But She Saw Nothing There

The wall was blank. That was all she could see.

She frowned as her eyes flicked around the plaster wall she currently faced for any indication that what she was so sure actually existed here, well, actually existed. There had to be something.

But she saw nothing there.

"This can't be!" she'd love to tell herself, but recent events had made her question everything lately.

See, her memory was always perfect. Flawless. To the point where it was both a blessing and a curse. She preferred to think of it more in a positive light, however, because she had the constant comfort that she would definitely remember all the good people she had met and the great places she had seen and the fantastic experiences that changed her life for the better.

But, for some reason, regardless of her uncanny ability to recall past events, she absolutely failed to recall the previous day.

Why couldn't she remember yesterday?

Well, it'd be slightly incorrect to say she couldn't remember anything at all. Something in the hidden recesses of her mind had nudged her to this very spot she stood at now when she embarked on the very frantic and dread-filled journey to discover what occurred that removed her precious memory of practically a full 24 hours.

Her current position did not put her to ease, as much as she had wished it would when she initially followed her heart here. Staring at a blank wall never put anyone at ease, as far as she was concerned. That meant that someone could be right behind her, plotting her demise, holding a knife at her back, and she would not have the slightest clue.

She paused as she suddenly took notice of the dark turn in her thoughts. Where had that come from? She was never so paranoid before.

But that was before. Now, she felt so fidgety and fearful, and a ring of pain continued to slowly burn and throb around her throat, like a misplaced angel's halo. She had to resist touching it, due to the concern of irritating the skin even further. All she had allowed was the gentle application of an ice pack for a while.

That was actually the main reason why she was desperate to fill in the blank in her memory. Besides the implication that a severe injury and/or substance put into her body one way or another was responsible for her current predicament, there was another that made all of this even scarier.

Surely, she had met someone that only held malicious intent. Been at the wrong place at the wrong time. Done something she shouldn't have or just hadn't done something right in time to avoid this.

Why else would she have red marks on her neck?

Her heart had dropped to her stomach when she first spotted the fire-colored bruises in the mirror that morning. Even if she hadn't felt any pain, she was sure she would've still felt like something was wrong upon waking up. The wrongness had given her goosebumps the moment her eyes opened, even though she laid in her bed just like every other normal night.

She set off on her mission as soon as humanly possible, and all she accomplished was finding this ordinary wall. The side of the building that resided in a small alley. It appeared to just consist of stucco, dirt, and more stucco.

Perhaps whatever happened caused the memory she still retained to go faulty, she lamented, frustrated with herself and the wall and the world. Her hand itched to touch her neck, and her leg ached to kick the wall enough times for it to actually give her the information she desired. She gave in to neither, for the former would accomplish nothing and the latter would just result in a sore foot.

All she wanted was to remember. Was that too much to ask?

She sighed as she finished her hundredth study of the infuriatingly nondescript, commonplace, run-of-the-mill wall and resigned to the conclusion that she would not find anything of worth there. Her efforts were an absurd, useless endeavor from the beginning.

She began to turn away and walk out of the alley when a sharp, silver point made itself known, aimed directly between her eyes with a dangerous glint. One that suddenly felt all too familiar.

"Hello again."

Unmoving in all but her eyes, she slowly looked towards the wielder of the blade, who was a man with rather unremarkable features. The only thing that caught her attention was his pair of deep-set blue eyes, the color of a calm sea, but they only made her shudder.

They were soulless.

Suddenly, the dam broke, and her memories flooded back, all containing his dead-water eyes. Now, she could recall with unclouded clarity the terrifying experience that happened because of this man, in front of this innocent, unsuspecting stucco wall, and her escape.

Escape.

She didn't think she wanted to remember yesterday anymore.

Her face drained of color, because she now knew more than ever that this man was extremely dangerous, and she was so much of an idiot that she returned to this spot just to face him again. He must've let her escape, for he must've known she was stupid enough to come running back.

Surely, she wouldn't be so lucky as to still live on this time.

"It can't be!" she'd love to say to herself, but recent events are proving that it really can.

The wall was no longer blank.

(Sept. 4, 2016; based on 50-word story to Darkrai and “But she saw nothing there.” Finally got the guts to post it. On another note, I finally put tags for songs, posts used for my Faith project, and plan to do one for my short stories and other writings.)