I Know Who You Are
She woke in the forest with no memory—only pain, cold, and a single word she couldn’t ignore
Lina fell over a log. Pain stabbed through her rib cage. She wanted to scream.
Her vision blurred. Her nostrils flared. The air was thick with the earthy scent of wet bark and moss.
“Oh no… I’m in the forest.”
Gasping, she lay still, aware now that she was soaked through.
And she was shivering from the cold.
Alone.
Frightened.
Had she been running? Her thoughts came in fragments, like her breathing..
A car. Moving too fast. Then the violent jolt—her body thrown.
That explains the pain.
A man’s face. Shadowed. Indistinct.
Dinner by candlelight.
“Nothing is making any sense.” She tried to speak, but only a whisper scraped from her dry throat.
“I have to move,” she told herself.
Go back.
To where?
She tried to push herself up, to her knees. Failed.
Sleep pressed down on her, heavy, insistent.
As it took her, but one word surfaced:
Rohypnol.
She woke to rain.
It tore through her—cold, relentless.
Then came sleet. Like needles.
She got to her knees, though the pain was intense. She crawled. Rested a beat. Crawled again. She nearly ran into a tree.
She clung to its mossy surface.
She dug her fingers into the moss and pulled herself upright, hugging the slippery tree.
She forced her eyes open. It was dark. Sleet struck her face, but she kept her eyes open anyway.
She stumbled from tree to tree. How long, she couldn’t tell.
She ignored the cold.
And the pain.
The rain and sleet stopped abruptly .
Moonlight broke through the clouds.
Through the trees, she saw a thin white line.
It was a path!
She stumbled toward it.
Headlights.
High beams.
Pain flared—sharp and blinding. And a wicked headache.
Still, she jumped from the path back into the forest, crouching low.
A voice came. Unfamiliar.
“Can I help you, Miss?”
—
Lina surfaced slowly.
Light pressed against her eyes. White. Too bright. But she was warm.
She heard a steady beeping.
She was in a hospital!
Her body felt distant, heavy. She tried to move, but couldn't.
“Lina.”
A voice beside her.
Soft. Familiar.
She turned.
Her husband sat close, his hand already reaching for hers.
“You’re safe now,” he said gently. “I’ve been here with you the whole time. You've been asleep for 5 days."
Safe?
The word scraped against something inside her.
A flicker—
Candlelight.
A glass of wine was in her hand.
“Drink,” he said insistently.
Her breath caught.
She stared at him.
Really stared.
His face… shifted.
Not physically.
Still, it wouldn’t hold in her view. It became something unrecognizable.
His features slipped, as if her mind refused to fix them in place.
“No…!” she whispered. Harsh fear swept over her.
He leaned closer, his voice lowering, almost a growl.
“You shouldn’t have jumped.”
The forest rushed back.
The car. The dark road. The door latch.
Her hand flipped it open.
It was her moment of choice.
Her escape.
His hand closed around hers. Possessive.
Lina jerked her hand away from his.
“I know who you are,” she said softly.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then—
that smile again.
Or something like it.
“I love you,” he said.
Se turned her head away.
But there was nothing there.
No face she could recognize as the husband she knew—or thought she knew.
No face she could trust.
A penetrating truth rose from her gut to her throat.
She turned to face him again.
What she saw wasn't ... her husband.
It wasn't human.
What she saw was —
What she saw was a snake!
Lina screamed.
-—
Hi, Readers!
I'm back to writing short stories again. I hope I'm off to a good start! Let me know if you enjoyed it.
I gave up formatting the cover of The Urn for Kindle. It's just more than I can do on my iPhone. So ... it's in the hands of a professional now!
etlainie92@gmail.com
www.elainestories.com