As I open my eyes, my vision obscured, I look around, trying to remneber something, anything. My head aches my arms and legs bruised. What happened here? I looked over to the drivers seat, and that’s when I saw her. Kelly, laying their unconscious, her face scratched and glass covering her body. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t. I felt frozen in time. I drifted in and out of consciousness before it all went dark. I pictured my life with Kelly, our children, our marriage, all the awkward moments, the joyful moments, the hard moments, the moments where love wasn’t enough. Then I awoke, in a hospital bed, and the first thing I said was, “Where’s Kelly.” The news hit me hard, it couldn’t be, she was right there. I knew she was real. But the doctors said nobody by the name Kelly McClarrin ever existed. I was driving that car, I was alone, I don’t have kids, I’m not married. It was all a dream…

Horns. Sirens. A repetitive tapping?

Wake. Up. Simone! The thoughts urged through thick darkness.

“Wake up, lady! I ain’t got all day!” An unfamiliar voice filled with aged testosterone bellows at me.

My eyes force theirselves open and a wrinkled man with a tangled salt and peppered beard stares directly at me. So close even, I can smell the tinny stench of tuna on his breath.

I wipe the crust from my sleep filled eyes and let out a yawn that feels like it was trapped for decades.

“Where am I?” I say not recognizing my own voice. It’s hoarse and deeper than usual. My throat aching with every word.

“In the back of MY car. Howd’ya even get in ‘ere?” The old man grumbles.

I glance around for a moment trying to pinpoint my location. There are cafes and little vintage mom and pop shops, the ones you’d find your grandma’s handkerchiefs in, surrounding us. All brick and lengthy alleys between each building. I sat up from my slumped position and peered through the back window to get a clearer view but I still had no clue where I was.

“I..” I began to stammer, not knowing how to even explain. “I’m not sure how I got here. I don’t even know where I am.” My voice raised with fear.

“By the looks of it, ya had a rough night. All is forgiven as long as ya get out my car.” The man insisted angrily.

“What city is this?” I asked, refusing to leave without some information.

“Yer in Charlotte, kid. Now if ya don’t mind, I gotta catch a flight.” His response left me stone cold. How was I six hours away from home with not a memory of how I got here?

I searched the seat next to me for my wallet and luckily had it with me. I fished out a hundred dollar bill and handed it to the man.

“Sorry for all this trouble. Do you mind taking me with to the airport? I don’t seem to have my phone and seems I need to hop on a plane too. I’m from Virginia and quite frankly I don’t know how I got here.” I plead, hoping the puppy dog eyes work.

“Sure thing, I reckon. You had a paper in yer hand if that might help. It’s right there on the floor.” He pointed at a half crumpled sheet of white on the floorboard. I looked up at him quizzically and he shrugged his shoulders as if he had no more info to give and I grabbed the paper.

I straightened it out into the palm of my hand and read the handwriting. My handwriting.

“Don’t go home. Not safe.” Was scribbled in blue pen.

“What the?” I said, as my eyes fluttered open and I found myself in the back of a moving vehicle. I looked around and saw brown leather seats, and I also noticed a stain on the door. There were two people in the front, one driving, and the other sounding very rude in the passenger seat. The driver looked terrified. I closed my eyes, trying to remember what had happened, but my mind was drawing a blank. That’s when I heard him yelling. I opened my eyes, and saw the rude guy holding a gun to the drivers head, yelling at him in a language that I didn’t understand. The car was swerving all over the place, missing other cars with just mere inches. The guy holding the gun noticed that I was awake and witnessing everything that was happening, and he pointed the gun toward me. I didn’t know what to do, so I pretended to faint. I just barely opened my eyes, just to get a quick peek, and I saw him pointing the gun at the driver again. I closed my eyes, trying to tell myself that it was all a dream, until I could no longer breath, think, or even move.

“Wha—“ I woke up in a smooth leather seat of a car I did not know the brand too. That was wierd, I feel like I should know the brand of cars. I think—come to think of it was this my car? I don’t think it is, but I can’t remember what my car looks like. Or do I even _have _a car? Why can’t I remember? I looked out the window and saw mountains passing. A brown cow was grazed on the small amount of grass. A black crow sped by and landed on a dying tree, she fed her babies. I felt a motherly affection to the familt of crows, I sensed some empathy. Maybe I have children? Should I know who’s driving? I haven’t seen them yet, for the garage was closed. No—wait, it opened. “Good, you’re awake. Let’s get this over with, it’s almost my lunch break. Hello, I’m Thanatos. Your new name is H23 and you will be working for Hades in the Hero department.” A flash of red light and we appeared in Hell.

I had so many questions. Like, what was my original name? Was this voluntary or forced? Was anyone in the mortal world worried? Or is this a dream? Why can’t I remember anything?
	“Because we forced you to swim in the Lethe. Everyone you knew in the mortal world had every memory of you wiped, also, this is definitely not a dream. Your dead.” I didn’t notice that Hades was sitting in front of me. 
	His throne was covered in skulls and withered vines, next to him was a woman in a light green dress. The throne she sat in seemed out of place next to the darkness of the palace. 
	“What about my name? Can you at least tell me that?”
	“Your name is H23. You are the 23rd person to work for the hero department therefor, your name is H23.”
	“But—“
	“He can’t tell you what you wish, darling.” The woman stood up and tossed her blonde hair.
	“Persephone, I told you not to speak.” Hades glared at her,
	“But I’m bored! You never let me do anything down here!” she complained
	“Honey…”
	Persephone sat down and crossed her arms, “and you wonder why I like it better on Earth.”
	“Anyway, you will be working in the Hero Department as a Memory Eraser. You work at Lethe and erase the memories of the heroes who want to be reincarnated. It’s an important job, I you don’t do it correctly, the’re going to remember their time in the afterlife.”
	“Wait, but—“
	“Persephone, you can lead H23 to the sleeping quarters. Assign H2 as their guide from there.”
	“Yay!”
	“Wait, but—“ I was cut off,
	“C’mon, dearie! We don’t have all day!” 
	I followed the goddess down the steps of the palace, still wondering what was going on. Hades said I was dead, but I didn’t feel dead. And if I was dead why did they have to erase the memories of the people I knew? This was all so weird and confusing, and the fact the Greek Gods are real is insane! Does that mean only the greek gods are real or not? 
	“Didn’t you get kidnapped by him?” I asked Persephone. I don’t know why I thought of that but it seemed like a valid question. I don’t know what is true or not anymore.
	“Silly, he asked for Zeus’ guidance and the King of the Gods told him to steal me. I was mad at first but Hades isn’t all bad! He’s just a bit stressed after Styx went on fraternity leave and Hermes quit. He took over a modern work system and death rates have shot up drastically. Hades is a dear. A bit moody, but I wouldn’t settle for anyone else.”
	“So why do you like it better on Earth?”
	“I don’t. I just said that so he’d let me do something, and it worked! Ah, we’re here!”
	I found myself standing in front of a mansion, almost as big as the palace. It had stained glass windows and a giant metal door at the end of a stone path.
	I trailed after Persephone and she opened the door.
	“Hello! I have a new employee!” Percephone chirped,
	“23?” a girl with black, chin-length hair, said dully.
	“Yup! I need two, do you know where he is?”
	“SIMON GET DOWN HERE OR YOUR DOING THE DISHES TONIGHT!!!” the girl shouted up the stairs.
	“Coming!” a boy stumbled down the stairs and tripped over an untied shoelace. He had messy brown hair and striking blue eyes. He had pretty big hands but otherwise he was kind of scrawny looking.
      “Ah, you must be the new employee! H23, right?” He put his hand out so I could shake it, “welcome to the Hero Department dorms! That’s H9, but we call her PokerFace. That one right there,” he pointed to someone sitting with their back against the bottom of the couch. I hadn’t noticed them before, they had no defining characteristics. Simple light-brown hair and brown eyes, “that’s H7, or Silent. They, them.”
     I nodded. Honestly, I was speechless. They acted so normally about working in Hell, it was unnatural. I still had so many unanswered questions.
     “I guess I’ll leave you guys to it!” Persephone said, I had almost forgotten about the goddess.
     I nodded again and H2 gave me a tour of the work area.
     “Okay, so any questions?”
     “Yes. Um…” I had so many questions, but was unsure if H2 could give me satisfying answers, “is you name Simon? I heard that girl call you that, but I don’t know my name so I doubt anyone else here knows theirs.”
     “That a new one. No, my name is not Simon, but sometimes we get really bored here and so some recommended a game of Simon Says, and, well… I was really bad, so the name stuck. At least I don’t have one like H1.”
    “What’s H1’s nickname?”
    “H1’s widely accepted nickname is Dad. He literally acts like a father. though, everyone is ninety percent sure he died at a younger age than almost everyone else. My bets’ on 19, but we might never know.” He said the last few words in the most dramatic way possible.
etc.

My eyes suddenly opened. The pulse of my heart drifted form different paces. A feeling of strss weaved in the realms of my body. My hands were sweating, eyes itching. I tried getting a grip of the wheel but it wouldn’t budge. I used my final bits of energy on the wheel. OUCH! The car freezed to a halt flinging me into the windows. My fingers touched the fabric of my jacket made of corduroy. It was like a pitfall from god without a rope. The lice in my hair experienced the river of sweat flowing down my body. Could I get out. CLACK! As I fiddled with my hands in anxiousness, I wathced as the window I had tried to break had only a little teensy weensy crack. Sadness led to depression which led to anger and that led to loss of sanity. I reassured my self by drinking everything that I could find. Then it led to the alcohol. I didn’t want to but my hands were being forced to grab it. It slowly and slowly kept on gradually moving forward until I got a hold of it. I chugged it all down. Insanity now went to suicidal. What on earth had gone wrong. I then saw the car heading for a tree. As I cowered to brace the impact, I saw light in which I then woke up from my nightmare..

“Vrooooom” I hear a car start the engine it’s loud and dosent sound like my moms. I realize that I’m in the back of a car but who’s?

The sudden bump in the road bolts me out of my daze. Where am I? Okay, it looks I’m strapped in comfortably in the backseat of what seems like a Tesla Model S. The silence is eerie as I try my best to muster an ounce of my last memory. Jill yelling ‘shots’, me with a wry smile and nodding. not wanting to kill her mood. She had been through a lot. So how did I end up here? That guy…Braden. He definitely wasn’t happy about the rejection, could he…

‘You’re awake’

‘Braden?’

‘You remember my name, that’s more than what I expected’

I shouldn’t have ever popped up at his house, I really thought that I was in love with him and I wanted him to get better. I knew he told me the story about taking pills but I didn’t think that it would lead me here. Just yesterday, I had a premonition that things were going to go south. I thought about what it would be like to pop up at his house and my daydream told me that I would end up a dead body. Now, today, I woke up in the backseat of some man’s car. I remember a few months ago when I thought about him wanting to be around me to sell me, well, today, I think about him actually selling me.

The truth is that love isn’t enough to sacrifice safety for. When I was writing in my journal last night I asked myself, “does love make me chase him all over the world?” Meaning, if he is on the run, should I always pop up to where he is? Today, I have learned my lesson… if someone wants to run away allow them, don’t chase them down because then you’ll end up in the back seat of the car just like me.

I think the day is November, I’m not sure. The last time I remember checking my phone it was November 13th and the day was sunny. I had the brilliant idea of skipping work to pop up at his house at 10 AM. It’s Virginia, it’s cold. I thought that if I pop up to his house early in the morning then I could see exactly what he’s been up to because afterall, he hasn’t been answering me. For all I know, he could be luring me to him by ignoring me. Well, today, I don’t know what the day is or the hour, I am having so many regrets about how the morning unfolded. I’m wishing that I never would have left the house and that I minded my business. That fucking premonition, it is really eating me up because I literally said to myself, “if I pop up at his house I’m going to end up a dead body,” and now here the fuck I am. I hate this so much.

My thoughts are racing, I’m sweating and looking around panting, there’s no screams to be made because I don’t even know where I am. From what I can see I’m being held, duck tape to the mouth, body to the back seat, and feet tied by rope, in the back seat of som old Cadillac in the middle of an abandoned parking lot. I’m looking around. I’m looking all the way around and I don’t see a soul. I don’t see a building, nothing, just miles and miles of concrete. I don’t know if I’m in Richmond, Virginia or Henrico or neither. I feel so out of place, my eyes are praying that somebody can come by… I want to scream HELP so bad, but for what? I don’t know if he got out the car, I don’t know if he left me behind, I don’t know what he did, but I feel like I’m a fresh catch that’s about to be baited.

I woke up to the sound of a semi truck blaring its horn. The light of the sun outside gleamed into the back of the car I was lying in. My hand shot up covering my eyes as the squinted open. My head was a throbbing train wreck from the night before. Flashes from the bar light and all the alcohol glasses pourd into my memory. I looked up to the front to see some random lady in the driver seat. “Excuse me? Who are you?” The lady flashed me a smile, “Oh good you’re awake!” “Where are you taking me?” She shrugged her shoulders, “You handed me a lot of money last night asking me to take you as far as the cash would allow.” “I did?” She nodded and began to drive once more as I sat in the back seat. My head still pounded but a new thought creeped back into my head from the night before. I had ruined everything. I had done the things to him that I told him I would never do and then I bolted out the door. I don’t know why I always runaway but it killed me that I did. The thoughts made me want to drink again or just to do anything to keep my mind off of it. I searched my bag for something, anything, when I pulled out a bag of pills. I sat in the back of the black car as I swallowed the pill and waited for the effect to kick in. The lady in the front sped up and turned on the radio as the Beatles blasted through the speakers. She turned onto the 101 highway out of the small town we were driving through. The Beatles music faded into the background along with the thoughts in my mind, all I could think about was the tingling sensation of my skin and how light my body was feeling. I leaned my head back on the seat and closed my eyes. I drifted back off to sleep thinking about how much of a coward I was for running away from my problems. I knew that what the two of us had was special but I always mess it up when things get good. When I woke back up It was dark out, the only light illuminating off of passing buildings and street lamps. The time blurred together as my body still felt numb but somehow I felt at peace as I watched the people that we passed. We got to my destination the next day and as I stepped out of the car leaving my old life behind I told myself I would stop running away but I knew that was a lie.

I woke up dazed with a pain in the back of my head. I tried moving but was restrained by ropes. All I remember before getting here was leaving my local convenience store. I had walked down the side walk past an alley. And then, nothing. I looked to the drivers seat. A man witty a mask sat there, driving hurriedly. He seemed like he needed to get somewhere, and fast. He looked in the rear view mirror and starred me in the eyes before his eyes returned to the road. I don't remember much before salvation came, but it started raining just before my saviors came. As if on cue, 4 police cruisers started closing the van in. He swerved several times before crashing into a light pole. The cruisers surrounded the car before the officers stepped out, guns pointed at the drivers seat. I started screaming at the top of the lungs for help, alerting the officers of my presence. They immediately yelled at the man to exit the vehicle. He complied and they got me out the vehicle. I started breaking down in tears. They tried to console me but I wouldn't stop. After a few minutes, I finally started to calm down. Suddenly I started to feel dizzy, and I fell to the floor. I woke up in my bed, my room exactly how it was. My shirt on the floor, my copy of Save Me An Orange, right near the desk exactly where I left it. It was all, just a daydream.