Chapter 2: Echoes of Deception
Pale stared at the ceiling, his mind racing like a trapped bird. Nurse Nina stepped closer, her voice a soothing balm. "Try to breathe, Pale. You're safe now. You're in the hospital."
"Why?" he managed to whisper, but the question triggered a lightning strike of pain behind his eyes. He winced, clutching his temples. "My head... it feels like it's splitting open."
"You were hit by a car," Nina explained gently. "The doctor is coming."
As if on cue, Dr. J entered, flipping through a chart with a grim expression. He barely looked up as he spoke. "Where are the parents?"
"They were on a business trip," Nina replied. "They just landed."
Dr. J stepped toward Pale, shining a penlight into his eyes. He sighed, shaking his head. "He's lucky to be alive. The skull fracture was severe. While the brain isn't permanently damaged, the trauma has caused total amnesia. I'm afraid those memories may be gone for good."
Nina gasped, her hand over her mouth. "Poor boy. He's only fifteen. To lose everything at that age..."
The door burst open before she could finish. A man and woman rushed in, their faces masks of agony. "Pale! Oh, thank God!" his mother cried, throwing her arms around him. Her tears soaked into his hospital gown. "Are you okay, honey?"
Pale froze. He felt the warmth of her hug, but no spark of recognition. "Who... who are you?"
The woman pulled back, her face crumbling. "It's us, Pale. Your parents."
"We've been so worried," his father added, his voice thick with emotion. "We've been searching for you for so long."
Pale searched their eyes, desperate for a flicker of a memory—a birthday party, a dinner, anything. But there was only a thick, grey veil.
Suddenly, the door swung open again. A girl rushed past the parents, her eyes red from crying. "Pale! I heard... I heard you can't remember!" She turned to the adults, nodding solemnly. "I'm so sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Lee. This is a nightmare."
Pale's mother gripped the girl's hand. "It's so hard, Sarah. He looks at us like we're strangers."
Pale looked at the girl, Sarah. "Do you know what happened to me? Why is my head like this?"
Sarah hesitated, her lip trembling. "It was a terrible accident a few weeks ago, Pale. You were just... in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Pale, don't you see?" his father urged, gesturing to the girl. "This is Sarah. Your childhood friend. You two were inseparable."
Pale closed his eyes, trying to force a memory to surface. The pressure in his skull built until it was unbearable. Then, out of the darkness of his mind, a voice erupted—not a whisper, but a command. It was deep, distorted, and chilled him to his very marrow.
THEY ARE LYING.
Pale jolted, his eyes snapping open. He looked at his parents, then at Sarah, then at the doctors. They were all talking, their mouths moving, but all Pale could hear was the echo of that terrifying growl inside his own skull.
He was the only one who heard it. And it sounded like a warning.