Guns 'N' Roses

AWAKEING

Her eyes pried open only to be blinded by the white light. She placed her hand on her throbbing head as she got up, she looked around her unfamiliar surrounding. Silver trays on wheels surrounded her right side. The tray was covered with bloody items. Chairs were stacked by the creamy colour wall.

“Where am I?”

“Oh, you're awake miss. That's great results. How are you feeling?”

“In pain. Who are you?” She squinted her eyes as the throbbing continued.

“I'm a doctor. Someone admitted you here.” A knock on the door made her jump.

“Oh! Here he is now.” The doctor patted her bed before opening the door.

A tall young man walked in as he closed the door behind him. The doctor whispered something to the man as he glanced at her with an unknown expression. This time the man spoke quietly to the doctor. The doctor glanced at the injured girl with a concerned look before looking back at the stranger as he nodded and left without a word. It was only him and her now in the small room.

She touched the bedsheets and felt a sense of relief but wasn't sure why. The man walked up to her and pulled a chair with his foot and sat in front of her. His strong cologne tickled her nose.

“Ummm, why did the doctor leave?”

“I asked him to leave for a while.”

“Were you the one that admitted me here?”

He nodded as he came closer to her. She didn't move a muscle. Something about him froze her movements. Her eyes scanned the stranger's face. His messy dark hair swept on his right side as his greenish blue eyes almost made her stop breathing. She distracted herself by looking at her arms covered in wounds. She squinted one of her eyes as she tried to remember what happened.

“What happened to me?”

“You tell me. I found you on the road in a pool of blood. You weren't responding so I admitted you here”

What did he say? I was on the road in a pool of blood? I don't remember anything. She thought as she ruffled her dark chocolate hair. Her fingers felt a bump on her forehead, it stung with pain but she couldn't help but touch the bump. A hand stopped her to force her to look towards the man's way. She wasn't sure how to respond back to what's going on.

“You don't remember it I'm guessing”

She shook her head lightly. “No, I don't remember at all. In fact, I don't even know who I am.”

“Well, that's to be expected. You lost your memory from the injury.”

“May I ask who you are?”

“Wouldn't you like to know.” He showed an unsettling smile that sent rapid shivers down her spine. There was something very off about this man, It was scary but she felt drawn to his presence. “I brought a change of clothes. You're coming with me. Don't worry about the doctor, I told them you're leaving with me as soon as you wake up.”

“Excuse me?”

“I found you, I might as well take you to my place since you can't remember who you are. Who knows, maybe it's for the best that you don't know who you are. Jane Doe.” He showed his smile again but this time, it wasn't unsettling. It was much more than that. A smile of a predator that just found a small animal to prey on.

She slowly limped to the bathroom and locked the door. Her eyes saw the reflection in the mirror. She gasped as she touched her face. The bump on her forehead turns out to be stitched. Her arms covered in wounds yet no recall of what happened. She can barely even remember how long she's been here. She finishes and returns to her mysterious saviour. The stranger looked up towards and motioned her to come towards. While twirling a strand of her bloody hair, she limped towards him. Her legs pierced her with unpleasant pain causing her to trip only for the man to catch her.

“Seems that your legs aren't healing that quickly like the rest of your wounds. I guess I have no choice”

With one swift movement, the man carried her in his arms. He handed her a bag of her bloody clothes for her to hold. She lightly gasped at what the stranger was doing for someone like her.

“Ummm mister, I can walk. I could be heavy.”

“You're only going to slow me down with your limp walking. If I was able to carry you here, what makes you think I can't carry you back out?”

She wasn't sure how to answer that. She bit her lip from saying anything more to make her more embarrassed as he carried her out like a child on his one arm. Nurses and doctors stopped and stared at the man with silence. A patient accidentally bumped into us. He frowned at us but quickly whimpered away after seeing the man. She glanced at the man with curiosity as she wondered who is this mysterious man that came into her forgotten life.

He carried all the way outside. The sun made a direct hit to her eyes, she turned her head towards the man as she groaned from the pain of sunlight. Her arms on his tough shoulders. The man said nothing, only grunted.

“Sorry mister, I didn't mean any harm.”

“I don't really care. Quit calling me mister.”

“I don't know your-”

“Vincent. Vincent Morrison.”

A black Mercedes S63 rolled in, honking loud only to make Vincent grunt again. A young, large man with brown hair and a short beard stepped out. He smiled and waved towards Vincent. His hair was a bit messy, and the clothes he wore were a bit more casual compared to Vincent's white collared shirt and black pants.

“Hey, boss. Took ya long enough’

“Jack… your clothes make you look like a disgusting slob. I am ashamed to call you my right-hand man.”

“But not your friend V.”Jack winked before laughing.

Vincent grunted while frowning. His eyebrows wrinkled together as he glared at Jack with a speechless expression. Vincent sighed as Jack jogged to the back door and opened it while gesturing Vincent to put her in the back. He puts the injured girl in the back and as he gets in the front seat he noticed a few bloodstains on his suit.

“Ugh, Jack get one of the guys to clean this when we get back. I can't stand wearing bloody suits, it's not proper for someone of my status.”

Jack laughed.“Haha, and you call me a slob. At least I can keep my suit clean of blood for at least a day, unlike you.”

“Shut up and sit down, Jack. Or it'll be your blood on it next.”

Jack saluted Vincent with a cocky smile.“As you wish Boss.”

The drive for what feels like hours to the girl, who is still unsure of what's going to happen. Jack tries to keep things upbeat, but Vincent never goes along with it. It's obvious these two have known each other just by their interaction. Jack turned to the back from the passenger seat with a smile.

“So you're the Jane Doe I heard about.”

She glanced at Jack with a confused look. Jane Doe? Mr. Vincent called me that as well. She thought.

“Jane Doe?”

“That's right. Since we don't know your name, we'll call you Jane Doe till you remember your name. Oh, my name is Jack by the way.”

“Hello, Mr. Jack." She smiled politely.

“You don't need to be so formal with me Jane Doe. Think of me as your friend. When Vincent and I saw you stranded on the road, we were shocked to see you covered in wounds. It took two months for you to finally wake up.”

“Two months?" she questioned shockingly with wide eyes.

Jack laughed. "Yeah, Jane Doe. We honestly thought you were a goner kid, fooled us wrong." Jack turned back around and started bothering the already annoyed Vincent.

Jane Doe watched out the window as unfamiliar places came in contact. Her mind raced through the today's events in a never-ending replay. She tilted her head by the window and silently fell sound asleep. Jack turned around to see if she was alright only to see her sleeping like a baby. He smiled and quickly took out his phone and snapped a photo of the sleeping girl.

“Jack, should I ask what you're doing?”

“I'm taking a photo of Jane Doe as a memory, in case she doesn't remember this when she wakes up”

Vincent, not saying a single, silently shook his head as he kept driving. At the outskirts of the city, a large Estate resides. Two men in suits stand at the gate, opening it as soon as the car comes in sight. The suited men nod as Vincent drove past them. Jane Doe rubbed her eyes open while yawning, giving Jack a heads up.

“You woke up at a good timing Jane Doe. We're here.”

“Here?”

“Welcome to Rose Manor, Jane Doe. Owner of the Black Rose.”

“Black Rose? What's that?”

“More like, who's that. It's V over here”

Jack grinned while pointing towards Vincent who just grunted as a reply. Vincent parked the car at the front doors, as many people stood outside for their arrival. Two men and a woman stood in front of the rest. The foremost man was tall and slim. He had dark hair that was swept back and gelled. Wore a striped suit, unlike the others. Slim face and structure. real ratty looking guy. Jane thought.

The second guy, Had short blonde hair and sunglasses. He stood further away from the group but still was prominent. He wore a jacket over his suit which covered him more. Beside him was a slim structured girl who was a bit shorter than the two guys beside her, she had a little girl in front of her. The girl has shoulder-length rose gold hair that was in wavy curls which popped out her tanned skin and large green eyes. The little girl had knee length dark hair with fringes on to her left side with greenish blue eyes.

Jack walked out of the car and opened the door for Jane Doe. She felt the nerves rising in her system rapidly. Her face went pale like a ghost as she saw so many people surrounding one car. Jack read her expression and led out a hand with a comforting smile. She hesitated before taking his into hers as she made her way out of the car. Jack helped her walk towards the 4 people standing in front of the entrance of the manor. Vincent followed behind, the little girl ran and jumped into Vincent's already opened arms.

“Vincy!”

“Kasey, were you a good girl while I was gone?”

Kasey smiled while nodding her head. "I was very good Vincy.”

“That's my little girl." He smiled softly as he kissed Kasey's forehead softly.

Jane Doe watched in awe as it was her first time to see him smile so sweetly. She placed a hand on her chest as she felt this warm feeling just by looking at his smile. She streamed to wonders if the small girl was his child. They resemble each other very well. Jane Doe looked around to see if there's anything that would help her remember who she really is and why she is covered in wounds. The hand from her chest raised to her head as the throbbing came around.

Jack eyed her carefully and held her, in case she faints. His eyes were filled with worry as Jane Doe winched in tremendous pain. Her mind swirled around with blurry visions of things she can't even comprehend. Her breathing slowly became unstable as her legs went limp. Jack had a hard grip on her.

“Jane Doe! Are you okay?”

“My head is hurting a lot. She said quietly.

She placed her other hand on her head and groaned, everything was spinning, her hearing was hazy. Jane Doe shook her head hoping the pain and blurriness would go away. She was going to say something but her knees suddenly gave out. Her body went limp into Jack's arms as her eyes closed and lifeless once more. Jack continuously shook and called her.

Vincent looked back to Jack repeatedly yelling out. With Kasey in his hands still, he walked towards Jack as he picked Jane Doe up in bridal style. Jack looked up at Vincent with concerned.

“Jack, take her to the guest room.”

Jack nodded and sped inside. He jumped from steps to steps up the stairs and walked down the hall. He kept watching Jane Doe, hoping she would open her eyes and probably say something, anything would do for Jack. He opened the very last room from the right and gently placed her on the empty bed.

He let out a big sigh as he watched Jane Doe dormancy in peace. He could still remember the day he found her with Vincent. How the rain tickled his neck and the smell of blood fouled his nose. He could still remember how shocked he felt when he saw the poor girl laying in her blood. When Vincent wanted to ignore the girl on the road but ended up coming back after Jack saying she needs help. How Jack imagined how she got badly injured and looked up to see a dark figure from the edge the cliff.

Jack crouched down and lightly wiped off the dried hair off her face and took the bag out of her hands. He looked inside to see her bloody clothes from the incident neatly folded. He smiled and placed the bag in the closet and headed for the door. Slowly, closing the door, he took one last glance at the mysterious girl before leaving her alone in the room where she will be safe from whoever he saw that night.