"Either they lied or they really didn't know, Clarissa. Only a handful of people were informed about it, but the firefighters actually found remains of other human bodies in there. Three of them."
Holy crap... This changes just about everything! I thought things were fine because I was the only victim in that incident. Aside from me, there was only one building burned to the ground. I mean, I could understand why everyone made a fuss about a whole damn building being destroyed, but at the end of the day, it was nothing but material damages. No one ever told me anything about actual victims!
"Do we know... who...?" I mumble.
Amy shakes her head.
"No. The remains they found were unidentifiable. The only sure thing is that they weren't werewolves, as one of the two Lunas would have felt it. The police are still investigating who those people were, though."
I stumble back, trying to take it all in. It's hard. I let it sink in, and my older sister gives me a worried look. I'm unable to say anything. After a few seconds, Amy steps toward me. She doesn't touch me, though; she stays a couple of feet away with her hand falling down in an awkward way.
"I didn't want to let you know so you wouldn't... Clarissa, this isn't..."
"You're saying that I might be a fucking murderer, and no one told me?"
Her eyes open wide in disbelief.
"Clarissa, no! Nothing, and I mean nothing, indicates that you were the one who started that fire! There are a lot of things that were... odd in this incident, alright? The reason I chose not to tell you was that you had to focus on getting better."
"What odd things?" I ask.
Why is it that as soon as I start digging a little, I feel like everyone's been working hard to hide a full mountain of lies from me! Amy sighs.
"The investigation is still ongoing, Clarissa. Until then, there is nothing you need to concern yourself with. I'm handling it."
"Amy, stop saying that! This is all about me! I need to know what's going on! I know absolutely nothing right now, and everyone is treating me like a freak! I can't go on like this, I'm going to go crazy! If I have to prove that I am innocent, let me search for answers!"
"What are you saying?" she says, shaking her head.
"I want to leave this damn hospital. I swear, if you're not letting me out, I will go crazy! You just told me I might be a freaking murderer, and half of Silver City thinks so too! You can't have me stay locked up here hoping everything is going to solve itself. Amy, I am the only person who was there and knows what happened. I just lost my memory, but if you let me look for clues, if you let me try to find out who I was and what happened, maybe I will be able to prove my innocence!"
"Clarissa, you can't be serious. You're just a teenager! You can't–"
"I'm actually twenty, apparently."
She shuts her mouth as if I had just slapped her. Yeah, I guess that's part of being in a not-so-close family, your own sister doesn't care enough to remember your birthday... Amy closes her eyes and sighs.
"Sorry, I must have missed it in my agenda..."
"I don't care much, honestly. But Amy, please, you have to let me out."
She massages her neck, looking annoyed. She suddenly starts walking in circles in my room, her high heels clicking on the floor, which is a first for me to witness. Amy avoids my eyes and keeps shaking her head slowly, though I can tell she's seriously thinking about my words. Strangely, I feel like that comment about my birthday destabilized her, I don't really know why. I start hoping, and don't dare say anything while she's pondering.
After a while, she stops walking abruptly, turning to me again.
"Clarissa, it's not that I don't want to let you out. But the humans–"
"I'll make myself super invisible and quiet, I promise," I immediately say. "I'll be careful about my fire, and I'll stay with Kelsi, alright? I want to at least be able to take a glimpse of what my life used to be. Amy, imagine for a second one day you wake up and you've forgotten everything about your past life, you can't even recognize the people you love. I can't go on like this! I swear, I'm going nuts in here, I–"
"Fine, fine!" she shouts, raising her hands to stop me. "...However, I have conditions, Clarissa."
I can't believe my ears! Really? She's really letting me out? I feel like jumping all over the place right now! However, her severe expression kind of tells me I'm not out of the woods yet. She starts counting on her fingers, reminding me of a strict school teacher, and I have to contain my excitement.
"First, you have to keep coming to the hospital for regular check-ups, as many times as they ask you to. I will know right away from the staff if you don't show up."
"I promise," I say with a nod.
"Second, if you get into even the tiniest bit of trouble with the werewolves or the humans, or I hear about a fire anywhere downtown–"
