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D ark shadows blur across my vision as I struggle to pull myself from the heavy drowsiness trying to drag me under yet again.

I need to get out of here. Wherever here is.

A memory of walking down an alleyway flashes across my mind, followed by the feeling of being watched. And then nothing but darkness.

I claw my way back to the surface of slumber once more, forcing my mind to stay awake.

To try and focus on everything around me and get moving.

But an invisible weight, so heavy it pins me to the ground, stops me from shifting even the slightest. I try again to move, not ready to give up but my body doesn’t move an inch, and every part of me right down to the bone is heavy and grows more numb by the minute.

I’d rather the pain than the cold numbness settling in. At least with pain, I know I have a chance at surviving.

I focus harder on the blurry deep orange, and slowly the fuzziness clears a little, revealing the source of the color.

Flames. And they’re everywhere.

They start to move closer, and the heat slowly seeps into my body, finally withdrawing the cold numbness.

I quickly regret the thought of wanting to feel pain when it hits me like a ton of bricks.

I gasp as the sharp agony shoots up and down my body, the sensation similar to being electrocuted over and over. Every nerve quickly becomes too sensitive. Too sore. Too overstimulated.

I still can’t move, my body as heavy as it was before the numbness. But I know I can’t stay here. I’m going to burn alive if I don’t get out of here soon.

As more of the blur clears, I fight and push harder against the heaviness, and my gaze spots another figure across from me, closer to the flames.

A jolt of shock rushes through me when I see who it is. But it can’t be…

I blink to clear my vision over and over, but no matter how many times I do, I still see the same thing.

Me.

My body is directly across from me. My long brown hair splayed across the ground, my brown eyes open and empty as they stare upward. My face so pale and deathly.

An icy chill crawls down my spine at the dead look in my eyes.

She… I’m dead.

But I have to be seeing things… It’s a hallucination from the pain or concussion I must have. It has to be. I’m lying on the ground across from her, not over there.

And even though I can’t move my body, I can feel every inch of pain in it.

Maybe I’m just seeing a vision of my impending death. Something that will quickly happen if I don’t get moving soon.

I try to move again and sigh in relief when I feel something happen. But my stomach drops and swirls when the slight shift I felt turns into a tug as something drags me backward.

I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out. And whatever pulls me continues to tug me backward.

My fear slowly fades when I quickly realize I’m being dragged outside and away from the flames.

My gaze draws once more to the body that looks eerily similar to mine as I move further and further away from her and the raging fire.

The flames touch her still body and frozen face of horror. An expression I hope to never see on my own.

I move further away from the strange hallucination. And a soft breeze whispers across my face as I’m dragged through what must be a large hole in the building.

A few feet outside of the burning building, the ground trembles beneath me. Hands quickly slide under me, holding me tight in a run as we move farther and farther away from the destruction.

A moment later, a large boom sounds out, and most of the building explodes, collapsing in on itself.

My heart races, picking up speed as the flames rise higher and higher, setting off more smaller explosions as the rest of the building quickly burns to ashes.

A hand slides up and around to my head and a spear of pain splinters across my body in waves.

Unable to speak or move, the pain becomes overwhelming and dark spots begin to cloud my vision. Growing and growing until the bright flames and destruction before me slowly disappears.

“It was the only way, ” a soft voice whispers just as darkness closes in around me.

I jolt awake and sit up, slightly disorientated. Glancing around, I frown at the room I’m in.

Where the hell am I?

There’s a white desk and chair to the left of me, a white door beside it, and another across from me. And a chest of drawers and set of long shelves lining the wall on the other side of the room.

Gray and white blankets try to wrap around me as I get up off the queen size bed where I lay and make my way to the door across from me.

I’m still fully dressed, but the black leggings and white top is definitely not what I was wearing.

An icy chill crawls down my spine at the thought of someone changing me.

As silently as possible, I make my way to the door and turn the handle. Relief instantly fills me when it opens, revealing a long hallway.

I step outside and move down the hallway, making it to the top of a stairway when I hear voices. Male voices.

Shoving down the panic trying to overwhelm me, I continue down the stairs, staying as quiet as possible. But even though none of the steps creak, the voices pause when I reach the end.

Shit.

There’s no door that I can see. Which means I’m more than likely going to have to pass whoever those men are to get out of here.

I step further into the open area while looking for anything I can use as a weapon. But a couple of steps in, the men come into view.

Four extremely attractive men that look a couple of years older than me.

Three of them have dark hair, one that’s chin-length, while the fourth’s is platinum blonde, tight and short against his head. All are tanned, toned, athletic, and built and look like they could take me down in seconds.

Though not the kind of takedown I’d enjoy.

Spotting the door just behind them, I push their good genes and my worries to the back of my mind and try to come up with a plan.

None of them make any move toward me which means they either don’t see me as a threat or think I wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and escape.

Two misconceptions they’ll soon learn are wrong.

“Where am I?” I ask, while still looking for something I can use as a weapon. But the long gray marble counters are bare, and the only available weapon I can see are the knives and forks they’re all using to eat with.

“Where you’ll unfortunately be for the next year,” the brown-eyed, dark-haired one mumbles. He gives me a patronizing smirk, revealing his dimples.

His words finally penetrate my tired brain, and I flinch a step back.

There’s no way I’m staying here for a couple of hours, let alone a damn year. “What the hell are you talking about?”

The one with hazel eyes and chin-length dark brown hair gets up off his seat and glares at me. “Sena, cut the crap. It’s too fucking early for this shit.”

I take a step back from him and the animosity seeping from him. “Who’s Sena?” I ask, and they all freeze.

“What kind of game are you playing at now?” Dimples asks with a snarl.

“Game? I—” A sharp pain shoots through my head, and I raise my hand to the spot behind my ear and wince. Pulling my hand back, I spot red on my fingers. Blood.

“She’s bleeding,” someone says, but I don’t glance up at them, still in shock at the blood on my hands.

The burning building, the pain, the mirage of my body across from me… it all flashes across my memory, reminding me of where I was last night.

“What the hell?” another asks, his deep voice full of shock. “Call a healer.”

“She’s probably faking it,” someone grits out.

I glance up to find the male with the platinum blond hair glaring at me, his deep teal eyes getting darker by the minute.

“Call a fucking healer now,” the one with deep indigo blue eyes says. He’s as handsome as the rest of them, but he’s also pretty with full pouty lips and sharp jawline.

Such a pity they’re all psycho kidnappers.

Dimples glares at me as he makes his way out of the room, his brown eyes so dark they look almost black.

“Sena, what the hell?” Hazel Eyes asks.

I take another step back from them, and they still.

“ Again . Who is Sena?” I ask, getting more frustrated by the minute. My head starts thumping the more I try to wrap my head around what type of game they’re playing.

“You,” he replies with absolute confidence.

I freeze, and my gaze finds his. “My name isn’t Sena, it’s…” My brain glitches, and I wait for it to remember my own name, but nothing comes to me.

“My name… It’s…” I keep trying to think about my name, but my mind goes blank.

“Sena. S-e-n-a… Sena…” Hazel Eyes narrows a look at me, his expression full of suspicion as I try to think of my actual name.

But it’s like it’s wiped from my memories.

I know who I am. I remember the foster homes I grew up in, the horrible people I met, and everything else about my nineteen shitty years of life. But I can’t… I can’t remember my name.

Panic slices through me, making my chest grow tight. Before it grows into a full-blown panic attack, the door opens, and Dimples returns with a female in a green uniform.

“Hi, Sena, my name is Dawn. One of your Shadow companions said you might have had an accident. Do you mind if I take a look at it?”

She makes a move toward me, and I instantly take a step back. “What’s a Shadow companion? Where am I? How did I get here?”

The female, Dawn, freezes and frowns. “Sena, no one here is going to hurt you. You’re safe.” Her voice is soft and gentle, but it does nothing to ease the panic rushing through me.

“I’m not Sena,” I tell her. “You all must have me confused with someone else.” That or they’re playing some sick, twisted game. I glance around trying to find any hidden cameras. But I guess if they were hidden on purpose, I wouldn’t be able to find them so easily.

Dimples scoffs. “Then who are you?”

“I…” I try to think about my name again, but nothing comes to me. I try harder and harder, but the sharp pain in my head returns making me wince.

“Sen…” Dawn starts but stops herself, clearing her throat. “I mean… What’s the last thing you do remember?”

I frown trying to think about last night. “A building. It was on fire. I remember I was inside it. I couldn’t move, but someone pulled me out before it blew up. I think I passed out after that. Then I woke up here.”

I glance up at Dawn and watch her frown deepen.

“What a load of bullshit.” Dimples barks out a laugh before glaring at me. “Your parent dropped you off yesterday evening. Tucked you in nice and safe and then left after you went to bed.”

I narrow my eyes on him and his fucking attitude. “I don’t have any parents, you dickhead.” The throbbing in my head grows to a thumping throb, making me groan.

“I really need to take a look at that wound,” Dawn says as she inches her way over to me.

I keep my eyes on the men as she moves in front of me, scanning my face as if searching for something.

“I just want to take a look,” she says, and I can see in her eyes that she doesn’t want to hurt me. I’ve met enough horrible people to know the difference.

I nod, and she steps around me. My eyes find the four men as they all watch me with nothing but suspicion and hate in their eyes.

But they’re not the only ones feeling suspicious. I wouldn’t trust any of them as far as I could throw them.

Dawn presses a spot at the side of my head, and I hiss when a sharp slice of pain shoots through to the other side.

“And you don’t remember how you got this?” Dawn asks from beside me.

I shake my head, quickly stopping when it sends waves of pain up through my skull.

“It’s pretty deep,” she says, and the four guy’s expression slowly start to morph into confused frowns.

“I can close this up here, but I want to do some further testing if you don’t mind. Your lack of memories is very concerning,” she says, the worry in her tone evident.

“Maybe it’s just because she’s blonde,” Dimples says with a roll of his eyes. Obviously, he’s not very concerned. But he’s obviously fucking blind. My hair is brown.

“I’m not blonde,” I grit out, only making my headache worse.

He raises a brow, and when I don’t say anything else, he lets out a dramatic sigh and moves over to the kitchen counter, searching the drawers for something before walking over to me with an object in his hand.

I tense up, ready to dive out of the way, when he places the object a few inches away from my face. But it’s just a mirror.

I relax a little but freeze when I see what’s staring back at me.

Blonde hair. Turquoise eyes. Small nose. Full lips. Olive skin.

I slowly move a trembling hand up to my face and watch as the girl in the mirror does the same. My fingers graze along her cheek, her unscarred skin, and small nose. And I feel each brush of finger as it slides across my skin.

No freckles. No scars. No brown hair and pale skin.

She’s around the same age as me, and from the looks of it, the same height too.

But this can’t be real. This isn’t me.

An image of my own body lying across from me in that burning building flashes across my mind.

I was looking at her… at me . But she was dead. I thought it was a hallucination. I thought I was seeing things. Not… Oh god.

My heart races, thumping loudly in my ears and chest.

She… I burned in that building. I’m… Dead…

But how? How is any of this possible? I feel like me. A little stronger though confused with a whopping headache. But I don’t feel any different.

No. I shake my head and quickly regret it when the thumping spreads. I’m here. The mirror has to be a trick. It has to be…

I bend forward as the world tilts and starts to spin.

“Sena… I need you to breathe. Deep breaths… deep breaths…” Dawn says from somewhere far away from me.

But I can’t breathe, there’s no air… I can’t… The room closes in around me, and dark spots fill my vision. The world spins and tilts once more, and then darkness swallows me whole.