Andromeda

Chapter One

One year later

Anna’s eyes flew open as she woke up with a start. Her bed was drenched in a pool of sweat. She groaned as she sat up and rubbed her head, which was throbbing lightly. Stranger than that was the numbing sensation in her right arm. She cast her eyes slowly around the dark room. What was once a dusty attic had been made up into a teenage girl’s bedroom. It had only been hers for a year, but it was the only bedroom she could remember having. It was the only place she truly felt safe and at home.

Anna stood up and lumbered quietly over to the window at the end of the room. Normally, she would wake up to the sunlight rising over the flat Nebraska plains, but now it was barely the break of dawn. The sky was tinted a deep blue that indicated morning was not far away. Anna stepped over to a dresser that sat next to the window. She turned on a small lamp that sat atop the dresser and looked into the vanity mirror standing against the wall.

The first thing she saw when she looked up was her eyes. They shown with a brilliant hue of blue like a crystal lake, almost unnatural in their tone, but exceptionally beautiful nonetheless. She ran her fingers through her wavy, sandy hair which hung just below her shoulders. Apart from the light array of freckles below her eyes, she could see faint traces of bruises on her face and neck. It was not the only place she found these marks. In fact, they were all over her body.

A little over a year ago, Anna woke up in this house with no prior memories whatsoever. She appeared to be severely beaten and was near death when she was found in the middle of a cornfield by the patriarch of a small farmstead named James Tucker, who along with his wife, Lynn, brought her into their home to help treat her injuries. Before they could even call an ambulance for her, Anna had woken up in a fit of panic. Once they managed to calm her down, they tried to get information out of her about who she was and where she came from, but she could not remember anything, not even her name.

When the paramedics finally arrived and transferred her to the hospital, what they found was one of the strangest cases they had ever seen. There seemed to be no substantial damage to her bones or organs, but the bruises and physical trauma to her exterior told a different story. The doctors said they could not determine what might have happened to her, only that the incident should have killed her. The police spoke to the Tuckers and were able to confirm that they had nothing to do with her injuries, and they helped file a missing persons report, though nothing ever came of it. Without any form of identification or so much as a name, nobody was able to claim her as kin.

The Tuckers had immense pity on her from the start, and once it became clear that she had nowhere to go, they knew what they had to do. As a God-fearing family, they considered it their duty to take her into their home in her time of need, adopting her as their daughter and giving her the name Anna.

Once Anna was brought home, after several weeks in the custody of the county, she was finally introduced to the Tuckers’ two daughters, 13-year-old Abigail and 10-year-old Daisy. They had both heard their parents talk endlessly about her. Daisy was excited about the idea of having another sister, even if it was an older sister. Abigail, on the other hand, was less than thrilled, and as time went on, she became less and less friendly toward Anna. Nevertheless, Anna became a part of the family in no time. With no other space to provide for her, the Tuckers cleared out the attic and turned it into a bedroom. Of course, this rubbed Abigail the wrong way as Anna’s new room was much bigger than her own.

It was now the end of August the following year, and today saw Anna starting at the local high school. It was no secret that she was quite anxious. Obviously, she could not remember her school life prior to a year ago, but she must have had some form of education as she was perfectly proficient in reading and writing as well as basic arithmetic, and after submitting to testing and light tutoring, she was determined to be eligible to enter into the tenth grade.

Outside the window, the sky was getting lighter as dawn quickly approached. Now that she was fully awake, Anna began her morning routine. She opened the dresser and pulled out the clothes she had set aside for her first day of school. Lynn had taken her out to shop for a new wardrobe, but Anna wanted to keep it simple amidst her anxiety. She removed her pajamas and slipped on a white tank top shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. The last thing she put on was a light denim jacket over her shirt. As she did so, that familiar numbing sensation returned to her right arm. Anna gasped in discomfort. She placed a firm hand on her bicep and slowly worked her arm out to relieve the tension. Muscle spasms such as this had been a recurring problem over the last year. Once she was done with her exercise, Anna turned back to the mirror and began applying makeup to cover up any signs of bruises on her body. Once she was done, she took one last look in the mirror, took a deep breath and forced a smile before turning to head for the door.

The only downside to sleeping in the attic was that the door was a ceiling hatch that had to be lowered and raised. Fortunately, Anna never had much trouble handling the weight of the door and steps, and it kept her sisters out of her room. The house was quiet as she lowered the steps and descended from the attic. She figured Abigail and Daisy were still asleep. James would have already been awake by now, as they had a handful of cows in a field behind the house to milk every morning. He was the hardest working man Anna knew, and as the oldest she would go out sometimes to help him with the fieldwork.

Anna crept downstairs, which was dark and deserted. The sun was almost cresting the horizon, and Anna’s stomach was churning at the thought of starting school in just a few hours. It was the first step into a normal life. She walked into the living room and approached a chair in the corner where her backpack was sitting. She opened it up and pulled out the only thing that was inside it: a school binder with her name bedazzled on it, which her mother made for her with Daisy’s help. Opening it up, she found a note inside left by Lynn in her thin and graceful handwriting.

“Good luck today, honey. You are the strongest of us all!”

Anna grew a wide smile. Lynn’s kind words were all she needed to warm her heart and almost make her forget the pain of not knowing who she truly was. It meant the world to her to call herself a Tucker.

“You know school doesn’t start until 8:00,” a voice spoke up behind her. Anna jumped in surprise as she looked around to see Abigail coming down the stairs, who snickered at having startled her.

“I know that,” Anna replied. “I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh yeah?” Abigail said as she stepped into the living room. “You nervous? I hear high school can be pretty rough for new girls.”

Anna rolled her eyes. This had been typical of Abigail for as long as she had known her, but Anna had learned to shake it off. She closed the binder and stuffed it into her backpack.

“Well, I wouldn’t really know,” she responded with a grin, attempting to own the handicap that she knew Abigail was subtly referencing. She set the bag back on the chair and made to walk out of the living room, placing a hand on Abigail’s shoulder as she passed. “And neither would you, eighth-grader.”

Abigail did not say anything back but just gave a quiet huff at Anna’s jab. Anna giggled to herself as she stepped out the front door and onto the deck. The morning summer breeze did not hesitate to sweep over her. Even before sunrise it was warm and welcoming, at least until the sun hit its peak and temperatures would rise to nearly ninety degrees. This was one of Anna’s favorite times of the day, being able to watch the sunrise over the flat horizon to the east, yet even this was not enough to quell her anxiety. She just wanted the day to go well.

As she stood on the deck, her ears caught the low mooing of her family’s cows. Anna walked along the deck, which wrapped around the side of the house. From there, she could see the edge of the field where the cows grazed. A small pavilion was built over a single stanchion, where one of the cows was locked in a headgate with several more lined up behind it. As she made her way over to the stanchion, she spotted her father, James, attaching a vacuum pump to the cow’s udders. He had a tall and stocky build, and he carried himself just as confidently, but he was the most caring man she had ever met. It was because of him and Lynn that she was able to settle into the family so well.

James looked up to see Anna approaching and greeted her with a warm smile. “Well, good morning, Annie! What are you doing up so early?”

Anna shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to tell him how she was really feeling. “I just thought I’d see if you needed some help.”

Without warning, the cow bucked and struggled in the grip of the headgate. “Whoa! Steady, girl!” James jumped to his feet to calm her down.

Anna instinctively stepped up to the cow. She placed her left hand firmly under the cow’s lower jaw and began gently stroking her snout with the other, giving a soft shhh as she did so. The cow calmed down almost immediately, casting a dark, unblinking eye at her. James smiled at the sight of it.

“You have quite a way with animals,” he said as he knelt down to activate the vacuum pump. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you grew up on a farm before…well, you know.”

Anna’s eyes fell, but she managed to force a smile. “I’m where I belong,” she replied. “I’m sure of it.”

“That you are,” James nodded. “How are you feeling about today?”

Anna thought for a moment, wanting to choose her words carefully, but frankly she did not want to lie about her feelings anymore.

“I’ll be honest, I’m a little nervous,” she said sheepishly.

“That’s understandable,” James affirmed.

“I know I passed all the tests, but it’s a hard thing to imagine if I can’t remember ever being there in the first place.”

“Hey.” James stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders. “No one, not me, not your mother or anyone can know what it’s like to be in your shoes. I couldn’t even begin to imagine having no memory of my entire life. But that’s why we brought you into our family; to give you a home when you needed one, and you have shown more strength and resilience than I could ever hope to have. The Lord brought you to us, and I know He has great plans for you.”

Anna’s eyes fell toward the ground again, but this time the smile was real. She fought hard to suppress tears from welling up in her eyes. She brought her hand up to rest on her father’s as she looked up to meet his loving gaze.

“Thank you,” she said in a happy but quivering voice. “I’ll make you proud.”

“I know you will.” James clapped her gently on the shoulder. “Now go inside and relax. Your mother should be starting on breakfast soon.”

Anna nodded and headed back toward the house. She was still feeling rather anxious about the day ahead, but her father’s words filled her with a much needed sense of calm. He was right. Wherever she may have come from, this was her home now. This was where she belonged.