What happened that night?

I wake up, where am I? I'm laying on something, it's soft. I open my eyes. I'm in bed. The bed is nicely arranged which tells me that I did not sleep under the covers. I try to lift my head, but I can't. I lift my hand to rub my now aching head.

 “Where am i?”

I see my hand, it's covered in liquid. I squint, not being able to see well, I don't know what it is. I close my eyes against the fact that my head is now throbbing.

I pull my hands close to me, trying to lift myself off the bed and into an upright position. I make it half way then my head hits the top of the bed and I stay there, eyes shut tight against the pain that just shot through my whole body. I open my eyes again, the room is simple, a bedside table, a small bench at the end of the bed. There are two doors in the room, one I guess that leads to the hall and the other to a bathroom. I dart my hand out of instinct, I didn't even know I had it, and I put it under my pillow. There's nothing there, I don't know what I expected to find, but there was nothing there. I start to pull myself up again, now that the pain has died down, I sit there staring at my legs with such intensity that one would think I wanted to move them with my mind. My vision has cleared, I look at my hand again, the liquid is still there, it's runny, but not as much as I thought it was five minutes ago. I stare at it for a while longer till my brain connects the dots. It's red, I wipe some of it away with a finger from my other hand, I bring it to my nose and smell it.

I jump up immediately, not taking into account that my legs are still trying to remember how to function. One second my legs are straight and I'm standing, the next second I'm on the ground with a big thump, moaning in pain. I stand back up, slower this time and use the bed side table to rest my weight on, I look around the room, scanning every item in it more carefully. 

“A hotel, I do believe I'm in a hotel” I change from using the table to using the bed and I walk slowly, practically dragging my feet, toward the door. I need to see what is in the hallway, are there any people? Are there any maids? Should I lock the door to keep any uninvited guests from coming in? 

I make it halfway to the door when I hear a knock.

"Clean up service, may I come in?"

What should I do? What should I say?

"Sorry miss, but I am not decent, please come back later."

"Yes ma'am, would you like me to bring up something for you to eat when I come back?"

Food? I hadn't even thought about it till she mentioned it.

"Yes, bring some food, if it's not too much to ask."

"Not a problem, miss. When do you want me to come back?"

How long will it take my legs to work again? 10 minutes? maybe more. I also need to clean myself up, so I don’t look like I killed someone. A shower, 15 minutes if I'm fast.

"Come back in half an hour."

"As you wish ma'am."

I hear the steps walk down the hall and I only start to move once I can’t hear them anymore. 30 minutes. I walk to the bathroom, I take off my clothes and take a shower, my head still throbbing once I get out so then I decide to check on it, make sure I don't have any huge or visible wounds. I'm glad I did, I found out that I do have a wound, not big but enough to draw blood, which makes me wonder if it was my blood on my arm, and if it wasn’t my blood then who’s it and what happened to my head. I make enough progress with my legs to where I just look like I'm sore. The maid comes back about 30 minutes later, I jump when she knocks.

“Ma’am? May I come in now?”

I gather myself and breathe in, play it cool and get out of here!

“Yes, please do come in”

She opens the door, I watch her for three seconds before turning around and collecting the few things I have. I am shocked at the fact that the three seconds I stared at her I already had an image of her in my head. She had short blond hair, her eyes were green, she wasn’t tall but she wasn’t short, i would have to guess her height to be around 5 feet maybe a little taller, she was wearing white pants and a white shirt, she was caring sheets, and a tray with some toast and a bowl of oatmeal, i grabbed the bag that i found in the hotel room with a C engraved in it, i put the toast in my mouth and grab what i'm guessing is my phone giving the fact that i am the only one in the room. I try to hurry knowing that there is probably blood on the bed sheets. I eat the toast on the way out of the room, and hold the bowl of oatmeal till I'm done eating, then I start on that on the way to the elevator. I hit the button to get the elevator to this floor, the door opens and I hear the maid yelling after me.

“Excuse me miss? Miss!” 

I walk into the elevator without turning around, I wait till I hear the door close and then I turn around and let myself breathe out a sigh of relief.

“Now to get out of here undetected…” the elevator opens again once i get to the ground floor, i put the bowl down on one of the breakfast tables where there are more of them like it, i walk straight out and then walk a block before i open the phone and see what i can remember.

I have videos on my camera, I can hear people calling my name and I keep responding to it so then I guess that that is my name, Caroline.

I go through a folder on my phone that states what I had planned for the night before, a dinner, more importantly a business dinner. Then after that I had planned to go to the bar with my friends. To celebrate maybe? I'm not sure. I go through my phone numbers and find someone that is put down as my best friend, i call the number but get straight to voicemail, i try again, someone answers.

“Caroline?” The voice is timid, almost as if scared.

“Yes that's my name, I want to meet up with you, I have some questions that need answering.”

“Of course, of course” I hear voices in the background, she is obviously talking to someone else and she is doing a horrible job at covering the phone so I can't hear.

“Where would you like to meet?” I don't talk, I listen.

“Where does she want to meet you?” someone says

“I don't know, she hasn't answered yet!” says the one I'm on the phone with.

“Get her to answer, we need to bring her in, as soon as possible!”

I have heard enough.

“You do know I can hear you right?”

The phone goes quiet. I take that as a sign of encouragement and continue to talk but I start to walk as well. I need a train station.

“I don't know why you think you need to bring me in? I honestly don't know why. Please enlighten me.”

I find one and walk towards it.

“Well, I am your friend, Macy, last night the business meeting you told me you were going to was actually a bunch of bad guys meeting up, you where the assassin, your job was to take them out and never let them know what hit them, but you were interrupted, you snipped three out of seven before one of them had sent their little minions after you, you had a fight on the rooftop, the man fell off the roof but not before giving you a lot of damage, you ran, we've been trying to track you all night but you disappeared. Come in, please.”

I walk around the train station. Bingo!

“I can't, I need to fix this on my own.'' I breathe loud so that she wont pick up on my plan, then I go quiet and then hear it.

“All who are boarding the train to Virginia, please board now!”

“I have to go.” i say

Macy is quiet.

“I know, we’ll see each other soon.”

I hang up and walk back out of the train station and drop my phone in a trash can, then catch a cab and drive to the restaurant the phone log said that i went to.

I hope she follows that train thinking I am on it.

I paid the man with the money I had found in my bag, then I walked into the building and up to the receptionist, his eyes widened when he saw me.

“You're back?”

“Yes, and if you could be so nice as to let me see the camera feed from the dinner last night?” The man is obviously scared, so I use this to my advantage as he walks me into the back room.

I watch the feed taking in all the evidence, i was an assassin but i didn't snipe anyone, i was in the room and someone else started snipping everyone, i got grazed by a bullet at the back of my head, i fell to the floor and stayed still till every last one of the people in the room where dead i decided it then, i cannot trust Macy. Honestly I don't know who to trust. And I don't know anyone in general. I walked across the street to where it would have been the logical place for a sniper. It's another big building, this one taller than the other one, I walk in and ignore the receptionist.

 I walk up to the rooftop and stare back across the street, it is definitely the prime spot for a sniper. I walk back down and take one of the maids name tags as I walk by, I make it back down stairs and let myself into the camera feed.

“Morning!” says one of the camera men

“Good morning, I had a complaint last night from the top floor, they said it was private, so if you could just leave for 15 minutes while I get them some answers that would be amazingly helpful.”

“Of course, gotta keep people coming, let me just set it up for you-”

“No!” the man looks shocked

“Sorry, didn't mean to yell, it's just…” breathe Caroline calm down you're gonna blow your cover “i can handle this”

He smiles and leaves the room, i immediately go over to the camera feed and watch the feed, the man doesn't wear a mask obviously not expecting anyone to survive, he turns around and i pause it, i print a picture of the mans face and then leave the room and drop the name tag on the receptions desk on the way out. 

“I need to find something or someone who can ID this man”

I walk around the city that I am guessing I have lived in for a long time and yet everything seems so new to me, so exciting yet it seems so strange and dangerous at the same time.

I stop on a bench to rest my legs a little and to stop my head from spinning. I need something that actually helps, not a piece of fabric I ripped from the bed sheets.

I add that to my mental list:

-Visit a hospital.

I close my eyes and lean my head back and stare at the sun. It's so bright and peaceful. It reminds me that even though I don't know my past life, I can make a new one. 

I open my eyes and look up the right side of the sidewalk. No way! There's a police station not 10 feet away. I stand up and start to walk toward it.I need to be careful stealing from a maid was much easier than stealing from a cop. They have been trained, but she has been trained too, right? The only difference is that they knew what they were capable of, she just knew that she was an assassin. She stayed outside the door a little and stood there watching all the movement on the inside of the building. She breathed, then opened the door and walked in. she couldn't let her guard down, for all she knew she could be on the most wanted list and she just walked into the police station.

“Good day miss, how can I help you?” The young lady behind the desk was what looked like in her late 20's, maybe early 30's. She was friendly but she looked like she knew how to handle herself.

“I am trying to find my brother, he went missing a few days ago.”

“I'm sorry, can you describe him, we will make a missing persons report.”

Crap! Come up with an excuse! Think, think, think!

“Oh, well the thing is we were separated since birth and I just met him, so I want to show him that I love him enough to find him on my own.”

“Ah, I see. Then why are you here?” she asks suspiciously

“Cause I have a picture of him, but you only knew him for a few days, and I kinda” I laugh at how bad I'm doing and I try my best to just seem kind of ignorant to the little details like names.

“I am not good with names and I forgot his.” I laugh again at the fast that she nods and puts her hand out across the counter. I continue my act and lift an eyebrow.

“The picture.”

“Picture? Oh the picture” i pull the printed picture out of my bag and smack my forehead, for two reasons, one for my act and then second cause i hate the fact that i have to play dumb. 

She smiles, and I watch as she goes into the back room and tells people what's going on. She comes back out 15 minutes later and I can see the irritation on her face. She doesn't want me to be here as much as I don't want to be here.

“His name is Jeremy Adams, good luck and please don't forget his name again”

I know that when she says that she doesn't want me to forget his name she really means she doesn't want me to come back.

“Of course, thank you so much, you have just reunited a family.” I smile and leave without once turning back.

Jeremy Adams. If i get lucky he won't be hiding his tracks too well cause he thinks everyone is dead.

I went around town for two days asking people who live around the neighborhood, one person said that they saw him the night all of this started, another person said they saw him enter a black Audi R8 Spyder, which gives me a hint that he isn't exactly short on money. After that all my leads went cold. Nothing for a week.

I decided to take a quick break from the search and i'm glad i did, cause my neighbor happened to be the man that has been the center of my focus the last week. Jeremy Adams checked into his hotel room two days before I checked into mine. 

I wanted to walk up to his room and barge in, smash my fist to his face and ask him all the questions that have been clouding my mind and not allowing me to move forward with my life. I make it to the door hand in a fist ready to punch him, but instead I walk back to my room, not even realizing what I'm doing till it's already done, I pull the phone to my ear and dial 911. I give them an anonymous tip and then pack my bag and leave the second they say that they will be there in 15 minutes, they ask if i can stay on the line, i don't say anything i just hang up. He needs to see justice, and I need to let go of the past I can't remember and change my future to a better one. Just as I leave the hotel building I see the cop cars pull up and they unload.

I hop on a train and watch the news, sure enough one of the most wanted assassins was arrested thanks to an anonymous tip. I closed my eyes and decided that it's for the best that I forgot. All i need to know is that it was a dinner gone wrong, horribly wrong.

I open my eyes and turn my head to look out the window, the sky is clear and sunny.

Where am I going? I don't know. I need to start over for sure this time, no more digging for what happened, the man who did this has been sent to prison, justice has been served. I take in a deep breath and turn my head to the door of my cabin as the attendant comes to check my ticket. He leaves and I lean back and close my eyes again. It's over.

Yet here I am still wondering… What happened that night