--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROLOGUE
-----------------
It was not until she heard the screeching of tyre when she spun her head just in time to be blinded by the car's beams. Everything around her seemed to disappear as the car attempted an emergency stop. The red paint faded behind the blinding lights and screeching deafened her ears. It was just her and the car- Everything in slow motion.
Stunned passersby froze like statues- these few seconds mostly consisted of silence. The only sounds came from cars pulling over on the main-road, which were ignored by all. A small girl, perhaps only the age of six was the first to move.
"Mia!" She screamed and rushed towards her fallen sister.
The child flung her tiny body onto the girl and sobbed, repeatedly calling her name. By then, everyone else was coming to their senses. A few grabbed their mobile phones to dial to call Emergency Services, while others hurried to the sides of the two sisters in the road.
A crimson-red began to pool around the two girls, unnoticed. The child lay on top of her sister in numbness, her face growing white with shock.
It was chaos.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Mia opened her eyes yet saw nothing. A chilly breezed stung her cheeks as she pushed herself into a kneeling position. There was a small 'splash' sound and Mia immediately held up a hand, realising she had placed it into a puddle. She wiped it onto her damp jeans, then rubbed her eyes with her grubby fingers, in hope that her vision would return.
Mia wondered what had happened. Questions about who she was came flooding into her mind, then spinning around repeatedly, like waves crashing into a cave of water that had nowhere to go.
The flooding only settled when she heard a footstep.
"Is anyone there?" She weakly called, shivering from both fear and cold.
Naturally, Mia turned her face in the direction of the noise. She was sure they could see her. Mia wondered for a brief moment if she had been blind all her life, or if it was temporary, caused by whatever had caused her memory-loss.
After a long wait, a male voice replied, "Are you alright?"
"I-I don't know," Mia stuttered, "I can't remember anything," She rubbed her eyes to get rid of the tears which she could feel welling up.
The stranger placed a hand on Mia's back, in a comforting manner. She felt him place something on her lap and touched it. It felt like a handbag, realising it must have been hers. She probably dropped it when she assumingly fell over. Her jeans soaked up the water from the cement beneath her, causing the bottom half to appear slightly darker. Hopelessness was all she felt as she knelt there on the wet ground.
Strong arms scooped her up and held her firmly, reassuring Mia that he had the strength to do so.. She was startled at this, knowing that it would be unwise to trust a stranger.
"My name's Deuz," He began to slowly walk, "Do not worry. I command a military base nearby. You can be treated there if that is what you wish."
Mia noticed his American accent, wondering how common it is to have in the British Army. She did not know much about the military and wondered if it was unusual for them to just take in any distressed citizen they found. Maybe Mia was just a rare exception. She then remembered the fact that she could did not know her name, so realised she had no right to question what was done and what was not.
Off in the night Deuz walked with the venerable girl in his arms- Mia's only hope for safety. She had to have faith in him, or she could have ended up lost for goodness knows how many more hours, by herself in the freezing cold with no clue of who she was.