I was running along a dark tunnel when I heard voices: “She’s been on life support for the last three months. Should we just give it up?”

“No, her physical wounds have healed. It’s just a matter of what brain damage she sustained,” another voice, this one male, answered. “She was in exceptionally good health, aside from the blood loss and immediate injury sustained. I thought she was dead for sure, but I’m having second thoughts now.”

They seemed so close, yet so far away. I peeled my eyes open to see a nurse and doctor hovering over me.

“She’s up!” they both gasped. The guy immediately grabbed a clipboard. “My name is Dr. Park. I’m going to ask you a few questions,” he said, removing what I assumed to be a respirator from my face. “What’s your name?”

What was my name anyway? “Ummm...I don’t know?” I shrugged. “How did I get here?”

Dr. Park and the nurse exchanged a grim, concerned look. “I’ll try another question. What’s 100 times 50?”

What kind of a stupid question was that? “Five thousand.” I’m not four years old.

He seemed a little more relieved. “Where are you from?”

Hmmm, that one was harder. Where was I from anyway? “I’m not sure,” I admitted.

“Where did you go to high school?”

“I don’t know.”

Dr. Park pursed his lips. “Can you speak any languages besides Korean? English, French, Chinese, maybe?”

Oh, I could do that. “Why am I in the hospital?” I asked in all three languages, one after another.

He nodded approvingly. “Can you tell me what the fairytale Cinderella is about?”

Umm weird question but okay? “Well this poor girl is abused by her evil stepsisters and stepmother and her fairy godmother gives her stuff to go to a ball one day but she has to get back by midnight. So she goes, dances with Prince Charming, and runs off leaving her glass slipper. The prince goes around the kingdom trying the shoe on every girl and when he finds it only fits the girl they get married and live happily ever after. Is that long enough?” I asked.

Dr. Park smiled. “Ahh, not bad. Now can you tell me anything at all about how you ended up here?”

“No,” I shrugged.

He sighed. “Let’s go step by step. Why were you in Korea?”

“I don’t know. Was I born here?” Gosh I wake up from who knows how long of a coma and I’m being bombarded with a harder test than the final exams.

“Where do you live in Korea?” was the next question.

Think, think, think. “I have no idea.” I couldn’t even remember what my residence looked like, let alone where it was. Did I have any roommates? Did I live on campus or in an apartment? I would have to figure that out.

Another sigh escaped Dr. Park as he asked, “Can you tell me anything you remember from right before you got here?”

A blurry mental image materialized in my brain. “There was a dark basement.”

“And?” the doctor encouraged.

“There were two people cocking guns at each other.” He nodded for me to continue. “One of them fired and hit me.”

The doctor took a deep breath. “Can you recall either of the faces?”

I tried to sharpen the image in my mind. “They’re too dark and obscure.”

“Hmm,” he noted. “Do you remember anything before that? How you got into the basement, maybe?”

Rewind, rewind, I directed the mental tape. But it just kept replaying the two shadows in the basement, guns raised, and then the shot. “No,” I admitted. Who was the shadow in the doorway? I had to find him. What sort of a wonderful life had I led before he put an end to it all? I tried to remember my family, but I couldn’t even recall my parents’ faces. Did I have any siblings? Where were they? Did I have a significant other? I couldn’t remember anything. I vowed right then and there to get my revenge on the one who had taken me away from myself.

“Okay. Your intellectual capabilities are fine, but you’ve lost significant memory and sense of identity,” Dr. Park explained. “That’s very likely due to the head injury you sustained. I’m amazed at your recovery. Most people die the first night in the hospital from such a trauma.” He stood up and tucked the pencil inside his clipboard while the nurse removed my wires.

“What will I...do?” I wondered aloud.

“For patients in your situation who are fine intellectually but don’t remember who they are, we usually follow one of two paths. The first is to do memory rehab and try to restore you to the exact memory and condition you were before the incident. The other is to give you a new name and identity and just let you start afresh.”

Hmmm. Starting afresh didn’t sound like such a bad idea. “I think I’ll take the second choice.”

Dr. Park nodded. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes,” I said without hesitation. It would be easier to find my attacker that way. He would pay for taking away all the memories that mattered.

It was time for revenge.

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This sequel will be less action and more drama. Hope you all enjoy! Comments and subs are loved and appreciated very much <3