Matrix Reloaded (Theme: Suspense/Thriller) (Genre: Fantasy)

Summary: Stella Black suffered from a terrible car accident, causing her to have memory loss. Now she can't remember who she is or what happened in her past. But with the help of her friend bringing back her memories, Stella begins to determine who she really is, but it's not something she's expecting...at all.


TITLE: Thirsty Eyes


PART ONE: Mystification

The images painted a blurry picture, fading to black. Slowly, the images were erasing like snow melting away. Everything was surrounded by unclear shadows. All I could remember from that night is darkness.
I opened my eyes instantly and found myself staring at an unsatisfying brown wall. As my curious eyes wander the room, I realized I was in my own bedroom. I was dazed from seeing those hazy images, but I decided to let it slip.
As I rose from my bed, shielded by bewilderment how I suddenly found myself in my room, I prepared myself for school, putting my favorite pair of jeans on and a T-shirt. I examined myself in the mirror, staring at a mystified reflection.
I glared into a beautiful face with warm gold eyes, having the prettiest pale skin I've ever seen. The hair was a black veil, hanging loose down my shoulders. For the first time, I was confused seeing myself this beautiful. The one thing I felt completely lost of is who I am as a person, the only thing I could remember is my name, first and last, but that's about it. Utterly at a loss, I continued brushing my hair, thinking how I'm going to survive school while trapped in confusion.
The day of school was a blur, I was in deep thought the whole time. As I sat in the cafeteria, my food remained untouched, realizing I don't have much of an appetite. My mind was still possessed by deep thoughts as I continued pondering.

"Hi, Stella!" a distant voice said to me, so I thought it was distant.

Snapping back to reality, I saw the face of an angel, my best friend, Annaly. She's a blond version of myself, the only difference is whenever Annaly smiles, she has cute dimples and her smile lights up everything, it's always a bright smile.

"Hey, Annaly," my tone came out flat.

Sitting right beside me, as she sat her tray down on the table, she looked at me, her eyes glazed with surprise, as if she hasn't seen me in years.

"So, Stella, where were you these past few months? I missed you," Annaly brought up.

Lowering my eyebrows in bewildered, I asked, "What do you mean?"

Now it was Annaly's turn to shadow the lowered eyebrows. "Don't you remember, Stella? You were gone these past few months!"

"What...What are you talking about, Annaly?" I was utterly at a loss.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" her tone had an acidic side to it.

"No I don't!" I made it sound like I'm defending myself.

"Don't act so stupid! You do too!"

"For the last time, Annaly, I don't know what you're talking about, okay? Just drop it!"

Looking hurt deep in the eyes, Annaly rose up, aggravated, and practically bellowed, "That's it! I don't even know you anymore! I'm sitting somewhere else!"

As fast as a blink of an eye, she left the table, picking up her tray furiously. I remained frozen, stunned by her cold words. I don't even know myself anymore. What's wrong with me anyway? Who am I?
The rest of school had its ups and downs. My friends were constantly asking me where I've been these past few months, and feeling annoyed deep inside, I snapped at them the same answer I gave to Annaly. After telling them over and over I don't know what they're talking about, like a reflection of Annaly, they gave me the cold shoulder. So, basically, I have no friends left.
Depressed, I decided to skip my third period class, and walked outside the school. I sat beneath a tree on the school ground, a curtain of shade glazing upon me.
I was frustrated with myself. Why can't I remember who I am anymore? This is scaring me. What if this is permanent? What if I won't be able to remember myself anymore? I shuddered at that thought. How will this affect my future? How will I live the rest of my life like this, always waking up confused, not knowing my inner self?
I was so deep in thought I didn't hear the footsteps approaching me. Somebody sat right beside me, and I looked up to see who it was. It was a guy who appeared to be around 19 years old. He had the most gorgeous bronze hair, as if he just came back from a hair gel commercial. His eyes had this deep, warm chocolate color and his flesh was as white as snow. I couldn't help but stare at him, he is so beautiful with his porcelain face.

"Hello," I greeted him, feeling awkward why he suddenly approached me like this.

"I apologize for my intruding, but I saw you sitting here, looking sad," he spoke, his voice like soothing rain with an innocent softness.

"I am sad," I confessed.

"Allow me to introduce myself first," he said. "My name is Darryl Hale." He extended his hand out and I shook his hand with friendliness.

"It's nice to meet you, Darryl," I said politely. "I'm Stella Black."

Leveling an astonished mask, he spoke softly, as if he's talking to himself, "Stella Black...Stella...Your name sounds awfully familiar."

"Does it?" I asked, now it was my turn to shadow the identical surprised mask.

Gazing deep into my eyes, he brought up, "I've seen you somewhere before. I actually know who you are!"

"You do?" I was mystified.

Sighing heavily, he said, "You don't remember me, do you? Does my name sound familiar to you, at least?"

"No. Should it?"

Stabbing a finger towards me, he continued, "I was with you the day of your accident. I know why you don't remember who you are or why you can't recall what happened the past few months."

"That's funny, I don't recall seeing you," I admitted. That's when it dawned on me. "Accident? What accident? Did I get into a car crash or something? Because if I did, I sure don't remember getting into one!"

"Why don't you come with me for a while?" Darryl suggested.

"Why?" I demanded.

"Because so you can understand why you don't recall your past," Darryl's tone came out haunting.

As soon as we were on the highway, while I was sitting in the back of his motorcycle, feeling the warm breeze touch my skin, I couldn't help but wonder what happened in my past. I also felt anticipated, can't wait to determine who I really am. I hope Darryl will help me sort all this out, finding my inner self again.
By the time we reached his house, an average-looking house, a mirror of a lake behind the house, I got off his motorcycle and he escorted me towards his front door.

"Do I actually know who you are?" I asked, reflecting back to our conversation, while underneath the tree.

"Yes, you do, matter of fact," was his velvety response.

As he fumbled with the lock, after opening the door, I stepped in his house. Instantly a smile painted across my face with satisfaction. I'd have to say, his house reminds me of the inside of a beach house, everything so beautiful and heartwarming. The colors were comforting, delicate shades of blue, as soothing as the ocean water during a perfect summer day.
Darryl and I reached towards a couch in his reassuring living room. As I sat on the couch, crossing my legs, he looked through his backpack and took out this beat-up looking book. He handed the book to me, but I only glared at it, unsure what he wants me to do with it.

"Take it," his tone darkened, commanding me.

"Is it for me?" I wondered out loud, obediently taking the book.

His tone softened to innocence, and clarified, "This book contains pictures the day of your accident."

I continued looking at him, astounded what he said.

"Go ahead, take a look," he pressed.

Without saying a word, I began looking through the book with curiosity. I found a ripped up page from a newspaper, the headline reading: THE MOST DEVASTATED ACCIDENT. A picture of a Chevy truck stood on top of a mirror made of ice, right beside a tree. Blinking my eyes several times at the Chevy, I had this deja vu feeling. That truck sure looks familiar, where have I seen it before?
I moved on to the next page, this one containing a picture of...myself in a hospital bed, my face covered in a veil of scars and bruises! I glanced away from that dreadful picture, stifling back the uncontrolled tears. Placing my hand over my mouth, I felt the stream of tears pouring down my face. My chest felt heavy inside, as if my heart weighs a ton. Rain of tears continously poured. I felt Darryl's soothing hands on my shoulders while having my moment.

"Hey, Stella, everything's going to be fine," he encouraged.

Looking at him, my eyes glazed with teardrops, the veil of tears staining my face, I hissed under my breath, "How do you know everything's going to be fine? I'm seeing myself with bruises all over my face, never knowing where they came from or what has happened to me!"

"Like I said before, Stella, I was with you the day of your accident," he reminded me. Taking a deep breath, he explained, "A few months ago, the month of January, you were driving in your new Chevy truck, with me in the passenger seat. We didn't know the road you were on is pure ice, because snow was hiding the ice. You and me were just fooling around, having a great time, and as a joke, I challenged you to speed up, and you did. Because of the ice road, since you were going too fast, the truck swerved, and it slid across the road, onto the lake that was right beside the road we were on. The next thing I knew we were sliding across the lake as well, obviously the water was ice too, sliding right into a tree trunk. The tree caused your side of the truck to break the glass of the window, causing you to hit your head against the tree trunk really hard. You were in the hospital for four months, Stella."

I was too stunned to speak.

Darryl went on, "That's the reason why you can't remember anything, Stella. Your accident caused you to have memory loss! One side of your brain is seriously damaged, erasing your long term memories, the other side of your brain contains a little of your memory, but overall, your brain is suffering from memory loss. According to the doctor, it's permanent. He said there's nothing we can do to help you restore your memories back..." He hesitated for a brief moment, and then sympathized, "I'm so sorry, Stella."

I stared at the ground, feeling melancholy deep inside. The raindrops of tears continued pouring down my face.

Everything is going to be fine, a velvet voice encouraged me.

"Thank you," I said out loud to the voice.

"For what?" Darryl asked in bewilderment.

"Actually, I just heard this voice," I confessed. "It sounded so distant. It's like the kind of voice you would hear inside your head."

"Stella, the voice you heard was mine," he brought up, suddenly.

My eyes glazed with astonishment, giving him a sideways look.

"What?" I demanded.

Making eye contact, he said, "Yes, you heard me correctly, Stella. That voice was mine. You were actually reading my mind."

Leveling my eyes in mystification, I said, "Okay, this is ridiculous. I mean, I'm not a mind-reader. I can't read anyone's minds."

"You just read mine a minute ago," Darryl reminded me.

"True," was all I could say.

"There's something else you should know about," he confessed, darkening his voice, his features coloring suspense.

"What is it?" I asked flatly.

"You know what? Instead of telling you, I'm going to show you," Darryl changed his mind, his tone still colored darkly.


PART TWO: Unraveling

Late at night, I was sleeping dreamlessly. A filmstrip of darkness possessed inside my mind rather than images. The blackness had a tint of blue, almost creating a kalidoscope design. Blue shades took over the blackness, and before I knew it, those colors transformed into images.
Turns out, the images appeared to be myself and this gorgeous stranger, who I've never seen before. We were walking on an isolated field, near the woods.
The ocean of trees were all beautiful, the leaves a pure green, the shade of green you would find in summer. The sky was a blanket of gray clouds, with the sky itself a silver color. The field scenery was nothing but cool colors.
This werewolf, standing a few feet away from us, came out of nowhere. To my astonishment, the stranger revealed his fangs, sharp as a knife, to the werewolf. I mirrored the stranger, showing no fear to our rival. Before we knew it, the werewolf came charging toward us, like a bolt of lightning. Fortunately, the stranger and I were much more rapid than the werewolf. We battled the wolf together, our fangs still revealed.
Suddenly, I woke up, bathed in a veil of perspiration. Breathing heavily, I placed my hand over my heart. It beated so fast I thought it was going to sprint out of me. Dazed by that dream, I rose up from my bed reluctantly, taking baby steps towards the mirror.
I stared at another mystified reflection, trying to determine why I was dreaming seeing myself with fangs. I never had a dream like that before, not once! The reason I'm looking in the mirror is I have to be sure I really don't have fangs, and I know it seems like a silly thing to do, considering it's just a dream, but you never know. Maybe it's a memory from my past or something. That's when it dawned on me. I could feel goosebumps prickling on my skin. That's it! It wasn't a dream at all!
Desperate, I opened my mouth in a flash, still looking in the mirror, my features glazed with confusion. I couldn't see any fangs, but as I examined my teeth closer, I saw two long, sharp, pointy teeth. Immediately I knew those were fangs! My features shadowed a surprise mask. No! This can't be happening! For the first time in a long time, deep down, I knew who I really am!
As I examined my eyes closer, like I did with the fangs, I saw that they had this thirsty look behind them, not thirsty for water, but for something darker. For the first time, my gold eyes appeared demented, colored with sinister. I revealed those fangs again, wanting to make sure they weren't a hallucination. With my finger, timidly I touched one of my fangs, and instantly, after feeling it, I took my finger away from the fang. Oh those fangs are real all right!
That's when my eyes fell upon my dresser, with the mirror attached to it. There was a picture of not only myself and the stranger I saw in my eccentric dream, but standing behind us, there was a coven of a mysterious family. I saw that all of their faces were beautiful and porcelain, as if they all came back from a modeling career. Lowering my eyebrows in a daze, I was more confused than ever. Who were these people? Do I know them? As my eyes traveled all over the picture, they fell upon that gorgeous stranger again. He sure looks awfully familiar. I could have sworn I seen him somewhere before. Where have I seen him before? Those eyes on the stranger, a deep, warm chocolate color, I've seen those eyes somewhere. Okay, this is ridiculous. I mean, the guy looks familiar, but the rest of the coven does not. Why is that, by the way?
I went back to examining myself in the mirror, utterly at a loss. Deep down, I knew who I was, but it seems silly to me. It's nothing I'm quite expecting to see as my inner self.

"Hello, Stella," this warm, velvet voice said behind me.

I whirled around, and to my astonishment, it was the gorgeous stranger from my dream, and the same one from the picture.

With mystification coloring my features, I asked, "How did you know my name?"

Sighing heavily, he replied, "Don't you remember me, Stella?"

"No," I answered resentfully. "But I've seen you in my dream. I also saw you in this picture." I held up the photo for him to see. I continued, "For some reason, you look awfully familiar to me." Then my tone transformed to innocence to acidic, "Why are you in my house? You may look familiar, but I don't know you! Just get out of here! Now!" As I was talking, my hand motioned for him to leave my house.

"Look, I'm not leaving," he darkened his tone. "And yes, you do know who I am, actually. You just don't remember because of your..." His voice trailed off, glancing down on this beat-up looking book.

Gradually he opened the book, revealing a picture of myself lying in a hospital bed, with my face covered in harsh bruises and scars. That's when it hit on me. Tears rained down my face after seeing that picture.

Lifting my hand to touch the left side of my head, I whispered, "I can feel it."

He went on, clarifying, "My name is Darryl Hale, Stella. I've known you for years. In fact, you are my girlfriend. We've been together for a long time. The dream you had tonight, it actually wasn't a dream. It was a memory of your past, and also, revealing our true identities. That memory actually happened to you, before your accident. I know you don't remember, but yesterday, you read my mind when I thought, everything is going to be fine. That is your special ability, Stella. Your ability is to read minds. My ability is to predict futures, and reading minds as well."

Stunned, I spoke, "You and I are boyfriend and girlfriend? All this time, we were dating?"

"Yes," he said, keeping calm for my sake, and added, "I know it's hard for you to believe, but it's true."

"I can actually read minds?" I asked, astounded to hear that unexpected news.

"Yes," he simply replied, still mild.

"I'm curious...Uh, Darryl, that's your name, right?"

He only nodded, his face unreadable.

"I'm curious, Darryl, how did you know the dream I had tonight is a memory from my past?"

"I was the one who placed that memory into your mind," he answered softly.

"How did you do that?" I asked with curiosity.

"That's my other special ability," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, "My other one is to photograph images into another mind. This is how it works. If I see an image in my head, and if I think a name in particular, name of someone I already know, that image goes into their mind as well."

"That's cool," I said with a little enthusiasm.

"It is an irresistible ability," he agreed. Then he suddenly recalled, "There's another thing you should know about yourself."

"I know exactly what you're going to say next, Darryl," I brought up.

Oh really? Tell me, what am I thinking? he thought.

You're thinking of telling me who I really am, I thought to him. But deep inside, I think I know what the answer may be. It's going to sound completely ridiculous, though.

"Tell me who you think you are," Darryl pressed, speaking out loud.

I told him my honest answer, my tone reluctant and insecure. After I told him the answer, his warm, chocolate eyes shadowed a stunned look.


PART THREE: Flashbacks

Because of my memory loss condition, everyday this gorgeous stranger would constantly appear, revealing the day of my accident. He would constantly say who my true identity is.
One day, the gorgeous stranger decided to bring me to the house I used to live in from my past. Of course, I was bewildered why this stranger was being so generous to me, and why he's desperate to show me my previous house. I don't even know who he is, but he seems nice.
He drove us on his motorcycle to a town named Forks, which is on the outskirts of the city. As I examined Forks, suddenly, I came across this battlefield, and it looked awfully familiar to me, for some peculiar reason.
Not only it was weird to find that battlefield appearing familiar, but deep down, I felt this eccentric craving, a craving that's not very typical. For the first time, I felt a craving for...blood, fresh blood! I know that sounds crazy, but to be honest, I don't why I have such a craving so eccentric.
Deciding to ignore the eccentric craving, I focused back on examining the small town of Forks. It basically looks like a typical town, with houses, restaurants, and other things. As I gazed up at the sky, it was concealed by a thick wall of altostratus clouds. That's when I realized. Most of Forks had cool colors, there's not much warm colors, if you ask me.
I turned on the left side of the road, and to my dismay, there stood a mansion, which looked haunted, standing isolated upon a hill. A moat of trees surrounded the mansion, the trees casting a veil of shade on it, making everything appear black, especially the mansion, considering the color of it is actually black.
Surprisingly, the gorgeous stranger drove onto the narrow, endless driveway, which led towards that haunted mansion, so I thought it was haunted. As soon as we approached it, he turned off his motorcycle, and helped me off it. Why is he being so generous to me, even though we don't know each other?

"Hey, what's your name?" I asked, leveling my eyebrows in curiosity.

"Darryl Hale," he introduced himself.

"What a nice name," I complimented, smiling brightly.

"Thank you. You have such a lovely name yourself," he complimented back.

I blushed, and then, gazing at the mansion again, I asked dreadfully, "Why are we here, by the way?"

"Well, believe it or not, Stella, this used to be where you live," he spoke the truth, gesturing to the 3-dimensional shadow mansion.

My features painted an astounded mask, causing my mouth to drop open. I remained speechless.

Nodding without much emotion, Darryl responded, "Yes, you heard me correctly."

"I-I-I c-can't believe i-it," I stuttered, my eyes glued to the mansion. I stared at it like I was trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle with million pieces.

I couldn't help but notice that every single window had its curtains closed. To me, I find that extremely weird, but it's not a big deal. The other thing I'm wondering is why this mansion is totally bathed in shadows, blocking the sunlight, even though it was hindered by an ocean of clouds. As I examined this mansion closer, I realized it looked familiar as well as the battlefield.

"This mansion looks familiar," I spoke out loud, pointing towards the mansion with a reluctant finger. "Also, the battlefield we passed by looked familiar to me."

"That's because you've been to both of them before," Darryl answered, eyeing me curiously. "The battlefield we passed by, you've seen it in your head before, from that one night when you thought the memory was a dream. Not only it was an image, but you've been on that battlefield many times in the past."

"I have?" was all I could say, still stunned.

"Yes," he simply said. Then he added rapidly, "I'm going to burn an image into your head, flashbacks from your past."

Darkening my features in confusion, I asked, "What do you mean?"

With that, he explained his three special abilities, foreshadowing futures, mind-reading, and photographing images into a different mind. I thought the third one sounded irresistible to have, in my opinion. He also mentioned that I have a special ability as well. Mind-reading. Of course, that news came to me, like lightning striking me unexpectedly. He revealed a picture of me in a hospital bed from this one book, clarifying what's happened to me.

After he noticed my realization what occurred to me, he repeated, "Okay, I'm going to photograph those flashbacks into your mind. Are you ready, Stella?"

"I'm ready," I replied with confidence.

"Close your eyes," his velvet, innocent tone instructed me.

I obediently closed them, feeling apprehensive what he's about to reveal. At first, it was a filmstrip of blackness, but then, as the black possessed my mind, it rapidly tranformed into an image, an image of the identical battlefield we passed by earlier. With the altostratus clouds concealing the sunlight, everything appeared non-jovial, all cool colors. Abruptly, an image of myself painted onto the battlefield, following Darryl, and a coven of beautiful people with porcelain faces. To my realization, I noticed a coven of werewolves approaching the battlefield as well, all they're eyes colored with sinister. Our coven's eyes, on the contrary, appeared with a dark thirsty look behind them. Darryl revealed his white fangs to our rivals, and the rest of us were reflections of him, showing our fangs with no fear. The nex thing I knew, we fought with our rivals intensely.
The next flashback suddenly burned inside my mind after the battle scene. This time, it was only Darryl and myself, sitting beneath a twilight sky, painted with an ocean of dazzling colors, from red to orange, from hot pink to violet, you name it. Unexpectedly, I saw the two of us kiss passionately underneath the sunset, causing our flesh to glow against the bright colors.
Like a slideshow, the next image revealed was seeing myself walking alone during nighttime. A translucent curtain made of moonlight shined upon me, making my white flesh glow like pure snow against sunlight. As I continued walking the darkness, having a ravenous look behind my sinister, crimson eyes, and the craving for blood, I smiled darkly, mirroring the Joker's grin. Then, I saw this boy reaching towards me. When he saw me, he greeted me with a hello. Instead of saying hello back, I saw myself instantly grasping the boy's throat and sunk my fangs deep, sucking blood out of him. A river of crimson rained down his throat after my bite, and he collapsed upon the sidewalk, unconscious. Aw! I feel so much better after being thirsty. I continued grinning with triumph, my mouth covered with crimson as well as my fangs.
More images of myself constantly drinking blood revealed one after another. Then a film of blackness showed up, lasting a while. A distant voice commanded me to open my eyes, saying the flashbacks is over.

After I opened my eyes, having a mystified mask, I asked, "Would you mind explaining to me those flashbacks from my past, Darryl?"

"Don't you see, Stella? Those images were revealing your true identity," he clarified. "About the one you saw us kissing underneath the sunset, that one is trying to tell you we've been in love for years. But because of your accident, you couldn't remember falling in love with me."

Darryl approached closer to me, tracing the outline of my lips with his cold finger. Then he brought his lips close to mine, and we kissed passionately. His kiss felt so cold and marble, but with a hint of love in it. After the kiss, we gazed deeply into each other's eyes with satisfaction.

"The coven you saw on the battlefield," he continued clarifying, "they're actually your family. Yes, your family drinks blood as well, just like you, Stella, and so do I."

"What exactly are you trying to tell me, about you, myself, and the coven?" I asked with anticipation.

"Before I tell you, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to keep those flashbacks burned inside your mind, that way, you'll always remember who your true identity is, so you won't ever wake up confused again," he suggested. "Would you like for me to do that? I can."

After pondering what he said, I responded, smiling a little, "Yes, I think that would help a lot."

"Okay," Darryl agreed.

"Anyway, what are you telling me about our identities?" I reminded him quickly.

From his astonished answer, I could have sworn he whispered coldly the word Vampires. But, I didn't heard what he said, though. From this person who happened to be walking by us, I was too busy drinking fresh, human blood.




THE END. . .