"I'm finding out more about myself as I go along. And if I don't like something, what better time to change it?" Irene said, shrugging her arm.
"Oh, that's a cool way of looking at it. Well, either way, you seem like someone I'd like to know better. Maybe we can go out sometime? I mean, hah, sorry. Maybe this is a little sudden. You probably have a lot to deal with after what happened," Roman blabbered on, while Irene looked at him, amused.
"Actually, until I get my memories back, not really," Irene said, making Roman let out a small laugh.
"Well, I won't make you answer right now. Maybe we should get to know each other a little better first," Roman said, and Irene nodded at him.
Roman continued, "Anyway, I gotta go… Mr. Brown called my parents after what happened in class and they want me to spend the rest of the day at home. Maybe a bit of an overreaction, but I'm not going to complain. Later, Irene, oh, and Amelia, Tristan. See you around." Roman walked away, while Tristan watched his retreating figure with a frown on his face.
After Roman left, Amelia stood still in shock. "Wow! He knew our names," Amelia shrieked happily, while Tristan scowled.
"That's a 'wow' factor now? The bar is so low," Tristan jeered, while Roman's mention of parents left Irene with the question she kept forgetting to demand a straight answer about.
"Hey, is anyone going to tell me where my parents are?" Irene asked, and Amelia's and Tristan's expressions paled. There was silence for a moment until Tristan pulled his car keys from his pocket.
"It'll be easier to show you than to just tell you. Let's go for a ride, huh?" Tristan commented, and Irene nodded as she followed Tristan, while Amelia sighed and ran after them.
*****
A few minutes later, Tristan pulled into the driveway of Blackwood Cemetery, and Irene felt her heart start to sink.
After Tristan parked his car, they led her to side-by-side plots with her parents' names and lifespan in neat engraving: 'Tom and Lila.'
Irene felt lost even though she couldn't remember what they were like.
"Three years ago, we lost your parents in a car crash. The examiner said they died on impact. It was a miracle we didn't lose you, too," Tristan revealed.
"They left the house to Aunt Ashley. She got custody of you and moved into the house with your Uncle Diego. Er, I mean—I guess he's not technically your uncle. And I forgot that they split up. Never mind. Forget I just mentioned him," Amelia added.
"It's okay. Detective Diego, right? I just found out who he was this morning. He's the detective assigned to my case, I guess. Aunt Ashley was really upset about it. Why didn't anyone just tell me, though?" Irene said, glancing between her two friends.
"Isn't it obvious? We didn't want to be the ones to make you lose your parents a second time," Tristan said, and Amelia nodded in agreement.
"I think we were just hoping that the memory would just come back naturally on its own," Amelia commented.
"It's okay, I get it. Every time I bring up something painful from the past, you guys have to relive that, too. That can't be easy," Irene said, her hands moving to rub her parents' tomb.
"Maybe, but we're still sorry. We should have been honest with you. We're going to be, from now on. So, there's something you should know," Tristan said, while Amelia shook her head, communicating with her eyes to Tristan not to tell Irene, but Tristan ignored her and continued, "The night you disappeared, you weren't acting like yourself."
"Not like myself? Like I was on drugs?" Irene asked.
"Huh? No! You said you found out something about your parents."
"Tristan, I don't know if now is the right time—" Amelia trailed off when Irene cut her off.
"No, tell me, Tristan. What did I find out?" Irene asked.
"You didn't give us much information. All you said was that you finally knew who had killed them."
"But how does that make sense? You told me they died in a car crash," Irene said, as she looked between Tristan and Amelia.
"Exactly," Tristan commented.
"It didn't make any sense," Amelia chirped.
"It still doesn't. If someone was trying to kill your parents, why would they do it when you were at risk too? And why would they keep you alive?" Tristan remarked.
"But if I thought I'd found out who had done it, it makes sense why someone might try to get rid of me, like they did the night I disappeared," Irene stated.
"But why would they have? I don't know... finish the job?" Amelia said with furrowed brows.
"Killed me, you mean? That's what I don't understand. Something's going on here. We need to figure out what it is," Irene replied.
"But it might be dangerous," said Amelia.
"Come on, Amelia. This is Irene we're talking about here. She's going to get to the bottom of this one way or another. We can either help her, or we can let things end up like they did last time. We should try to reconstruct the last twenty-four hours before you were discovered," Tristan said, and Irene nodded her head.
"Great. How do we do that?"
"Since you don't have any memories of the event, we retrace your steps by questioning who saw you where and at what time. And we visit the crime scene," Tristan suggested, and a thoughtful look appeared on Irene's face.
"In the Silver Tower? I have a feeling we might have some trouble getting access," Irene said, and Tristan waved her off.
"Well, it just so happens that my cousin works as a security guard there. Maybe I can talk him into letting us in," Tristan said, and Irene flashed him a smile.
"Wait, wait, wait. I don't think this is a good idea," Amelia said, and Irene shifted her eyes from Tristan to her.
"Why not?" Irene questioned.
"So you get into the Silver Tower, and then what? They've probably cleaned up anything that might have been there. I hate to say this, but you might be better off talking to Detective Diego about what was found there," Amelia said, making Irene frown at her words.
"No, I can't! He thinks I'm faking my amnesia," Irene said, shaking her head.
"What? He said that?" Amelia exclaimed, and when Irene nodded, she continued, "Well, fine, scratch that plan then. But why the tower? It doesn't seem safe. What could you possibly get from going there?"
"A clue. Anything," Irene answered.
"But what if your aunt finds out, Irene?" Amelia said fearfully, and Tristan threw a glare in her direction.
"Are you threatening to tell her what we're up to?" Tristan said, gazing intently at Amelia.
"What? No."
"Look, Amelia, we could sit around here and do nothing, or we could do something and at least be able to say we tried. Nobody's forcing you to come with us. You can check in with us later if you're so concerned—" Tristan paused when Amelia cut him off.
"No! Fine. I'll go with you guys."
"Great. It's settled then," Irene said with a clap of her hands, while Tristan nodded as he took out his phone and texted his cousin about it.
A minute later, Tristan's phone dinged with a message, and when he read the content, he looked up at Irene. "He says we can meet up with him later tonight after he starts his shift."
Irene nodded, then the three of them stood up as they walked away from the cemetery and entered Tristan's car, with the plan to meet up later that night.