Remembering Dex.

She closed the door gently, but couldn't lift her hand from the knob. She leaned against the wall, frozen, with the confused expression of someone who forgot why they walked into a room. She pushed the door back in slowly, careful not to make any noise, held it there for a few seconds, and closed it again. No! she thought. Go, please go! Her legs started moving awkwardly, like they had forgotten how to walk. She pressed the button for the lift, but couldn't get in when the doors opened, and stood there motionless until the doors closed again. A note! Maybe I should go back and write a note! She started walking back quickly, so that reason wouldn't catch up with her.

Source

She struggled not to fall on her face as she stumbled over something in the hallway. She held the wall to support her weight as she fought to stay upright.

"Dang it, my head hurt. What is wrong with me today?" She said to herself.

"Hey,that's Dex's charm bracelet on the floor. That means he was here."

That would be what had tripped her. Who was Dex? Why did she feel familiarity with this person?

She walked up to her apartment, unlocked the door and went in. It was spotless as usual. Everything was in its place, why then did she feel like she was missing something? She walked to the window and sat at the window seat, looking out to the street below.

Her thoughts were not ordered as glimpses of unfamiliar memories assaulted her mind. She saw a man, saw the bracelet on his wrist. She was happy, shouting his name from across the room. How did she know his name? He turned towards her but his face was shrouded in the shadows. Her heart beat with love at the thought of this strange man holding her. She longed for his embrace.

She must be running mad dreaming of a strange man, she thought as she gripped her forehead. Sweat dripped down her brows which she wiped off impatiently with hands shaking in anxiety.

"Calm down, girl. Take a deep breath, in and out, in and out."

She had been thinking about a note when she came in. What note? What did she want to write?
She let her eyes run over the room and she noticed something. The books on the shelf, they were not properly arranged. She got down from her window seat and hurried over to the shelf. She ran her hands over familiar volumes.

"Did i do this?" She wondered aloud. She has always prided herself on her perfectly ordered bookshelf. She had an order which she maintained. Why then were two books not in their rightful place?

As she reached for a book, her doorbell rang. She jumped and barely stifled a scream.

"What is the problem with me today? I am just being silly."

It rang again, this time with persistence. She walked down to the door and checked to see who it was. What she saw scared her. She did not know this strange woman. She was built like a man and continually glanced up and down the hallway.

She tried the door knob but it was locked. Funny, Anne did not even remembered locking it. She could see the look of frustration on the woman's face as she tried to open the door. Clearly, she was in danger, she thought.

Just then the woman's phone rang and she disappeared after answering that.

Anne waited for what seemed like an eternity before she moved to the bookshelf again.

A piece of paper fell out as she lifted the book.

She bent down to pick it and got the shock of her life as she read. Memories flooded her mind as she read what she had written to herself for just this reason. She had been scared he would wipe her memory just as she had seen him do to that man.

She picked up the second book in disbelief and read the same thing.

She sat down heavily on the floor shaking her head in disbelief.

Surely. There were no such things as aliens. She thought as fear came into her heart. Dex was real! He was not a figment of her wild imaginations . He was an alien but he was kind. He wasn't like that boy at all.

Distant memories of her teenage encounter flooded her mind again.

"No! Not again! You would not do this to me a second time."

But he had done it anyway. He had wiped her memories of him. He had no intention of ever coming back to love her. All because she had learnt his secret.

She won't let him leave her, she promised herself. She would fight for what was hers. She would leave a note everywhere so she could never forget about him. Knowing him, he would wipe her memories over and over again. She wasn't going down without a fight this time, she thought. She would leave notes everywhere.

Smiling, she got some papers and pen and began to write.

Written for @corina's finish the story challenge. The first part of the story as provided by her is in quotes above. Find more information about the challenge here.