The lost and forgotten

Leo sat on the floor, not sure if he knew the difference between reality and fantasy. This couldn't be one of his fantasies. He always imagined scenarios and events that he liked, so this was definitely not one of his fantasies.

He sat down on the bathroom floor with his head in between his knees and his hand covering his entire face.

[GBAGAM]

Leo raised his head to the sound of a pot falling down and moved to the kitchen to see what caused it. There he found Jax trying to warm up something to eat.

Jax saw his brother coming into the kitchen and laughed at his shirtless top before he spotted the markings on his arm.

"I never thought of you as the tattoo type"

Leo quickly remembered not covering his arm and cussed at himself

"Ehh, it's not the permanent type. I and a colleague of mine were just goofing off with a marker when we were less busy"

Jax bought the lie and made no further inquiry.

"Have you been working out; you look buff"

"Nope. Just a little pushup every now and then"

"Well it's working for you"

Leo never thought of his build as buff, but he accepted the compliment. He then bent his head to look at his body.

'But was my body always like this?'

Leo did not even realize the changes his body had undergone ever since the appearance of the markings on his arm.

After Jax was done making the meal, they both sat down and enjoyed themselves with Leo telling Jax about the events that took place in the morning. Though he intentionally withheld the part where he was stabbed. Jax laughed at Leo and asked him if his cheek was still hurting.

"Ha Ha!. Very funny. But the jokes on you, cause she later gave me her number"

"Really?"

"Of course. I am after all…"

Leo posing as a model, ran the fingers of his left hand through his hair while facing downwards as he completed his sentence

"Irresistible"

They both laughed hysterically causing tears to fall out from their eyes.

"Was that your drive for getting that temporal tattoo of yours?"

Leo began laughing nervously as he answered'

"You are absolutely right."

They both started laughing again. After they were done laughing, Jax changed the topic to talk about something he experienced at school.

"Hey Leo, do you remember Mrs. Anais?"

"Yeah. She's the nice math teacher right?"

"Yeah"

"So what's up with her"

"Oh nothing, just that I noticed that she'd been feeling depressed lately. So I walked up to her after school to ask her why she was feeling down"

Jax may have been a young boy, but he was very mature for a kid his age. Those were the benefits of having to face reality at an early age.

Leo was impressed with the actions of his younger brother.

"Ok, and what did she say?"

"She said that she didn't know. Only that she had been feeling lonely."

"Lonely? Doesn't she have a family"

"She does. It's just that she doesn't have a husband"

"Oh, so she's a single mom"

"That's the problem, she's not. I asked about her husband and she replied that he's Ok."

"I don't get it; is she single or not?"

Leo was clearly getting more and more confused as the conversation went on. But Jax tried his best to make Leo understand the situation.

"I asked her of her husband's whereabouts and she replied with I DON'T KNOW. I asked for his name and she replied that she doesn't remember"

This was starting to sound all too familiar to Leo. Leo looked very serious at this point.

"What about his looks? Did you ask her what her husband looks like?"

"Yes I did."

"And?"

Leo was growing impatient as his suspicions was about to be confirmed.

"She said she didn't know"

Upon hearing this, Leo fell back into the chair and chuckled. He was delighted to know that he wasn't going crazy.

"But Jax, don't you find it strange that she doesn't remember what her own husband looks like?"

"Not really. I mean, I just told you the story so that you could advise me on how to make her feel less lonely"

Leo was shocked at this response but immediately brushed it off because weird things had been happening lately and he didn't want to get his brother involved.

"There's nothing you can do, just stay away from her and she'll get better on her own"

Leo suspected that the husband of Mrs. Anais was the Mysterious man he saw. The same man that no one could remember. But just then, Leo began remembering other people that no one seemed to remember.

At the restaurant, there was a young couple that were regulars at tasty and were extremely fund of each other. They were always laughing and acting romantic. Their relationship was truly beautiful.

'Oh my God!'

Leo recalled that for some time now, the man always visited the restaurant alone, but he was always served as if he came with someone. He would pretend as if he was talking and laughing with his girlfriend even though she wasn't there.

'But why I'm I realizing this now?'

None of the other employees found it weird that one of their customers was acting unusual.

'Come to think of it. I also did not find it weird. Wait. I don't think I remembered anything about the girl until just a few moments ago'

It was as if his memories of things he didn't know he had forgotten were coming back to him. He remembered so many other people that went missing, but no one seemed to remember, and their disappearance did not affect the flow of things.

'Maybe that customer also disappeared'

Leo looked at his brother, realizing that he too was not affected by the disappearance of certain individuals because he could also remember that when he visited his brother's class, the teacher's chair was empty, but the students were seated and listening as if there was a teacher in the class. Again, it did not bother him then, but it was only now that he was released from the memory prison that he knew.

'There was also that time I saw that lady with the baby stroller and no baby inside'

Leo sheepishly chuckled

'I can't believe that I complimented the lady for having such a cute baby even though there was no baby…that means that I too was oblivious to the disappearance of certain people'

But then a thought ran through his mind.

'Could Mom and Dad still be alive?'