campus secrets

​Chapter 4: A Blank Slate

When Maya opened her eyes, the world was sterile white and smelled overpowering of antiseptic. Fluorescent lights buzzed rhythmically above her head.

​A doctor in a white coat leaned into her field of view, checking a heart monitor. "Can you hear me?"

​Maya blinked slowly. Her body felt heavy, aching with a deep, throbbing soreness, but her mind felt far worse—empty, like a blank canvas waiting for paint that never came.

​"Who... who am I?" she whispered, her throat dry as sand.

​The door clicked open, and Chloe walked into the room. She was wearing an oversized beige sweater, her eyes slightly red, though her expression was strangely calculating as she looked at the bed.

​"She has retrograded trauma-induced amnesia," the doctor explained quietly to Chloe. "Severe concussion, multiple fractures. She remembers basic motor skills and language, but her personal history, her identity, her past memories—they're completely gone."

​Chloe stood at the foot of the bed, her mind racing. The syndicate was still watching the campus. The cops were investigating the roof fall. If Maya remembered that Chloe had handed her the syndicate ledger, Chloe would be exposed to both the law and her family’s ruthless enemies.

​Chloe walked forward and took Maya’s trembling hand, squeezing it with practiced warmth.

​"You're Maya," Chloe said smoothly, her eyes gleaming with cold self-preservation. "I’m Chloe, your best friend. You had a terrible accident... you fell from the library stairs while trying to hide from someone who was harassing you."

​Maya looked into Chloe’s striking face, searching for a spark of recognition, but found only void. "Were we... close?"

​"We were sisters," Chloe lied easily, placing a gentle hand on Maya's forehead. "And I'm going to take care of you. You don't need to worry about anything else."