CHAPTER 4 : I REMEMBERED HIM BEFORE I REMEMBERED MYSELF
800 Words
The door burst open so hard it slammed against the wall.
Everything happened too fast after that.
Voices. Footsteps. Men moving inside the apartment like they already owned it.
My heart was beating so loudly I could barely hear anything else.
Adrian pulled me behind him immediately.
“Stay close to me,” he said.
Not cold. Not emotionless.
Just serious.
Dangerously serious.
The older man with the folder stepped aside calmly, almost like this was expected.
Like everyone already knew how tonight would end except me.
Two men entered first.
Then another behind them.
Black clothes. Cold faces. Guns hidden beneath their jackets.
I froze.
This wasn’t normal anymore.
This wasn’t some strange relationship or hidden secret.
This was something much bigger.
One of the men looked directly at me.
“Subject 7 confirmed.”
I hated that name instantly.
I wasn’t a subject.
I was a person.
At least… I thought I was.
Adrian stepped forward.
“She’s not going with you.”
The man closest to the door laughed quietly.
“You still think you have a choice?”
Silence.
Then Adrian said something that made my stomach twist.
“I made the mistake once already.”
The room went still for half a second.
The older man slowly turned toward him.
“That sounds emotional, Adrian.”
Emotional.
That word again.
Everything always came back to emotions with them.
Like feelings were dangerous.
Like love itself was some kind of disease.
Adrian’s hand tightened around mine slightly.
And somehow that scared me more than the men in the room.
Because it felt real.
Too real.
The older man opened the black folder again.
“Do you know what the problem was with the earlier subjects?” he asked calmly.
Nobody answered.
He looked at me.
“They fell in love too easily.”
A cold feeling spread through my chest.
“They became unpredictable. Hard to control. Hard to reset.”
Reset.
That word hit something inside my head suddenly.
A sharp pain exploded behind my eyes.
I gasped quietly.
Adrian turned instantly.
“Lena?”
Another pain hit me harder this time.
And suddenly—
Rain.
A road at night.
Bright headlights.
Someone screaming my name.
I stumbled backward.
My breathing became uneven.
“What’s happening to me?”
The older man watched carefully.
“Interesting,” he murmured.
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing,” the man replied calmly. “Her memory is returning on its own.”
Another flash.
A hand covered in blood.
A black car.
My own voice crying.
Then—
Adrian.
Not the Adrian standing in front of me now.
A different version of him.
Smiling.
Warm.
Alive in a way I had never seen before.
The memory disappeared instantly.
I grabbed my head.
“No…”
Adrian moved toward me immediately.
“Look at me.”
I looked up at him, breathing hard.
And suddenly my chest hurt for a completely different reason.
Because for one second…
I remembered him.
Not clearly.
Not fully.
But enough.
Enough to know that somewhere inside me, I had loved him before all of this.
The realization terrified me.
“You…” I whispered.
Adrian froze.
The room became silent again.
Even the men watching us noticed the shift.
I stepped back slowly, staring at him.
“I know you.”
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Adrian looked at me like the entire world had stopped turning.
“What did you remember?” he asked quietly.
I swallowed hard.
“A road,” I whispered. “Rain… and you.”
Something broke in his expression.
Not fully.
Just enough for me to see it.
Pain.
Real pain.
The older man suddenly closed the folder sharply.
“Well,” he said softly. “That complicates things.”
Adrian’s eyes snapped toward him instantly.
“You’re leaving.”
The man smiled faintly.
“She remembers him now. Do you honestly think the board will ignore that?”
Board?
I didn’t even understand half the things they said anymore.
But one thing was becoming terrifyingly clear.
Whatever this organization was…
they were afraid of emotions.
Afraid of attachment.
Afraid of love.
And somehow…
Adrian and I had already broken their rules.
The older man took one slow step toward me.
“Tell me,” he said calmly, “when you looked at him just now… what did you feel?”
Adrian’s voice turned deadly.
“Don’t answer that.”
But it was too late.
Because I already knew.
And honestly?
That scared me more than the memories.
I looked at Adrian.
Really looked at him.
Then quietly said the truth I didn’t even want to admit to myself.
“It felt like losing someone twice.”
chapter 5 coming soon.............
- Writer
