Chapter 1: You're Awake!
A piercing light pressed against my closed eyelids, pulling me from the darkness.
"Kaleb, can you hear me?" A woman's voice reached my ears just as I opened my eyes. Blinking against the brightness, I struggled to focus on the person before me. She immediately leaned forward, wrapping her arms around me tightly, her body trembling with quiet sobs.
I didn't know her, but the way she clung to me told me that she knew exactly who I was. Her features were familiar, but nothing clicked into place. I couldn't tell if she was my mother, sister, or even someone closer.
"I'm sorry," I murmured, hesitating before I added, "but I don't know who you are."
She pulled back, her eyes wide with concern, and called out for a doctor before quickly leaving the room. Left alone, I looked around, taking in my unfamiliar surroundings. My gaze landed on a lamp in the corner of the room, its light faintly distorted by something I couldn't explain. A subtle, almost imperceptible energy shimmered around it, catching my attention.
Curiosity drove me to move closer, but my legs felt weak and unsteady. With effort, I used the furniture around me for support, inching toward the lamp. As I got closer, an odd sensation began to tingle through my body, compelling me forward. It was as if my hand moved on its own, reaching out to touch the lamp.
The moment my fingers brushed the surface, a surge of energy shot through me. The power in the room flickered and then went out entirely. I was thrown backward, my body slamming into the wall. As consciousness slipped away, a fragment of memory flickered in my mind—a red sphere descending against a backdrop of endless water.
The next voices I heard were distant, muffled.
"He might be experiencing post-traumatic amnesia," an unfamiliar male voice said.
"Will his memory come back?" the woman's voice—her voice—asked anxiously.
"There's no way to know. It could take days, weeks, or even months," the doctor replied.
The sound of their conversation lingered as I stirred, weakly murmuring, "M-Mom?"
In an instant, she was beside me again. "Kaleb, your memory's back?" she asked, hope flooding her voice.
Sitting up slowly, I shook my head. "Not exactly. I know you're my mother, and I remember waking up earlier, but that's all. Everything else is… blank."
Her face fell. "You don't remember your father? Or your siblings?"
"No," I admitted, the weight of my answer pressing down on me.
The doctor cleared his throat and excused himself, sensing the tension in the room. As the door closed behind him, I turned to my mother. "What happened to me?" I asked.
She hesitated, her expression pained, before answering. "You were at a lake party with your friends. According to what they told me and what the doctors said, something fell from the sky and hit you. You suffered head trauma."
Her words triggered another flash of memory—the same red sphere, the shimmering surface of water. But the details were frustratingly out of reach, blocked by something I couldn't grasp.
"The doctors said you shouldn't have survived," she continued. "Whatever hit you should have killed you on impact."
I stared at her, stunned. "How long was I unconscious?"
"A month," she said quietly.
A month? The thought was overwhelming. I sank back into the pillows and whispered, "I want to go home."
"I know, sweetheart, but the doctors want to keep you one more night to make sure you're okay," she said, her hand soothingly brushing my arm.
Later that evening, she had to leave to take care of some family matters, leaving me alone in the hospital room. A nurse brought in a small TV to help pass the time. Flipping through channels, I stopped on the news.
A cheerful anchor announced, "Good evening, San Diego. In today's top story, superhero Velo Hawk faced off against the villain Mr. Magnetic in a deadly confrontation. Reports say Mr. Magnetic sank a cruise ship in the Pacific Ocean, though his motives remain unclear. Authorities suspect the renowned scientist Dr. Apauex was on board."
My stomach churned as I turned off the TV. The room felt heavier in the dim light, the silence pressing down on me. My eyes drifted back to the screen, where a faint energy seemed to linger. Unable to resist, I reached out and placed my hand on it.
A sudden jolt of electricity coursed through me, making the lights in the room flicker wildly. The sensation was overwhelming, a tidal wave of power surging through every inch of my body. My heart raced as I struggled to contain it, but the energy was too much.
I slammed my hand against the floor in desperation, and the entire room shook violently. Then everything went dark.
When I woke again, I wasn't in the hospital. Instead, I was surrounded by posters and action figures, the digital clock on the nightstand glowing faintly with energy. Rubbing my eyes, I climbed out of bed, inspecting the unfamiliar room.
On the dresser, I found a photograph of five people—me, my mother, a man I assumed was my father, and two others who looked like siblings. The sight stirred something inside me, but no memories came.
The door creaked open, and the man from the photo stepped in.
"Kaleb, you're awake," he said, relief evident in his voice.
I studied him, my face blank. "I don't remember who you are," I said simply.
He chuckled softly. "I know. Your mother told me." He extended a hand. "I'm Marcus Young—your father."
I hesitated before shaking his hand. "Kaleb," I replied automatically, earning another chuckle.
He asked how I was feeling, and I told him about the faint memories starting to return and the strange numbness in my head gradually fading. He nodded, a small smile on his face.
"I wanted to reintroduce myself," he said before leaving the room.
I wandered down the hallway, taking in the family portraits lining the walls. No matter how hard I tried, the faces remained strangers to me.
Standing there, I couldn't shake the feeling that something bigger was happening—something connected to the red sphere, the lake, and the strange energy that now seemed to follow me everywhere.
This was my life now. Whatever the truth was, I had to find it.