1. - – Elias
CHAPTER ONE
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ELIAS
The lights were blinding as I came in and out of consciousness, unsure of where I was. Each time I was able to pry my eyes open, everything was a blur. The voices surrounding me were muffled as if I were wearing my cheap noise-cancelling headphones.
“He’s back, we need to hurry." Those words were the last thing I heard before everything went black. Am I… I made an attempt at gulping as the thought crossed my mind. Dead?
I couldn’t be. Even in the numbness, I felt a tinge of pain radiating through my body. That was going to hurt a lot once I returned from this black hole.
My daughter. My mind began to panic as my body was still frozen in time. I knew she had been with me before, but now… I felt alone. Where is my daughter?
“Mister Wilson?” A friendly voice greeted me as the world began to return to normal. “Elias? I know you’re just waking up after your three-day nap, but can you tell me what year it is?”
Releasing a slow breath, I thought about my answer for a moment before responding. “2027.”
The nurse smiled and nodded at my response. “Very good. Now can you tell me where you are?”
Slowly, I looked around the room taking note of the blank walls. Monitors sat off to the side with their multiple cords attached to my body. “Hell.”
She chuckled. “Well, I’m sure some people feel a similar way about this place, but I’d like to hope it isn’t truly the case.”
“What would you call it then?” I inquired, partly because I didn’t honestly know where I was.
“You’re at Black River Memorial.” Her smile reminded me of someone. “For me, it’s like a little piece of heaven.”
I couldn’t help but let out a raspy attempt at a laugh. “Seriously? You don’t actually believe that nonsense, do you?” If looks could kill, I think I would be a dead man with the way she scowled at me. “Sorry.”
Silence. Great. I had already pissed off the one person that could probably get me more pain meds.
After a brief moment she finally answered. “I am here more than I am at my own house.” She paused then added, “I love what I do and I refuse to let the negative aspects of this job bring me down.”
“Negative?” I huffed. “Like dealing with old grumpy men like me?”
Her smile brought warmth to the room. “You’re not old.” She placed her hand on my arm before quickly pulling back. “The police are waiting outside to talk to you.” Her voice was quiet and steady.
I sat up quickly, the movement sending a wave of nausea through me. “The police?”
“Steady.” The nurse grabbed a tray and placed it under my face in case I heaved. “You’re going to have to take it easy.”
Glancing over to look out the door, I saw two officers standing there, waiting for my bubbly nurse to finish her exam. “What do they want to talk to me about?” I whispered.
She frowned and turned towards me with a hand on her hip. The name on her badge read Clara. “You have no idea?”
I attempted to shrug but a searing pain shot down through my arm before it clicked. “The accident. Lydia! Where’s my daughter? Is she okay?”
Clara remained calm, which was welcome in this moment of chaos happening in my brain.
I tried to sit up again. “Where is my daughter?” The heart rate monitor was beginning to spike.
Leaning over me, Clara urged me to lay back,placing her hand on my chest. It was warm, the warmest thing in the room and my breathing began to slow. “Elias, you have a grade three concussion, retrograde amnesia, a torn rotator cuff, and internal bruising. If you tear your stitches…”
I cut her off without hesitation. “I don’t care about the stitches,” I began to shout as the door swung open and the officers entered the room. The click of their boots sounded loudly on the linoleum, rivaling the obnoxious beeping of my heart monitor.
“Sir, I’m going to need you to calm down,” one of the officers commanded.
I glanced at their badges to see they were Detectives Miller and Hill.
I steadied myself, laying back against the uncomfortable pillow and Clara released her hold on me.
She was a peculiar woman who seemed to have interesting ways of handling things.
Not even batting an eye at Clara, Detective Miller demanded she leave the room so they could ask me some questions.
Clara didn’t budge. “He just woke up. He’s disoriented and in shock.”
“He’s a person of interest.” Hill countered. “And we have a warrant to obtain his DNA and search his property. Now, get out.”
Before exiting the room, Clara glanced back at me, concern buried deep in her worry lines. “Ten minutes.” She lingered at the door for a second too long, her gaze locked on me before pulling the heavy door shut behind her.
Is she like this with all ?her patients?
The air in the room turned frigid. Miller pulled a chair next to the beside, his face inches from mine. “Let’s talk about the accident, Elias,” he began. “What happened?”
I stuttered. “I-I don’t remember.” I paused. “Please, where is Lydia?”
Hill leaned against the wall. “The thing is,” he said with confidence, “the paramedics didn’t find another body at the scene of the accident and we’ve searched the woods in a half-mile radius. There was nothing.”
The room began to spin. “No, she was there. She was wearing her yellow raincoat. Her hair was pulled back in a bun just like it always is. She was wearing her damn red lipstick that drives me crazy because I didn’t want guys getting the wrong idea about her.
” I may have hated the color, but now her rebellion would be a welcomed sight.
“Elias, we are here because we found trace amounts of blood. They didn’t appear to be tied to your accident.”
More confusion began to settle in and it wasn’t caused by my amnesia. “What are you getting at?”
Miller cleared his throat. “The blood we found didn’t just belong to one person. In fact, it belonged to several people, all of whom have been reported missing within the past five years.”
“I didn’t-” My voice broke once I realized what the detectives were implying. “You think I hurt those women?”
Hill’s voice was low. “I didn’t say women…” He raised a brow. “Do you want to tell me about the argument you had just before your accident? Your neighbor said she heard shouting.”
There had been an argument I couldn’t remember, blood in which I had no idea where it came from, and my daughter was now a missing person.
Luck really isn’t on my side today.