Page 3 of Please Remember

At least, I think it’s Allie. Her hair is so much longer than I remember it being, and it’s dirty and unkempt. Her skin is so pale, I can see almost every vein beneath it. And her clothes hang on her frail and sickly frame. But her eyes… I’ll never forget those eyes.

Allie’s home.

“Allie?” I ask, unable to hide the mix of disbelief and hope in my tone. “Is that really you?”

Her arms wrap around her waist, and she swallows as though she has a lump in her throat. When she does speak, her voice sounds strange—untested. “You… Do you know me?”

My heart sinks. “You don’t know me?” I ask, slowly walking down the step to her. My eyes look at the ground by her feet and see a cluster of bloody footprints in the glow of the streetlights. “Are you hurt?”

“I ran through the woods,” she says before looking at her feet.

A few tentative steps towards her don’t cause her to back away, but I ball my hands into fists, my fingernails digging into my palms to fight the urge to reach out and touch her. Hold her. Everything I’ve wanted for so long. “And you don’t know me?”

She looks up and her eyes lock with mine. A strange look passes over her face, and that’s when I notice the scratches and dirt on her cheeks and forehead. It must be from the trees if she came through the woods, but I still can’t believe how beautiful she is. And she’s right here, in front of me, after all this time.

“No… I don’t. But… I don’t know who I am, either. I just… Every night, in my dreams, I see this house. And the red door. I never make it inside, and I never see who lives here.”

My breath hitches. “You do. You live here, Allie.”

“Is that… Is that my name?”

Slipping off my jacket, I wrap it around her body as she begins to tremble. “Yes. Allie, where were you?”

Her head shakes, and she looks around as though someone might be after her. My stance becomes defensive, ready to fight off anyone or anything who may be coming to take her away. No one will ever take her from me again.

“I don’t know. The first thing I remember is waking up with a wound on my head,” she says, reaching up to touch the back of her head with her right hand. “I was down there for so long. I don’t even know how long. Do I have family? How old am I? How long have I been in that basement?”

Basement? My stomach roils at the thought, and for a split second I find myself wanting someone to come for her. To see the monster who did this, because I will murder them for sport at this point. “Your name is Allison Bennet, but we call you Allie. I’m Jackson Everett—Jax to you. You’re twenty-nine years old, an only child, and you live here. With me.”

She frowns. “And I’ve been missing?”

My hands shake, and all I want to do is reach out and touch her. To wrap her in my arms and hold her close. Her confusion and what I think may be distrust keeps my feet planted where they are.

“Seven years. You’ve been missing for over seven years.”

Chapter Two

Laura

Jax is late. Later than normal, and I keep checking my watch. He’s never on time, and I know he drags himself out of the house. For me. Even if he’s late, at least he does it for me.

For the fifth time in fifteen minutes, I glance at the time, just like everyone else is doing. I know they are. He should be here by now, and everyone knows it. I can feel the eyes of our friends on me. The ones who don't fully support our relationship, let alone engagement. But, they support Jax, so they're here.

Pitying eyes. That’s what they all have. It’s how they’ve always looked at me. Poor Laura without any friends. Poor Laura who doesn’t have a boyfriend. Well, guess what? I’ve got the best of both worlds now. A best friend and a lover about to be my husband. Finally.

"Is he showing up?" asks Benji Lang.

It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes in pure disgust. He's one of Jax's best friends, and the one I despise the most. Not that I can tell Jax that.

Jax's brother, Seth, looks around the room. He’s a handsome man, much like his brother, but he’s the discount Jax. The one you go for if you can’t have the real thing, and the one I almost tried to entice. "If he was coming, he'd be here by now, right? This was supposed to start over an hour ago."

"He'll be here," I snap, pushing the piece of my hair that falls in my face away with more force than necessary. Not even my hair’s cooperating with me tonight.

I can sense my curls already losing shape, and I don't think I could feel any warmer if there was an actual spotlight on me right now. It’s like I'm in the hot seat, and it's melting away the hours I spent this afternoon on my hair and face. Give it another twenty minutes, and the facade of my confidence will melt away, too.

"Are you okay?" my best friend asks as she walks up to me.

Seeing Natalie Gill with her charcoal hair and larger frame makes me feel instantly at ease. Nothing is ever that bad when Natalie's around, and I let her pull me away from the crowd, turning my back to everyone.

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