Armament

Chapter 3 - Cognac

"So," I start, sliding a grey T-shirt on behind a row of lockers, "what do you do here? Apart from knocking people out."

Evanel huffs a laugh from the other side of the lockers, "I'm a guard of sorts, but like I said before, you need to talk to your mother first."

I roll my eyes as I slide into a matching pair of grey trackies, trying not to get annoyed at him, "Okay, so what can you tell me?"

"Not much," he admits, "but I think you can wait another few minutes."

I sigh, swallowing down my tears yet again. I can't tell if I want to cry again because I have to wait longer for information or because I just remembered that my hair was shaved off. I shake it off and screw up my hospital gown before walking round to Evanel's side of the locker.

I'm not sure if wearing all black is a part of his uniform, but the black combat trousers, boots and T-shirt don't really compliment his abnormally pale skin. I'm not sure if he's aiming to look like a goth since his hair does almost cover one eye but it also doesn't seem intentional, plus he hasn't dyed his blond hair black.

He greets me with a smile, crinkling the skin around his cognac eyes, "Come on, we'll be there in about two minutes now."

He leads me through the hallways after disposing of my hospital gown. I feel much warmer now that I'm finally in proper clothes, even if the trackies don't even have a draw string anymore. I wish they had given me some shoes other than the grey slip-ons they gave me. I feel my trackies starting to slide down my hips and wish that whoever had taken the drawstring out didn't. I tug at them, frowning, maybe I can ask for a new pair.

"We're here," Evanel announces, coming to an abrupt stop.

I glance up, coming face to face with a door identical to all the other doors. But did I really expect it to be carved from mahogany or something?

Evanel proceeds to knock on the door twice before standing straight with his arms behind his back. He doesn't react when there's no answer for over a minute, leaving me wondering if my mum is actually in there and if he's at the wrong door.

I open my mouth to say something only to be cut off by my mum calling us in. Evanel nods at me and swings the door open for me before following me in.

My mum sits behind a glass desk in the modern office, the only colour in this mostly white room. She nods at one of the chairs in front of her desk for me to sit. Evanel clicks the doors shut behind us and stands to the side without being instructed. I frown slightly, wondering why my mum is having me sit across a desk from her. Not wanting to say anything but still weirdly annoyed I slide into the seat she didn't not at.

If my mum notices my slight defiance she doesn't say anything, "Are you feeling a bit better now?"

I slowly nod my head, "I guess, I mean, I feel warmer."

She nods, leaning back in her seat, "Good. I'm glad you're feeling better, especially after what you've been through."

I fight back tears once again, hating thinking about what happened, "Okay, but you said you were going to tell me what's going on."

"Of course," she glances at Evanel, "Evanel, send for something for Asha to eat, some cheese sandwiches or something, you like cheese sandwiches, don't you, Asha?"

She doesn't wait for me to respond before sending Evanel out the door.

She straightens the wrinkles in her dress and her face turns serious, more serious than it was before, "I think I'll start off with the easiest thing for you to process right now," she pauses, either for dramatic effect or to ready her words, "you've lost around three and a half years of your memory. It's 2016 and you're eighteen."