AS SOON AS I PUT two and two together, everything seemed to happen so fast. Multiple people filled the room, removing the latches from my wrists and ankles to free me from the chair. None of them went to release Sydney but I remembered hearing her scream out my name. The fear in her voice was loud and clear but there was nothing I could do. What was I supposed to do? Amira calmly stepped to the side and the woman who brought her to us held her hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Harry!" Sydney continued to scream. "Where are you taking him?" No one responded. "Hey, hey! I'm talking to you!"

"No need to worry about that," Dr. Stanley said. "You only need to worry about yourself, Mrs. Walker."

"What does that mean?" I cut in, trying to get the men off me. "What are you about to do?"

Dr. Stanley never responded. The smile on his face only widened and he raised his left hand, moving it from side to side in a waving motion. Sydney pulled at her wrists as if the latches would suddenly come free without the key. I was lifted off the floor, two men carrying me by my arms and two carrying me by my legs. I screamed and I shouted for them to put me down but none of them listened. None of them understood.

We entered the hallway and Sydney's yells were drowned out once the door closed behind us. I threw my body around as much as I could in hopes that they would drop me and I could make a run for it but these men were stronger than they looked. Eventually, I gave up and allowed them to carry me wherever the hell they were taking me. My eyes looked up at the lights on the ceiling and I tried to focus on how bright this place was rather than me not being with Sydney or Amira.

"We're on the move," one of the men spoke. "Subject 213 is en route."

Subject 213.

My name was Lucas but I had grown to prefer Harry. Slowly, I closed my eyes and focused on how fast my heart was beating. At this point, I had no idea who I truly was. I was never an assassin and I never killed anyone. I was never assigned to take Sydney down and the people I thought were my friends never existed. How was I supposed to move on from that? I felt as if someone grabbed my brain and shook it a good hundred times before shoving it back into my skull.

Life was overrated.

Like...honestly.

It truly was.

Another door was opened and they carried me inside, tossing me on a high bed with white sheets and white pillows. I sat up and immediately rose to my feet, ready to fight my way out of here. One of the men shook his head at me and reached for his waist, a gun waiting patiently in his belt.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you," he snarled. "We have strict orders to put you down if you disobey. You may have survived the experiment but don't come back a fool."

I held my hands out in front of me as an act of defense as I sat back down on the bed and I pulled my knees up to my chest, rocking back and forth slightly. What was the point of bringing me here?

"Lucas Walker," a woman's voice stood out and I looked up to see her stepping inside of the room. "My, my, my, welcome back to the land of the living."

"I wasn't dead." I frowned.

"No, of course not," she grinned. "But you were out for so long that I thought you and your friend wouldn't make it through the entire experiment."

"My friend?"

"Gwen, I believe her name is."

"Oh, you mean my wife."

Her smile widened, "Of course, my apologies."

"What am I doing in here?"

"You just need to be caught up on your shots," she shrugged her shoulders. "I wasn't allowed to give you the required medication your body needs during the procedure because...well...it would have tampered with the results." She walked across the room and I saw multiple syringes waiting to be filled with medicine. "This won't take long at all. I heard you were reunited with your little one. How was that?"

I shifted uncomfortably on the bed, "Fine."

"She's a sweet girl. I was able to get to know her when she came in for her shots a few weeks back. Very chatty, too, that one. She stayed an extra half hour just to tell me about the new dress she got. I believe she said something about it being covered with butterflies and she couldn't wait to go outside and see the real ones." The woman paused and shook her head slightly. "If only the air was good enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Pollution," she sighed and started wiping my arm down with an alcohol wipe. "It's gotten bad over the past year or so. One step outside and you're done for. You start to burn from the inside out and you suffocate. It's not a pretty sight." I watched as her hands shook a bit as she explained the condition of the outside world. "However, there are oxygen masks for us to wear if we have to go outside. For instance, I have a team who goes out and gets supplies for me so I can help keep everyone healthy and in perfect shape. All right, Lucas, you're going to feel a little—" She stuck me with the needle. "—pinch."

The medicine was injected into my bloodstream and I watched the blue liquid rush out of the syringe. I never once questioned what this was for exactly because it never once crossed my mind. I just wanted to hurry up and get the hell out of here. She sat the syringe down and picked up the next one. Without warning, she stuck me with it and I winced at the feeling. The men who brought me in here watched with cautious eyes, ready to use their guns against me if I made one wrong move. Why were they so quick to put me down when I survived the number one experiment people were dying from? I assumed they would have wanted to keep me alive, not kill me the first chance they got.

"All done."

Two band-aids were placed on my arm and I was given a glass of water. I stared at my somewhat reflection in the clear liquid and refused to drink any of it. I just held onto the glass and waited for the right opportunity to sit it down somewhere.

"Amira is waiting for you. I'm sure she's more than excited to see her father again."

A lump formed in my throat, "And what about Sydney?"

"Who?"

"Gwen," I corrected myself.

The woman smiled at me, "Did I tell you how smart your daughter is?"

"No, but—"

"She's one of the smartest children I've ever come across. Oh, my, and she's so creative! I wonder which side of the family she got that from." I was suddenly lifted off the bed and forced into standing position. "If you feel a little lightheaded or dizzy at all, don't hesitate to let someone know so they can bring you back to me. Your body is used to not taking any medicine and it might try to fight against what I gave you. Then again, you've made it this far so your immune system must be strong. Hopefully, you won't have to come back anytime soon until it's time for your next checkup."

Two hands pushed my back and I stumbled forward in the direction of the door. It automatically opened and I stepped out in the hall, wrapping my arms around myself as I was suddenly cold. Two guards stood in front of me while the other two stayed behind me. I obeyed and followed the two in front of me down the hall. Amira was waiting for me and if I could not see Sydney, my daughter was going to the only company for me right now.

We approached a black door that had to be opened with a key. Once it was unlocked, I was pushed inside and the door slammed shut behind me. There was a long, wooden table in the center of the room with chairs sitting on either side. A pitcher of water sat on the table but there was only one glass. Water was already in it and I assumed someone already used the glass. Soft giggles filled the room and I knew I was not alone.

I sat on the opposite side of the room, watching my little girl spin around on her two little feet with a bright smile on her face. She did not look the slightest bit concerned about me and she never once asked why I was gone for so long. Did she already know what had happened? I wondered if she had any idea most of my memories were gone and she was the only one that was true. Placing my hands flatly on the wooden table in front of me, I focused on my unsteady breathing. It was hard to process everything that had previously happened. My life had taken an unexpected sharp turn and making a u-turn was unacceptable.

As I ran a tired hand down my face, Amira stopped spinning and tilted her head to the side as she stared at me with those blue eyes of hers. I blinked and she copied my action not even a second later. It took her a moment to sit down in the other chair but when she finally sat down, she began playing with her curls and not giving me any of her attention. I wanted to enjoy this moment and enjoy having my daughter back but there was no way I could enjoy this without having Sydney right by my side. She was supposed to be enjoying this with me. We were both supposed to be here together. I had no idea why they held her back and that made my heart beat at an unsteady pace.

"My second mommy said staring is rude."

Her small voice was barely audible and it took me a minute to realize she was talking to me. Why would she not? I was the only other person in the room. She was no longer playing with her beautiful, bouncy curls. Her eyes were glued on me and the corner of her mouth twitched upward into a half smile. I tucked some of my hair behind my ears and cleared my throat.

"Second...mother?"

"She's nice," Amira continued. "She likes to give me cookies after bedtime but she sometimes gets in big trouble because of it."

"Amira, you don't have a—"

"Dr. Stanley told me Bria would be my new mommy if my real mommy didn't come back to me." She paused and rapidly blinked her eyes. "Mommy came back to me, after all, didn't she, Daddy?"

I closed my mouth and studied my daughter for a moment. The sadness in her eyes was clear and I just wanted to hug her. I wanted to forget about everything else, wrap my arms around this little girl, and just escape this cruel world. How hard was that? Amira stood up on her chair and placed her hands on her hips before smiling at me.

"You look funny."

I wanted to make her laugh and I wanted to make her happy but it just seemed nearly impossible. I was so worried about Sydney that I barely gave Amira any attention. She was trying to get me to talk to her but my mind just was not there. Something about this did not feel right. I was on the edge of my seat and I was ready to jump up at any given time. I was alert when I did not need to be. The life I thought I lived was no more and I had to readjust to this new life. I had to—

A small pair of arms wrapped around me and squeezed, giving me a semi-tight hug filled with much emotion. I looked down to see Amira's head of curls and she was hugging me with all her might. Slowly moving my head to the side, I saw her eyes squeezed shut and the biggest smile on her face. A single dimple dug into her left cheek and her nose twitched slightly.

"You're in pain," she finally spoke. "Daddy, what did they do to you?"

My heart nearly stopped at her question. Had they not filled her in on what happened to her mother and I? Was she not aware of the torture we had to go through? A part of me did not want her to know what her parents had experienced but another part of me did. We could have died and what would have happened to Amira if we had? She removed her arms from around me and went back to spinning around the room. I cupped my chin in my hands and took a deep breath. She looked so happy, so free, so unaware.

My daughter was trapped in her own little world and bringing her back to reality was going to be hell.

"Daddy?" Amira forced herself to stop spinning and a couple curls dangled back and forth in front of her eyes.

"Y-Yes?" I blinked at her.

"Are you going to leave me again?"

My jaw dropped slightly at her question and I was tempted to go to her and wrap my arms around her little body. Her lips turned downward in a frown and her little hands balled into fists at her sides.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because," she allowed herself to drop into sitting position on the floor. "You and Mommy left me all alone and...and Mr. Stanley said you might not come back and...and I was the color blue."

"The color blue," I repeated.

"Sad," she nodded her head. "I didn't want you to go but you came back!" Her frown faltered a bit. "Are you and Mommy going to leave again? Because...Because you just got back and Bria told me life is too short to wait on...on false promises."

"False promises?"

"You promised you would come back."

"And I did, didn't I?" I said, although I had no memory of promising her.

Amira roughly nodded her head and giggled and stood up to run across the room. She threw her arms around me for the second time and buried her head against my chest. I returned the hug and sat my chin on top of her head. My vision began to blur as my eyes watered and I squeezed them shut, tightening our hug. I never knew how much I missed this. I never knew how much these little hugs meant to me until now. I thought Amira was just another potential memory and I thanked God she was real. Out of everything I thought was real, I was glad to know a piece of it was my reality.

She was the product of the woman I loved and I.

"And you promise to stay?" she murmured against my chest.

"I promise."

"We can play cards like we used to. I've gotten better!"

"We played cards?"

"Yes!" she chirped. "You taught me, remember?"

A sharp pain formed in my chest at her question. I did not want to tell her I had no memories of our past but I did not want to lie to her, either. Instead, I just kissed her forehead and ruffled her hair. She threw her hands up, swatting at me and squealing at the top of her lungs. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she squealed and her blue eyes shined with glee.

The door leading to the room suddenly opened and a woman entered, quietly shutting the door behind her. It was the same woman who took care of Amira all this time. My daughter perked up at the sight of her and I felt jealous. Tugging my bottom lip between my teeth, I looked down at my lap and wondered what the hell was going on.

"Bria!" Amira cheered, running over towards her.

"Ssh," the woman put a finger up to her lips. "I have important things to discuss with your father." She quickly turned her head to look at me. "We have to make this quick. The clock is ticking and we do not have much time."

My eyebrows rose, "Excuse me?"

She moved away from the door and looked around as if someone was watching us, "I am not supposed to be here with you, but someone had to come tell you the truth."

"The truth?" I straightened my posture. "Did you come to tell me about Syd—my wife?"

Her voice was barely audible but I was able to catch every word.

"Gwen is the least of your worries, Mr. Walker."

"What the fuck? Why won't anyone tell me anything about—"

"There is a way for you to get your memories back, Lucas, and we have to move now if you're willing to get them back."

"And Gwen? What about—"

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I'm afraid your wife is unavailable."

"What does that even mean?" I asked through gritted teeth.

The woman looked around nervously, "Your wife volunteered herself for the second part of the experiment, Mr. Walker, back when the two of you volunteered for the first."

"I...I don't understand."

"I'm sorry to say this but your wife isn't going to be quite the same," she pinched the bridge of her nose. "They're going to fry her brain completely and start her over from scratch, somewhat rebuild her. She isn't going to remember the first experiment at all nor will she remember you or Amira or anything."

"What are you saying?"

"She's gone, Mr. Walker," she whispered. "She is no longer considered a human, but a weapon for this country."