Max and Emma had been on holiday.

They were enjoying a speedboat ride when the boat had hit a submerged rock and gone flying. People were thrown everywhere, then the boat had exploded.

Max woke up on shore, alone. Nobody else seemed to have survived…

There was a big search. The remains of the boat were located… then what looked like bodies. Emma and the driver of the boat were dead…

Sadly, Max got on with his life, and mourned…

About a mile from the accident, in the cliff face, was a cave. It looked unremarkable, and empty. It was anything but…

There was a concealed wall at the back of the cave. Looking in, it looked normal. From inside, looking out, it was clear…

There was a room inside, built into the cliff. In that room was a cot…

Emma was lying on it, very much alive and well. She was also naked, heavily sedated, in chains and wearing a metal gag. Standing by her was the speedboat pilot, a tall, lithe blonde.

“Don’t be scared, little one”, the woman said, quietly. “This part can be hard, but it does get easier…”

She gently massaged Emma’s breasts, making her moan.

“You will soon be mine, my dear. Mine forever…”

Emma slowly came back to consciousness. Everything was a blur…

She started remembering bits of the accident. She had gone flying out of the boat, through the air, and had hit the water hard.

Oh god, was she paralysed? She must be in hospital.

She tried to call out, but her mouth wouldn’t do anything. She lifted her hand to find out what was going on, and saw the chains…

She moaned frantically, tugging at the padlocks on her shackles. What the hell…!

Suddenly, the woman was with her, stroking her cheek.

“Calm down… The restraints are to stop you doing anything silly. After all, the treatment can be a bit… extreme. You died, after all.”

She showed Emma a newspaper article, about the accident. One that reported her death…

Shaking her head, vigorously, Emma tried to get up, but the chains wouldn’t let her. Frustrated, she screamed into her gag, frantically shaking the chains…

The woman pushed her back down, gently.

“I know, I know. It’s difficult leaving your life behind. Don’t cry; I’ve got a nice new one ready for you…”

She gave Emma an injection then walked away, leaving Emma mewling into her gag until she passed out…

Next time Emma awoke, she felt different. The chains were gone; also, so had the gag. Had it all been a dream…?

“Hello?”, she called out. “Anyone there?”

“Hannah! You’re awake!”, came a voice. “Thank God! I thought we’d lost you.”

“Where am I?”, asked Emma. She hadn’t noticed the name change…

“In the clinic. They thought they’d got to you too late, but they risked the operation anyway. Your brain tumour was almost untreatable.”

“My… what?”

“Your brain tumour. The one that was causing the fits. Don’t you remember?”

“No. I can’t even remember my name at the moment. In fact… I can’t remember anything…”

The woman had neatly and professionally erased all of Emma’s memories. She’d also changed her hair from brunette to redhead, but in a way that was permanent, and changed her eyes from brown to blue. Emma Carter, reporter, was going to be Hannah Steele, society debutante, and her fiancée.

Hannah was supposedly recovering in her private clinic after an operation to remove a brain tumour. Interestingly, some of Emma’s instinctive mannerisms had survived the transition; she still played with her hair when she was nervous and was prone to biting her nails. Occasionally she would also stare at her hair when playing with it, trying to work out what was wrong…

The woman used her created identity to teach Hannah all about herself. The couple also grew very close…

The woman had no problems with her identity. She had been wearing a mask while working as the boat’s pilot, using one of her many generated identities, so it had been easy for her to ‘disappear’. The police had found enough about her to give her a burial.

A few months later, the pair left the cave ‘clinic’ and headed up to the chateau on the hill. Doctor Natalie Wright, reclusive research scientist, and her fiancée Hannah Steele settled into their home together, comfortable with each other. Or so it seemed…

Hannah started having nightmares.

She kept waking up screaming that she was drowning, shaking, in the arms of her lover, Natalie.

 “I can’t cope with this much longer”, she said, one night, crying on Natalie’s shoulder. Some of Emma’s memories were still breaking through, somehow.

“Do you trust me”, said Natalie.

“Of course”, said Hannah.

Natalie hypnotised Hannah.

“You’re still there aren’t you?”, she said.

“Of course I am”, said Hannah, as Emma. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“You’re tearing yourself apart, though!”, wailed Natalie. “I just wanted to love you and be loved in return.”

“I know”, said Hannah/Emma. “Problem was, you took me away from Max. Show me he’s happy, and I’ll go. Surprisingly, I have feelings for you, too.”

After some searching on the Internet, Natalie found a picture of Max with his new girlfriend, Tanya. The couple were obviously happy.

“Thank you”, said Hannah/Emma. “I’ll be alright now. Despite what you’ve done to me, I know you love me. Can you do one more thing for me, though? Please, try forgiving yourself. I know it’s hurting you, too…”

The two women ended up crying on each other’s shoulders…

Natalie brought Hannah out of her trance. Hannah immediately kissed her, then wiped the tears off their cheeks.

“That intense, eh? I’m surprised; I’ve never felt so relaxed…!”

The nightmares never returned…