For a few seconds, Ding Jia's perspective suddenly switched.
From being an observer, she suddenly found herself in that girl's body while struggling underwater.
Pain...!!
Her lungs was swept in pain by the lack of air. Her hands paddled through the water as she tried to swim to the surface. Ding Jia desperately moved her limbs in panic, wanting to scream for help but couldn't. It was as if everything she was doing at that moment was useless, and for the last few seconds, she felt her body getting heavy.
The unimaginable pain spread throughout her body and at the last second, she struggled to gasp for air.
WOOF! WOOF!
DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG!
WOOF! WOOF!
".....Haaah!"
In a blink of an eye, Ding Jia returned to her senses as if she woke up from an unbelievable dream. She found herself almost crawling on the ground by the door entrance, her hand clutching her chest tightly. Her mind swirled into chaos, recalling that painful experience without air.
Wha....What...?
Her mind completely shut down. She could barely organize her thoughts and everything she witnessed did not even register in her mind. She was even suspecting that it was all just a ridiculous dream...no, illusion is maybe the right term to use?
Ding Jia was still deep in her thoughts when the sound of the doorbell rang again furiously. The continuous ringing was clearly urging the person inside to open the door at that moment.
Ding Jia completely returned to her senses and finally noticed that there was someone at her door.
She got up from her crawling position, and while she was tidying herself up after noticing how unkempt she suddenly became, she heard a familiar voice from the other side of the door.
"Ms. Ding Jia? Are you in? Ms. Ding Jia?" She recognized her neighbor's voice.
This time, he did not only press on her doorbell but also pounded heavily on the door. Ding Jia could even make out the sound of someone scratching her door, perhaps from the dog barking outside.
She smoothly controlled her emotion and expression. It was as if nothing happened to her nor did she double over from pain just a few seconds ago.
After hastily tidying herself up, she took a step and grabbed her doorknob. Before she could twist it open, she heard him say again, "Should I call the Reception for help?"
Before Luo Yang could pull contact them, Ding Jia pulled open the door.
His hand pounding the door stopped mid-air, as he stood frozen for a split second when he saw the woman.
The dog at his feet was bolder. He jumped onto the woman, almost knocking her down with her weight.
Ding Jia let out a cry instantly waking Luo Yang to his senses and his hand darted to grab Arthur's collar.
His strength was enough to stop the dog from further jumping on the actress, and he remembered why he was knocking furiously on her door.
The man studied her face and seeing
"Ms.Ding Jia, are you okay? I heard your scream and thought you might have encountered something so I got worried. Is everything alright?" Luo Yang's stone face stayed the same, but Ding Jia noticed that small change of furrowing his eyebrows and the sincere concern in his voice.
He was genuinely concerned and so he knocked on her door to make sure if everything was okay on her side.
Her hand holding the hem of her shirt tightened lightly as she kept her expression in check.
"Ah, I just suddenly tripped on my feet and fell over so I cried out." She expertly acted out, even scratching her head and lowering her eyes to express her embarrassment.
"Was I too loud? Sorry, it seems I've caused an unnecessary disturbance."
Luo Yang blinked while staring at the actress. He looked at her for two seconds before getting convinced by her words.
His tensed shouldered loosened up while asking her again, "Did you hurt yourself?"
Ding Jia sensed the perfunctory tone this time. She followed up properly, "No, I'm fine. Sorry for disturbing you again."
"It's alright. We're all neighbors here." Luo Yang glanced at his dog that seemed depressed from being prevented to jump on the woman. Of course, he ignored it and took a step back away from the door.
"Then have a good evening, Ms.Ding Jia."
"En. You too."
After exchanging goodbyes, Luo Yang returned to his home on the other side.
Ding Jia stared at his neighbor's closed door for a moment before closing her own door. Her grip tightened as she quickly fell on her knees.
She sighed in relief. Her back was sweating hard from nervousness and from everything that happened.
After recollecting herself for a whole five minutes, she courageously raised her head and roamed her eyes across her home.
It was still sparkly clean with no signs of being messed up.
Her eyes darted a few meters away from where she was crouching.
No flower.
She took a deep breath.
It wasn't real.
Thank the heavens.
With her quick ability to adapt to any situation, Ding Jia was back to her old self in no time. Though the memories she saw, if it wasn't her delusion or anything, would resurface from time to time that night.
She was very tempted to call the hospital to ask if her previous medications had any side effects. In the end, she worried that it'll be on the news if she asked so she shot down the idea and resolved it herself.
That night, after struggling to fall asleep, Ding Jia had no dreams. In her serene and empty study room, a single stem of white lily laid quietly at the center of the wide and organized table. Its scent filled up the room before it slowly dried up, the petals browning until each petal turned into a speck of glittery particles that floated inside the room.
It disappeared quietly just like how it appeared.