Fragmented Memories

Isabella's POV

The plate crashed to the floor as I jerked awake, my heart beating like a drum in my chest. The nightmare was already fading, but I could still feel the cold fear crawling up my spine. Something about darkness, about running, about children crying for help.

"Hey, it's okay." A deep voice came from across the room, soft but strong. "You're safe."

I blinked hard, trying to focus. The tall man with dark hair was picking up bits of broken ceramic from the wooden floor. He moved carefully, like he was afraid of scaring me more.

"I brought you breakfast," he said, not looking at me. "You threw it when you woke up."

"I'm sorry." My voice came out scratchy and weak. "I didn't mean to... I was dreaming."

He finally looked up at me, and those dark eyes made my stomach flip in a way I couldn't understand. They were familiar somehow, like I'd seen them in another dream.

"Don't worry about it. Happens all the time." He finished cleaning up the mess and stood. "I'm Kieran."

"Kieran," I repeated, trying the name on my tongue. It felt important, but I couldn't remember why. "I'm..."

The words wouldn't come. I knew I had a name, but it was like trying to grab smoke with my bare hands.

"You hit your head pretty hard," Kieran said, sitting in a chair across from my bed. "The doctor said your memory might be fuzzy for a while."

"What doctor? Where am I?" The questions spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Why can't I remember anything clearly?"

Kieran's jaw tightened for just a second, so fast I almost missed it. Then his face went back to being calm and patient.

"You're in my house. You had an accident near the hospital where you help. We found you asleep in the parking garage."

Hospital. Volunteer. The words sparked something in my brain, like a match being lit in darkness.

Flash of memory: Small hands reaching for mine. A little boy with no hair, happy even though he was sick. "Will you read to me again, Bella?"

"Bella," I whispered.

"What?"

"Someone called me Bella. A little boy." I pressed my fingers against my temples, trying to make the memory better. "He was sick. Really sick. But he was so brave."

Kieran leaned forward, and I caught something in his face. Surprise? Hope? Before I could figure it out, it was gone.

"Your memory is coming back," he said. "That's good."

"But why can't I remember you?" I studied his face, looking for any sign. "You seem so familiar, but I can't place you."

For a moment, Kieran's mask slipped totally. Pain flashed across his features, raw and deep. Then he looked away.

"Maybe we met at the hospital," he said softly. "I visit there sometimes too."

That felt wrong somehow, but I couldn't explain why. Instead, I watched as he moved around the room, putting things away, checking the window. Everything he did seemed watchful, like he was keeping guard.

"Are you a bodyguard or something?" I asked.

He actually smiled at that, and it changed his whole face. Made him look younger, less scary.

"Something like that."

"Why do I need protection? What happened to me?"

The smile disappeared. "You should eat something first. Get your strength back."

He left and came back with toast and orange juice. As I ate, I watched him watching me. He sat where he could see both me and the door. His eyes moved constantly, checking nooks, listening to sounds outside.

"You're scared of something," I said.

"I'm not scared."

"Then why do you keep looking at the door like someone dangerous might come through it?"

Kieran went very still. When he looked at me again, those dark eyes were serious in a way that made my heart skip.

"Maybe because someone dangerous might come through it."

A chill ran down my spine. "Are we in danger?"

"As long as you're with me, you're safe. I promise."

The way he said it, like he'd die before letting anything happen to me, made my chest feel tight. Why would a stranger care so much about saving me?

Another flash: A smaller version of those same dark eyes, filled with pain and fear. Blood on young hands. My voice, but younger: "Don't be scared. I'll help you."

I gasped, dropping my toast.

"What is it?" Kieran was beside me in an instant, his hand on my shoulder.

"I remember... a boy. Hurt. There was blood everywhere." I looked up at him, my heart racing. "He had eyes just like yours."

Kieran's face went totally white. His hand on my shoulder shook.

"Isabella," he whispered, like my name was a prayer.

"Isabella." I tried it, and it felt right, like coming home. "That's my name."

"Yes."

"And the boy I helped... was that you?"

Before Kieran could answer, more memories rushed back like water through a broken wall. A hospital parking lot. Darkness. Men with strange eyes surrounding me. Fear so strong I could taste it.

"Those men," I whispered, grabbing Kieran's arm. "The ones who took me. They weren't normal. Their eyes were..."

"Black," Kieran finished grimly. "Completely black."

"How do you know that?"

"Because they're the ones I saved you from."

My head spun. "Saved me? But I thought you said I had an accident."

"I lied." His voice was heavy with guilt. "I couldn't tell you the truth. Not with your thoughts so mixed up."

"What truth?" My heart was beating so fast I thought it might explode. "Kieran, what's happening to me?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but a loud crash came from outside. Glass breaking. Heavy footsteps on the porch.

Kieran moved faster than anyone I'd ever seen. In seconds, he had me behind him, his body like a wall between me and the door.

"Stay down," he ordered, his voice totally different now. Dangerous. Deadly.

The front door burst inward. Three guys in black suits stepped through, and when they looked at me, their eyes were completely black. Not just dark – black like empty holes.

"Hello, Isabella," the first one said, and his voice sounded wrong, like it came from somewhere far away. "We've been looking for you."

Kieran growled – actually growled like an animal – and suddenly I understood why I felt so safe with him.

He wasn't human either.