Riverton

Levi sat on the step of the front porch with his arms wrapped around himself, watching with wide eyes as the sheriff stuffed Stella in the backseat of his car. He jerked his head to the side, startled, as someone sat down beside him.

"I dropped you off at the house." Daniel rested his arms on his knees staring at straight. "So how did you end up in this mess?" He finally turned to look at Levi.

Levi stared at him as his heart continued to beat wildly against his chest. He had tried to calm himself down, but every time he thought about how close he had come to tasting a bullet brought back the fear he had felt.

What had Daniel said? Was he even talking to him? He watched as his lips moved up and down, but he was so stunned that he couldn't make out what his guardian was saying.

Just minutes ago, he had almost died. Again. Stella was just going to shoot him without a second thought, but he had somehow dodged her fire. How? He never thought dodging a bullet would've been easy. He didn't even think dodging a bullet from close range was possible. But something happened. Something weird.

He had felt her pull the trigger before she ever had. How did he know she was going to? Maybe it was just by how she was talking and acting. Maybe it was adrenaline, but it had felt different. Like something he'd never felt before. Like he had a sixth sense. Something from inside him told him to take cover, but what? How was it possible?

"Hey." Daniel softly rammed his arm into Levi's with a push. "Everything okay?"

Levi gazed into the deep blue depths of Daniel's eyes. He opened his mouth feeling his hands tremble. "She... she poisoned us."

Daniel cocked his head. "What?" He glanced up and down Levi's body. "Then we have to get you two to the hospital." He began standing to his feet when Levi gestured for him to stop.

"No, not now." He swallowed. "What the doctors say was food poisoning. It wasn't. She did it. She confessed."

Daniel furrowed his brow. "But why would she do something like that? You told me that she was helping you. She had become a friend to you."

Levi shook his head finally coming to terms with what Stella had said. "I don't think she wanted to. I think someone forced her. She said that if she didn't kill me then they would kill her." He shrugged. "Why would someone do that? Who would want me dead? I don't know anyone. I don't even know myself. What kind of threat could I be?"

Daniel sighed. "Well, unfortunately, because you don't have you memories, you don't know what kind of enemies you could have out there. There's a very good chance that someone is trying to take an advantage of this opportunity."

Levi lowered his head. He had never thought about it that way. Not having his memories in a town he supposed he had lived in for a while could mean there were multiple people out there who wanted him dead. Especially if Imani was right about him being a thief. Who knew what he had stolen. Perhaps someone wanted revenge for something he had taken awhile ago, but who would be crazy enough to threaten the life of someone else just to get at him? Make Stella do their dirty work.

"Don't worry," Daniel continued. "I'll have some men ask around town looking for whoever Stella could've been working with, and as long as you listen to me, I can keep you safe."

Levi jerked himself away as Daniel placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Don't touch me!" He shook as his nerves overtook him. He balled his hands into fists, and clenched his eyes shut as he sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just still unsettled from the event." He relaxed his hands as he stared at the ground. "I could've died."

Daniel stood up and brushed off leaves from his backside. "We should get you home, Levi. Keep you safe."

Levi swung his head upward toward Daniel. "What? No. I'm not going home. Not now."

Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. "Levi, I can't be expected to protect you if you're not going to do what I say."

"I don't want your protection," Levi argued. "How do you know I'm even the one you're supposed to be protecting? I could be the bad guy for all you know, and whoever is out there trying to hurt me, they could be trying to get justice for something I've done."

Daniel folded his arms. "I don't believe that for a second."

Levi pushed himself to his feet. "Why? You had no clue who I was until I came after you that one day while in the hospital." He pointed at his face. "I put a scare on your cheek! But you say I'm the good guy?"

He snorted as he shoved his hands into his pocket and stormed off. He glanced from the corner of his eye at the backseat of the sheriff's car as he walked by. Stella stared at him blankly from the back window. He shuddered as he quickened his steps and moved on.

He didn't know where he was going to go. He just wanted to get away from that house, and never return. His mind spun as millions of things raced through.

What had he said to Daniel? It had spilled from his mouth before he even knew what he was saying. Did he really think that? That he was the bad guy? The one that needed to be in jail. What if that was why these people were after him. Could he... could have killed someone? Could he be a murderer himself? Could they be seeking vengeance for whoever he had killed?

He flung his hands up to his head, gripped his hair, and gritted his teeth at the thought. He would do anything to remember who he was. Maybe losing his memories were a blessing. Maybe this was his waking point. Knowing who he was, and how bad of a person his old self was.

With rage boiling in his blood, he swiftly turned to the right and planted a fist in one of the trees as he shouted in anger. "Ugh, why can I not remember?" He glanced down at his hands, his right knuckles crackled with a hint of blood, as tears welded in his eyes. "Who am I?"

Minutes turned into an hour as he walked from Stella's house all the way to the other side of the town where he was greeted by the seashore.

He trudged through the sand until he stopped a few inches away from the water that drifted onto shore touched his shoes. He closed his eyes as he sucked in a deep breath, the smell of the salty ocean filling his nostrils as the wind blew through his hair.

"Hey."

He turned around to find Imani stepping up beside him. He smiled. "What are you doing here?"

She returned a small grin as she slowly slipped her arm around his. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

He glanced down at her arm, his heart beginning to quicken, but he kept it calm, and himself from pulling away from her in fear. He didn't want anyone touching him right now, but that didn't mean he had to rude to Imani. Maybe this was what he needed to move on.

Levi sighed. "I'm not okay really," he replied, looking back out at the sea. "I almost ate a bullet a few minutes ago."

She gently rested her head against his shoulder. "Yeah. I have never been so scared in my life, but you..." She stood up as she gazed into his eyes. "You were awesome. The way you dodged that bullet before she even fired. I would've never made it. I would've kept trying to calm her down not knowing that she was about to kill me."

Levi shrugged. "I don't know what happened really. It just felt like the right thing to do. If I wanted to keep living anyway."

Imani sighed as she closed her jacket tighter around her small figure, and shivered. "At least it's over now. I just can't even fathom how Stella tried to kill herself, and you. If we hadn't shown up, she probably would've killed herself."

He shook his head. "I don't think she wanted to." He looked at her noticing her furrowed brow. "She said she was told that she had to kill me or someone else would kill her. I think she knew that she had failed in killing me, and didn't want to face what the others would do to her. I think she saw it as her escape route, but was actually terrified. Us showing up gave her that second option to live."

"But being caught, she would've gone to jail anyway."

"Not necessarily. She could've shot me, and she almost did, before the sheriff arrived, and escaped through the back. She could've gotten out of town and been free,"

"But why would she just kill you? Why wouldn't she go to the sheriff? They could've helped her. Stella's not a killer. I've known her for years. She's a nice girl."

He laughed inwardly. "Apparently she's not who you thought she was."

She unhooked her arm from around him. "Or your not. I've known Stella longer."

He noticed her pull away, and he frowned. She was right. He didn't even know himself. She had a right to be cautious.

A massive crashing sound echoed from his left. He turned to find a cave under a hill close to the sea line as the waves pounded against the walls.

"That's a dangerous place to go," Imani said. "High tide is at four. If you get trapped inside, you'd drown. It's almost impossible to swim out of.

"We had a teenage boy drown in there two years ago. I don't know why he was so stupid to go in anyway. You have to climb on the rocks to even get inside."

The sounds got louder. It sounded cool, but he wouldn't want to be the one trapped inside.

He placed a gently hand on her back. "Let's get out of her. I've seen enough of the sea for today."

They turned around, and headed back toward the town.