1 Ivy

Ivy woke up with a pounding headache. She didn't know where she was, and her eyes seemed to be glued shut. What was happening? She thrashed around until her eyes unstuck themselves, and looked around. She was in a dead end alleyway. The ground was oddly cold despite the heat of the sun, and she realized she was sitting in shadow. The buildings on either side were tall brick and ugly, towering above her menacingly as if threatening her somehow. Ivy tried to remember how and why she was here.

Ivy Fox.

That was her name. And all she could remember. She bit her lip. Was that really it? She racked her brain for anything, anything at all to connect her to her past, but it was blank. Ivy felt tears prick at her eyes as the pain of her headache intensified, and the fear and panic started to set in. Why couldn't she remember anything? She glanced to her left, and was shocked to find a boy laying next to her. He looked around fourteen or fifteen, with pale skin, eyes a caramel brown, dirty blonde hair and a scrawny build. His face was pinched together, like he was having a nightmare.

"Who are you?" She whispered below her breath. His eyes fluttered, and her curiosity won over. She started shaking his shoulder roughly to wake him up.

He sat up hurriedly, looking around him and panting like he was in danger. Then his eyes landed on Ivy, and he softened a bit, but he still looked confused. Did he recognize her? Did he know anything?

"What's your name?" Ivy demanded.

"Ben."

"I'm Ivy."

A strange feeling swept over Ivy as she introduced herself. Almost like deja-vu. Could it be that she had met this boy before?

"Where are we?" Ben asked, clearly confused. Ivy shook her head, wincing as her headache grew.

"I don't know. I just woke up a few minutes ago," she tried to explain. "Listen, do you remember anything?" She asked, feeling restless. For a moment, Ben opened his mouth, like he was about to explain his whole life story, but nothing came out. He pushed his eyebrows together, clearly confused, then shook his head in a panic.

"No. Why don't I remember anything?" He asked her. Ivy shrugged.

"I don't know. I just told you, I just woke up here. I don't remember anything either," she answered.

The two looked at each other quizzically, as if the other would somehow reveal information.

"I've met you before, I'm sure of it," Ben suddenly said, studying her face. Ivy nodded slightly.

"I'm pretty sure I've met you before, too," she whispered. "What do we do?" She wondered suddenly. They were in an unfamiliar alleyway and the only thing they knew was their name, and the newfound information that they'd already met, which didn't help them much.

"Let's walk around and at least find out where we are," Ben suggested, getting up and then helping her.

Walking along the busy road, the pair quickly realized their location. Ontario, Canada. As familiar as that seemed, it didn't help them much. Their minds were wiped clean.

"I can still think practical stuff, you know?" Ben said. Ivy nodded.

"Like you have knowledge, but no personal thoughts or memories?" She asked.

"Exactly!" He exclaimed. Then they fell into silence. After all, there was no point in polite conversation about your favourite things if you didn't know any.

"Where are we going anyway?" Ben asked her. Ivy shrugged.

"I'm not really sure. This path feels familiar, doesn't it?" She replied, picking her way along the road. Ben was so silent that she had to turn around to make sure he was still there.

"Yeah," he finally whispered.

There was an odd tugging sensation in Ivy's gut. Like there was an invisible hook dragging her ever forward. She wasn't sure what it was, but she followed along obediently anyway, curiosity getting the best of her. Why was she here? Had her and Ben gotten into some sort of fight? That didn't make sense. Neither of them were hurt. Maybe they had fallen from a nearby roof? Again, that didn't make sense. After all, neither of them were sporting injuries. Sure, there was a mild headache. But nothing more. Could their memories be retrieved? Was it temporary? Did they have families? Parents? A chill went down Ivy's spine. She couldn't remember her family? That couldn't be good.

"You ok?" Asked Ben behind her. Ivy just shrugged.

"Here," she told him, stopping at the edge of a forest. The town behind them now, with nothing more than a dirt road separating them, the two stood at the fringes of woods, which was odd in Ontario.

"What's in there?" Ben questioned. He sounded almost scared. Again, Ivy shrugged.

"Literally no idea, but it feels right." With that being said, she took off in a run, not really caring if Ben was following or not.

There was one little worn path that she followed along, which sent her jumping over sticks, roots, and bushes. At some point, she hoisted herself up on a branch, swinging her short legs over a large patch of thorns. Then jumping over large stones in a fast-flowing river. It had all come so naturally and easily, that Ivy was sure she must have done this often.

"Next time," someone panted behind her. "Wait for me," Ben grumbled. Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Next time, keep up," she sassed. He made a face at her.

What a dork.

"Look," Ivy said, steering the conversation away before he could open his mouth. "Stuff." She kept her voice squeaky, as if she were talking to a small child.

"Are you mocking me?" Ben huffed as he moved towards the things on the horizon.

"Maybe," Ivy shrugged. She definitely knew this kid from somewhere.

Upon inspection, the two found sleeping bags, some food, a basketball and extra clothes - just their size. However, no more clues about their past emerged.

"I guess this is where we live?" Ben guessed, his voice dull and devoid of any emotion.

"I guess," Ivy replied. Her tone was just as bland.

This didn't feel familiar - at all. The only thing that was nice was the river. It had a calming effect. It was almost like it was calling her...

"What are you doing?" Ben demanded, grabbing her scrawny shoulder. She glared at him in response.

"Nothing. Don't grab me." Her voice was tight. What was happening to her?

"Sit down. Let's discuss... whatever we can," he said, looking down as if he were embarrassed. Ivy nodded.

They ended up sitting down and finding some food, then ended up going over their options and theories of what happened, though none made sense. They obviously didn't hit their head, since there were no markings or welts anywhere on their skull, nor did they fall off a roof or get into a fight. Their memories were just.... gone.

"What do we know?" Ben asked, putting his fingertips together.

"Obviously not much. We know our names, our full names, and we know we live here," she replied lamely.

"We know we live here, meaning we must be homeless and don't have a family... as for our names... no, that doesn't make sense," he mumbled while biting his thumb.

"What doesn't make sense?" She pestered him. He was clearly smart.

"We know our full names, but why? If we had amnesia, we would've forgotten that, seeing as we forgot everything else. We don't even know how old we are," he explained. "I just can't make sense of it." He shook his head, wincing slightly at the pain.

"So what do we do? Just keep finding clues and hope to figure out who we are?" Ivy wondered. Ben shrugged.

"I guess that's all we can do." He sounded glum, just as Ivy felt. She looked around.

"This place doesn't feel familiar," she announced. Ben's eyes fluttered in surprise.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"When I was walking here, it was like there was this invisible hook drawing me forward, like this was the right place to go. But once I got here, it just felt wrong. This all feels wrong. None of this is familiar at all. Not this site, not the stuff, not even Ontario. It's like someone just set up a scene for us, you know? Like a scene in a play. It's supposed to be our place but it's not. Does that make sense?" Ivy turned to Ben, who was looking at her in shock.

"Yeah. Yes, it does actually. I know exactly what you mean. But could it be our memory playing tricks on us? Or is this... actually not where we're supposed to be?" He questioned while looking around. Ivy flopped down on her sleeping bag.

"I have this feeling," she announced, "in the back of my brain. It feels like there's a memory somehow, somewhere. But I can't reach it," she grunted in frustration. Ben nodded.

"Exactly! And it hurts," he added, wincing slightly again. Ivy nodded.

"Ben," Ivy suddenly said, her voice rising slightly. She could hear the panic in her own tone.

"What? What is it?" Ben prodded, moving over to her side.

"Turn your head," she instructed him calmly.

"What?" He asked, scrunching up his eyebrows. In frustration and impatience, she grabbed his head and turned it forcefully. "Ow!" He exclaimed.

"Dude," Ivy whispered below her breath, observing something on his neck.

"What? What is it?" Ben demanded. He sounded panicked.

"Numbers," she answered. "There are numbers on your neck, Ben," she told him.

"What do you mean?" He wondered, his fingers brushing across where Ivy was looking. Then his eyes widened as he felt the tiny bumps behind his ear.

"Do I have them too?" Ivy asked him, turning her head. Ben sucked in a breath and nodded in confirmation. "What do they say?" She murmured.

"It's - it's just three zeros," he stuttered. Ivy nodded.

"So do yours."

The two sat down, both suddenly uneasy and quiet. This didn't make any sense. Why on earth would there be numbers on their neck? Three zeros... what could those mean?

Ben suddenly groaned and lay down on one of the sleeping bags. If his head hurt even half as much as Ivy's did, she felt bad for him.

"Let's get some sleep. Maybe that'll help," Ivy suggested, laying down on her own sleeping bag. Ben simply nodded groggily.

Do I have family? How do I know Ben? Is this my life? What happened? What do the numbers mean?

Frustration crumbled away at Ivy's mood until she was shaking and hot all over. Stumbling out of her sleeping bag, she made her way towards the river. Just to cool down...

She sat at the edge, thinking things through. None of it made sense yet. Maybe tomorrow they could scour the town. Hopefully, they could find something out. No, better yet, go straight to the hospital and see if there was a remedy. Ivy let her head fall into her hands. This was so not good. A new headache throbbed, pounding in her skull like hell below. Was this how amnesia worked? Ivy wasn't sure. Nothing in her mind came up with anything about amnesia. It wasn't even that. It seemed like her memories were... taken, somehow. Like someone had surgically removed them. Which didn't make sense either. It was impossible to remove someone's personal memories... wasn't it?

In her mindful daze, Ivy stuck her legs into the water, letting them cool. Somehow, it eased the headache a bit. As she closed her eyes, an intense feeling hit her gut. She snapped her eyes open, recognizing it instantly. That same hook-like feeling from earlier, telling her where to go. As if she could see in the dark, her eyes easily found the trail she had followed back to town. Something told her not to get Ben, despite her head screaming at her not to go alone.

The streets were dark now, but the summer heat was still in the air. She looked around, unsure of what to do. A tiny shop with yellow windows caught her eye, and without thinking she walked towards it.