"I wake up in my bedroom to the sound of shouting. My vision is still blurry, but I can see the outline of two figures at my door. As my eyes clear, I find that it is my parents staring at me with wide eyes and angry faces, yelling and swearing at me. I look around, and realize that everything is different. My bed and desk are gone, the walls stripped of posters and calendars, and painted a different color. I am in a bed, but it is not my bed. For some reason, I slept in the clothes I had worn the day before. I clear my throat, and say "What is going on? Why are you yelling at me?" to my clearly livid parents. "What do you mean? Who the hell are you and why are you in my house!" my dad screams in anger. My mother stands by, anger on her face shielding any trace of recognition of me from my eyes. I glance to her, and back to my dad. I am so confused.
They shout at me to get out of their guest bed that I have apparently occupied for the last night. None of my things are even in my used-to-be bedroom except for my shoes, wallet and phone, so I grab those and am pushed out the front door in less than a minute. Before my father closes the door, he looks me dead in the eyes, with a fierce growling tone in his voice and says, "Look, I don't know who you are and what you're doing here, but I do not want to see you by this house again. Got it?" I nod curtly, and he slams the door so hard the light fixture above me shakes, layers of dust falling and coating my temple. I quickly leave the property and round a corner, in order to get away from them as fast as I can. As soon as I am out of sight, I sit down, and begin to bawl my eyes out. "They just abandoned their own son! Why would this happen?" I say to myself, gasping between sobs.
Since I know that I am now all on my own, I try to compose myself. I have to figure out exactly where to go from here, and if there is anyone I can go to for help. After all, if my parents do not recognize me, how can I assume that everyone else does? I check my pockets, and remember that I grabbed my phone and wallet from the "Guest Bedroom" I was found in. I turn on my phone to find that, luckily, the battery is almost fully charged. I navigate to my contact list, but gasp to find it almost empty. There are only two contacts left: Home, and someone named Max. I ponder trying to call home, but I figure it would be for naught, since my parents are set on getting me arrested and everything. I pull up the page for this Max person, and dial the number.
It rings a few times, and someone picks up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Max?"
"Yes it is, who is this?"
"This is Mitch... I found your contact information in my phone. I am in a very confusing situation, and I was hoping that someone could help me out, if it's even possible."
"Ahh, I see. Yes, I might be able to help you. First, you must do something for me. Have you checked your wallet?"
"Uh, no... I haven't."
"Ok, please look in it and read the code that is on the white card to me."
At this point, I am extremely confused, but I comply with his request. This is all so crazy, I think to myself. I pull out my wallet, and find everything there except for all of my ID. I still have my debit and credit cards, as well as a white card tucked in the top slot in the first section. I pull out the card, and scan its' contents. It has a blue symbol which I do not recognize. It has a shield with two swords crossed over it, with a laurel wreath surrounding the bottom portion. At the bottom, it has the words "Sigma ID", with the word "ARCTURUS" written under it. I read the code-word to Max.
"Good, thank you Arcturus. Meet me at Smith's Coffee, down at the corner of Suster and Beech at 8:00. Don't be late."
"Why are you calling me Arcturus? Why can't my parents recognize me! What is going on?"
"I will explain everything to you. It's complicated, and I'm not behind any of this. I'm merely part of the chain. I have to go now, don't worry. I realize that everything is still confusing for you, and that many things about your life are different. Find yourself somewhere to live if you can, settle in and make sure you can support yourself. I'll talk to you at Smith's, 8 o'clock."
The line cuts with a click. "
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