All Chapters of Done Being Forgotten: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Corinne's POVBrie Lewis's eyes crinkled with delight as she applauded our brother, Samuel Lewis, at the piano.The living room had been warm and cheerful.Then I walked through the door, and for a split second, everything went still. A familiar ache tightened my throat.I'd been separated from my family and abducted when I was three. I didn't come home until I was eight, after the trafficking ring that had taken me was finally caught.When the police first brought me back, my parents, Gregory and Diana Lewis, had been overjoyed.Then one of our neighbors pointed at Brie and joked, "Now that your real daughter's back, I guess you'll have to send the adopted one away."Brie burst into tears on the spot.That night, Mom locked me outside and made me stay there until morning. "Brie's been part of this family longer than you have. You need to learn right now that you're not going to push her out."For five years, I'd dreamed of coming home. From that moment on, home became nothing

After dinner, Mom was in the kitchen cutting fruit.I'd just showered and was heading back to my room when she called out to me."Corinne, the AC in Brie's room is drying out the air, and her throat's bothering her. Go down to the storage room, find the humidifier, and clean it for her.""Okay."There was no AC in the storage room, so the place was stifling.Because the light had been broken for ages, I had to use the faint glow from my phone to find my way around.The shelves were high, so I climbed onto a wooden stool and stretched onto my toes to reach the humidifier on the top shelf.Just as my fingers brushed it, the stool beneath me gave a sharp crack. One of its old, worn legs snapped. I lost my balance and crashed hard to the floor.A cardboard box toppled from the shelf with me. The glass pitcher inside hit the floor and shattered. A jagged shard of glass buried itself in my calf.Cold sweat broke out across my skin. I sucked in a sharp breath as I sat there on the fl

Third-Person POVThe next morning, Gregory sat at the dining table, going through the paperwork Brie needed to take with her to her internship."Where's Corinne? Still sulking in her room?"Without looking up, he said, "Tell her to come out and make two copies of Brie's graduate school paperwork. What happened last night is over. We're family. There's no reason to stay mad at each other."Diana paused while warming the milk. "She hasn't come back since she left with her suitcase last night."Samuel emerged from his room, his expression grim, phone clenched in his hand. "I was going to have her run downstairs and get Brie a sandwich, give her an excuse to come around. But she deleted me from her contacts. When I tried calling, her number was disconnected. She's cut off all contact."Gregory slammed his coffee cup onto the table. "This is ridiculous! She's making such a big scene over something so minor. What does she expect, for us to apologize to her?"Brie lowered her head and

Corinne's POVThe wind in Redstone carried coarse sand across the desert, pelting the reinforced glass of the testing facility.It was my second year working at the research base.Outside, the temperature had dropped to five degrees below zero. Inside, the heating kept the building at a steady seventy-seven."Corinne, bundle up before you go outside. That desert wind cuts right through you. It'll get into your bones."Dr. Wallace Hartman pushed aside the heavy insulated curtain and walked in carrying a double-walled lunch container. He was the lead engineer overseeing the classified project. Nearly sixty, with gray at his temples, he was a gentle, soft-spoken man."The cafeteria made lamb casserole today. I specifically told the kitchen about your allergy. No shrimp, no seafood-based seasoning. You can eat these without worrying."I set down the data recorder and accepted the steaming container. "Thank you, Dr. Hartman.""You don't have to thank me." He sat down on the folding

In late spring of my third year at the base, Dr. Hartman came to see me.Two people had been waiting at the security checkpoint outside the facility.This time, it was Gregory and Diana Lewis. They weren't authorized to enter the secure zone, so they'd spent two days and two nights waiting in the outer guard station, battered by the desert wind and sand.Eventually, out of humanitarian consideration, my superiors approved a ten-minute phone call through one-way ballistic glass.I sat down in the visitor area and picked up the receiver.On the other side of the glass, Mom looked far older than she had when I'd left. Her hair had gone gray, and two large hearing aids sat behind her ears. Her hands gripped the ledge beneath the window. The moment she saw me, her lips began to tremble, and tears streamed down her face.Gregory had lost the commanding arrogance he once carried so effortlessly. His shoulders were hunched, his eyes red as he nearly lunged toward the glass."Corinne, my