Chapter 1: A New Beginning
Pale was a gentle soul, the kind of person whose natural warmth could light up a room. But lately, that light had been dimming. His girlfriend, Rayner, didn't see a partner when she looked at him; she saw an errand boy. To her, his kindness was a tool to be used, and her every whim became his mandatory command. Each sharp word and dismissive glance chipped away at his spirit, leaving him hollowed out and dejected.
One afternoon, under a sky the color of wet slate, Rayner decided she needed a Coca-Cola. She didn't care that the clouds had opened up into a torrential downpour. Without a second thought, Pale stepped out into the rain to satisfy her craving.
The world was a blur of grey water and splashing tires. As he stepped into the crosswalk, the screech of rubber on asphalt was the only warning he got. A car swerved, a flash of metal struck him with sickening force, and the world went black.
When Pale finally opened his eyes, the smell of antiseptic stung his nose. He was in a hospital bed, the steady beep-beep-beep of a monitor the only sound in the room. A nurse named Nina moved toward him, her expression soft and concerned.
As she reached out to check his IV, Pale flinched, recoiling toward the headboard. A cold, sharp panic surged through his chest.
"Don't touch me!" he cried, his voice raw and trembling. "Who are you? Where am I?"
He looked down at his own hands as if they belonged to a stranger. The silence that followed was deafening. There were no faces in his mind, no childhood memories, no sense of home. He didn't know the woman who had sent him into the rain, and he didn't even know his own name. He was a blank slate, waking up in a world that felt entirely too loud and far too frightening.