In the dark of the night, a woman walked to her house with a girl her age leaning on her shoulders. No one passing by questioned it. They assumed it was just some woman helping her friend or girlfriend home after a hard night drinking or something. They could barely make out their faces in the darkness anyway, so why would they pay them any mind?

Nadroj unlocked her front door and took the unconscious Diana inside. At that point, she just slung the girl over her shoulder. Nadroj groaned under the weight of the girl. She was deceptively heavy for how she looked.

She set her keys and wallet on the kitchen counter and carried Diana down the steps of her house, into her basement. When she got down there, Nadroj turned on the lights and smiled as she set down her latest victim on the couch down there. It wasn’t often that she could get a kid like her anymore thanks to that curfew they put into place, but she was lucky to find this one waltzing around after dark.

“Alrighty,” she said, licking her lips at Diana. “Let’s see just how much you can take.”

*   *   *   *   *

“Come on, I wanna stay up late,” Ann groaned.

“No,” Lonnie said firmly. “You have school tomorrow.”

Ann and her older sister Lonnie were walking down the street late at night. They lived by themselves in an apartment, with Lonnie working harsh jobs supporting them both while her little sister Ann went to high school. If Lonnie didn’t have to keep them both afloat, she could’ve probably gone to college, but she loved her little sister too much.

“I wanna stay up like you and do things!”

“You don’t wanna be like me,” she sighed. “Working 9 to 5 would be generous.”

“Aw, Lonnie…”

“Let’s just get you home,” Lonnie sighed, rolling her eyes and ruffling her sister’s hair. “School. Tomorrow.”

Lonnie and Ann walked down the sidewalk, almost back to their apartment when Ann stopped in front of an alleyway. Her nose was wrinkled and she was looking at a dumpster. Lonnie sighed. It wasn’t unusual for Ann to stop somewhere because she could smell or hear something weird. Her senses were kind of easily set off.

“Come on Ann,” she urged. “You have school and I need to sleep.”

“I smell something weird,” Ann said, her nose twitching.

“It’s just the dumpster. Garbage truck will collect it in a couple hours, now let’s just get home please.”

“I don’t smell something right.”

“Ann, please don’t dig through the trash again-”

Ann climbed up on a box and started rifling through a dumpster, much to her sister’s disapproval. She really couldn’t keep Ann out of places she shouldn’t be in. One time she got lost in the sewers for two days because she dropped a quarter down a grate. 

“I don’t know what you think you’re going to find down there,” Lonnie said. “Unless you’re going to find a bar of gold down there, I think you should give up.”

“Hey, gold!” Ann cheered, pulling something out.

“Pft, no way,” Lonnie laughed, holding her hand out. “Give it here.”

Much to her confusion, Ann put a necklace down in Lonnie’s hand. She looked at it closely. It definitely wasn’t gold, but it was shiny and probably expensive. Why would someone just throw it out…?

“Ooo,” Ann cheered, pulling out a pair of nice black shoes. “Can I keep these?”

“Ann, out of there,” Lonnie said, pulling her sister away from the dumpster and looking through it herself. She covered her mouth in horror before tossing Ann her purse. “Call 911, now!”

“What’s-”

“NOW!” she barked. 

Ann did it without another thought. Lonnie struggled to lift something out of the dumpster while her sister made the call. In only a few minutes, they heard sirens in the distance.

*   *   *   *   *

Diana woke up with a cascade of blinding lights assaulting her eyes when she opened them. Immediately, her entire body exploded into pain. Her head was pounding, and she could barely move her head.

“She’s up!” exclaimed a woman. “Get the doctor!”

“Alright!”

“Hey, hey,” the woman said, shaking her hand. Who was she…? Where were they…? “Come on, stay up.”

“Who…” she mumbled, blinking hard. “Where…?”

“You’re in the hospital,” she said. “My name’s Lonnie.”

“Lonnie…”

“What’s your name?”

“I… I don’t know…” she groaned, pressing her palm against her head. 

“Hey,” the doctor said, coming in with Ann and a nurse. “How long ago did she wake up?”

“Like, just now,” Lonnie said.

“Do you remember your name?” the doctor asked Diana.

“Um…” Diana said, trying to think. “Uh… Dane Hesserhern I think…?”

“Look through records for that name,” the doctor told the nurse, who hurried away.

“What’re you going to do with her?” Ann asked.

“Well…” the doctor said, scratching his head. “Well… without proof of insurance we can’t do a lot for her here…”

“Seriously?” Lonnie asked angrily. “We found this girl slashed, torn up, and half-poisoned in a dumpster and you want to throw her out again?!”

“Torn up…?” Diana mumbled.

She lifted the bed’s blanket a bit to see her body from her shoulders to her hips covered in bandages. Some places were light red, and others a dark crimson. It made her a bit sick, and her head started spinning.

“Calm down,” the doctor sighed to Lonnie. “Listen, it’s hardly my decision. Like I said, we’ll do what we can for as long as we can, but we can’t keep a random girl here forever. Especially not one without even so much as an ID.”

“And where will you take her?”

“We’ll probably go to the police station and ask about her soon. Hopefully that will turn something up if she’s in their or our system.”

“And if she’s not?” Lonnie questioned.

“Oh c’mon,” the doctor said confidently. “What kid hasn’t broken their arm or fractured a leg before? I’m sure she’s in here somewhere.”

“Well, if she’s not, I’ll make sure she gets taken care of,” she sighed.

“That’s… not how that works,” the doctor said. 

“Oh.”

“We’ll make sure something identifying comes up.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Lonnie questioned.

“If it doesn’t, then she can discharge herself,” he said quickly. “I suggest you both go to the waiting room. We have some tests to run on her.”

Lonnie shot the doctor a glare and took Ann’s hand. Together, the both of them went out to the waiting room and sat for hours.

*   *   *   *   *

After Diana got some space and could recover, she could tell the doctors her first name, age, where she went to college, and favorite candy. Diana couldn’t recall anything from that night. Or much about her life in general. Not the most useful information, but it was enough to let them discharge her after a couple days laying there and filling out paperwork.

The doctors told her that apparently she had been found in a dumpster by two sisters that had been waking by late at night. She had been lacerated in various places along her upper body, torso, and legs, and had a dose of poison that had stopped her heart. The doctors said they thought they were wheeling a dead body into the ER, but the fact that she survived was a miracle. Although, who did it was a mystery and would be looked into when the police had men to spare.

“Alright, Diana Doe, you sure you want to walk away with some strangers?” asked the doctor. He clearly didn’t care too much, but wanted to make sure.

“Mhm, yeah,” Diana nodded.

“Godspeed,” he sighed, waving as he walked down the hall. Lonnie and Ann helped Diana out of the hospital.

“Is she going to live with us now?!” Ann asked eagerly, excited at the thought of a new roommate.

“No,” Lonnie said, disappointing her sister. “We’re going to take her to the police. They’ll know what to do with her.”

“Why are we sending her to jail?” Ann asked.

“Not jail. Just looking at some missing persons reports to see if she matches one of them.”

“If she still can’t find a home, then can we keep her?!”

“Ann, she’s not a stray cat.”

As Ann and Lonnie helped her down the hospital steps, Diana felt weird. Approaching them was some girl in a leather jacket and with ash-gray hair that swept over one eye. Diana could see she was about her age. Probably a couple years older.

Something nagged the back of Diana’s mind, like she should recognize her. She got a fresh headache when she caught a sniff of her. It wasn’t the strongest smell, but it was something else that seemed familiar. She stopped in front of the three.

“Can we help you, ma’am?” Lonnie asked.

“I’m glad you found her,” she nodded. “I’ve been worried sick looking for her. Come on, sweetie,” she said, holding her hand out.

“You… know me?” Diana asked hopefully. “Are you my sister or something?!”

“Oh honey,” the girl said, softening her face. “I’m your girlfriend, don’t you remember?”

“She’s got a little amnesia,” Ann explained. “She’s only recently remembered her name. She didn’t have any ID or anything on her when we found her.”

“Oh baby… Well, I’m here to take you home, so if you-“

“Hold it,” Lonnie said sternly. “What’s her name?”

“You think I don’t know my own girlfriend’s name?” she asked, offended.

“Well?”

“Hmph,” she said impatiently. “Diana.”

“Last name?”

“You a cop or something?”

“I want to make sure she’s-“

“Thank you both,” Diana smiled. “But I want to go with her. I think I know her actually. I can feel it.”

“Are you sure?” Lonnie asked skeptically.

“Yeah, I am,” she said confidently. “And you’re not my guardians so you can’t hold me against my will.”

“Make sure you call me,” Ann reminded. “We can talk all night!”

“Not when you have school tomorrow,” Lonnie scolded. She turned back to the mystery woman. “What’s your name?”

“Nadroj,” she frowned. “Yours?”

“Lonnie.”

“Last name?”

“Are you a cop or something?” she sassed back.

“No,” growled Nadroj. “I’m thorough.” She turned back to Diana. “Let’s go, Diana. I’ve got lunch waiting back for us.”

Diana put her arms around her girlfriend as they walked back to Nadroj’s car. Lonnie watched them take off, eyeing the woman’s every movement. She didn’t like the look of her. Not one bit. But the girl was hardly her problem anymore.

*   *   *   *   *

When Nadroj felt something different about her last victim, she couldn’t explain it to herself. All the others had been so easy, dying without struggle. This last one though? Diana? She was a feisty fighter. She kept alive far past the others, and only died after a mix of blood loss and paralysis poison. Or so Nadroj thought. But to her surprise when she checked the dumpster before pickup, she found no body. It was absurd! To think anyone would survive the Foxwood Reaper, but yet…

Nadroj told herself it had to be a sign. Yes, all those others died so easily because they didn’t hang on to life for her. Diana though, she literally went to hell and back, and proved her worth. She was willing to cheat death to be with Nadroj! She had to be with Diana. They were meant to be! Not even death could do them part! She had to keep Diana in her grasp for as long as possible…

Nadroj drove down the road, listening to some soft trashy pop music on the radio. She had told Diana it’d been a long day and she’d tell her everything once they got home. Nadroj wasn’t lying. It had been a long couple days to narrow down which hospital she was at. Then once she went to get her, bam, these strangers showed up to try and take Diana away from her! Not that they’d have gotten far if they refused to hand her over. No, no, Diana wouldn’t like it with them anyway. Diana came back for her and her only.

When they did get home, the first thing Nadroj did was turn 3 locks on the door. She made sure the house was safe, and nobody was breaking in. Or out. Meanwhile, Diana was poking around the house, looking for something familiar. It was a pretty small one-story house with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen that connected into a small living room.

“Wow,” Diana said, looking around in wonder. “I remember none of this.”

“That’s the amnesia,” chuckled Nadroj. “Don’t worry, we’ll make plenty of new memories together now.”

“Alright,” smiled Diana cheerily. She bent down to pick something up off the floor and yelped out in pain, letting herself fall onto the couch.

“Are you ok?!” Nadroj exclaimed,  rushing over to her.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good,” she sighed. “I just hurt a lot. Like, all over.”

“Oh that’s right,” the woman nodded, feigning ignorance. “You got left with a few scars, right?”

“Mhm,” she nodded.

“Can you show me those cuts you got?” Nadroj asked, masking the eagerness.

“Ok…” Diana nodded wearily. “I haven’t really seen them myself, so… I don’t know how bad they are.”

Nadroj helped Diana unwrap the bandages from around her body, and she covered her mouth. Diana thought it was in shock, but she couldn’t have been more wrong. Nadroj was concealing a smile. Deep reds and healing scars across her new girlfriend’s body. She had done that. Those marks were a permanent sign she belonged to Nadroj. Proof their love would always stay with her.

“Oh man…” Diana said, a look of horror in her eyes.

“Don’t look that way,” Nadroj said sympathetically, smiling and putting a hand on Diana’s shoulder. “You’ve never looked more beautiful to my eyes.”

“That is sweet, but I just can’t wait for them to heal,” she sighed. “This is just painful.”

“Joy only feels so good because the bad times are so painful,” Nadroj recited.

“Wow… are you a real philosopher?!” Diana asked in wonder.

“I think we have a lot to catch up on, honey.”