The Stolen Chapters by James Riley

back into the shadows. “Wait a second. I don’t know who you are .”
    The girl gave him an odd look. “You don’t?” She looked down at herself. “I mean, I’m in my work clothes, but I don’t look that different. Are you just messing with me?” She slowly grinned at him. “You’re totally messing with me. I love this. You guys are so fun!”
    Kiel just looked at her helplessly for a moment, then put up his hands in apology. “No, I mean . . . I’ve had some problems with my memory. It’s a whole thing. Magic and all.”
    â€œOh, totally ,” the girl said, and winked. “Magic. Of course.”
    â€œStop that!” Kiel shouted, then put his hands back up as the girl’s smile faded into a more dangerous look. “Look, sorry, it’s just hard to concentrate when you keep doing that.”
    The girl gave him a careful look, then shrugged, the smile exploding back over her face. “No need to apologize. Let’s just get going!” She grabbed his arm and pulled him back toward the police station.
    This was clearly another missing memory, so all he had to do was trigger it. Kiel pulled the girl to a stop, then when she turned around, stared her right in the face for a good ten seconds. Then he closed his eyes, focusing on her face, willing the memory to come. Anticipating the pain, he gritted his teeth and waited for the memory to smack him across the face.
    Instead of the memory, though, he got an actual slap.
    â€œWake up!” the girl said. “I think I lost you there. Did you faint? You fainted, didn’t you. You stared at me for a second, then looked like you had to go to the bathroom. Kind of like a koala, weirdly. Is this normal for you?”
    Kiel put a hand up to his cheek, which throbbed where she’d slapped him. “Not even a little bit.”
    â€œThen follow the plan, my magical koala.” She laughed, then grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the police station again.
    â€œUm, we’re going to get caught if we get any closer,” Kiel told her.
    â€œUh, yeah ?” she said. “That’s the idea!” Then she turned toward the station and raised her voice. “Hey, cops! Aren’t you looking for this guy? I found him. Kiel Gnomenfoot. Come and get him!”
    And with that, every police officer around the station glanced up. Kiel’s eyes widened and he turned to run, only to feel a jolt like lightning hit his side, and he dropped to the ground, twitching.
    The girl in black stood over him, a small sparking device in her hand shooting little blue bolts. “Wow, that was fun ,” she said. “Hope it didn’t hurt much. Did it? A lot? Sorry. But still, how much do I love my Taser ? Anyway, enjoy!”
    And with that, she ran off, laughing as Kiel twitched on the ground, police officers surrounding him on all sides.

CHAPTER 18
    01:18:12
    O wen sat in a different room in the police station, this one a bit more comfortable than the interrogation room, but with the door no less locked. It didn’t escape him that there wasn’t even a window. Apparently, the police were taking no chances.
    After the last memory attack, Inspector Brown had given him some aspirin and said that his mother was on her way now, which almost made Owen’s head ache even more. Beyond having to explain exactly what he’d been doing in the library (um, not lighting it on fire!  ), there was the fact that she’d told the police he was still in bed. What did that mean? Was she trying to cover for him, somehow? He snorted. His mom? But what else could it be?
    All of this would be so much easier if he could just remember what had happened before he’d woken up in the library!
    Owen growled in frustration and smacked his head over and over, hoping to jar out some more memories. All of this was beginning to feel like one of those terrible stories, where half of