AN//: Hello guys. I know it's been a while but I've been extremely busy. My cousin is getting married on Friday and I am a bridesmaid (yay) and so I've been bust helping her out. I'm also going away for a week or so due to the wedding and won't be able to update. I'm also going to a music festival on the weekend I get back and so I will literally be unreachable for the week and a half or so. I'm really sorry guys but I haven't forgotten you guys. And so for being rubbish with updates and leaving you guys, I have updated with the next two chapters as a gift to you guys.:-) I'm also really sad to say that I think there is only one chapter left and then the Epilogue.:-( Thank you all so much for sticking with this story, reading, voting, commenting and fanning.

Chapter Thirty Three.

Alena stood in front of the large double bed that didn't belong to her but the man she had first woken up to; who she had learnt went by the name Samuel.

In the few days after she had woken up in the hospital she had learnt that she had amnesia caused by psychological trauma from the animal attack she had been told that she was involved in. The animal attack explained why there was three long gashes going down her back, from one shoulder to the other hip, the wound had to be cleaned and dressed three times day so that it wouldn't get infected.

It also explained why she couldn't remember anything. When she had woken up she didn't know what her name was, how old she was, who her family and friends were, she didn't know anything about herself or who she was. It was difficult for her to understand and those around her but the doctor has told them all that it was her body's way of protecting itself from the trauma she had gone through. The doctor has also told her and everyone else that she may or may not recover her memories.

The knowledge that she may never recover from the animal attack, that she may never remember who she was, who her family and friends are and what she did had brought her to tears. Those that had been in the hospital room at the time had been asked to leave while she processed what she had been told.

She knew that her name was Alena Brown and she was seventeen years old, attending her first year at sixth-form at the local college. She lived with her parents but for the week before the attack she had been staying at a close family friends communal house because her has was having a kitchen fitted which meant that the electric and water weren't constantly on and her parents had thought that it would be best if they moved out and into a friend's house.

Alena had been told that she went for an evening walk in the woods that surrounded her parent's friend's house when she had been attacked by a wolf. She was informed that the wolf had come out of nowhere an attacked her with the intention of killing her but Samuel had been close by an attacked the wolf with sticks, scaring it off and carrying her injured body back to the house where she was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

Alena hated the fact that she couldn't remember her parents. She saw how happy they looked when they rushed into her hospital room after hearing that she was awake only to be disappointed as they realised that she had no idea who they were. It was clear to her that she had been related to them both; she looked just like her dad but with her mums feminine features. She was an exact replica of them and yet she couldn't remember the two people that had spent the last seventeen years of her life and there's looking after her.

She had learnt in the few days that she had been kept in hospital that the man she had first seen when she had woken up was Samuel. She had been told that they were close friends and that she was also close friends with the other two boys she had seen, Daniel and Dean who were in the year above her at school and her closer friends. Samuel and Daniel were brothers and their family was close with her own.

Many people had visited her in hospital after she had woken up and she hadn't been able to remember any of them, some had been school friends whilst others had been close family friends. She knew that everyone had hoped that she would at least be able to remembered someone but she hadn't and disappointment had rolled off of them all as she politely smiled and thanked them for coming.

A small frown took over her face as she starred at the packed bags on top of the large double bed that wasn't hers. She was in the room that she had been staying in before the attack, she had been staying in it with Samuel and she knew that they hadn't been close friends as everyone had told her. She didn't know what had gone on between them but she knew that it had been serious. He hadn't left her side since she woke up from the hospital, he had only left when he had been forced to whilst she spoke privately with the doctors and nurses.

Even though she couldn't remember who she was she could still feel the invisible connection between her and Samuel, a force that attracted her to him and him to be attracted to her. She had seen it in the way that she often caught Samuel starring at her, intensity in his chocolate brown eyes that caused her to blush and look away, an emotion so raw of his face and in his eyes that had her heart racing in her chest. She couldn't explain how she felt around Samuel, a stranger to her but she felt so safe when he was with her which was almost always, she felt so warm and protected and something else that she couldn't explain.

She had been discharged from hospital earlier that morning with instructions to not over-work herself with exercise or stress, to regularly clean and redress the wound on her back with fresh bandages that wrapped around her entire middle, she had been instructed to take two pain killers with a glass of water after every meal. She had also been told that she couldn't return back to school for a while and that she would have to visit the hospital every five days for regularly check-up and to see if there was any improvement on her memory.

She herself was disappointed and frustrated along with everyone else that she couldn't remember anything. She hated the fact that she couldn't remember who she was or what she did. Every day she was surrounded by people she couldn't remember while they talked about her life and what she did. It was as if they were talking about another person, to her they were talking about a different person.

She was no longer the girl that they had obviously loved, the girl they often described to her with huge smiles on their faces. That wasn't her that was the girl she had been before she got attacked by an animal and gotten amnesia and no longer knew herself.

A knock at the door to Samuel's bedroom pulled her out of her thoughts as she wrapped her arms tightly around her middle as the door opened to reveal Samuel, "I thought I'd come and help you pack but I can see that you've already finished."

She heard the sadness in his tone, she could see on his face how much her memory loose was cause him pain. When she had woken up she had seen that he was a mess as he held onto her hands and cupped her face as if she was holding him to the earth, he had been unshaven and had purple bags under his eyes whilst his hair stuck out in all different direction. As Samuel stood a few feet away from her she looked him up from his blonde head of hair to his sock covered feet, a pair of jeans hung loosely on his hips whilst a jumper covering his built upper body. It was his face that had her looking away and to the bags on the bed, he had yet to shave the stubble on his face and his eyes looked lost, the bright chocolate colour that she had woken up to had long gone and now replaced with a dull brown almost black colour. Samuel looked tired, withdrawn from the life he had obviously had and she knew deep within her that she was the cause of his pain.

"I think I've got everything," she spoke softly as she hugged herself tighter, "not that I know what's mine."

"I'll have a quick look around," he offered as he stepped further into the room.

She stood awkwardly by the bed, with her arms wrapped around herself in a comforting manner whilst she watched Samuel look around his room. He looked in the bathroom connected to his room, on the floor and under the bed before he headed over to his draws where he opened each one. She could see him searching through one draw before he pulled out a few t-shirts and shut the draw.

"These are yours." He told her as he took a few steps before stopping.

It had become apparent that she had once been happy with physical contact, especially between her and Samuel but now she couldn't help but flinch away or take a step back when someone tried to touch her. She didn't know why she had such a reaction to physical contact but she knew that everyone else did and she had put it down to the fact that it was because of the animal attack. She could see that Samuel desperately wanted to touch her, to hug her and hold her close but she couldn't help but shudder at the thought.

"They look like yours." Her voice timid as she looked into his eyes before starring at the t-shirts he held in his out stretched hand. It was clear that they were his; they were obviously male and too big to fit her.

"You used to wear them to sleep in and after a while I gave them to you," he shrugged as if it didn't matter but she saw something flash in his eyes, "please just take them."

"Okay." She whispered. She had never heard someone from what she could remembered from the past few days sound so broken but something tugged at her heart as she heard Samuel plead with her to take his shirts.

"Thank you." He nodded his head as he placed them on the bed next to her bag.

She stiffly unwrapped her arms from herself and began to fold the shirts as quickly as he could before placing them in her bag and zipping it closed. She had checked the room a number of times for item of her clothing, or items of clothing that girls would wear and Samuel had also checked the room. She knew that nothing of hers was left in the room.

"Your parents are down stairs waiting." He told her as she grabbed the handles on the bag and pulled if off the bed.

She didn't know what to say so she just nodded her head and headed towards the bedroom door. She could hear Samuel walking closely behind her as she hurried out of the room. She could feel that the room held many memories for both her and Samuel and although she couldn't remember them it was clear that they were important.

As they made their way downstairs they passed many people who smiled politely at her, theirs eyes held sorrow and what she knew as pity which had her looking away. In the few days that she had been awake she had seen many people look at her with pity.

"They're they are." A voice called from the bottom of the stairs as she looked to see Daniel stood with his parents at the door. Her own parents, Lisa and Paul stood beside them with their bags at their feet; they all smiled warmly at her as she stepped off of the bottom step and stood so that she was a little way away from her parents. The distance that she had put between them caused her parents to frown slightly; she looked away and to the floor as she placed her heavy bag on the ground.

"Thank you for allowing us to stay here while our kitchen was being fitted." Lisa said and she could hear the smile in her mum's voice.

"Yes, thank you." Paul agreed.

"You're more than welcome," Marie said, "please come back anytime you feel like it. You're always welcome."

She could feel all of theirs eyes on her as she awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other, her arms around her middle. She had developed the habit whilst she had been in hospital; it had comforted her when she had been surrounded by strangers. She had been careful not to touch the bandaged gashed on her back every time she did so.

"Well, I guess we'll see you soon." Lisa sighed.

Alena could hear the shuffled around as her parents grabbed their bags from the floor and hugged or shook hands with Samuel's and Daniel's parents. She bent down to pick up her bag when it was snatched out of her grasp. She gasped quietly whilst taking a step back as she looked up to see Samuel watching her closely as he held her bag in a tight grip.

"I'll carry it out for you." He told her.

"I hope you feel better soon Alena," Frank spoke to her causing her to stop in the doorway as she looked over her shoulder to see that he was staring at her whilst he had Marie tucked safely under his arm. She knew that there was another meaning to his words; he also hoped that she remembered her past soon.

She nodded her head before ducking out of the house before they could stop her in her track anymore. The bitter winter area surrounded her as she hugged her jacket closer to her body, and walked down the porch steps and onto the gravel. Her mum was already in the passenger seat of the car whilst her dad put their bags into the boat of the car. 

Samuel quickly walked past her and placed her bag into the boat of the car before he turned and walked to where she had paused by the open door to the back of the car. She didn't know why she had paused but an ache in her chest had her drawing in a shuddering breath and it wasn't from the cold.

It felt wrong to be leaving the house, to be leaving Samuel. The pull she felt between herself and Samuel seemed to strengthen in a desperate attempt to keep them in close proximity of each other. She was confused with all the conflicting emotions ragging within her, she wanted to stay with Samuel and his large family but the logical part of her wanted to go home, her real home with her parents. She didn't understand as to why it felt as if Samuel's communal house was her home.

"I'll come a visit you as often as I can." He told her as he stood in front of her with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"You don't have to," she told him softly, watching as her breath formed a cloud in front of her face.

"I want to." He insisted as she looked up to see that he was staring at her, emotions flashing across his face as if he was having an internal argument.

"Okay," she whispered, "I've got to go, bye."

"Bye." Samuel whispered as he took a few feet away from the car. She hurried into the back seat, shutting the door narrowly missing getting her foot caught in the door as she buckled in her seatbelt. She could still feel Samuel watching her through the window as she starred a head of her.

"Are you readying to go home sweetie?" Lisa asked from the front as she looked up to see her smiling softly at her.

"Let's go." She whispered hearing the engine purr to life as Paul turned around in front of the house and began to drive down the gravelled drive way.

A feeling overcame her being, a sort of emptiness that she hadn't felt before burned in side of her as she looked around and starred out the back window. Her blue eyes locking with Samuel's brown ones as he stood in the middle of the drive way, a hopeless look overcame his face as she continued to stare until she could no longer see him.

"Are you okay?" Lisa asked from the front as she twisted back in her seat so that she could look out the window as they drove past the woods, the same woods that she had been attacked in by an animal, the same woods that had caused her to forget who she was and those around her.

"I'm fine." She said softly as she wiped away a tear that has escaped from the corner of her eye.

The drive was silent, filled with a comfortable silence as Alena starred out the window as they paced through a town that she had lived in all her life. Everywhere they passed registered in her mind but she couldn't ember any of it.

As the car stopped and they all climbed out of the car she looked up at the house in front of her. It was an old converted barn with a small front garden decorated with flowers that were hibernating for the window; a small cobbled path separated the garden into two. The house itself was large with many windows being seen from the front, lights were switched on inside creating a homely feeling that comforted her.

"Home sweet home." Paul spoke from the back of the car as she tore her gaze away from the house to see her parents looking at her.

"Home sweet home." She repeated with a small smile.

Her parents smiled back at her as Alena took her bag from her parents and headed in to the house behind her parents. It was warm inside as she shut the front door behind her and looked around the hallway. She felt at ease for the first time in what felt like forever as she kicked off her shoes and breathed in deeply, the off woodsy smell comforting her as she opened her eyes that she hadn't realised she had closed.

"I'm going to my room." She called to her parents that had gone in to the front room.

"I'll call you when dinner ready." Lisa called back.

Alena didn't reply as she took hold of her bag and headed up stairs and onto the landing. She opened every door that she paced, hoping for some sort of indicate that it was hers. She had opened a door to the bathroom, a door to her parents room, a cupboards filled with towels before she found her room.

As she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, flicking on the light as she stopped by the door, taking in the room she had spent seventeen years calling her bedroom, her private haven. It was relatively large bedroom with a double bed in the centre with bedside tables on each side, a desk with a laptop in the corner, another desk with a mirror and make-up products sat on top, a wardrobe in another and a door slightly open so that she could see a bathroom with a bath. The room had three walls painted light blue and another white with purple curtains and purple bedding. It was nicely decorated with little trinkets placed all around the room.

She walked further into the room to see and entire wall covered in photos feature many people and herself as she stepped closer to get a better look. The photos featured the same people in many different places with little bits of writing written underneath about the photo and who it was with.

Alena eyed one photo closely. It was one with herself and another girl, their arms wrapped around each other as they laughed at the exact moment the picture was taken. It was clear that she was close with the red headed girl as featured in most of the pictures. She read the caption, 'Me and Lucy- first day of Year Twelve'.

As she looked at the photos she saw a note book from the corner of her eye. She may not remember who the people were but the photos would help her find out more about herself, her friends and who she was. She grabbed the notebook and searched the draws of the desk until she found some scissors and glue that she through on the rug on the floor before walking back over to the photos.

She took everyone one off of the wall with great care, trying not to rip them as she collected them in one hand. It wasn't long before she had all the photos piled up in one hand and the wall now empty and bare in front of her.  She placed them on the floor next to the glue and scissors before shrugging out of her jacket and throwing it at the end of her bed. She sat down on the floor with her legs cross, the note book in front of her with the pages that had already been written on torn out and placed to the side.

For the next few hours Alena spent her time cutting and sticking the photos in the notebook, writing captions and information she had found about each photo and the person in it. With each knew photo and caption she found out more about herself and what she liked doing. In most of the photos was the girl Lucy who she had realised was her best friend and that they were practically inseparable. She hadn't seen Lucy in the hospital and wonder where she was and why she hadn't visited her as the photos showed a close friendship. Samuel was in a few as well as Daniel and Dean, a few others that she recognised from visiting her in the hospital.

"Alena, tea's on the table." Lisa called from down stairs. Alena looked at the now full notebook in front of her with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Coming."