I woke with a start. My palms were sweaty and my mind was running in circles. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to my surroundings. Light shone from a nearby window that had its curtain slightly drawn open. I could see the moon. She looked beautiful, as always.
I sat up in bed and suddenly realised that the sheets covering me were not mine. The bed was not mine. The pictures that decorated the walls of the room did not belong to me.
Nothing in the room did.
Where am I, I thought to myself.
Memories from a few hours ago – though I was not sure how long I was out for – flooded my brain.
"Nick?" I whisper-yelled.
I slipped out of bed in a hurry. The door to the room was ajar, allowing a bit of light inside. I made my out of the room and walked down the long corridor that led to a spiral staircase.
"Oh for sheep's sake," I groaned, dreading the flight of stairs that awaited me.
I began my descent, peeking down every once in a while to see if I was anywhere near the end. Suddenly, a feeling of familiarity coursed through my whole body, sending me stumbling back.
"Nox!" A deep, unfamiliar voice said from behind me. A pair of strong hands held me upright, and I turned on my feet.
I didn't know who the pair of emerald eyes belonged to but they looked familiar. Straight brown hair that also fell on the front of his face sat atop the head of the stranger. My eyes traveled down to his lips that were rosey and plump.
The stranger's figure was tall. And built.
"Uh...," I struggled to find the right words.
"Downstairs. Now." The stranger said, brushing past me.
I saw something in his eyes. Anger. But I wasn't so sure if that anger was directed at me.
Moving faster, I continued my descent and finally found myself in an open area. I scanned the place and found myself staring at the front door.
I could run. Get out and go back to my "normal" life. What was I thinking standing in some stranger's home without any hint of fear.
This is home, a voice in my head whispered.
"Nox."
That name. I didn't understand why but it irked me.
"It's Nancy," I said sternly, turning around.
I blinked twice at the sight before me. There were two Nicks. One was the Nick I knew from the cafeteria, and the other was the Nick I had met on the stairs. One had welcoming eyes, and the other had hardened eyes.
"Sorry," Cafeteria-Nick said. "Habit."
My eyes traveled to the other Nick. As if my eyes had spoken for themselves, he cleared his throat and said, "Name's Nicholas. We're twins."
Something about his voice made my stomach flutter.
"Where am I? What's going on? Am I being kidnapped?" I asked, piling the questions on top of each other, not giving either of them the opportunity to speak.
Nicholas walked up to me and cast a worried glance. The expression faded in a nanosecond.
"Do you remember what Nick told you?" He inquired with a clipped tone.
"Y-yeah."
"Have the memories come back?"
"No."
He ran a hand down his mouth and cursed under his breath.
"They'll come back, but for now," he looked at Nick and then at me, " you'll have to believe us."
"I can't just believe that I am some sort of rebellious goddess."
"You can."
"And that Nick is my boyfriend."
"Yes, you can."
"And that you—you are what? I don't even know who you are!"
"I'm the fiancé you left."
Nicholas's gaze softened and it stayed like that. My words felt heavy on my tongue as I slowed my breathing. I didn't know if the right thing to do was apologising or keeping quiet. I did neither.
"Sheep." I "cursed" out loud.
"Look Nox – Nancy," Nicholas grabbed my wrist, forcing me to face him. "I want to be pissed off with you right now but I don't have the energy or the heart. I need you to believe me –" he paused and gestured to Nick – "us because your life and Nick's live depends on you."
"Why me?" I laughed flatly.
"Because you hid the bodies, Nancy." Nick spoke up for the first time.
Nicholas moved out of my way as Nick walked up to me.
"What?" I could feel my eyes bulging out of their sockets. "Me? I have the memory of a goldfish."
Nick furrowed his brows in annoyance while Nicholas let out a quiet laugh.
"Nancy, this isn't the time for your jokes. We need those bodies." The happy looking boy I had met in the cafeteria a couple of days ago had changed. He had lost all his glimmer.
"Jokes aside, Nick," I said. "I don't remember what the sheep either of you are on about, and you somehow expect me to remember were I hid two human bodies. Do you hear how crazy that sounds?"
"Let's all just calm down," Nicholas waved his hands up and down in the air. "Nick, be reasonable. Nancy, just try harder."
I searched my brain, every clean and dusty corner of it, for something that would help us. Nothing came to me. The only memories that I had stored in my head were of the moon, Moosh, and Nick.
"Nanc –" Nick began, but I cut him off.
"I can't remember anything!" I snapped. "Okay?!"
"You dragged me into this mess!" Nick yelled. "And you are sure as hell getting me out of it. For once in your life, use your brain for something useful."
"Hey!" Nicholas shot his brother an angry look. "Watch your mouth."
This wasn't the Nick I knew. This wasn't the Nick I had spent days thinking about.
"We're calling it a night." Nicholas said in a commanding voice. "We'll talk about this tomorrow."
Nick huffed and pushed past me before making his way up the spiral staircase.
"Don't mind him," Nicholas chuckled. "He's actually a nice person."
That's what I thought a few days ago, I thought.
"Sure."
"Come on," Nicholas nodded his head in the direction of the stairs. "You're sleeping with me."
I came to a sudden halt. "Excuse me?"
"I'll sleep on the floor, Nox," Nicholas sighed. "I don't have the energy to explain to you why you can't sleep alone."
"But I've been sleeping alone for –"
Nicholas cut me off. "No, you haven't. Now, come on up and I'll explain everything to you tomorrow."
I gulped and followed Nicholas up the stairs.
Even though I didn't remember him, my heart did.