Chapter 1

A young woman woke up in a hospital bed. She was visibly confused, unable to make sense of what's going on. She looked down at her hands, finding many supporting tubes and machines connected to her. It was odd, and also scary.

She took a few glances around herself to see her surroundings. It wasn't what she expected.

A man was sitting right across from her, a black fedora atop his head. He wore a black suit and had quite a stubble beard too. "Well, I'm glad you're awake." He calmly replied. His voice was quite deep, a bit soothing too.

"W-who are you?! What am I doing here?!" The limp female asked, backing off a little in her bed.

"No need to worry." The man said, standing up as he took a few steps closer to the girl. "Detective Conor Duncan. You miss, have been charged with identity theft."

The girl's eyes widened as she heard the man speak. Identity theft? What does he mean..? She barely remembers anything beyond waking up on this bed. "I... I don't know what you're talking about! What do you want from me?!"

The detective just rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't." He leaned in a little, coming face to face with the frightened girl. "You stole the identity of Lea Smith, the wife of Liam Menzies." He stated, before leaning back to how he was, no longer close to the woman. "I don't know how you did it, but all the DNA tests have linked back to the real person. We can't really tell who you are." Conor added.

"I... W-who's Liam Menzies? Who am I?" She asked. That was all she could do ask questions. As many as required.

"Liam Menzies, a famous singer and songwriter." He answered. "You stole the identity of his wife." He said, repeating what he had just said earlier. "I was hoping to ask you some questions, but I believe I will delay it. The doctors outside diagnosed you with severe retrograde amnesia, which makes my job a hell of a lot harder."

"A... singer? Please... I can't..." She was clearly lost for words. Such a huge dump of information on her was doing no good, and it didn't help her one bit.

"I know it's a lot to take in. For now, you'll be kept in here. Until we can get any information from you, that is. If your amnesia is permanent, then you'll be locked up after getting treated properly." He said, his voice devoid of any emotion or pity for the girl. The detective turned away from the woman, starting to approach the exit. "I'll be back in a few hours, in case you remember anything."

"W-wait! Lock up?! What do you mean?! I didn't do anythi-"

Slam

The door was shut close, leaving her alone in the room. She took in a few deep breaths, making sure her chest was full, before letting out the air. No matter how much she tried to calm down, she couldn't get herself to do it. Identity theft? She barely remembers anything about herself! This was nonsense, it couldn't be true.

She ran a hand through her hair, a few golden strands falling in front of her eyes. Before doing much else, she shut her eyes close, trying to remember anything she could.

Nothing.

Her mind was blank. No matter what she did, how far she tried to call back, or how much she focused, she remembered nothing. It was as if her memory span only ever existed since she woke up.

Retrograde Amnesia? Those doctors must've been right. It seemed like she'll have to face the criminal sentence, as she couldn't stand up for herself.

She rested her eyes, trying to fall asleep. Perhaps she'll remember something if she's well-rested. It could also help her calm down. Even though she tried her best to forget about the whole encounter, it just stuck with her. It lingered over her subconscious mind, which denied her of sleep.

She shook her head, before opening her eyes once more. She couldn't sleep, no matter what she did. She sighed.

She wasn't sure how much time passed by, she was too occupied with thinking. It was not long before she heard a few knocks on her door, with the same detective entering the room.

"Well, after a few more tests, the doctors came to a conclusion," He sighed, coming a bit closer to the girl. "Your amnesia is permanent," he announced. "Which essentially means that you'll get arrested. Amnesia is not a defence for crimes, especially when it's on a scale this large." He added, before looking back at the door he left open. "Come in," he said, a few cops walking in the room.

"W-wait?! What?! Permanent?! H-Hey, you can't arrest me like that! Y-you don't even know who I am, detective!" the woman exclaimed, desperate to defend herself.

"Oh, I wish I did. The countless DNA tests we tried on you lead to no one in particular. You could be an outsider, for all we know. The inability to remember committing a crime doesn't necessarily mean you didn't intend to and actually commit it. And to have copied the real person this closely, the only option we have is to arrest you. It obviously wasn't accidental." He explained, single-handedly terminating all her defences.

The police officers nod to each other, approaching the woman as detective Conor was done speaking. A few doctors followed inside of the room, swiftly shutting down all the machines, and attempting to take out the tubes.

Attempting.

The woman did not let them accomplish their goals. She kicked, screamed, before finally jumping out of the bed. "Leave me alone! I didn't do anything!"

"Miss, we won't hurt you, please stop what you're doing." One of the police officers calmly replied.

Before she could try to defend herself any further, the other officer came from around her, effortlessly shackling her. "Sorry ma'am, but you're coming with us."

The woman tried to push the officer away, but her futile attempts had no avail. There was no escaping from it, and she just had to... stop. The officers guided her toward the exit.

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement, miss." He commented, gesturing for the officers to walk forward. "Your sentence shouldn't be that long. Four years at most, three if the judges are in a good mood."

She didn't bother replying. He was right... 'How bad would those four years be anyway?' She thought as the policemen led her out of the room. The detective shortly followed them behind, before they eventually left the hospital.

-

The officers, alongside with the detective left the hospital, heading over to the parking lot with the woman. One of the officers walked up to a police car, getting inside and starting it up. The detective tapped the lady's shoulder. "Come on now, get inside." He said, opening up the back door for her. She obliged, taking the backseat.

The detective closed the door, and sat in the front seat, next to the driver. The other officer, for some reason, didn't enter the car. Perhaps he was part of the security guards in the hospital.

The driver backed out of the parking lot, positioning the car right on the main road. The car began accelerating forwards, with not much conversation going on through the journey.

The car eventually made it to what seemed to be a highway, with the silence still ongoing. The streets were empty. It was late at night, and only a few cars zoomed by every now and then. The lanes illuminated the highway, although quite a few of them were off.

The driver looked back at the woman, but for some reason... he didn't stop staring. His gaze was completely focused on her, it even got Detective Conor worried.

"Hey, hey, watch the road!" The detective exclaimed, bumping the driver.

The driver slowly shook his head, staring at the woman in shock. "No... Just lo—"

The blaring noises of an oncoming truck deafened the three, and before the driver could realize it, they slammed head-first into a truck.