When I opened my eyes there was that same warm golden light all around me. Tiffany? She was lying next to me on the bed. Thank goodness. For a moment I could only lie there and smile at her. It didn’t matter where we were or what was happening. All that mattered was that I was with Tiffany.

  The rest of the room was a fluffy happy golden glow. I didn’t care about anything else. It was just me and Tiffany and that was all that mattered. I don’t think I have ever felt this happy in all of my life. I snuggled up closer to Tiffany and watched as she stirred. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked at me. Then she sat bolt upright.

  “Tyla!”

  “Tiffany!” We both laughed and shouted and cried with delight.

  “I was so worried about you! I thought you were dead!” Tiffany burst out.

  “So did I!” I laughed and hugged her close to me.

  “I thought that you would have forgotten me! Do you really remember me?” I frowned.

  “Of course! I remember everything. I don’t think I could forget you if I tried!”

  “Thank goodness,” Tiffany breathed.

  “Why’d you think I had forgotten you?”

  “Well… Tyla… your memory was being wiped,” she said softly.

  “What? What do you mean by that? What is this place? I was starting to think that everything was just a bad dream.” Now the questions filled my mind.

  “I’ll explain what I can right now. But Tyla, you really need to rest.”

  “Are… are we free?”

  “Yes.”

  “What? How?” My plan had failed. So how had we gotten out then?

  "No! It didn't fail! I got out! I got out and found help!" Tiffany cried. Really? It had worked out after all? It hadn't been for nothing. The thought of that made my heart swell up.

  Tears filled Tiffany’s eyes. “I really thought I lost you. You really… what you did was insane and amazing.”

  “What? What did I do?”

  "You saved us!"

  "Wait! I thought you saved us!" Tiffany laughed.

  "I wouldn't have been able to save you if you hadn't done what you did," said Tiffany. Before I could ask another question my stomach interrupted with a loud growl. "You must be starving! Wait just a moment! I'll grab something for you!" Before I could protest Tiffany darted off. I was alone. For a moment I felt a wave of panic start to churn inside of me. I was sick and tired of being alone. Yet here I was. But the panic vanished as a wonderful smell filled the air around me.

  “Because this food actually tastes good!” I cried. I had been letting myself cry a lot. It felt good. I had probably cried more in the past little while than I had cried in years and years. I had things that I could enjoy, and I was going to cry over those things. I had only been awake for about an hour now, but this had proven to be by far the happiest hour of my whole life. Tiffany smiled.

  “I know. But do you feel dizzy or sore stiff?”

  “Oh yeah! For sure, but that’s alright.” Tiffany sighed.

  “Okay, you’ll see the doctor in a little bit so we'll know for sure if anything is really wrong that way.” Doctor? I needed to stop asking questions.

  “I’m trying to be good and not ask but I still have no idea what’s happened and what's happening. So, if you could find a way to explain some of this to me that would be really great,” I said.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “I know. I’m sorry, Tyla, so much has happened and I’m just trying to think of an easy way to break it all down for you. I’m also still not sure I’m the one to tell you.”

  “Can you at least tell me what this place is? I’m guessing that it’s safe, and it clearly has some nice food. But this for sure isn’t home.”

  “Yes. I can try. We are in a… a sanctuary of sorts… no, that’s not the way to describe it. It’s…gah! You really need to see it for yourself to understand. I’m sorry, Tyla!”

  “Did you ever find my map?” I asked.

  “Yes! In fact-” Tiffany fell silent as the door swung open. I looked up from the truly heavenly bowl of soup long enough to see who had just walked in. Two figures appeared in the doorway. Neither of them were people I had seen before. There was a woman who looked to be a little bit older than Tiffany. If I were to guess, I’d say she was probably around 25. She met my eyes and gave me a kind smile. Behind her stood an older man. His face lit up with shock when he spotted me.

  “You’re awake!” The woman exclaimed, sitting down next to me. “Do you feel alright? Sorry, let me be more specific. Can you see clearly? Hear clearly? Do you have a headache?”

  “I can see and hear just fine, but who in the world are you?” Tiffany shot me a glare. “Sorry, I’m Tyla.” The woman didn’t seem offended.

  “Tiffany told me so much about you,” she said. Oh no. “I’m Beverly, nice to finally meet you. Could I take your temperature?” I nodded. “This is amazing, I’ve never seen anyone recover this quickly. You remember who you are and everything?”

  “Yes… why wouldn’t I be? I’m so confused.”

  “She’s only been awake for a little while,” said the man, stepping forward. “She has no idea what happened to her.”

  “Yes, could somebody please explain what happened to me?” I couldn’t take much more of this not knowing.

  “Tyla, calm down,” Tiffany said firmly.

  “Sorry.”

  “You deserve an answer to your questions,” said the man. “Do you remember being put in an empty room where you were shocked every once in a while?” he asked.

  “Yes… I was there yesterday.”

  “It was a week ago. I’m sure it doesn’t feel like that, but it has been much longer than you think.” What? Really? There was no way. “I know that’s hard to imagine, but it’s the truth,” said the man. “Anyway, you were being kept there in hopes of having your memory wiped. That room, which is often called the void, is empty, dark, and it’s kept at a lukewarm temperature. Once placed there, the shocks will keep you in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness. Since the room is empty your brain won’t have much to draw inspiration from it. So it struggles to create new memories.” That explained things for sure. I had lost track of time and in a way, my own thoughts. “After a while the brain will begin to draw from past memories, but it’s only a matter of time before the brain loses track of even those memories. What’s left is a shell of a person, totally detached from who they are.” Really? That was all it took to make someone forget their whole life. There had to be more, right? There had to be!

  “But I remember who I am,” I pointed out.

  “Yes, and that’s very rare. It only takes a few weeks to forget everything they ever knew.”

  “How long was I in there for?”

  “Almost a month.”

  “Jeepers!” For all I knew it could be years by now. Years since we were first taken from home. My heart sank.

  “Who are you? And how do you know all this?” I asked the man. His answer was to pull out a knife and slit his wrists. I watched as the bleeding faded and the skin healed. It all happened in a matter of minutes. “Y-you’re like Tiffany!” Now it made sense. So he was born with the Adamantine too.

  “More or less. My name, however, is Ross. I have what I guess you could call the ability to not break or die. I also worked with Alexander for a while, not by choice. But I do have a weakness, one thing that can kill me. Everyone does… everyone I’ve ever met in all my life…everyone but Tiffany.” I turned to Tiffany. She looked away. Really? So, it was true, there really wasn’t anything on this earth that could really harm her.

  Dang! That was amazing. I couldn’t even imagine how rare that was. What if she was the only one? The only human in the whole entire world. Maybe even in all of history. Wow. I looked back over at my sister. She really was a miracle. I was lucky to have known someone so unique. I smiled at her. But I couldn’t help but wonder in the back of my mind how much of this was known for sure. I just needed to learn more about these people before I trusted everything they said like that. But for now, I just wanted to know the important stuff, such as why in the world am I still alive?

  “You’re a doctor?” I asked. Beverly nodded.

  “So, are you here to take care of people who aren’t like you guys?”

  “Not… really. I can still care for and improve the health of people. I mean that’s what I’m doing for you… you have the Adamatine too right?” I shook my head slowly. She frowned. “That makes no sense. You are sisters, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “Stepsisters,” Tiffany corrected.

  “Oh,” she laughed. “You both looked so alike, I just assumed you were related. I guess that explains that then. Sorry. Anyway, you can stay with her, Tiffany. But she should sleep more, and we should get going.”

  "Wait! Now that we've escaped... can we go home?" I asked softly. Everyone froze and looked at me. There was an uncomfortably long pause. "What?" I demanded. Tiffany sighed.

  "That's the first place that Alexander would look for us," she pointed out. That was true. I should have thought of that. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. My face flushed as tears filled my eyes. I turned away. I didn't need them to see me cry. Was I ever going to get to go home? Well, it wasn't all bad. At least we were safe. I felt Tiffany's arm around my shoulder. At least I wasn't alone. I had my sister. Anything was better than that void.