As Evan silently weeps into his hands, listening to the faint beep of the EKG Machine that is reading the heart rate of the comatose person, several police officers enter the room, being led by a doctor and the nurse Evan threatened. They quietly converse, the officers confirming that Evan is indeed the person they are there for. The lead officer steps forwards, closer to Evan. With his hand on his gun, he quietly speaks to Evan.

 

“Son, you’re going to have to come with us.”

 

Evan wipes away his tears, before standing up quickly, startling the officer, who draws his gun, aiming at Evans back.

 

“Place your hands on your head, slowly.”

 

Instead of obeying, Evan turns around and looks down at the gun pointed at him.

 

“Put it away. We both know you’re not going to shoot an unarmed teenager in a hospital, especially not here in the ICU. I’ll go with you, but rest assured, I will be back, and soon.”

 

Evan steps forwards, holding his hands out, wrists touching. The lead officer puts his gun back in its holster, before removing his handcuffs from his belt and clamps them down on Evans wrists, tight enough to keep them on and make them sting a little. He starts to lead Evan out of the room, until the doctor stops them.

 

“Before you go, would you mind telling me the patients’ name? It would make the paperwork much easier.”

 

“The patients name is Amy. Amy Reilly. Before you ask any other questions, her mother is dead, her fathers gone, she has no other relatives. I’m her boyfriend; she’s been living with me and my grandparents. My name is Evan Campbell. I’ll be back later if you need more information.”

 

Evan leaves the room, the officers in quick procession. They step into the elevator, Evan in the middle, surrounded by the officers. One of them pushes button number 5. Slowly, the elevator descends, the doors slide open. Everyone files out; they lead Evan to an empty office room, locking the door behind them. Evan sits down in an empty chair, as does the lead officer. The others remain standing, guarding the door.

 

“We decided to do this here, instead of at the station. Quicker that way. I’m going to ask you a few questions, if you answer truthfully, I’ll see what I can do about getting this incident dismissed.”

 

“Ask away.”

 

“I’ll make this go quick. I’ll ask my questions all at once, you just answer them in order. Here we go. What is your name and relation to the victim? Do you know what happened to the victim? Did you threaten to viciously murder and ‘skullfuck’ a nurse? How did you get that gash on your head and why are you covered in blood?”

 

Evan takes several seconds to process the officers’ questions, before taking in a big breath, preparing to answer them all at once.

 

“Evan Campbell, the victim, as you put it, is my girlfriend. No, I don’t. Yes I did. Some crazy fucker hit me with a shovel.”

 

A moment of silence follows Evans answers.

 

“Some crazy fucker hit you with a shovel?”

 

“Yeah. Bout an hour ago. Hurt like hell. He got his in the end though.”

 

“Okay, now I’ve got more questions. Who was this guy, where did it happen, why did he do it, and what did you do to him?”

 

“Amy’s father, some house on 10^th avenue, because I stopped him from beating Amy, I hit him with the shovel.”

 

“Okay, I’m just going to stop asking, because your answers just keep raising further questions. We’ll look into this house, see what we can find. Until then, you’re free to go.”

 

The officer uncuffs Evan. The two of them stand up, Evan heading towards the elevators, the officers watching him leave. Several minutes later, Evan finds himself back at Amy’s side. He grabs her hand off the bed and sits back down, softly whispering to her.

 

“Please...wake up soon.”

 

------December 21st, 2008, 5:15 PM, Sanctus Ira General Hospital---

 

Three months have passed, during which no changes have occurred with Amy. She still resides in her comatose state, her heath neither improving nor getting worse. The doctors continue to run daily tests, but still they are unsure as to why she has yet to wake. Throughout the entire three months, Evan has yet to leave her side, save to use the restroom and shower in the room attached to Amy’s. Most of the hospital staff has come to know Evan and leave him be, allowing him to bend the visitation hours. Watching him from the door of Amy’s room are a nurse and her doctor. The doctor walks into the room, stopping next to Evan. He sets his hand on Evans shoulder.

 

“Son, you should go home and get some rest. I’m sure she wouldn’t want you here killing yourself like this.”

 

Evan sighs and stands up, the bones in his back protesting the sudden movement. Evan looks out the window at the overcast day and decides to heed the doctors’ advice.

 

“Maybe you’re right….Yeah. I’m going to head home, just to get a change of clothes if anything. You’ve got my number, call me if anything changes.”

 

Evan leaves the hospital just as the gray clouds open up, releasing the first drops of rain. As he starts the trek back to his house, the rain brings back the memory of his grandparents join funeral, as well as the memory of his betrayal.

 

---September 29^th, 2008, 10:11 AM, Sanctus Ira Funeral Home---

 

Sitting in the pew by himself, Evan looks around, seeing people he had never met. He assumes they are friends of his grandparents, perhaps distant relatives. Throughout the procession, they approach him, wishing him well, telling him how wonderful his grandparents were. Like he cared what they thought. He knew them better than any of these people. Where were they when they still lived? Never once did any of them call, or visit. Only in death, when appearances must be kept would they show up. It angered Evan to no end. As the minister began to speak, Evan found himself tuning the man out, preferring to quietly reflect on how much he hated himself at the current time. He had killed his grandparents, his best friend, and had put his girlfriend in a coma she might never wake up from.

 

Deciding to skip the burial, Evan stands up in the middle of the ministers’ speech and leaves the funeral home, knowing his grandparents wouldn’t mind, as they hated religion as much as he does. As he begins to walk back to his house, he hears the funeral home doors open and close again. He looks over his shoulder and sees a blonde girl, around his age, looking around. Her eyes settle upon him and she jogs his way, a concerned look on her face. Evan stops, deciding to deal with her now, rather than later. She stops, kneeling over, trying to catch her breath. After several seconds, she finally rights herself, a small smile on her face.

 

“Can I help you?”

 

“No, but I can help you. You shouldn’t be alone after the death of a loved one, let alone two.”

 

“Just leave me alone, whoever you are. You don’t know anything about me or what happened.”

 

“Oh no? I know more than you think, Evan Campbell, or should I say….Nightshade.”

 

Evan freezes up when he hears her mention the name. He pulls her into a nearby alleyway, looking all around for any other witnesses.

 

“How do you know that name?!”

 

“I did my research. I know that you’re the one that saved my mom a couple days ago. She told me about some guy in a black costume who called himself Nightshade. I looked at the newspapers and found a report talking about the accident you had at Steele’s factory. You got covered in black stuff, a few days later, some guy dressed in black stuff shows up. Several security tapes showed up on YouTube a couple days ago, showing some guy in all black killing people with a crazy suit. I looked into what you got covered with and connected the dots. It wasn’t that hard.”

 

Evan stands, staring at her, his mouth agape, blinking rapidly, trying to comprehend how she came to know him and what he did. Finally, he can think of only one thing to say.

 

“…I think I might have to kill you, and I don’t even know you’re name.”

 

“Oh my God, I haven’t even introduced myself! You must think I’m terribly rude…my name is Gwendolyn, Gwendolyn Watson, but you can call me Gwen.”

 

“Since you already know me, I’ll be on my way.”

 

As Evan starts to leave the alleyway, Gwen grabs him by the elbow, stopping his forward progression.

 

“Not without me you’re not. I know what grief can do to a person, especially when you’re by yourself. If you go home right now and stew in the self loathing I know you’ve got to be feeling, you’ll end up killing yourself or a bunch of other people, so, I’m not going to let that happen.”

 

Making a quick decision, Evan decides that it would be easier to just let her go with him; he could always lock her out of the house when they got there.

 

“Whatever. Follow me if you want, I’m going home and getting good and hammered.”

 

Evan leads Gwen in the general direction of his house, looking up at the sky, thinking things over in his head. He looks to his right, watching Gwen as she keeps up with him, her eyes sparkling, hair almost glowing in the morning sun, a smile on her face.

 

‘Okay, bad train of thought. Girlfriends in the hospital, can’t be thinking those kinds of thoughts about a girl we just met…’

 

“Y'know, right now, you know more about me than my girlfriend does. I know that should make me feel terrible but….it doesn’t. That makes me a shitty person, doesn’t it?”

 

Gwen makes a face, pondering the question, finally answering after a few seconds.

 

“No, I don’t think so. I think it makes you human. Telling someone that you’re housing a horrible creature that killed your only family would terrify anyone. Having someone find it out themselves and confront you about it makes things much easier.”

 

Sensing that her words did little to comfort him, Gwen reaches out and grabs his hand, lacing her fingers through his own. Evan looks down at their hands, and then up at her. Her smile is infectious; it makes Evan smile as well, though it doesn’t quite meet his eyes, eyes that appear to be those of an old man who has seen things no human should have to bear witness to, and not those of a teenager who should only have to worry about who he was taking to prom.

 

Evan leads Gwen back to his home, unlocking the front door. Surprising himself, he allows her to enter, and shuts the door behind her. He flips on the living room light, bathing the room in false sun. He heads into the dining room, shrugging of the sports jacket he had worn to the funeral. He opens the cabinet in the dining room, revealing several bottles of various grades of liquor. He grabs several bottles and heads back into the living room, where he finds Gwen looking around; having removed her jacket as well Evan sets the bottles down on the coffee table, before flopping down on the couch. He grabs a bottle labeled 'Everclear' and pops the cork. He takes a long pull from the bottle, relishing the taste. He offers the bottle to Gwen, but she declines.

 

"I think you need that more than I do."

 

He responds by taking another long swig from the bottle. When he swallows, he sets the bottle back on the coffee table, leaning back into the couch as he does, his eyes unfocused. Almost too softly to be heard, he starts to speak.

 

"Two weeks ago...my life was perfect. I had a girlfriend, I started to defend myself from jackass bullies at school, I had great grandparents, and now....it’s all gone. All of it, dashed in an instant. All because of a field trip that was my idea in the first place. if I hadn’t suggested that place to Robbins, we wouldn’t have gone, I wouldn’t have gotten covered in that shit I wouldn’t have killed them all. It’s all my fault, all of it."

 

"You can’t just blame yourself for things like this. How were you supposed to know that what they were working on would drive one of the testers insane, which would in turn cause you to be covered in the very substance that made him crazy? You’re not omniscient; you shouldn’t talk like you are, like you could’ve stopped every bad thing from happening, if you had just thought about it. None of this is your fault, none of it. You need to stop blaming yourself and learn to deal with it."

 

"I don’t wanna deal with it, I want it to have never happened in the first place, I want to be a Normal sixteen year old, I don’t want to have this kind of power that I can’t even control, I wanna be fucking normal!"

 

"Being normal is overrated."

 

Evan gives her a look and picks his bottle back up.

 

---Two hours later---

 

Evan has finished every bottle of liquor he had retrieved from the cabinet, leaving him quite inebriated. He is currently sprawled out on the couch, staring at the ceiling, trying to get the room to stop spinning, while Gwen is on the phone, calling a taxi. Seconds later, she hangs the phone up and heads over to the couch. She grabs Evans arm and attempts to tug him to his feet.

 

"Come on, up you get. Cant have you staying here alone and choking on your own vomit."

 

"Dun wanna...gotta stay here...wait fer evurone tuh git home."

 

"No ones coming home Evan, if you stay here, you’ll be alone for the entire night."

 

"G'way...'m waitin for Amy. She’s sposed to git here soon..."

 

Gwen hated herself for what she was about to do, but, it was necessary.

 

"Amy is waiting for you at my house. I told her to meet us there. Come on, get up, she’ll be there when we get there."

 

"Why din' y' menshin it bafore C’mon, less go...”

 

Evan slowly pulls himself off the couch, stumbling slightly, nearly banging his shin on the coffee table in the process. He staggers his way to the door, reaching for the handle, but misses, due to him seeing three of them.

 

"Stop movin...damn knob...”

 

Gwen finally reaches out and opens the door, allowing Evan to stumble out into the cool evening air. He slowly makes his way down the walkway, staggering from side to side every now and then. Just as he reaches the sidewalk, their taxi pulls up. Gwen ushers Evan into the backseat, where he promptly falls over. Gwen climbs in the passengers’ seat and informs the diver of where they’re going, while watching Evan in the rearview mirror. Evan moans in protest as the taxi jerks forwards.

 

---Fifteen minutes later---

 

The taxi slows to a stop outside a modest looking home, just as rain drops begin to fall. Gwen pays the driver and drags Evan out of the car. He lens on her as they stumble up to the house. Gwen opens the door and pulls Evan inside. She yells out to her mother, who comes running. She stops as soon as she spots her daughter supporting Evan.

 

"Is this him?"

 

Gwen can only nod. Her mother rushes forward and helps Gwen drag Evan into the living room. They set him on the couch as the two of them leave the room to discuss what they brought him there for.

 

"Okay, so how do you want to do this?"

 

"Well I’m going first, its only right, after all, I spent the whole damn day with him, listening to him ramble on about something or another, its only fair that I get to reap the soils of that first."

 

"But it’s me he saved, not you!"

 

"Oh please, he didn’t even know what he was doing then. He told me all about it; he was playing around with that suit of his and happened to hear those three goons. You’re lucky he was out and about and didn’t go home with his family. So yes, I go first. Watch if you want to."

 

Gwen walks back into the living room and up to Evan. She sits down near his feet and begins to unbutton her blouse, while her mother watches from the doorway. Gwen tosses her blouse off to the side, leaving her in her bra and skirt. She starts to unbutton Evans shirt, while he weakly protests, once he realizes what she is doing.

 

"Fuck're you doin?"

 

"Oh please, we both know you want this top happen. You bring me to your house, you get drunk out of your mind, you even try to get me wasted too, you know you want it. Besides, I want to feel that power inside me! I need to feel it!"

 

Evan scrambles off the couch, falling to the floor with a thud, his motor skills impaired by the alcohol. He slowly gets to his feet, trying to focus on one of the four Gwendolyn’s he was seeing. A voice in the back of his head horrifies him as he understands the implications.

 

"I think this would be good for us. Oh yes, this will happen..."

 

Evan attempts to block Nightshade from taking over, but in his inebriated state, he cannot stop the wave of warmth from spreading all over his body. After several seconds, he stands covered; this time however, Nightshade is able to control himself a bit better and keeps from mutating into the great hulking beast that ruined Evans life. Choosing to go the more…human route, Nightshade metamorphosis’ into a version of Evans body, though, with slight changes to suit his personal desires. He looks across the room at Gwen and her mother, a wide and very disturbing grin on his face. He runs his tongue across his bared teeth, before calling out to them, his voice as cold as Death Himself.

 

“You see this face? This is my Rape face.”

 

Gwen takes a step back, just now realizing what she and her mother had planned to do, a look of pure unadulterated horror on her face. In a heartbeat, Nightshade is at her side, the dark grin still on his face. He grabs her arms and hurls her to the side. She lands hard on the couch, nearly rolling off, smashing her head against the wooden armrest, dazing her enough so that she doesn’t move. Nightshade looks at her mother, before lashing out with his right hand, a tentacle forming in an instant. It wraps around her waits. He reels her in, releasing her from his tentacle, before grabbing her around the neck. He lifts her into the air and slams her against the wall, holding her there with one hand. He gets as closes as he can to her, his face nearly touching her own. He whispers something in her ear, sending chills down her spine.

 

“Remember…you wanted this.”

 

Nightshade pulls her away from the wall, before slamming her against it again, eliciting a small yelp of pain from the woman. He trails the fingers of his left hand down the side of her face, as if trying to comfort her. He releases her, allowing her to drop to the floor, almost falling over. He lashes out with both hands, pinning her to the wall again, this time by her wrists, suspending her arms out to the side, keeping them in place by bits of inky blackness that detaches from his tentacles, virtually welding her to the wall by her wrists. He repeats his actions, with her legs, holding her to the wall by her ankles this time. With her secured to the wall, Nightshade turns to Gwen, who is just now shaking off the dizziness her head injury caused. He walks over to the couch, his footfalls heavy and loud, echoing all over the house. He grabs her by the hair, yanking her off the couch. He pulls her hair, bending her over backwards as her eyes clench shut with pain, tears welling up in them. She barely opens her eyes and finds herself staring up at Nightshade.

 

“Silly girl. You think I didn’t know what you were up to the entire time? Please. You may have fooled our weaker half, but, you were unable to fool Me. We allowed this to happen. We could’ve prevented Our self from being affected by the liquor, but We didn’t want that. We felt like having some fun with you, after all, your mother was the start of our little descent into madness. If it hadn’t been for her, We never would’ve begun using My powers, and We wouldn’t have mutated and killed Our family. Thanks to your mother, you now get to feel Our power! Congratulations, you get to go first, just as you wanted to.”

 

With those words, Nightshade rips Gwen’s skirt off, shredding her panties in the process. He tears her bra off next, scraping her skin with his claw-like hands in the process. He pushes her down against the couch; she barely catches herself, her hands gripping the back of the couch out of reflex alone. With her heart-shaped ass on display in front of him, a low growl escapes from his lips. He grabs her hips and grinds himself against her, letting her feel him through his jeans. She whimpers in protest, attempting to pull away, but finds that she cannot match his strength. She feels something press against her lips and opens her eyes, looking down at her mouth. She spots a black phallus-shaped tentacle pressing against her lips. It forces her mouth open and dives in, slowly slithering in and out, but picking up speed with every thrust. She feels two more tentacles wrap around her wrists, pulling them behind her back, binding them together. She feels a third set of tentacles wrap around her breasts, squeezing them with varying levels of pressure.

 

Just when she thinks things can’t get any worse, a burst of unimaginable pain, emanating from her nether regions, explodes through her. She winces as what feels like a steel rod is thrust deep within her, over and over again, faster and faster. Her eyes widen in horror as she feels another tentacle pressing against her sphincter. She screams as it penetrates her ass, though her cries are muffled by the tentacle occupying her mouth. She can only moan over and over again as all of her orifices are penetrated, tears rolling down her face, the experience nothing like she had originally planned it to be. During the proceedings, her mother could only watch on in horror, screaming at Nightshade to stop. Her cries are ignored, until Nightshade stops, mid-thrust, and looks at her, his eyes pitch black, his face a mask of twisted fury. He yells at her, his voice an animalistic growl.

 

“Silence! You’ll get your turn soon enough!”

 

Nightshade continues to rape her daughter, several tentacles undulating around her body, pumping in and out of her every hole, Gwen’s mind having gone to a dark place, away from the pain and suffering. A shudder passes through Nightshade, as he empties load after load of a thick white substance into Gwen’s body. His tentacles pull out of her mouth and ass, leaving trails of the white substance oozing from them. The tentacles around her breasts spray her chest with the same substance. He pulls all the way out of her, shoving her lifeless body to the ground, her eyes glazed over, but still alive. With the tentacles still covered in her daughters’ juices, Mrs. Watson watches on in horror as nightshade approaches her. He rips her clothing off; she can already feel those tentacles all over her body…

 

------December 21st, 2008, 6:00 PM, Evans Home---

 

Evan shakes his head, clearing his mind of those memories, preferring not to relive them. He hears Nightshade chuckle in the background, obviously pleased with what he had done. Now that he is alone, Evan chooses to converse with Nightshade out loud, instead of in his head. It made him feel like He wasn’t alone.

 

“You went too far.”

 

“I don’t think so. You were so wasted, you could barely stand. If it wasn’t for me, you’d probably still be there, nothing more than a sex slave to those two crazy bitches. You should be thanking me right now.

 

“That doesn’t make it right! What you did to them was horrible! They’re likely to never recover from it! How can you feel good about yourself, knowing that you put two women, one of them barely seventeen, in a mental institution, where they’ll now live, more than likely for the rest of their lives, as drooling vegetables?”

 

“Cause it was fun. You can’t sit there and tell me that deep down; some part of you didn’t enjoy watching what I did to them.”

 

“….Okay, maybe a little.”

 

“I knew it! You’re just as sick as I am!”

 

“Yeah, well, having voices in your head tends to drive one a bit…mad.”

 

“We all go a little mad sometimes. You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!”

 

Evan chooses to ignore Nightshade as he steps into his living room. He sees the dozens of bottles lying around from his drinking binge and sighs, resolving to never make that kind of mistake again. He starts to pick the bottles up, when he nearly jumps out of his skin, thanks to his cell phones ringtone, the machine gun riff from Metallica’s ‘One’. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, his heart racing, and answers it. Before he can say a word, the voice on the line says three words that nearly stop his heart.

 

“She’s waking up.”

 

Evan drops his phone out of shock and rushes out of the house, leaving the door wide open. He turns and starts to run as fast as he can down the street, back to the hospital. Nightshade speaks up in his head, irking him.

 

“Let me help you. With my assistance, we can be there in ten minutes flat.”

 

Evan thinks on his proposal, actually giving it some thought. With recent events the way they were, Nightshade hadn’t forced his control on him since his night with Gwen. Deciding that it counts for something, Evan decides to let him help.

 

“Fine, but I stay in control this time, got it?”

 

“Yeah, Yeah, I got it.”

 

“Damnit, I’m serious! If I even feel you trying to take over, I’m stepping in front of a bus, Id rather be dead than have you with a body roaming the streets!”

 

“Okay, jeez, don’t go fucknut on me just yet, Ill be good, I swear.”

 

Seconds later, Evan feels warmth spread over his body. He looks down and sees that nothing has changed.

 

“I figured you’d want to look as normal as possible. It wouldn’t do well for you to run around looking like me, especially with where we’re headed.”

 

“Good thinking, for once. I just hope don’t run into anyone with a shovel again…”

 

Evan increases his speed to its full level, now fueled by Nightshades unearthly power; things are zooming by in a blur of color and sound. Evan spots the hospital in the distance and pushes his body as hard as it will go. He can feel his muscles screaming at him to stop, but he doesn’t care. There were more important things that listening to his body going on right then. Not two minutes later, he reaches the double doors of the hospital. They slide open, allowing him entry. He charges past the nurse at the desk, who gives him a dirty look, the memory of his threats still fresh in her mind. He ignores her, pushing the button for the elevators. He nearly rips one of the doors off as he tries to make it open faster. He steps into the small room and begins to pace back and forth, making himself dizzy in the small confined space. The elevator finally stops and the doors glide open. Evan pushes his way through and rushes to Amy’s room. Her doctor sees him coming and is able to stop him before he enters the room.

 

“Get the fuck out of the way, I’m not in the mood right now Doc!”

 

“Now wait just a damn minute, this is still a Hospital, and I’m still a doctor; that means I’m in charge here, not you! I’m not going to let you bowl me over like you do the nursing staff, you’re going to listen to what I have to say, or you’re going to leave!”

 

Evan, feeling utterly powerless, slumps his shoulders, leaning his head back, knowing that the doctor was right.

 

“I’m sorry Doc, I’m just anxious to see Amy. I mean, I was starting to lose hope there for a minute…”

 

“I know just how you feel, believe me. Before I can let you in there, there are a few things you must come to realize. First, we haven’t done any extensive tests since she’s woken up, though she does appear to have retained all of her motor skills, that’s a good sign. But…”

 

“Damnit, I hate it when there’s a but…”

 

“But, with the length of her coma comes the chance that she could’ve suffered a loss of memory. We still aren’t completely sure how the brain works, but when the body shuts down for an extended period of time like hers did, then some damage is unavoidable. Now, I’m not saying she won’t remember you, but there is a slight chance. I just want you to be prepared if that is indeed the case. If it is, there’s still a very good chance that her memory will return, so don’t lose all hope.”

 

Evan takes a moment to absorb the information.

 

“Thanks for the emotional kick to the balls Doc. If you don’t mind, get out of my way. There’s no way she’ll have forgotten me.”

 

Evan pushes past the doctor and walks into Amy’s room. Several nurses are currently tending to Amy, who is staring at them, a confused look on her face. She notices Evan as he enters the room. He nudges the nurses out of the way and pulls Amy into a bone crushing hug, nearly disconnecting her from all the machines monitoring her.

 

“I’m so happy you’re awake, you’ve got no idea how much I missed you, I love you so much, I’ll never let anything like this happen again.”

 

Amy awkwardly pats him on the shoulders, looking at the nurses, a hint of fear in her eyes. He finally releases her, allowing her to sit back on the bed. She looks up at him, fear clear in her eyes. She smiles an apologetic smile, before speaking, her voice slightly hoarse.

 

“I’m sorry, but …who are you?”

 

Evans world seems to disintegrate before him. His face crumples up in a mixture of sadness and disbelief. He stumbles backwards, nearly tripping over his own feet, but lands in the chair he occupied for the better part of three months. He sits there, unable to hear anything else going on around him, just a slight buzzing sound, unable to process the thought that the love of his life didn’t remember him. He doesn’t notice when her doctor enters the room and begins questioning her, poking and prodding her, seeing how well her muscle tissue held up. He is finally broken out of his reverie when the doctor taps him on his shoulder.

 

“Evan...Evan, can you hear me?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I said that you can take her home, just as soon as we finish the necessary paperwork. Don’t worry son, she’ll get her memory back, it’ll just take time. If she stays around people and places that she was familiar with, it’ll come back faster. She’ll do better at home than here.”

 

------December 21st, 2008, 6:32 PM, Sanctus Ira General Hospital, Amy Riley’s Room---

 

Evan sits in his chair, watching as the nursing staff assists Amy in getting ready to leave. They bring out a bag of her personal effects that Evan had packed the second day she was there. They pull a curtain around her bed so that no one could watch while she changed, leaving Evan to stare at a screen. After several minutes, they pull the screen back, revealing a now-standing Amy, wearing a pair of black jeans, black tennis shoes, and a white blouse. Evan stands up, taking in the sight of her. One of the nurses hands her the necklace Evan gave her. She stares down at it, a look of awe on her face.

 

“It’s so beautiful…”

 

“It doesn’t come close to matching your beauty.”

 

She blushes at Evans words, not used to hearing them. She starts to put it on, but struggles to clasp it behind her neck. Evan steps forwards and takes it from her. He moves her hair out of the way and wraps his arms around her, easily clasping the necklace, their faces inches apart. Evan looks deep into her eyes and leans forwards; their lips nearly meet, until Amy turns away, closing her eyes.

 

“I’m sorry…I-I can’t. I just don’t remember you, it doesn’t feel…right.”

 

Evan steps away from her, clearly hurt, his head hung low. He sighs deeply and straightens up, willing himself to be strong. Her doctor steps into the room and breaks the tension.

 

“Okay, we’re all done here. You can leave whenever you like.”

 

He leaves the room, leaving Evan and Amy alone.

 

“Shall we go?”

 

She nods once, and the two of them leave the room side by side. They step into the elevators, the tension palpable again. Amy begins to feel a strange sensation emanating from her necklace. At first, it’s a slight warmth, until it radiates all over her body. She grabs the necklace, looking at it, a bit alarmed. She sees its soft pink gem pulsating in time with her heartbeat. She glances over at Evan, a questioning look on her face. Immediately recognizing it, he informs her.

 

“That’s connected to my emotions. That color means love. What you’re feeling right now is my love for you. I made it so that it should only be a slight feeling of warmth around the necklace.”

 

Once Evan finishes his explanation, Amy realizes how strong his feelings are for her. His emotions broke through the initial restraints on the device, enveloping her with his love. She bites her lip, deep in thought, before speaking, startling Evan with her words.

 

“To hell with memories!”

 

She throws her arms around his neck, pulling him in close. She presses her lips against him, not caring about her memories at that moment, as she could literally feel his love burning. Evan, though startled, kisses her back, wrapping his own arms around her, lifting her off the ground. The doors slide open seconds later, revealing them to the entire population of the lobby. Several catcalls and whistles start up, embarrassing the two of them into breaking their kiss. They walk out of the elevator, hand in hand, with matching blushes on their faces. They leave the hospital, walking into the sun, the day seeming a bit brighter now.Evan hails a cab, allowing Amy to enter first, climbing in behind her. Evan informs the driver of their destination and the cab is off. Evan looks down at Amy, who is looking out the windows in clear fascination. This was all seemingly new to her, after all. He smiles, thinking that everything just might work out okay….until he hears Nightshade in the background.

 

“See, now you went and jinxed it!”