Seeing Everything In A New Light

Azil woke up to deafening silence in a dark room. The window on the opposite end only shed a little bit of light which came from a faint crescent moon. The silence which he had craved so badly on his first day there made him feel unsettled in the present. He would have believed he had travelled to another world again if not for the fact that he could see the chair the doctor had been sitting on and her disorganized desk.

He reluctantly got off the couch, feeling more refreshed than before only to open the door and be hit by the bright, white electric lights lining the ceiling. It served as another reminder that he was far from home. 

"Ah you're awake." A woman with short cropped black hair looked at him who had been wandering around in a ghost-like way. She looked familiar and he felt the same sense of deja vu as when he saw the doctor. His eyes widened as he remembered that she was the one who had kindly offered him a cloth on his first day. 

"Good evening." He said, bowing stiffly. "Thank you for the cloth."

"Cloth?" She looked at him with an expression that told him she didn't know what he was talking about but she figured it out before he had the chance to elaborate. "Oh that, no worries. How are you feeling?"

"Better?" 

"That's good." She rummaged around her bag and handed him a strange silver metal block which he figured out was a phone almost immediately. His brain was quickly catching up with the vocabulary of the modern world though he still struggled with understanding its meaning sometimes. 

"This is your phone." She elaborated, "We managed to unlock it because there was an option to use your fingerprint. I hope you don't mind?"

"No..."

"We also tried contacting your parents to tell them about your memory loss but they were busy so you might get a call from them later. The doctor is also busy so for now, I was asked to take you to your house."

By her appearance, she was definitely dressed differently from his first day there. It looked like she was wearing more casual clothes instead of the white uniform that he saw some others also wearing. 

"Uh what's your name?"

The woman tilted her head. "It's Emmy."

"Were you waiting for me?" He continued, feeling bad. 

"Don't trouble yourself over it. The doctor told me to and I'm not busy."

Azil had never been good at talking to strangers so they went down the elevator in silence. When they reached the entrance, something he knew was called a 'cab' came up to them and Emmy gestured for him to get in.

Any desire he had to attempt conversation once they got in disappeared as he became engrossed in looking at the passing flashing lights and hundreds of unique buildings in awe. It was his first time seeing something like that at night.

He had only been in a car once before and that had been on his first day there when he was running late to the college. Speaking of which, a lot of things seemed to have happened then and he felt like he was forgetting something...Those thoughts didn't linger because Azil had never been the type to think deeply about encounters or the past. He was so absorbed in the journey he found it disappointing when it came to an end. 

They stepped out of the cab and Emmy exchanged something with the driver. Looking around, it seemed like they were in a quiet spot. There were some trees and neatly lined bushes around and a large antique building in front of him. 

"So do you remember anything now?"

Her voice startled him. How could he remember? It was his first time there. He pointed at the building before them, "Is that where I live?"

She shook her head and pointed to something that was a bit further away- a much flashier, taller building. "You share an apartment there with some other people."

"Then why did we stop here?"

She gave him an evaluating look, "I just wondered if it would help you remember."

"I see..." The awkwardness was back as they walked down a scenic route to the large building. She couldn't go with him as she didn't live there but she gave him clear instructions on where he was supposed to go. As she waved goodbye, there was another strange glint in her eyes and Azil couldn't help but feel a shiver as if she could see through him. 

No, it was likely just a misunderstanding. 

Walking in, he could tell at once that the complex was grand and much bigger than the college. He would have liked to take a look around but he had done enough looking around in the few days he had been there. Now, he just wanted to stay put somewhere.

"Hey, Rahey!" 

Azil had registered what his new name was a long time ago but it hadn't yet become a habit for him to respond to it so he ignored the loud voice from behind him. 

"What are you ignoring me for man?!"

That's when he finally had the sense to turn around. The person who called to him was slightly taller than him with messy hair and rumpled clothes. 

"Where did you disappear off to the past few days?"

"Hello." Azil started. Was this one of the people Emmy mentioned he lived with? If so then there was no way he could pretend like he knew him. 

"Huh? Why are you acting so weird?"

"I-" But he was cut off before he could say another word. 

"Well whatever. I actually lost my key somewhere so this is good timing."

Azil was at a loss for words. His supposed roommate was eccentric and too nonchalant. Going missing in his old life usually led to a long interrogation but this guy didn't even seem to care?! And wasn't losing the key to your apartment pretty bad?

"Uh yeah." Was all he had the mind to say.

Azil couldn't help but be worried about what awaited him.