After the room was finally empty and silence settled in, I reached for the diary resting beside the bed.writing felt like the only way to keep my thoughts from scattering. If my memories were unreliable, then this diary would have to become my anchor.

  I began listing what I knew—what I was sure of.

  Only I can remember the changes in the mark. I remember what it looked like before, and I remember what it became. No one else seems to notice. At least Claire didn’t

  The effect of the mark is still undetermined, but it is clearly important.

  Rey was a scientist. That much feels certain, even if I don’t remember being one.

  According to Claire, Rey also hallucinated frequently.

  Claire is Rey’s wife.

  I paused, my pen hovering above the page.

  Then there was the mirror.

  I wrote the question slowly, carefully, as if the words themselves might bite back.

  What was that thing in the mirror?

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  The more I thought about it, the more uncertain I became about myself. Am I—no, was I—Rey? Or am I someone else entirely, someone who somehow ended up inside Rey’s body? That would explain why everything feels unfamiliar: the room, the house, even my own reflection. Yet another possibility lingered in my mind—what if this confusion was simply another effect of the mark?

  My head throbbed as I leaned back.

  Claire is the only person I have met since waking up here. Despite everything, I feel that she is trustworthy. Her warmth feels real, even if my memories are not. For now, she is the only one that i can depend on

  As the night deepened, shadows stretched across the room, and the pages of the diary slowly filled with uneven handwriting. Eventually, exhaustion caught up to me. I lay back on the wool-covered bed, staring at the ceiling, and finally let the questions I had been holding escape.

  Why do I remember how to read and write?

  Did I truly lose my memories, or were they taken from me?

  Am I actually Rey—or just wearing his name?

  Sleep came quietly. I don’t know how much time passed before I woke up again.

  When morning arrived, pale light filtered into the room. I felt an unfamiliar determination settle in my chest. Staying inside, trapped with my thoughts, wouldn’t help.

  Maybe if I went outside and looked at my surroundings, something would come back to me.

  A memory.

  A feeling.

  Anything.

  With that hope, I prepared to leave the room.