11 The Reveal: III

Carson and the twins were sitting on the seats directly opposite of Diaan and Zac. Diaan directed her eyes to the wall above them as she didn't want to see their expressions as her story unfolded.

"So as per the articles you've seen Zac, I am, or I was, Jessica Blanche. I, however, didn't recall that until I saw that article just now. Well I knew my name used to be Jessica but that was it. You see, a couple of months after you were born I was admitted to a mental health facility because of what I went through when I was kidnapped," Diaan blew out a breath before starting over.

"I need to backtrack a bit. I don't know how it happened but I found myself chained against a wall with this psychotic lady in front of me giving me her whole back story. She explained to me what my cousin, Samantha, did to her and the abuse and slander she received afterwards."

Zac's mind immediately put the pieces together, "Samantha and this lady were lovers until Samantha broke up with her for a guy, right? Then her new boyfriend's life was being threatened and Samantha outed to everyone that the psycho lady was in fact a lesbian? And back then it was not accepted by anybody and homosexual people were ostracised."

Diaan looked at her son and said, "Yes, exactly that. So I have no idea how but apparently the abandoned house we were at was previously used by a serial killer and there were dead bodies in the room close to the one I was in. The lady who held me was caught by the police and it was assumed that she killed all those people and that I was the last one she left alive. During her trial, however, it was found that she was not related to that case at all and she was only given ten years. They took my situation into account and her past discrepancies of threatening and almost killing my cousin and her boyfriend."

Carson was shocked at what he was hearing. The twins were just as shaken.

"I was admitted to the hospital and they said I have hysterical amnesia. Seeing familiar things or people could however trigger a memory. That never happened to me because I was in a totally different place and there was no one I knew there at all. Shortly after I gave birth to you, Zac, I had a flash of two babies sleeping soundly next to me. I brought it up with my psychologist and she said it could just be something I thought of as I had recently just had a child. I proposed it could be a memory but she reminded me that I was only twenty and that it didn't necessarily mean anything."

Zac pulled his face, "She sounds like a pretty stupid lady to just dismiss it like that."

Diaan smirked slightly, "Au contraire, Zac. Apparently Samantha made contact with my psychologist and anything regarding my past was to be put down immediately. Samantha was also the one who hired some private agent to get the hospital to not let any information of me get to the public or the police. She knew some of the psycho lady's people might be keeping an eye on me. She asked what I remembered and I told her that I remember everything before I was sixteen. So I remembered my name but Samantha told me my surname was, Suzuki, which was my mother's maiden surname. I didn't question her as I had been using a false surname for a lot of my childhood so it wasn't something I found suspicious.

I ran a lot of my past by Samantha so that she could tell me if it happened or not. She said I shouldn't try and find out who the father of my child was as he could be targeted as well or his life could be in danger. She mentioned nothing of previous children. She disappeared after that and I never saw her again unless she wanted to make contact with me. I suffered from serious depression and anxiety and was put into a psychiatric ward because I'd get night terrors and I would scratch myself open. They usually gave me a sedative to calm me.

I only spent a month in there before they said that I was fine to go home again. I was given medication and just had to keep taking it. I fought hard to regain control of my life again because I knew I had a child that was relying on me and only me. Honestly, the only reason I made it this far in life and didn't give up was because of you, Zac."

Diaan gave Zac an earnest look before looking away again. "The crazy kidnapper lady apparently had an altercation with another inmate. It led to the other inmate being seriously injured and rushed to hospital. This extended her jail time to another three years as the inmate she injured ended up dying in hospital. Quite frankly, she deserved to get life in jail but her lawyer said that they were both equally involved in the fight and that she was injured as well during the altercation. He said it just so happened that the other inmate suffered more severe injuries and died.

You asked about how Will knew me for fourteen years, Zac. Well he was the agent that Samantha hired. He never made contact with me again after we first met. That is, until five years ago. There was a whole write up about how I left my boyfriend of two years suddenly, remember?"

Zac nodded and even the twins recalled that story.

"They said I was secretly seeing another guy," Diaan rolled her eyes, "Soon after that, Will and I decided to start 'dating'. That was the perfect excuse for Will to always be seen with me."

Zac gave his mom a confused look, "Wait, you and Will aren't really dating?!"

"No," Diaan shook her head, "sorry for lying to you, Zac. But you were too young to understand at the time. Then two years ago I had a flashback of a conversation I had with Carson."

At the mention of his name, Carson looked up to find Diaan already looking at him.

"It was the first time we met, I think. We were both new at school and we were both a year ahead. You suggested that we be friends and I remember telling you no. That memory really confused me because I didn't find it relevant. I never had any other memory of you besides that one so I didn't pay it much attention. Then, now when Zac introduced the twins and he said their surname, I could see that they were your children. They look just like you. I then questioned if that memory was maybe not as irrelevant as I thought it was. Right as you walked in here I suddenly had a memory of you right before I was kidnapped."

Diaan gave Carson a wobbly smile, "Carson, you told them that I'm their mother. Now I need you to fill in the rest of the gaps, please. What happened after that first time we met?"

©Crimson B