The locket. Still there.
“They’re gonna regret doing this to me,” she whispered.
He smiled, proud. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”
She looked out the window. The sun was rising.
And finally, so was she.
Not the same Allison who ran away.
Not the same girl who cried.
But the girl who remembered everything.
And she wasn’t gonna stay silent anymore.
Even if the world turns against her, she now has the truth.
---
Allison stood frozen under the flickering lights of the ruined building. The air around her was thick, as if every breath was weighed down by the weight of everything she now remembered. Her legs were shaking. Her fingers gripped the golden locket tighter. She could feel her heartbeat echoing through her whole body, like it wanted to scream louder than she could.
Faces started flashing in her mind some familiar, some blurred, some she had long forgotten.
Her mother, smiling while brushing her hair. Her father carrying her on his shoulders, spinning her around in the middle of the sunlit backyard. A woman shouting, someone with the same eyes as hers. Was that… her real mom? No. Wait.
"Stop!" Allison screamed, clutching her head.
Memories kept flooding in like a dam had broken. She saw herself locked in a room. Crying. She heard a lullaby, a broken, whispered song she didn’t remember learning, but somehow, she knew every word.
And then she saw it. The day her world changed.
A loud bang. People shouting. Blood. Her father pulling her behind a wall.
"Allison, stay hidden. No matter what happens. Don’t move. Don’t speak."
"Daddy—"
"Promise me!"
Her small voice. "I promise."
Then silence.
Now she understood. All of it.
The betrayal. The lies. The things they made her forget.
Allison staggered backwards and dropped to her knees. Her fingers dug into the ground. Tears poured down her cheeks like they had been waiting all these years to be released.
The masked man from before came near her again. This time, no mask. His eyes were filled with something she couldn’t describe. Not pity. Not fear. Something deeper.
"You remember now," he said softly.
Allison nodded slowly. Her voice barely came out. "Why… why didn’t anyone tell me sooner? Why did they make me forget?"
He knelt beside her. "To protect you. The things you remembered… they could’ve killed you if you weren’t ready."
"They already did kill me," she whispered, hugging herself tightly. "Just not in the way everyone expected."
The building groaned with the wind, as if mourning with her.
"Then what now?" she asked, eyes dull but burning deep inside. "What happens now that I know everything?"
The man stood and held out a hand. "Now, we finish it. We take back what was stolen. And we find your father. Alive."
Her eyes widened. "He’s alive?"
He nodded. "Barely. But he’s waiting for you. He always was. You’re the last piece. You’re not just the reason. You’re the solution."
Something stirred inside her. Not hope. Not yet. 
Allison took his hand.
They walked out of the broken place together, into the cold night where headlights waited in the dark. A new plan. A new mission. And Allison, this time wasn't running anymore.