I coughed then gasped for breath. A major mistake, because I sucked up some sooty, bloody ashes. My tongue was black with grit and ash so I wiped it off with my shirt. Then I remembered what had happened. My house in flames. Running from the Scientists. The helicopter.

I blinked, then got to my feet. Where was I? I remembered falling fast, but not landing.

Then I remembered my necklace. My hand shot to where it should be. It was gone. Panicked, I began brushing ashes aside.

Maybe it had been buried somehow. I thought I might never see it again.

But I had been right; it was merely buried. I dug it out to see the clasp had only snapped open.

Maybe from the shock of impact from falling.

Then I almost fell over. How on earth had I survived that fall?! I pictured myself falling then making an Eliza sized hole in the ground, like a cartoon character. But that obviously wasn't too logical, so I shut that idea out.

But how had I survived? I looked up. Not a tree in sight. Nothing around could stop my fall. I stared at the necklace in my hands. Maybe Mother was right. Maybe it wasn't just some normal necklace at all. Then I almost screamed. There was a boy. Here. And he was lying face down in the Acid River.

I ran over to him and dragged him out of the river. He was still breathing. I relaxed a bit. Then I saw his face and almost screamed again. He was the same boy that had earlier held a gun up to me. He had almost killed me. And I had saved his life.

?

The world washed around me in waves of color and light, and I blinked, not knowing if I was even alive.

What had happened?

Reality hit me, and I realized I didn't remember anything.

My name, my occupation (if I had one, for that matter,) where I lived, if I had a family.

To the side of me, I noticed a girl with raven-black hair, standing, watching me curiously. I saw a powerful emotion in her eyes. Was it sadness? Regret?

Despite the situation, I couldn't help but think how pretty she was. I wondered if she was going to leave me here to die, I supposed, even though I didn't even know who I was, that that was something I would do.

Gosh, even listening to myself think annoyed me.

The girl jumped when she saw I was awake. I couldn't tell if I'd seen her before. She looked scared, more than I was.

I opened my mouth to speak, but she took a quick step back, like I was a virus or something. Who knows? Maybe I was.

But I couldn't even stand up so if she left me then I would be literally dead meat. I closed my eyes and let myself fall asleep once more.

Eliza

So here I am, in the middle of nowhere, stumped in between staying with him or leaving. If I left, he'd die, although I wasn't really responsible... But I remembered it was my fault he had fallen in the Acid River. Maybe if I helped him he'd be... a good ally. But what if I helped him and then he shot me in the middle of the (insert swear word here) night? What would I do then? Die, I guess.

But if I left him here he might die! I decided that I needed to stay alive and the first step was to not trust anyone, especially my enemies! But as I turned to leave, I heard him mumble "don't... go..". Well, pretty much, that was it. I had to help him. Help from an ally could really be useful, especially if they trusted him. So I went back.

I helped him sit up and slowly he asked "Who are you? Where am I?" My breathing quickened and I hoped, hoped with all my heart that what I was thinking was true. "Who am I?" He asked.