The pain.
It was the first thing I felt.
A dull, crushing pain that seemed to run through every part of my body.
As if my bones had been shattered and then hastily glued back together.
Then came the heat.
A suffocating heat that burned my skin and parched my throat.
And finally…
A voice.
A soft, distant, almost melancholy voice.
Like a memory that one refuses to forget.
“Remember me.”
My heart raced.
I snapped my eyes open.
Air violently entered my lungs as I sat up with a jolt.
— Haa…
Haa…
My breathing was chaotic.
For a few seconds, my vision remained blurred.
Red and orange shapes danced before my eyes.
Then the world slowly took shape again.
And what I saw chilled my blood.
A house was burning.
The flames devoured the building with terrifying violence.
They climbed along the walls like living creatures, engulfing everything in their path.
The night sky was tinged with a reddish glow.
Sparks rose into the air before being carried away by the wind.
I remained motionless.
Incapable of looking away.
The spectacle was hypnotizing.
And terrifying.
I finally lowered my eyes toward myself.
I was shirtless.
My clothes were torn.
And my body…
My body was covered in blood.
I froze.
My hands began to tremble.
Blood on my arms.
Blood on my chest.
Blood all the way to my fingertips.
I quickly passed my hands over my torso.
No wounds.
I checked my legs.
Nothing.
My face.
Nothing either.
No cuts.
No injuries.
Then why…
Why was I covered in blood?
My breath quickened.
I stood up clumsily.
My legs immediately faltered.
A piercing pain shot through my ribs.
I clenched my teeth.
Every breath was painful.
As if something had been broken inside of me.
— What…
My voice was hoarse.
— What is happening…?
I looked around me.
Trees.
A hill.
The burning house.
And nothing else.
No one.
Not a sound.
Not a presence.
Only the crackling of the fire.
A strange feeling then took hold of me.
A sensation of absolute emptiness.
Something was missing.
Something essential.
I brought a hand to my forehead.
And a question arose naturally.
A question so simple.
And yet terrifying.
— Who am I…?
Silence answered me.
My heart almost stopped.
I didn’t know my name.
I didn’t know my age.
I didn’t know where I was.
I didn’t even know why I was here.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
As if someone had torn every memory from my mind.
Panic began to rise.
— Hey!
I turned in every direction.
— Is anyone there?!
My voice echoed in the forest.
No answer.
— Hey!
Still nothing.
The wind blew between the trees.
That was all.
I suddenly felt incredibly alone.
As if I were the last human being in the world.
My gaze returned to the blood coating my body.
I stared at my hands for several seconds.
Then a thought crossed my mind.
A dark thought.
A thought that I immediately regretted.
What if this blood belonged to someone else?
I swallowed hard.
A shiver ran down my spine.
I slowly turned my head toward the burning house.
The flames continued their destructive work.
An a new question appeared.
Did I do this?
My stomach knotted.
Impossible.
Well…
I didn’t know.
I didn’t even know who I was anymore.
How could I be certain of anything?
I took a step back.
Then another.
Trying to put my thoughts in order.
But everything was confused.
Too confused.
I felt like I was drowning in an ocean of questions without answers.
That was when a reflection caught my attention.
Something was shining in the grass.
A few meters away from me.
I frowned.
Then I approached slowly.
The object was partially hidden under the tall grass.
I crouched down despite the pain.
And my heart skipped a beat.
A weapon.
A firearm.
It seemed to have been abandoned there.
As if someone had dropped it.
I looked at it for a few moments.
Hesitating.
Then I reached out my hand.
My fingers closed around the handle.
And something strange happened.
A familiar sensation.
Natural.
Instinctive.
I knew how to hold it.
I knew where to place my fingers.
I knew how to aim.
As if my body remembered despite my amnesia.
I remained frozen.
Gaze fixed on the weapon.
While my mind remained empty…
My body, however, still seemed to remember certain things.
I slowly raised my head.
Before me stretched the darkness of the forest.
Behind me burned a house about which I knew nothing.
And somewhere in my past hid a truth that I had forgotten.
I pressed the weapon against myself.
Then I took a first step toward the woods.
Without knowing where I was going.
Without knowing who I was.
With only one certainty.
The answer was somewhere ahead of me.
And to find it…
I had to move forward.
Once it is complete, I will let you know.
So please be patient, because the adventure is only just beginning