Taken - part 3

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part three of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

Max and I sleep in the cave by the cliff's edge. Erele goes hunting, assuring us that no human could scale the cliff. With no blankets, as well as the cold wind, Max and I are forced to huddle together for warmth.
"I know this must be weird for you," he says as he lies at my back. His arms snake around me, and I can already feel my shivering start to subside. "I'm sorry, but we need to stay warm."
"It's ok," I say. "This must be weird for you, too."
Max laughs a pleasant, lilting laugh. "You have no idea."
Though he makes an effort for my sake to touch me as little as possible, I can tell how familiar with my body he is. I stare off into the night, not remotely sleepy.
"How did we meet?" I ask eventually.
Though I can't see Max's face, I swear I can feel him smiling. "Your sister happened to meet me at the market. We got talking, and she invited me over to her house. She and Tom invited you over for tea the same day - I think she wanted to make a double date out of it. I don't think she ever imagined how well it would go, though."
Max's voice trails off, lost in happy memories. Hoping to hear more, I wait silently. "When I first saw you, for a second I couldn't breathe," Max says softly. "Then it was like everything was heightened, brighter than before. I don't remember your sister's tea much. I just remember looking at you. You kept peeking at me from the corner of your eye. Afterwards, I got you alone and we started talking. From there... from there it was a fairy tale."
I find that there are tears in my eyes. "It must have been lovely," I say thickly.
"It was," Max says, "and it still will be. We'll find a way to get your memories back, Halie. You'll remember all of this as well as I do, soon."
I don't say anything, too confused to speak. Do I want my memories back? Sure, they sound wonderful, but I know who I am now. Will I still recognise myself with a year and a half's extra memories? Will I still know who I am when I remember how I came to be married to the man who at the moment I don't know at all?
"What are you thinking?" Max murmurs.
"I'm scared." The words come out of my mouth without me intending to say them. Still, it feels right. I can't imagine lying to him.
"I know," he says. "I know, and I am, too. We should sleep, now. We'll find a way to deal with this, I promise."
It doesn't take long after that. Soon both Max and I are asleep.
I wake up stiff from lying on the cold stone of the cave floor. Max is already up, sitting next to Erele. I take a minute to look at her, trying to get used to how big she is. I don't remember ever seeing a dragon before; I must have met her after I met Max - after my memories were taken.
Max hands me a cup of tea, as well as a fresh hope. "We have a plan," he says. "Erele and I think we need to trace this back to the source. I know you spent the day with Sarah, the day before we were chased. You must have gone somewhere afterwards and seen something. Maybe she can tell you where you went."
He is looking at me as though he expects me to have an opinion. "Sure, whatever you think is best," I say. "I mean, I'll be pretty useless until I get my memories back, so we should go by whatever you think."
Max laughs. "You will never be useless, Halie. You still have your mind, don't you? Losing a few memories won't change that."
I smile and feel a bit better. "Well, what you say does make sense. Let's go see Sarah."
"I'll take you near to the edge of town," Erele says. "You'll be on your own from then."
"Ok, let's go," Max says. "No one else knows about Erele," he explains in response to my confused look. "Dragons are rare, and making friends with one is even rarer. Causing a scene is not what we want right now, and a dragon landing in town would certainly be a scene."
"Right," I say, imagining the looks of horror as I climb onto Erele's back. She glides close to the treetops and alights in a clearing. "Hurry, there may be more attackers about," she says. Max and I don't need telling twice. We slip off her back and set off home at a fast jog.
We don't talk on the way. I imagine that every sound is the footstep of a pursuer, and force myself to control my imagination. "What will we do if they find us?" I ask, trying to hide the fear in my voice. I don't think I'm very successful. These people stole my memories; who knows what they can do?
"We're nearly there," Max says. "I don't think they'll want to take us in public - they did come in the dead of night, after all."
I am too out of breath to do anything but nod. Soon, though, we fall back into a walk; we have reached town. I glance around at the buildings, afraid they will have changed from what I remember. Everything seems pretty much the same, though - a new vegetable patch here and there, but nothing major. I'm just relieved I still know my best friend, Sarah. We head for her house.
A small path leads to the front door. Before I can set a foot on the path, Max has grabbed my arm and yanked me behind him. I don't need to ask why.
Slowly, still pulling me behind him, Max creeps forward. I look around, but no one is around to have noticed. I look forward again, dread in my heart. Sarah's door is splintered, hanging off its hinges.
Whoever attacked me yesterday has found her.

To be continued