Chapter Eight – Déjà Vu
Déjà vu hit me like a slap.
Sharp. Sudden. Wrong.
St. Myrtle General Hospital.
The name echoed in my skull like something I had heard before—somewhere far away, somewhere I couldn't reach. Familiar, but not from this life. Not from this world. A memory that didn't feel like mine.
No.
Not a memory.
A glitch.
"What the hell is happening…?" I murmured under my breath, running my fingers through my hair. My scalp felt sore, like someone had been tugging at it while I slept. The air in the room shifted with every breath, heavy and suffocating, like the walls were slowly leaning in just to listen.
I scanned the room for a clock.
None.
No ticking.
No digital display.
No window showing the sun's position.
Just white walls and silence.
Weird.
Too weird.
My chest tightened. I wasn't just lost—I was unraveling. My thoughts were slipping out of my hands like sand, and every time I grabbed one, another disappeared. The hospital felt wrong. The air tasted staged. Even the silence felt scripted.
Was I losing my mind?
A soft knock tapped the door.
I sat up straighter, clutching the blanket instinctively. The door swung open, and someone stepped in—
A young man.
Tall, lean but muscular, with messy brown hair, warm eyes, and a smile that looked like it belonged on the cover of a romance novel. He looked real. Too real. The kind of "green flag" guy every girl secretly wished she would meet in a crisis.
It made me nervous.
"Hey," he said softly. His voice was warm, steady—refreshing compared to the doctor's rehearsed calm. "You gave me quite a scare back there. I never thought my day would include a naked girl fainting in front of my car."
I winced. "Oh God…"
He chuckled lightly. "I'm Hudson. Hudson Ryan."
The name punched something inside me.
Ryan.
Where had I heard that?
In a dream?
A story?
A page?
My mind flicked—fast, blurry, like a faulty projector skipping frames. I searched for the memory but it slipped away the moment I reached for it.
I forced a smile and took his outstretched hand.
"I'm Kaia," I said. "Kaia Grey. And… thank you for not abandoning me. Especially considering how you found me."
My voice cracked on the last word but at least it didn't shake.
"It's nothing," he said with that soft smile again. "Actually, I'm the one who should apologize. I had to leave earlier, but I figured you needed clothes, and I didn't know your size…" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "So—sorry if I got it wrong."
He held out a neatly folded stack of clothes.
Normal clothes.
Too normal.
"And," he added, lifting a small takeout cup, "I brought you food. Trust me, hospital food tastes like punishment. This is fresh soup. Thought you'd like it."
I stared at the cup, my suspicion kicking hard.
He noticed.
"It's okay," he said with a small laugh. "If you think I'm trying to poison you, I'll eat it first."
He opened the cup, scooped a spoonful, and swallowed it without hesitation.
My stomach growled loud enough to embarrass me.
Three days without food.
Three days unconscious.
Slowly, cautiously, I lifted the cup and brought it to my nose. No strange smell. No chemical sting. Just warm broth.
So I took a sip.
Warm. Salty. Safe.
Or as safe as anything could be right now.
"So…" I began between slow sips. "Three days? I was out for three days?"
He nodded. "Yeah. The doctors said you were dehydrated and your body just… shut down. I stayed the first day, but they told me you weren't waking up anytime soon."
Three days.
Three days lost.
Three days missing.
My brain raced with questions that didn't have answers.
Nothing made sense.
"How did you end up like… that?" he asked gently. "Did someone hurt you?"
I shook my head quickly. "No. No one hurt me."
He waited. A silent invitation for more. I took a shaky breath.
"I don't remember how I got there. I don't remember entering the forest. One minute I was in my room, in my bed, like a normal person—and the next…" I paused, swallowing. "I woke up there. Naked. Thirsty. Lost. Everything else is blank."
He didn't laugh.
He didn't judge.
He didn't call me crazy.
He just listened.
"I know how it sounds," I added, gripping the blanket tighter. "If I told people the truth, they'd think I'm insane. Or hallucinating. Or dreaming. But this—" I pinched my arm, hard. "This feels real."
"So it's real," he said softly.
"But what if I'm trapped in something I don't understand?" I whispered. "What if this is all a dream? Or… or not a dream. Something else."
Hudson leaned in slightly, his expression gentler. "Hey. You don't have to figure everything out today. You've been through enough. You'll get answers. Just… don't hurt yourself trying."
His voice soothed something in me, even though deep down a small, cautious part of me whispered:
Too perfect. Too kind. Too convenient.
He stood up and placed the clothes on the chair beside my bed.
"The doctors said you'll be discharged tomorrow," he said. "So… here. Wear these when you're ready. Everything will be okay."
Would it?
I nodded anyway, even though my head was spinning and my chest was tight with dread.
"Thank you," I said softly.
He smiled, lifted a hand to wave, and stepped out of the room.
The door closed.
Silence swallowed the space.
My eyes grew heavy, the soup warming my stomach, exhaustion finally dragging me downward. I lay back against the pillow, let out a shaky breath, and allowed my eyelids to fall.
Darkness crept in.
Slow.
Thick.
Heavy.
Just like before.
And then—
Flip.
My heart stopped.
Another flip.
Closer this time.
Not imagined.
Not distant.
A page turning.
Right beside me.
Right next to the bed.
I forced my eyes open but everything was dim, blurred, like I was sinking into sleep and consciousness at the same time.
A shadow shifted at the foot of my bed.
Small. Deliberate.
Not human.
Flip.
Breath stuck in my throat.
No.
No no no—
Not again.
I tried to sit up but my limbs felt underwater. Slow. Weak. Detached. My fingers twitched helplessly as darkness swallowed the edges of my vision.
"Stop…" I whispered.
But the flipping grew louder.
Flip.
Flip.
Flip.
Pages turning themselves.
Pages I couldn't see.
Pages I shouldn't hear.
The room darkened unnaturally, swallowing the white walls whole.
"What… do you want…?" I choked out.
No answer.
Just darkness.
And then, with one final, echoing flip—
Everything went black.
Again.
I fell into the void with a heavy, sinking heart.
Because something was pulling me back.
And this time…
It wasn't done with me.