Prologue

Jason was looking out the window, taking in the sprawling landscapes of the Kansas Countryside, before glancing at his wrist to see the wrist band, which at this point felt like it was almost a part of his body; he twisted it around to read.

St. Anthony's Behavioral Health Hospital

Jason C. Mathews,

DOB: 04/21/1981

Admit: 06/13/2008

He aggressively ripped the band from his arm before being yanked back to reality.

"Are you even listening to me?"

The voice had come from Johnathan, Jason's younger brother.

"Yeah, sorry man, just kind of zoned out for a minute," said Jason.

Johnathon sighed before shaking his head and continued, "I was asking if the doctors were finally able to help you. They didn't give me much information when I picked you up. "

"Well, I guess that depends on what you mean by "help."" Jason replied, somewhat annoyed with the question.

"Jesus, don't tell me you still believe all that stuff about having a wife that disappeared. It's been two years since the accident. The doctors told you-"

"I know what the doctors said, but I also know that they're wrong, Jason added. I didn't make this up because of some sort of head injury!"

The car ride got very quiet, and Jason sighed before returning to his window gazing. Looking at his reflection in the glass as he lost himself in his memory of that night, he and Emily were returning home from the airport. Their flight had been delayed. He glanced over at Emily, who was sleeping in the passenger seat Her long auburn hair caressing her face and resting on her shoulders and he smiled briefly, remembering how they had met right out of high school and fallen in love almost immediately. They had been married just under 5 years now, and they had taken an early anniversary trip up to the family cabin on Lake Michigan. Snapping back to the car ride, he briefly glanced at the clock as it read 3:13 AM. That's odd, he thought, I could have sworn it was 3:00 AM when we left the airport, and I knew we had been driving for at least an hour. Confused and exhausted, he decided his time displacement must be from the jet lag before returning his attention to the road, or rather, what little bit of the road he could now see, as it had become abnormally foggy. He reached down and pressed play on the stereo before settling into his seat, adjusting to get more comfortable as the speakers in his 1975 Dodge Challenger crackled to life and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" filled the car with life and, at least for the moment, seemed to give him a little more energy. He lit a cigarette and inhaled, thinking to himself how badly he needed to kick this habit, before quickly pushing this out of his mind and inhaling again just as he was about to put it out. However, a deer had jumped into the road from what seemed like nowhere. Panic-struck Jason Swerved and narrowly missed the deer, losing control of the car in the process before crashing head-first into a tree. With blood gushing down his temple, he looked over to see that Emily had been thrown from the vehicle. Jason struggled to climb out of the car.

Emily! He screamed at the top of his lungs, but there was no reply. He stumbled and crawled towards the area he thought she would most likely be considering the direction and momentum of the car, only to find a very large tree but no evidence of Emily. This was the last memory he had before losing consciousness and waking up in the hospital 3 days later.

Jason came back to the present as they pulled into the driveway of his brother's house. At least as best as Jason could tell, the house was almost identical to every other house lining the street. A two-story home built in the early 2000s, next to every other house in what felt like a self-inflicted prison for the wealthy.

"There's a suite above the garage you can stay in until you are back on your feet". said Johnathan.

Still trying desperately to avoid having any real conversation with his brother, Jason just nodded in approval before reaching into the back seat to grab his bag and follow him up the flight of stairs into what would, for his foreseeable future, be his new home