She woke up with a gasp. One too deep she almost choked. She sat upright from her lying position as she breathed heavily, cold sweat rolling down her forehead.
"Shit, I'm alive?", she thought as she leaped out of the bed.
The floor was too cold to be stepped on; as if her feet would freeze at the slightest touch. But she doesn't even care anymore.
"I need to escape and end this once and for all.", she kept repeating those words in her mind like a chant. But her pace was interrupted as she tripped and kissed the floor, face first.
She held her throbbing nose as she checked on her legs but the pain can't be compared to the shock she got when she noticed that her right leg was literally chained to the bed's leg.
It took a while for her to snap out of her daze, but when she did, she chuckled.
"That woman has finally lost it, eh?", she said while caressing the cold metal chains that connect her with the bed, as if it was something so precious.
She brushed up her bangs to the back of her head that kept getting in the way of her vision. Her hands abruptly stopped, as she realized that something is off. Her hair was supposed to be short, so no way she can brush it all the way to the back.
She quickly bring a handful of hair to the front of her eyes and in the dimly-lit room, she can see that her hair did become longer, and it was auburn red, instead of her previous jet black hair.
When she noticed that weird detail, other things resurfaced in her head.
She didn't feel any pain, as if the truck had never hit her. The floor she sat on wasn't cement, it was made of bricks so old that you can see moss growing on it. The only light that brighten the gloomy room was the moonlight that pass through the bars located high on the wall on her left.
It took her a while to realize that she is in an old-styled prison that was always shown in medieval films.
She checked her clothes and she doesn't even get surprised this time when she laid her eyes on a deep green dress with some frills and ribbons.
She checked her surroundings and there weren't things that are noteworthy. A square-shaped room painted with blackish moss in which one of the walls is only metal bars, a worn-out bed wrapped with a yellowish sheet, and a wooden pail filled with murky water.
"Not one harmful thing." She sighed. Maybe she committed a sin that not even her death could redeem.
She got up and grab the pail of water that she brought into the moonlight a moment later. She stared into her reflection which can hardly be distinguished, but after a quick look, she is certain that the body she resided in is a pretty one.
A pair of amber-colored eyes that perfectly matched her red hair, pink-shaded thin lips, pinkish cheeks, and unblemished glassy skin.
Her fingertips touched the surface of the water and slowly she whispered, "Were you also like me?"; as if trying to communicate with the body owner.
She sat upright, hugging her legs, and started to summarise her situation. She is now in another body, possibly in another world too. Or maybe in the past, as seeing herself in a dress which is no longer in trend. It seemed ridiculous, but she always believes in what she experienced herself, no matter how impossible it may seem.
"What do we call this... spirit possession? But then, it means that I have truly died then...", she tapped the floor with her index finger, as she thinks about the explanation of her circumstance.
" And time travel is... it's not impossible, but how??," she rubbed her temple, trying to remember about previous physics articles she read. From what she knows, time travel is possible, based on many kinds of research done but there is no proof yet or means humans made to prove this theory.
The sound of glass clanking onto the floor woke her up from the daze and she noticed a small glass bottle at the side of the bed, still rolling aimlessly on the floor. She hesitated at first but proceeded to pick up the bottle cautiously.
She brought the glass bottle which she can hold easily with only two fingers to her eyes to be examined. It contained some sparkling blue liquid that smells sickeningly sweet. Out of curiosity, she brings the bottle to her mouth when suddenly...
"AAARRGHHHH!!!"
"THERE'S AN INTRUDER!! QUICK, WARN THE OTHER GUARD-"
And the sound of something cracked made everything go silent.
She searched for a place to hide the bottle, but alas, it's a fact that pockets are almost nonexistent on women's dresses, so she resorted to stuffing the bottle into her chest.
The sound of soft footsteps echoes through the prison walls. Calm, yet eerie, as if it was a grim reaper's. But indeed, it was none other than a human who emerged himself from the dark corridor.
He wore a hooded cape, completely hiding half of his face with a black mask, and in one hand he hold a sword. Silence once again filled the air between those two.
She started to feel as if everything is a dream. She was in another body, in a prison, and now she is facing a menacing-looking man. From whichever perspective in the situation, one word that you can use to describe it is: ridiculous.
But she is certain, from the cold sweats that are running down her neck and the sight of the man in front of her, that everything she is facing right now is real.
"A hitman? No. An assassin?", she may be welcoming death, but to put her life in another's hand is not something she agrees on. As it may not be swift and painless, but long and torturous.
The mysterious man raised his sword and cut the iron bars easily; as if they were made of straws. He then entered the prison and stood in front of the prisoner.
She gulped down her anxiety and backed off to the wall. With her leg chained to the bed, there's nowhere she can run off to. The man raised his sword again, without hesitation.
" At the least, the sword seems to be sharp." she thought as she shuts her eyes, waiting for her end.
'CLAAANNGG!!!!'
'Wait, is that...", she opened her eyes, and to her surprise, the one that has been cut was not her neck, but the chain on her leg. She looks up at the hooded man which was also staring at her.
"You...", she wanted to ask so many things, but she froze as she stared into the man's purple eyes. She had never seen such gentle eyes before, that were looking at her as if they long for her. And she is certain, her heart is screaming the same to this man he had never met.
"HE WENT THAT WAY, THE DUKE'S DAUGHTER'S CELL!!!!"
A man's scream and the sound of a group of men snapped them out of the situation.
"Tch." he unsheathed his sword and in one swoop, he lifted her and bolted to the opposite of the ruckus.
"What the...", she almost cursed but held her mouth shut as was afraid that she would accidentally bite her tongue off. Unconsciously, her hand also started to tighten its grip on the man's clothes.
At the end of the hallway, he leaped through the window into the air.
She gasped as she realized that they just jumped out of the highest floor of a tower-like construction, and now they are almost 300 m in mid-air.
"IS THIS MAN CRAZY?????", she screamed inside as she hugged the man even tighter.