Page 14 of Twisted Liars

“You have nothing to apologize for,” he said. His eyes skimmed my forehead again. “Whatever’s happening here… I think it must have something to do with that contract you found. Maybe even something to do with the Rosmerta Society, if you’re right about that symbol you saw on it being linked to them.”

I let out a heavy sigh and rested my head on the slanted pillow behind me. “I really wish I knew what happened down in that tunnel,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried once more to recall the last thirty-six hours. “But it’s all a total blank.”

“Try as hard as you can,” Jensen said, giving my arm an encouraging pat. “Try to remember.”

“Try to remember what?” a familiar voice said in a sharp tone.

My eyes flew open. Zara had just stepped into the room.

Jensen let his shoulders drop, assuming a relaxed and casual stance. “Amerie missed a pop quiz in history today, and she’ll have to make it up soon, so I’m helping her study,” he said, looking over at Zara with an ingratiating smile. “She really needs to remember all these dates.”

“Wait.” I scrunched my brows together and played along with the lie. “I think I remember it now. 1788, right?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Jensen’s smile widened, and he patted my arm again. “We should still revise those chapters just in case. That way it’ll be fresh in your mind when Mr. Norton gives you the test.”

“Well, I’m sorry to interrupt your little study session,” Zara interjected. “I got all the way down to the cafeteria and realized I forgot my purse.”

“Is that it?” Jensen asked, gesturing to the table beneath the windowsill. Zara’s handbag was on it, tucked away behind the vase of roses.

She briskly stepped over and picked it up. “Thank you, Jensen,” she said. She turned her gaze to me, face softening. “Don’t push yourself too hard with the revision, sweetie. You need a lot of rest after what you’ve been through.”

“Okay.” I gave her a weak smile, wishing I could snarl at her instead. “I’ll just do one chapter.”

“Good girl.” She returned my smile. “Anyway, I’ll get out of your hair now. Have fun!”

She left the room, and Jensen sat up straight again. “Close your eyes,” he said. “Think back to your last memory from yesterday. Then concentrate on it as hard as you can. Try to take it a step further and remember what you did next.”

I shut my eyes and leaned back on my pillow, brows dipping in a contemplative frown. All I could see in my mind’s eye were a few fuzzy images from yesterday morning followed by blank nothingness, as if someone had reached inside my skull with a scalpel and neatly excised part of my brain.

I opened my eyes again a moment later. “I honestly can’t remember a thing,” I muttered, frustrated at the gaping black hole in my mind. “All I’ve been getting since I woke up is weird… flashes, I guess. And weird feelings.”

“What triggers them?” Jensen asked, leaning forward. “If we figure that out, it could help you remember something.”

“The first time it happened was when I woke up and saw Zara. She told me I was safe here, but I didn’t feel safe. I couldn’t figure out why. It was just a weird sense of dread every time she spoke.”

“Makes sense now that you know what a fucking snake she is,” Jensen said, nodding slowly. “What else?”

“I have these words stuck in my head. Forced reboot. I have no idea why, though.”

“Maybe your laptop crashed while you were studying yesterday, and that’s why you’re remembering those exact words.”

I nodded. “Yeah, maybe. I also got a weird flash of something when I was talking to my old caseworker. She came to see me before you, and she showed me a photo of her newborn niece. It shook something loose up here, but I don’t actually know what it was,” I said, tapping the side of my head. “I feel like it’s all there, but it’s hidden behind some sort of barrier."

“Hm.” Jensen frowned. “Anything else?”

I bit my bottom lip. “Yeah. Whenever I touch my forehead, I get another weird flash. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s like… I just know the person who hit me is someone I know really well.”

“Zara or Ali, probably.”

I shook my head, brows knitting. “That’s the weird thing. I know they’re probably the ones who lured me down to that tunnel, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t hit me. At least that’s the feeling I have.”

“Okay.” Jensen took my hand again. “Keep concentrating on that feeling. See if the rest comes back to you.”

I closed my eyes again and gingerly touched my free hand to my forehead, focusing on the throbbing pain. A hazy image suddenly appeared in my mind, followed by a face.

I gasped and dropped Jensen’s hand. His brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”

“I saw a baseball bat,” I said, heart pounding. “And…”

---