Hitwoman

Chapter 25: Memories

(Aramis)

His mother was staring at him in disgust. A slight satisfaction warmed his bones. "Was it necessary for me to see that?"

"You were welcome to leave the room," he smiled. His face was hot. Evelyn tried moving her arms, showing the restraints.

After the kiss, Eden had flipped him over and left the room. She's be back. After all, she obeyed Cairo.

Aramis pushed his hand through his hair. He hadn't even bothered to get off the kitchen floor. His eggs were burnt.

"Aramis, please stay down," a familiar voice called from the door way. This time, it wasn't Eden. No, the person at the door was Nolan.  He was carrying a rather large gun.

Nolan had bruises and scars across his face. The usual distant look on his face was replaced with a bloody-lipped scowl. "Nolan, you have to understand-"

"I don't have to understand anything, Aramis. If you don't stay down, I will shoot you," his voice was laced with anger. There was a fresh cut on his eyebrow. Eden!

Nolan moved to Evelyn and expertly cut her bonds without turning his gun away from Aramis. Evelyn stood up, holding her wrists. She gave her son a sad look. "Nolan, tell him the truth."

Somehow this command caused Nolan to falter. The truth? What could they be talking about. "Evelyn's family never hired Talitha. Cairo did. He understood there was a rift of power and he needed your unwavering loyalty to face your sister and the other dynasties."

"You are lying-" Aramis grit out. They had to be lying. They were rebels trying to tear apart the dynasties. How could he trust anything they said. "I will hunt you down, your entire rebel force and kill you slowly." Rage dripped from his voice. No, he wouldn't just take them down. He'd take everyone down. He'd slaughter his brother and his sister.

Nolan looked at him with fear. "Ask Eden."

"Where is she?" Aramis asked. How could he have forgotten Eden?

A car rolled into the driveway. Evelyn looked over at Nolan and nodded. Before Aramis could react, Nolan flipped his gun and slammed the butt against Aramis' skull.

Everything went black.

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Pain
Pain
Pain

Skull splitting pain erupted into his consciousness. Aramis wanted to go back to the empty darkness, but he could not. It would not welcome him back.

He opened one eye and squinted at the distant light. The sun? No, much duller. A lamp. He opened two eyes. He was laying down, stomach to a bed. Half his face was on a lush silk pillow. Aramis din't dare to bring his head up, for fear the pain would increase. He brought his arm to his vision. Uncuffed. He was not wearing a shirt.

A noise across the room brought his gaze away from his hand. Someone was there. They were sitting in a lounge chair with a book in their hand. The person sprawled their legs out over the arm rest and had a wine glass lazily in the other hand.

"Have you truly awaken?" A voice came from the person. Aramis recognized it, but his head hurt too much to recollect its owner. "I was afraid you'd die and I'd be blamed for it."

The person pulled their legs from the chair and stood up, throwing the book to the ground. "Are you sure you are alright?"

"Who are you?" Aramis asked. His voice came out as a gargly whisper, but somehow the stranger knew what he asked.

It was a man. The man bent down, right in front of his face. "How curious. You don't remember me? Must have been hit pretty hard."

"Who are you?" Aramis repeated, this time with much more clarity.

The man shook his head in disbelief, " My name is Theo. You wanted me dead last time we crossed paths."

Aramis was alarmed, "Dead? I don't want anyone dead." He attempted to sit up. The world spun and he leaned over the bed to barf. Theo jumped back in disgust. Aramis sat up again. "Water?"

Theo walked to the door and poked his head out of it. He yelled for a moment before someone came in. A maid. She brought water and a glass of water. Aramis took the water in shaky hands. He felt bad for the maid. He should clean his own barf. Although, he wasn't sure he was strong enough.

"Do you think Eden will jog your memory?" Theo asked.

That name sounded familiar. Aramis knew an Eden. "We both know this Eden?"

At this, Theo let out a very exaggerated hearty laugh. Aramis might not remember Theo, but he had a feeling he wouldn't like him. "Eden is a very good friend of ours. She's recently been through a lot. Her stepmother was killed, her sister was taken from her. Just- be patient with her." Although everything Theo was saying sounded heartbreaking, he was grinning as if he was in on the biggest joke of the century.

Theo left the room. Aramis took another sip of the water. It was refreshing. The cold liquid seemed to shock some sense into him. He surveyed the room one more time. It didn't look like he was being held captive at first glance. But the door's lock locked from the outside. He didn't have a single window in the room. The furniture seemed displaced, as if it had just been brought in. Aramis leaned over to see the jagged uneaten stone underneath the lush carpet. Was that a drain?

A knock sounded at the door and then Theo threw the door open. Behind him was someone. Aramis' heart pulled at the sight of her. Her blonde hair was loose around her, hiding her low hanging head. Aramis loved this woman.

"Is this Eden?" He finally asked.

This delighted Theo even further. "Don't be shy." He grabbed Eden's jaw roughly, shoving he face up. Her hair parted to show a sad face. Half covered in bruises, half covered in blood, Eden's face was hardly recognizable. Even if Aramis had access to his memory, he might not recognize her.

Theo let go of her and she stumbled, barely righting herself before she fell. "What did you do to her?" Aramis asked, jumping up. He ignored the pain that screamed in his head. Aramis reached for Eden and to his surprise, she let him take her. He brought her to a chair, ignoring Theo watching them.

"They called Leilani as a distraction to get Evelyn out," she whispered. "Theo showed up instead." She was looking down at Aramis, waiting for him to say something. He was supposed to help her. She was depending on him.

Aramis gulped down the vomit in his throat. He couldn't recall any of these names, "I don't know who you are talking about. I don't even remember who I am-"

She threw her head up with energy no one thought she had. Eden was glaring at Theo, "What happened?"

Theo shrugged his shoulders, "Nolan did that to him. I just picked him up." He moved over to them and pulled Aramis up.

A fist in Aramis' stomach threw him backwards ad onto the bed. Theo grabbed his arm and handcuffed it to the bed railing. Aramis looked at it in surprise. Since when had there handcuffs?

Theo grabbed Aramis arm and held it up, "Tell me why you are working for Cairo." HE was directing his question to Eden.

She shook her head weakly.

Theo pulled out a knife and brought the edge to Aramis' arm. He tried to pull away but Theo smacked his head. The pain caused him to shrink down, biting his lip to keep from screaming out. Eden still did not answer in Theo's pause.

The blade dipped into Aramis' arm.