If You Remembered Me...

David was sitting on a bench and looking into the starry night sky. The lighting in the park was not too bright, so even here, in the center of the city, it was possible to observe the stars.

It was not very late, but there were practically no people in the park. At least next to him, he saw no one.

The man took a deep breath of the cool evening air and smiled. Finally, he decided to tell everything, tell the whole truth and all the secrets that he knew. The hope that Elena would understand him and accept him for what he was filled his heart with warm feelings.

He closed his eyes, fantasizing about what could be after this evening, how their relationship would develop, where they would go, what they would do together. He wanted to tell her so much that he was even confused about where to start.

It was all too fantastic.

He heard the sounds of the approaching footsteps not so far from him and turned around. Elena was walking confidently in his direction along the alley. The light from the lanterns was playing through her hair with tempting glares.

David was looking at the girl and could not take his eyes off her; he was fascinated by her image so much.

When he was no more than five meters away, the girl turned sharply and left the central alley to a side path leading into a small midwood.

The young man's eyes widened from her unexpected action. 'She didn't notice me, did she? No way, it's impossible! She was clearly looking at me.'

David got up from the bench and followed the girl. When they passed deep into the midwood, he could not stand it and called her, "Elena?"

She stopped and turned around.

Click.

David froze on the spot and reflexively put his hands up.

"Do not even dare to come closer."

The eyes of the girl were filled with cold and anger. A gun in her hand was clearly pointing at its target. And David was that target.

"Can you explain to me what is it all about?"

"Maybe you will explain everything to me first, huh? Who are you?" Elena replied to him with a question.

David lowered his hands and looked at the girl with a serious expression on his face, "Elena, put the gun down. It is dangerous. Let's talk."

"Let's talk. But just not to make the foreplay long, as you like to do it, listen to this," she told him, taking the phone out of her pocket and turning on the recording.

David heard his voice, but the content of the conversation was completely unfamiliar to him.

[Baby, I need your help with one case - Anything for you, dear - Hmm, I like your willingness to follow my instructions. Well done. We will talk about business later, and for now, work with your wonderful mouth and make me happy.]

The face of the young man immediately grew gloomy.

"It's not me," he replied.

"And who then, if not you? Ahhh... let me guess, did Daniel set everything up again? Or maybe someone else has slandered you?" The girl's words sounded with obvious irony.

"Elena, I understand that you are not ready to believe me now, but this is really not me. I do not even understand the essence of this conversation." David denied everything and insisted on his innocence.

"You don't understand the essence? And I think I understand everything perfectly well now. God, what a naive fool I've been all this time! Out of the blue, you appeared in my life, turned everything upside down, got into confidence and did everything that you wanted! Well, are you satisfied now?"

"Elena..."

"How could you?! Why?!" The girl's voice was full of pain and resentment.

"Elena, please calm down, you can't be worried," David answered, but this had no effect.

Tears were running down Elena's cheeks, and she could barely hold herself from not bursting into tears even more.

David took a step forward, but the girl pulled the trigger immediately,

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO COME ANY CLOSER TO ME!"

What she was really afraid of at the moment was that if he came up and touched her, then all her determination would immediately evaporate. This has been more than once. So it was from the very beginning. As if being enchanted she was going towards him from the very first meeting, not understanding why. It was so unlike her.

But as soon as this man appeared in her life, she could not refuse him. As if he had power over her body and soul. It all happened too fast. And in the blink of an eye, she turned out to be tangled by his nets, like a naive butterfly, that was caught in a spider web for the first time.

"Do you even realize how painful it is for me now?" The girl shouted and hit her chest with her fist. "You have no idea how to remember everything all your life and feel these emotions as if they had just happened to you! All my life, every day, every moment, I remember as if I had just experienced it!"

"Then why don't you remember me?"

"W-what? What do you mean?" Elena did not expect such a question.

David looked at the girl with the eyes full of longing. "If you remembered me, we would not be in such a situation now. If you remembered me, I would not have to look for you around the world. If you really remembered me, I WOULD NOT FEEL SO LONELY ALL THESE YEARS!"

Elena glanced at the man who was standing opposite her, and she was filled with inexplicable pain. This pain was tearing the girl apart from the inside, that even every breath was comparable to the sharp blade of a knife, piercing her heart with rage.

Elena's lips trembled. "Who are you? At least, is David your real name?"

The young man looked into her eyes and then whispered,

"No."

Although he got used to this name and considered it his own, initially this name belonged to his elder brother. And he couldn't do anything with this fact.

After these words, the girl's body trembled, and she clutched her head, trying to overcome the sharp pain that had risen to her temples.

David was scared and rushed in her direction.

Bam!

The loud sound of a shot echoed throughout the park.

"Have you lost your mind?!" The young man did not expect that she would take a shot at him. But the trail of a bullet in front of his legs indicated the opposite.

He collected all his self-control and began to speak as calmly as possible, "Elena, please put the gun on the ground. You can't worry. It will only get worse. Let me come and help you."

The girl leaned on the tree nearest to her and did not take her eyes off the man. Even a wild headache did not prevent her from remaining vigilant.

At that moment her phone rang. She was aiming at David with the gun in one hand, and she reached for the phone with the other hand and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Elena? Is your father at home? I can't reach him." Even David could hear Rick's cheerful voice.

"Hmm, I don't know. I'm not at home."

"Hey, are you okay? You have some kind of strange voice. Are you feeling well? Where are you? I am in the center, I can drive up if you need."

Elena thought for a moment and replied, "Pick me up, please. I am in the central park. I feel bad, not sure that I can drive a car."

"Okay, I'll be at the main entrance in three minutes," Rick replied and hung up.

David waited for the girl to finish the conversation and immediately suggested, "Elena, let's talk. I am worried about your condition."

"I now have neither the strength nor the desire to talk to you. I do not even know the person who is standing before me. Do you claim to know me for many years? Well, apparently, I will have to dig deeper into my memory to confirm your words."

She took a few steps back toward the central alley.

"Do not go after me. Even my feelings for you will not prevent me from taking the next shot," Elena looked coldly at David and left.

The man remained standing still. He sighed heavily and clutched at his head, "Damn! This is not how I imagined this conversation."

After thinking about what had happened a couple of minutes, he turned around and ran after the girl. Practically reaching the central gate, David saw that Elena had already got into Rick's car.

The young man opened the driver's door and was also about to sit inside, but he noticed David and stopped.

Looking at his friend, he said something, grinned, got into the car and drove away.

David watched the car drive away, trying to understand what Rick said. He scrolled in his head the movement of his lips to make up the final phrase.

"Thanks for the help."

David once again repeated to himself the last words of Rick and only then realized what he had meant by that.

. . .

Elena was sitting in the car and struggling to hold the tears back. Rick handed a bottle of water to her,

"Here, have a drink. You will feel better."

The girl took the bottle and took a few sips.

The car drove through the central streets and turned onto a side highway leading outside the city. Rick looked in the mirror and saw that Elena was sleeping.

Two hours later, he stopped the car near a large country house. Opening the passenger door, he gently shook the girl on the shoulder,

"Elena, wake up. We arrived."

The girl opened her eyes and blinked several times, feeling surprised at her condition.

"Did I fall asleep?" she asked and got out of the car.

Rick smiled and nodded his head.

"Where are we?" Elena looked around. This place was not familiar to her.

"Sorry, I have urgent things to do. This is one of the places owned by my company. I need to pick up some documents. You fell asleep, and I did not want to bother you. As soon as I find everything, I will immediately take you home, ok?"

"Well, okay," the girl agreed. She didn't have much choice anyway.

They went inside and headed for the second floor. It seemed that there was no one in the house.

"Doesn't anyone live here?" Such a situation seemed strange to her.

Rick smiled slyly, "Yes, you're right. Nobody lives here yet."

He leaned over to Elena and whispered, "But I plan to settle here with Corey soon if she agrees to my proposal."

Elena looked at the young man with surprise, "Do you want to propose to her?"

"Yes, Miss."

"God, I imagine how happy she will be," Elena was very glad, knowing how much her friend was in love with this man.

Rick opened one of the doors, and the girl went inside. She saw the office, furnished with style, a large oak table, a leather chair and shelves with lots of books.

"Wait for me here, please. I'll bring you some hot tea. And then I'll do my own things. I think it will not take more than half an hour," the young man said and left her in the room.

Elena looked around this unfamiliar place with great interest. The girl walked to the bookshelves. The books and different folders were standing close to one another.

She glanced at them, and one of the folders caught her attention. On its spine, she saw two lightning bolts.

The girl thought a little and took out the documents.

The folder looked very old, the pages turned yellow with time, and the text was typed as if on an old typewriter.

Elena opened the folder.

'Hmm, German. I had better studied this language,' she thought and began turning over the pages.

Suddenly her eyes froze on the photo. From the page of the document, a young girl was looking at Elena. Elena became tense.

'Why does her face look so familiar to me?'

She looked at the text in front of the photo. 'Polina. Hmm, apparently, this is her name. I hear this name for the first time. Soooo... What is here next... Project "Eternity". I don't understand anything.'

Elena began to turn the pages further. For some reason, this document caused a strange feeling in her.

Turning over the next page, the girl froze again. It seemed to her that even her heart stopped beating.

She was looking at the picture of a young man. He looked nineteen years old, no more. The photo was black and white, but it seemed to Elena that she could even see what color his eyes were.

The girl swallowed the lump that came to her throat. She looked at the words under the photo. "Daniel Ar..." Everything darkened in Elena's eyes instantly.

She grabbed the edge of the table and tried to hold on so as not to fall.

Having taken a few deep breaths, Elena opened her eyes and turned the page. But what she saw after that plunged her into an even greater shock.

The girl's hands shook, and she dropped the folder on the floor. From the document lying on the floor, another girl was looking at her. Her exact copy.

Elena's knees trembled, but she leaned over and picked up the papers. She turned a couple of pages back and read the headline. [Project Eden.]

"W-what is it? What is it?" Her whole body began to shake, and she could barely stand.

"Elena?" Rick's voice made her tremble, and the girl dropped the papers in surprise.

The young man looked at the worried face of the girl and began going towards her slowly. With his every approaching step, she felt a wild desire to run away from him as quickly as possible. Run away as fast as if her life depended on it. She took a step back and leaned against the wall.

Rick came closer to her, picked up the documents and looked at the girl.

"Well, did you find anything interesting?" The young man smiled, but it was a smile that Elena had not seen before.

His smile was like the grin of a predator, who was looking at the cornered prey with lust.

While he was looking directly at her, Elena began to see the images, which she didn't know of before. These images were flying before her eyes with the speed of the light.

Her vision darkened, and she fell on the floor feeling unconscious.

. . .

The long gray corridor seemed quiet and lifeless. Only the flashing light of some lamps hanging along the wall reminded of their silent presence.

The young man was walking along the corridor with unhurried steps. His face showed no emotion. And only his eyes cast a contented glance at the girl, lying unconscious in his arms.

He walked to the very end of the corridor and stopped at the last door. Opening it, he brought the girl inside and slammed the door.