Snaggle_Tooth

Thank you for reading Eldritch Memories.

I have a small warning before we begin: if the closet is opened, the story ends.

Loop 1 Chapter 1

Don't Open The Closet!

Jacob scratched his head and frowned. It felt like the legs of a dozen little spiders tiptoed across his spine. He looked around his apartment, and his scowl only deepened.

"My apartment..." Jacob's voice sounded like a stranger's as he spun around in a slow circle. "Is this... my apartment?"

The spiders continued their dance across his arms and legs. A physical wave of confusion swept over him as he stared at a vibrant couch covered with a dozen colorful pillows. There was a television mounted to the wall across from the couch, and he could see a PlayStation 5 and a Nintendo Switch.

"I... I don't have..." Jacob's breathing was growing heavy, and he rubbed at his eyes irritably. "This... isn't my apartment?"

His legs felt like two stone lumps as his head swam with confusion. Because this had to be his apartment. Why would he be here if it was not his apartment? It was a shame there was not something as cliché as a family portrait to dispel his confusion, but this... this had to be home!

"I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed..." Jacob muttered to himself.

The bright sun outside filled the room with light, but he still felt his vision grow dim.

Because he could not remember waking up. He could not remember falling asleep. It was as if he had simply popped into existence standing in the middle of this unfamiliar room. He could not remember anything.  

Jacob clutched his chest as panic stabbed at his heart. He could not remember yesterday. He could not remember last week. He could not remember where he worked or if he even had a job. It was not that his memories were covered in fog. An impenetrable wall stood tall and erect between this moment and all others. Parents? Friends? He could not remember anyone.

"Oh God..." Jacob bit his lip as the alien room began to shake and swirl around him. Nothing. He could remember nothing. "Heart attack... I think I'm having... having a heart attack."

His frazzled nerves were one big ball of misery as a voice erupted behind his ear.

"Karate chop! Hiiiiya!"

Jacob screamed with all the enthusiasm of a frightened schoolgirl. He flailed his arms and almost tripped over his own feet.

"Wh-whoa there..." An unfamiliar voice fought back laughter. "Let's dial it back a little, Johnny Bravo."

Jacob turned to stare... at a beautiful woman.

"Wooow. You look like shit," the unfamiliar woman said. She tilted her head and placed a thin finger on the bottom of her lip. "You had quite the night."

The young woman had ivory black hair and wore a playful smile. Jacob forgot about some of his confusion as he met her intense stare. Her eyes were the color of gold and seemed to trap him like a hypnotist.

He quickly realized he had no idea who this woman was.

The unfamiliar woman's smile only brightened as she covered her chest with her dainty arms. She wore a knee-length black dress that would not have looked out of place at a monastery.

"All this staring, Jacob!" the unfamiliar woman said with a laugh, and Jacob's heart jumped. She knew his name... and Jacob realized that he knew his own name. "I'm not on the menu today, playboy. Are you still drunk?"

"Drunk...?" Jacob's voice was hoarse. He tried to swallow, but his throat was as dry as the savanna.

"I really thought you were going to drink yourself to death," the woman said, and her laugh filled Jacob with the strangest warmth. "If you didn't look so happy, I would have stopped you. It's already eleven, by the way. I think you missed work."

Jacob slowly digested all that the woman told him. While he had no idea who she was, she clearly knew him. Jacob might have felt a little more concerned about her job comment if he could remember what it was he did for a living.

The first smile of the day touched his lips, however, as he looked once more around the apartment. This must be her home. He was just... hungover?

"Are you OK?"

Jacob turned back to the beautiful woman and cleared his throat. His cheeks reddened with embarrassment as he struggled to find the right words.

"I... This is a little confusing, but..." Jacob smiled nervously as he glanced between the woman's impish face and her black shoes. "I can't... I don't remember anything."

"I'm not surprised," the unfamiliar woman said with a radiant smile. "With how much you dra- "

"N-No!" Jacob said, and he was surprised at the force in his voice. Fear and confusion were instantly replaced with frustration.

The woman recoiled and took an unconscious step back. Jacob bit his lip and felt his face redden even further.

"I'm sorry," Jacob said quickly. "I can't remember anything. I don't... I can't remember anything!"

A pregnant silence lingered between the two of them until the woman's thin lips widened into an excited O.

"Oooooh." Her piercing gold stare seemed to peek beneath his clothes as she studied him from head to toe. "You mean, like, amnesia?"

Jacob nodded his head absentmindedly. Amnesia. It was the kind of thing you only ever heard about in movies and television. Amnesia. Amnesia?

"Do you remember... who you are?" the woman asked, breaking Jacob from his stupor.

"I remember my name," Jacob said, and he failed once more to remember even the smallest detail about himself.

"Do you remember my name?"

Jacob looked up and found an impish smile on the woman's face. He shook his head, and her smile only widened.

"So you have no idea who I am?" the woman asked, and she took several steps closer. He felt a nervous heat tickle his face.

"I... I don't remember anything," he said through a dry throat.

"Even if I was your fiancé..." the woman began. She reached out a baby soft hand and stroked his cheek. "...you wouldn't have a clue?"

Jacob tried to speak, but his voice remained trapped in his throat. He looked the woman up and down, remarking once more on what a beauty she was. Her chest was not the largest, but her face was that of a model.

It was a little self-deprecating, but he could not imagine this woman having any... romantic interest in himself. Was it possible he was rich? She had mentioned a job earlier. Was it possible that he-

And the woman burst into riotous laughter. If Jacob's eyes had been closed, he would have thought a hyena had broken in through a window. Tears streaked down the woman's face as she struggled for breath.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she said between gasps for air. Jacob stood beside her, a little annoyed but more embarrassed than that. "Look at you blush! You really thought! You really thought!"

"All right! Enough of that!" Jacob said in a huff. He was starting to feel more than just a little annoyed. "Who are you? Come on."

"I'm your roommate," the woman said with one last chuckle. "Just your roommate. Alice. You really don't remember?"

Jacob searched his thoughts, but the name Alice ran up against the same impenetrable wall from before. He could not remember anything. It was like looking out across the ocean and trying to see another continent.

"Wait, wait, wait..." Alice straightened up, and her smile chipped away. "You're serious, aren't you?"

Jacob's face flickered with annoyance, but he pushed down the flash of frustration.

"I woke up and..." He stopped himself midsentence. "I didn't even wake up. I just... I just suddenly couldn't remember anything."

"I blame the drinking," Alice said with a wry grin. "You had quite the night."

Jacob nodded his head, but a quiet thought nagged at his thoughts. This was not the first time she had mentioned some kind of all-night bender, but Jacob... Jacob did not drink.

It was not that he could remember not drinking. It was not even that he could remember not liking to drink. He just... knew he did not like to drink.

"This is wild!" Alice said with wonderment in her golden stare. "Wild... but I'm late for work. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"Eh?" Jacob blinked in confusion as Alice moved towards the front door. Was she... leaving?

"Don't give me those puppy dog eyes," Alice said with an impish grin. "I read about amnesia on the internet once. It goes away after, like, an hour or two."

"W-wait a minute," Jacob said. A nervous laugh escaped his lips as she turned the doorknob and the morning sun flooded in.

"I'm already late," Alice said as she stepped outside. "Just take a nap. Don't worry about it. Byesies!"

"Hold on a minute!" Jacob shouted, disbelief turning over into frustration. "I need some help, Alice! I can't remember- "

And the door slammed shut despite his protest. Jacob was left alone in the strange apartment. His strange apartment. Alice had said they were roommates, after all.

"She just left..." Jacob said numbly. He was having a medical emergency, and she just up and left. "What kind of person- "

The front door opened, and Alice's head popped back inside. Her fiery red eyes drilled into Jacob like a jackhammer.

"You don't remember... anything?" Alice asked after a moment. Her voice was oddly subdued.

"Y-yes!" Jacob shouted. He quite forgot about his confusion amidst all his frustration. "I am being serious here! I can't remember anything!"

Alice nodded her head, the messy locks of her black hair bouncing playfully.

"You probably don't remember about the closet then."

"The closet?" Jacob shook his head in irritation.

"Whoa..." Alice shook her own head in disbelief. "Maybe you really do have amnesia..."

"I told you- " Jacob began, but Alice stopped him with a piercing look.

"Look. I'm running late for work, but don't open the closet." Alice's head slowly retreated from view. "The one with all the coats hanging outside it. Do not. Open it."

And the door slid shut behind her with a muted thump.

Snaggle_Tooth

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