You decided to take a leap of faith and type in the address. Taking a deep breath, you turn and follow where your phone leads you, butterflies swarming in your stomach. Ten minutes later, you're standing before a building with a Closed sign in the door. You rush up to it, the red paint old and chipping, and try to peer inside. There are lace curtains blocking most of your view, but you can't see anyone in that room.

You dart around to the side, a cold breeze beginning to blow and you shiver slightly. You've never been one for the cold.

You stiffen as you realize you've found something else about yourself. Will all your memories come back eventually?

There's a side door in the small alley with the address on a metal plate, the address you're looking for. You slam your hand against the door, praying someone is there, when you hear someone walking up from your left.

"You tryin' to get in there?"

The voice sends a chill up your spine as you turn to see two big guys lumbering slowly toward you. One is wider at the waist while the other is tall, all skin and bones.

"Ain't seen nobody come out of there all morning," the tall one says, shaking his head as he staggers up. You take a step back. "Shame. That pretty lady locked herself in all night."

Pretty lady?

The door suddenly swings open just as the pair reach its threshold. A very pretty woman steps out into the daylight and takes a gander at the two guys, eyes darting to you quickly. She winks in your direction.

"There you are, Roxy, I was about to go mad with worry. You know creeps roam around this side of town."

Fatty grimaces at the jab. "Who you callin' a creep, missy?"

"Yeah," Malnourished chimes in.

She grabs your wrist gently and pulls you to the door, glaring daggers at the guys. "Got two loaded guns in my shop and one more in my bra. Don't mess with me, or your brains will be splattered all over the walls."

The guys grimace and back away, fear obviously shining in their eyes. The woman pulls you in the rest of the way and shuts the door behind her, locking it.

Her deep brown eyes narrow as she looks you over, her soft-featured face shaped like a heart. Deep brown hair falls to her shoulders in curls, tanned skin making her all-the-more gorgeous. She wears tight-fitting denim pants and a loose sparkly shirt that shows off her curves. You're awestruck.

"I'm glad you're okay," she says, wiping her hands on an apron on the counter next to her as she walks deeper into the room. You two are in a kitchen, vacant and smaller than it seems. "Us girls have to stick together."

"Now," she says, pulling herself up onto a counter and watching you carefully. "What brings you here? I wouldn't have opened my door if I didn't hear those two guys. They're rather harmless but dangerous to any girl who can't hold her own."

For a moment, you can't find your voice. Shaking your head, you produce the paper with the writing on it.

"I woke up this morning not remembering anything. This was the note I found and the phone that had been next to me, and it's mostly empty, but I know it's mine."

Why am I telling her all this? You wonder as she reaches forward to take the paper. Can I trust her?

You press your lips into a line as her demeanor changes, brows furrowing. There's something in her eyes that gives off a knowing vibe.

"There's blood?"

You nod. "I couldn't find any cuts or scrapes on me, but there was blood on the table beside me, too. I don't know if it's mine, but it seems highly unlikely."

She exhales, looking you over.

"This is the first time anything like this has happened, right?"

You stare at her, dumbfounded. "I—I think so. I can't remember anything beyond this morning."

She nods.

"Well, if you're here, that must mean you're meant to be here." She hops off the table without any more questions. "Someone told you to come here and possibly lost their life over it, as per the blood. So. That means they were trying to help you."

Lost their life?

Your breathing hitches and you clutch at your sternum.

"Don't worry," she says immediately after, recognizing the fear in your eyes. "You'll be safe here. Follow me."

She leads you to the back of the kitchen and opens another door after a moment of flipping through a small ring of keys, grumbling to herself. Black fingerless gloves cover her palms, giving her a tough look, powder dusted across them.

She finally opens the door and you two step through. The room is full of supplies and even has a freezer off to the side. In the center are two couches and three chairs, all looking very expensive. A heavy table sits off to the side, the furniture a great contrast to the other side of the room. Little snacks lay out across it and a coffee maker sits on its own little table, plugged into an outlet. The walls are bare, gray as cement, but the warm glow of the lights makes it feel less like a storage room and more like a lounge. Which is weird, considering it's most likely supposed to be a storage room.

"This is the storage room and the break area, and it's also where we have group meetings when they're called," she says, the words strange to you. "There are three other members; the fourth has been MIA for four days now, but he'll pop up again, I'm sure of it. He always does."

She turns to you and holds out a hand for you to shake. "My name is Karika. I am the owner of this here shop and have been for about a year now. My father passed away and passed it down to me."

"I'm Cora," you tell her, shaking her hand. "Thank you for helping me out."

"No big," she shrugs, sticking the keys back into her pocket. You wonder how she gets them to fit in there, considering how tight they are. "Just a heads-up, the three other members will be arriving soon. We have a meeting in..." she checks her dark green watch. "Five minutes. And it doesn't even start for another ten," she groans. "He always has to be early. Brat."

You stay silent, not able to say anything.

"Anyway, to repay me for my kindness, I'd like you to join our little group. It's nothing scary or anything; it's more like a group of friends getting together, and I want to try and help you through this amnesia thing because I'm a good person. I actually just recently joined a year ago, but they've been meeting up like this for four years now and it's rude to break tradition, especially since my father loved the group so much."

You hide a grimace. Everyone will be older than you if they were friends with this woman's dad, right? I guess all that matters is that I'm safe and if they can help me, you reassure yourself.

The back door opens and you hear a voice announcing his presence.

"Brace yourself," Karika warns as she ushers you over to a chair. "These three are quite the characters and can steal your heart with one word. When all four are together, they remind me of TMNT, and I can't help but think it every time they're in the same room together."

She places the wadded-up paper in your hand and tells you to hide it. "Whether or not you decide to tell them what's going on with you is your choice, but I'm glad you opened up to me about it. I hope I can help. I've been in your shoes before."

Before you can ask her what she means, a tall guy strides in with a frown.

"Did you not hear me, Karika?" he asks, his voice low and demanding. "I said I'm here."

His eyes fall upon you and he looks surprised. His brows furrow in slight confusion as something wavers in his eyes and he twitches his fingers.

"This is Cora. She's joining us."

Against my will, you counter in your mind, although you aren't sure if you don't want to join either. What kind of group is this?

He strides over and holds out a hand to shake, eyes locked on yours. The eye-contact makes your face red with embarrassment and you shy away. Something about him makes your heart leap in your chest, something... possibly familiar.

"My name is Peter. Nice to meet you, Cora."

You nod and shake his hand, unable to vocalize anything. The moment of familiarity diminishes as you right yourself and get another look at him. There's not a trace in your mind of possibly knowing him anymore. He obviously doesn't know you, either.

"What made you want to join our little get-together?" He strides around the couch and sits down, taking up almost an entire space as he glances at his phone, typing something in with brows still furrowed. In all honesty, his face is gorgeous and his short black hair makes his dark blue eyes pop as it shifts just above his eye line. Something about him makes you want to cross the room and sit next to him, and you try your hardest to shake the feeling.

"I..." you start, glancing over to Karika for help. She shrugs and sits down on the arm of the couch directly next to you your chair, her body turned toward Peter on the other side. He glances at her and then you out of the corner of his eye, his gaze lingering on you for a moment too long.

"She became my friend about five minutes ago and I told her to join," she says, which grants a strange look from Peter, pulling him from his phone and forcing him to face her.

"You don't know—"

"Ollie!" Karika interrupts, leaping off the couch and bounding over to a redhead that just walked in. He laughs and embraces her as she wraps her arms around him. Bright green eyes shine with amusement as they let go of each other, the guy laughing. His face is cute and round, and he stands only a few inches taller than Karika, which means he's only slightly taller than you. There's a sudden aching in your chest and you rub your thumb over your heart, hoping to ease the pain.

"I told you not to call me that," he says quietly as he takes a step around her. She follows close behind, Peter shaking his head at the interaction and shrugging off Karika's sudden introduction of you.

"This is Cora, Ollie," she says, motioning to you. His eyes catch on your face and widen as a slight flush fills his cheeks. He clears his throat and tears his eyes away, scratching uncomfortably at the back of his neck. At his appearance, your heart seems to swell with an unexplainable happiness yet is struck with a twinge of pain, but why?

"Nice to meet you," he mumbles quietly after a tense moment, eyes darting back to you, ears red as he picks at the cuffs of his jacket. There's something unreadable in his eyes. "My name's Oliver."

You nod at his quiet words and give him a smile, hoping to ease him, to which his eyes widen and he flushes a bit more as he turns away and his face hardens. A slight bit of happiness wriggles within you. Does he think you're cute, or is that your own ego talking?

He sits on the couch with Peter, who doesn't look up from his phone, and brings both legs up to sit cross-legged on the furniture. To this, Peter responds, eyes skirting to and from you suddenly.

"This couch costs a lot of money, Oliver," he growls. "Show some respect and at least take off your shoes before putting your feet up."

Oliver grimaces but doesn't say anything, eyes focusing on you once more as he reluctantly takes his feet off the material and lets his face fall into expressionless territory.

He clears his throat and shifts uncomfortably.

"So... are you joining our group?" He asks you, scratching his neck again. He seems so shy and uneasy...

I nod.

"But none of us know her," Peter chimes in suddenly, tapping away at his phone. "Not even Karika."

Oliver's brow furrows at this, a strange sense of confidence washing over him as he turns to Karika, who stands behind the couch.

"You don't?"

She shakes her head. "Saved her from those scumbags that walk around here just before you guys arrived."

Oliver pauses for a moment. "Feels like deja vu," he mutters, and to this, your ears perk up.

"Deja vu?"

"It means like you've seen this happen before or something," Karika informs, but you already knew the definition. She waves the words away and turns back to Oliver. "We'll talk about that later, though, Ollie. Don't want to creep her out just yet."

You open your mouth to speak but Karika keeps going.

"Chris should be here any time now and I still haven't heard from Max, so I'm going to go get the game and pray they both randomly show up together or something."

"Game?" You question as she gets up to walk away. Instead of Karika answering, Peter sits up and turns to face you, eyes sweeping over your frame as if he's suspicious of you.

"We play board games sometimes. This week, it's Monopoly. Which I will win."

Oliver glances over to him, earbuds dangling from his collar.

"Says who?" It's the loudest you've heard him speak, but his face immediately turns red as he glances back at you. You're definitely making him uncomfortable. To Peter, he says quieter, "I never lose when I play Monopoly."

Peter smirks haughtily, a glint of humored danger gleaming in his eye. "Prepare to have your ego burst."

"I think it'll just be smothered out by the expanding of your own," Oliver mutters under his breath, crossing his arms like a child. You can't help but smile at their small bickering.

"So what do you do, Cora?" Peter asks suddenly, making your heart lurch. He stares into your eyes with so much confidence... it makes you stumble a bit.

"Uh... I'm not sure."

Peter furrows his brow and Oliver looks at you, perplexed. A thousand thoughts rush through their head, reflecting in their eyes, but it seems as though they're coming from different places inside them.

"You aren't sure?" Peter echoes. "What are you sure of?"

You clear your throat, clearly uncomfortable as they both stare at you, brows furrowed. "Um... That my name is Cora, and even then, I'm not too sure about that."

"I have arrived!"

A male's voice busts through the room with so much energy and the loud explosiveness of it makes you jump. You take a deep breath as you turn to the door to see yet another guy striding into the room. He's tall, dark, and a little stocky, but his face is absolutely adorable. Your heart speeds up at his appearance and you breathe slowly to try to calm it down. Bright hazel eyes glisten beneath his curly brown hair and he flings a bag onto the second empty couch, followed by his dark, pale green jacket. He exhales as the other two guys settle back against the opposite couch, neither of them looking too happy to see him.

"Hey, Chris," Oliver mutters, picking at his fingers as he readjusts himself and places an earbud in his ear, eyes flitting to you for a second. So this is Chris.

"Hey, guys," he says on a huff, placing his hands on his hips and looking your way. "And who's this?"

"I'm Cora," you say with a gentle smile. The gorgeous Karika and three other attractive guys... It's a good thing you aren't looking for love because you couldn't hold a candle to her. How did all these young guys become friends with Karika's dad? You're absolutely certain her father couldn't have been their age.

You shift in your seat at the thought.

"We were just asking her about herself but it seems as though she doesn't know," Peter says, filling Chris in.

Chris wrinkles his nose. "Do you have amnesia or something?"

You shrug guiltily. "It seems so."

Peter watches you for a moment longer as Chris begins to dig through his bag. Oliver looks down at his hands, brow still furrowed. He really is shy.

"Aha," Chris says as he pulls out a notebook and pen. "You, Cora—Cora, yes?"

You nod in response.

"You have inspired my creative juices."

Oliver groans quietly as Peter grimaces in disgust. "You don't have to put it that way. It sounds disgusting."

Chris goes on as if he didn't hear him. "Amnesia," he says, moving his hands away from each other as if he's picturing the name on a billboard. "The Hidden World."

Peter glances up from his phone in what looks like disgust mixed with traces of belief that Chris is filled with absurdity.

"That doesn't even sound the least bit good together."

Chris shrugs. "Still working out the kinks."

He sits down and begins to write, muttering to himself quietly. He definitely is cuter when he's quiet.

"Found it!"

Karika comes back into the storage area and sets the game of Monopoly down on the short table between the seats and begins to open it up, sitting on the floor. She pulls up her pants, complaining about how tight they are.

"You could always wear looser clothing, Karika," Peter mumbles as he continues to stare at his phone.

She scoffs. "And you could at least look away from your phone when you're talking to someone."

He glances up and a smirk fills his face, making him look drop-dead gorgeous. You look away, afraid of staring at him. Or any of them, for that matter as your heart kick-drums in your chest.

"Touché," he says in a lower register, in which Karika frowns.

"I told you to stop doing that, Peter," she snaps, and then turns her attention to the game as Peter glances over to you, his smile widening while he turns back to Karika.

"It's not my fault your feelings are one-sided, Karika," Peter says, the smile still plastered on his face. Your heart skips a beat at the sudden openness of this conversation that sounds like it's meant to be private.

Karika lets out a frustrated groan, her dark eyes flicking up to Peter as her jaw clenches. "You like to play dangerous games, don't you, Peter?"

He chuckles and almost seems to purr at this interaction.

"There isn't a better feeling than dancing in the flames."

Karika's fists clench and you hold your breath, the other two guys seeming to as well.

"Karika," Oliver says, switching the attention off of Peter. "I want to be the racecar."

Karika's eyes change from ferocious to playful and she scoffs, fingers shaking as she unpacks the contents. "In your dreams, Ollie."

He smiles gently and lowers himself to the ground to sit at the low table with her, seeming overly-conscious of how close you are to him, and she passes out the small figurines. She asks you first which piece you want but you kindly refuse, saying you'd rather watch. She shrugs.

"Your loss."

Youtake a deep breath and open your phone, hopeful that maybe some new piece ofinformation has come up, but all there is, is what had been there the last timeyou unlocked it. You sigh, staring at the picture on your background. So muchhas happened today... and it's probably only been about an hour. Hopefully yourmemories will start surfacing... Hopefully.