Thank you for waiting.

Chapter Eight

A person woke up in a room. Her head hurt a bit and her eyes felt a little strained from the way her room was lit. It wasn't a particularly uncomfortable room – the lighting was mild and the bed she was sitting on was soft enough. Her primary concern was her lack of memory. She sat up like a vampire, rubbing her eyes and trying to remember where she was. She couldn't recall what room this was. She couldn't even remember her name.

The girl coughed. "Okay, then," she mumbled aloud, "Time to figure out what the heck this place is."

Her eyes darted around the room. The walls were a soft shade of baby blue. The floor was carpeted and smelled fresh, like a furniture store. There was a bookshelf next to the bed she woke up on, and she noticed that both fixtures were colored white with purple accents. A fan spun on the ceiling, and just about everything from the dresser to the various shelves had an unusually high amount of decoration. She could spot cacti, sketches, and picture frames. A lot of picture frames.

After getting out of bed, she stepped over to one, picking it up off the wall. It had about twelve people in the frame, ages from middle school to young adult. They were of various complexions and emotions, but for the most part they seemed happy to be there.

She thought about it, but couldn't remember what she looked like, so she inspected the group, assuming that she must have been someone in there. Judging by her height and the skin complexion she could see from the tops of her hands, she matched her characteristics to one of the girls from the photograph.

She squinted. "Gosh, she's got thick eyebrows. And what a nose... I bet you could probably kill someone with that thing."

That's when she remembered that there was a dresser. She stepped over to it, inspecting herself in it, and sure enough - that was her. She was sporting a thick, velvet coat with large buttons, and black tights that seamlessly transitioned into black boots. She couldn't quite figure out where the tights ended and the boots began. "Well, at least the eyebrows can be fixed. I hope this isn't my room. This color's all crap."

A knock came from the door. "Hey!" a male voice said from the other side, "She's awake! Open up!"

Taking a deep breath, she stepped over to the door and opened it up. A boy was on the other end, about the same height as her due to severe slouching. He had messy black hair that covered his eyes, topped with a beanie, as well as baggy street clothes and a grin that suggested drugs were involved. "Hey," he said coolly.

"This my room?"

"Yep."

She groaned. "It needs a new paint job."

"So, like, you forget everything?"

She put her hands on her hips. "I have no idea who or where I am, so yes."

"Cool," he replied, still smiling. "I'm Chad." He offered a hand to shake.

She shook it back. "Nice to meet you. Who'm I?"

"You're Chad, too. I'm dude Chad and you're girl Chad. Hey, now that you're up, you wanna do some parkour? The old mall's all abandoned and it's pretty beast."

She squinted her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm suspicious that you're taking advantage of my amnesia."

"Nah, dude! It's cool! It's like, running and jumping and stuff. You'd be great at it."

"Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you let me ask some other people about it and I'll get back with you? Assuming there are other people here."

He nodded. "Cool. Yeah. See ya later." And with that, he took off. There was a hallway outside her door with about five doors, all identical to hers, and an elevator entrance near the middle. However, he didn't take the elevator. He escaped through a hole in the ceiling, and once he was up, he slid a ceiling panel down and back into place, clearing his tracks.