Janet and Jane: The Case of the Amnesiacs: Part Three

      I told Jane about my dream as we were walking back to that building in the forest. I described it more vivid than I could describe what happened two hours ago. I didn't know why I remembered that dream, but I did know that it was more than a dream.

      "Wow, and you're sure it's a memory?" Jane asked. The shadow Korbat looked at me like she doubted me.

      "That's just it. I'm not sure," I answered. "I know it's more than a dream, but I don't know how."

      "If it's a memory, I think it was the last thing before you lost your memory. Did you see anything?"

      I shook my head and sighed. "No, I just heard stuff. I'll let you know if I have that dream again or I remember anything."

      "I know you will."

      If this dream was a memory, then what was it to? Jane said that it might be to what happened before I lost my memory. Was that true? How would she know? What else could it be to?

      All these questions were making me dizzy again.

      I stopped asking myself all of these questions and let myself recover from whatever that was. Remind me not to overthink stuff until my head felt better. I sure hoped that I would get my memory back soon.

      From what I heard from that Korbat, it sounded like I had some interesting memories. I thought she said I was a detective, so that would mean we solved some crimes. I wondered what types of crimes we solved. Simple ones? Complex ones? I would have to ask her later.

      The Korbat led me through the building that was in the woods once we got to it. She was talking to me, most likely explaining what this place was, but I didn't listen. I was too busy looking around and trying to remember this place to listen. In hindsight, I should have listened to her.

      "Janet, are you listening?" the Korbat asked.

      That snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked over at the Korbat, "Sorry, but I was just thinking."

      "About what?"

      "About this place, about you, about me, you know." I shrugged. "I'm just trying to remember something."

      "Janet, I wouldn't try to remember anything. Just let it come back to you naturally." The shadow Korbat sighed. "This isn't something that should be rushed."

      Then I sighed. She was right and she knew it. Instead of arguing, I said, "You're right..." I tried to remember her name. That slipped from my mind again. "Jamie?"

      "Jane, but you were close."

      I was supposed to be following Jane, but I decided to wander off and explore on my own. Yes, I really shouldn't have done that, but I'd rather see what I would find out while I was alone. I didn't know why - I just felt like I find stuff out better while I was alone.

      This place was rather impressive. It looked like it took months to build. I still didn't remember this place, but I seemed to navigate it with ease. It was like I walked these hallways thousands of times. I probably did before I lost my memory. I was going to to have to ask... uh... Jamie about that.

      A loud thud came from the end of the hallway. That made me stop for a second, but then I continued to where the thud came from. I was a little concerned about that, but I knew it wasn't that bad. How bad could it be?

      Turned out it was worse than what I imagined.

      I just imagined someone tripping or slipping on a wet floor and fell. Well, I was right about the falling part. The alien Aisha from earlier was on the ground face down. There was a flight of stairs behind her. Either she fell down the stairs or she just happened to trip there.

      "Are you okay?" I asked.

      The Aisha looked up at me and said, "Yep. Just fine, Janet."

      Janet. There was that name again. "That's me, correct?"

      The Aisha nodded. "That's correct."

      "Thanks..." Shoot, I forgot her name. "Anita?"

      She shook her head. "Natia. Right letters, wrong order." Natia stood up. I examined her. She was a few inches taller than me, so I had to look up if I wanted to make eye contact (not counting her four ears, that is). There was an orange triangle in the middle of her forehead that matched the neon orange dress she was wearing. Her eyes were blue and her hair was in two ponytails.

      Natia walked off. I followed her. There was a little bounce in her step and an spark of happiness in the atmosphere around her. It was like she didn't fall. I wondered if she was always like this.

      "So Natia," I began. "Tell me. That Korbat told me that she and I are detectives. Is that correct?"

      Natia nodded her head. She said, "Yep."

      "So what about you and the Bori?"

      "Well, technically, I am not a detective." The Aisha sighed. "I still want to be and I consider myself one. I helped you and Jane out on a number of cases. You can ask her, if you don't believe me."

      I shook my head. "No, I believe you. So what about the Bori?"

      "Bori? Oh, you mean James. James is an apprentice of yours." Natia went from walking to skipping. I had to pick up the pace to keep up with her. "He's been working with you for a little over a month. There weren't many cases, but he did help you solve one or two."

      Alright, let me figure this out in my head. I was a detective. That Korbat who apparently was my best friend was a detective. This Aisha wasn't a detective but she wanted to be and she helped us out from time to time. And the Bori was our apprentice so he could become a real detective.

      Yes, that sounded very believable.

      "So what type of crimes do we solve?" I asked.

      "Oh, that varies," the Aisha answered. "It can range from figuring out where someone went to a robbery to figuring out if someone did something or not."

      "Really?" I rubbed the back of my head. My bump didn't hurt anymore, but it showed no sign of getting smaller. "I would think I would remember that sort of stuff."

      "Well, James told me that you'd forget all sorts of recent stuff, and all of this stuff has happened over the last few years." The Aisha placed her hands on her hips. "I'm not surprised, really."

      "Do you know when I'll get my memory back?"

      She shook her head and said, "No, not really. I'm hoping soon, though, since Jane told me that there was a chance of foul play."

      "Foul play?"

      "Yeah, you know. Somebody hit you on the head on purpose."

      Somebody might have hit my head on purpose? That thought made me sick to my stomach. Who would do that? Why me? I told myself I wouldn't ask myself so many questions so I could let myself rest, but I didn't care that much at this point. The fact that someone would do this to me on purpose had all my attention.

      "Why would anyone do that?" I asked. "You know, hit my head."

      "I dunno," the Aisha said simply. "Robbery, random attack, revenge, other reasons that start with the letter R-"

      I stopped and faced the Aisha. "Hold on, revenge? Why would someone possibly want to get revenge on me? What did I do?"

      "Your job. You and Jane didn't exactly make a lot of friends while solving these cases. You often got out through situations by the skin of your teeth." The Aisha laughed a little. "Hey, I remember one time you found out Malkus Vile was the one who was stealing stuff in Neovia and he locked you and your little group in his basement. I just happened to be walking around and I-"

      "Look, Anita, if the ones that may have a reason to get back at me, how would they have the chance? Aren't they locked up or something?"

      She shrugged. "Don't ask me. There's always the chance that someone escaped. And like I said, it might not even be that. I wouldn't worry about it." She looked at me. "And again, it's Natia."

      Natia. I was going to try to remember that.

      Anyway, Natia opened a door that we were about to pass. She went in the room. I followed her in. I took in the surroundings, hoping that I'd get some sort of memory back. Though, random trinkets and weapons and notes didn't exactly bring back memories. While Natia was running around the room, I walked around, looking at all the items that were in here.

      I came across a mirror and looked at it. It was the mirror that I looked into when I first woke up this morning. The same shadow Kacheek was staring back at me (albeit a more fixed up version) and I still couldn't remember her. She seemed worried, almost scared about what was happening. That was understandable.

      I could relate.

      "Janet, do you remember the evidence room at all?" the Aisha asked.

      I shook my head and said, "Not really. Is this stuff supposed to ring a bell?"

      She frowned. "Well, I was kind of hoping it would. Ooh!" I looked at her. She was picking something up. It appeared to be a Fan of Swords. The Aisha swung it around. I backed up. I had a bad feeling about that. "Come on, you remember this, right? This is yours, after all."

      "Are you sure you should be swinging it around like that?" I asked nervously.

      "Don't be a stick in the mud. It's fine. This isn't the first time I swung your weapon around like this."

      "So you did this before?"

      "Oh yeah, many times. You, of course, were not in the room. But don't worry. Nothing bad ever happened."

      As if it was on cue, the Fan of Swords flew out of the Aisha's hand. I ducked, even though it wasn't heading in my direction (not anywhere near it, but it was still good to be cautious). The fan hit the mirror frame (which made a weird thunk sound). The mirror fell to the floor. A brief cracking noise proceeded it.

      I got out of my ducking position and walked to the mirror. I set the mirror back up. It wasn't broken, but there were a couple cracks in the glass. They weren't big, but they did mess up the reflection a little.

      "Natia, I told you not to swing stuff around like that!" I snapped. Immediately after I said that, I covered my mouth. I couldn't believe I said that.

      I looked over at Natia. She didn't seem upset or angry or sad like I thought she would be. She seemed confused (not really surprising) with a bit of hope buried in there.

      The door opened. Natia and I both looked over there to see the Korbat and the Bori running in. They both looked concerned. They must have heard the mirror fall to the floor. By the looks of their faces, they seemed to think one of us fell and got hurt.

      "What happened?" the Bori asked.

      "Natia was bright enough to swing my Fan of Swords around," I said sarcastically. "I told her a thousand times not to swing stuff around. Yes, swing the weapon around with a lot of things in the room. Great idea."

      "Calm down, Janet," the Korbat advised. A surprised look suddenly crosses her face. "Wait, what did you say?"

      I looked at her. "Well, I just said Natia was swinging my Fan of Swords. That I told her a thousand times..." I was beginning to get why the Korbat asked me to repeat what I said. "Not to swing stuff around."

      I couldn't believe it. I remembered something.

      "Janet, can you remember anything else?" Natia asked.

      I looked around and thought. At the Korbat, at the Bori, at the room we were in, but I still couldn't remember a thing about any of them. I said, "No, I can't remember anything else."

      I wasn't disappointed in that. This was a start.

      To be continued…