I never wanted to be hurt, but he took advantage of my weakness, left me a battered and a scarred carcass after he had done all he could to me. He took away everything, like it had been nothing to him. I was a fool to have even trusted him. If there is such thing as a next life, God, please grant me the body for which I will not be able to be touched or harmed. It pains me too much. I have never called on you for anything; but if you are still here, watching my body and soul be greed of this by this man, I beg you to save me from all this heartache. If there was such thing as an afterlife, that is.
I had awoken up in a dizzy state, my body had felt heavier than usual. My mind in fragments, my eyes squinted at the bright light of a chandelier above my head. This place I was in hadn't been familiar to me, almost as if a dream, the bright accents of beige decorated neatly on the walls, the grand picture frames hanged tidily before me, an antique chair that seemed 100 years old placed at the corner of the room. Had this all been mine? Somehow the whole setting did not seem to feel right with me. Like all the luxury presented to me was almost foreign for me to see. In attempts to grasp my senses, still feeling groggy, I held my hand up towards my face, surprised to see my hands had looked so small and dainty. My hands fell on top of my head as I felt the silky strands of my hair, I held it up to the light seeing it reflect through my hair. Now this had spooked me. My blonde hair felt out of place to me like I had not been born of such colour before. In a panic, I touched all the parts of me, my small petite face, my thin lanky arms, a silk gown hiding my thin physique, my chest being strangely bigger in size. This body of mine feels like a stranger to me. I finally pushed myself of from where I was laying only to hear the click of the door lock coming undone.
Someone had walked in. Her jet-black hair was pulled neatly in a bun. Her face was not youthful in the slightest. There on her face, had lot of frown lines that accentuated her age. She must have been around 40 years old as her face had hinted her out to be.
"You have finally awakened I see." She had asked the obvious, guessing from her tone she had not been as pleased to see I was awake. Maybe even alive for that matter. A lot of spite had been painted clear as day on her face. I had no clue what had caused such loathing towards me either.
She walked closer to me, out of instinct I shifted uncomfortably to the farther side of the bed.
"What is the meaning of this, Eloise? Did you think if you killed yourself, your father would have felt bad for you or something?" She spat.
Her words were glazed with hatred.
"Or was it to frame us?!" Her voice rose, at an instant.
"Well, answer me!" She roared. I flinched at her sudden outburst, now I had no faint idea what to do. Not only had I not known the faintest clue of what she had been insinuating, I did not know of her or of myself at the matter. This body had not been mine. Not only had the appearance been off but also the awkwardness of my movement was apparent. And the name Eloise. Who was Eloise? Because I know for certain it had not been me. That wasn't my name, but frustratingly I couldn't remember what my name had been.
I got up the courage to look her in the eye, "I had not the faintest clue what you are perpetuating, mother." Is what I had simply said. It almost as if it had not come out of my own mouth, I had not known where this kind of speech had come from or the distinct accent. She had stared blazed daggers of blueish hues at me. It froze me in my tracks and I finally became aware of the type of power she held. She was scary.
"Suit yourself, feign ignorance. You should have died to save us all the grief." She had said to me her words seeming true. She looked as if she wouldn't hesitate on making what she had spoken a reality. It left a huge lump in my throat.
As she walked away, I could only stare back at my hands. I need to figure out what has happened to me, at least remember what I could piece together to make sense of the situation.
I closed my eyes for a second, the image of flowing water had popped into my mind, it was overflowing, trickling onto a black and marble slab. It came from a crème bathtub, a hand hanging off the rim. A hand, with scars and scabs. If only I could zoom out a bit more, picture more of the scene, maybe it would be the answer just maybe.
"Aren't you going to get dressed?" The blonde lady had barked, bringing me back from my head space.
"Mother, what do you mean-"I meekly answered, finally getting out of the bed.
"Has the water made your brain rotten? Or are you trying to annoy me girl." She hugged. "Don't call me so innocently when you're nothing but baggage." She added.
Her tone, her glare, everything had been so merciless so uncaring. Whoever this person was to me- or in this context not me, had been something far from a mother. She could not be.
"As I am the insolent girl you do prey me to be, can't you tell me what you meant by your words?" I simply injected, feeling a bit bolder to speak out. Seeing by her reaction, my reply must had been unexpected. However, I knew for sure I wasn't a person to put up with bullshit from anyone. Just by the tone of voice she had pissed me off. Her snobby, overconfident persona that she portrayed towards me boiled me to no end.
"You- after this ball, mark my words. You will never be able to look so smug in the comfort of this house."
"Marrying you off to some old bastard merchant might teach you a few lessons of humility." She smirked, turning her head at me as she closed the door with a click. I felt the air tighten as my legs made its way to the floor. I felt the anger rush to my face, thinking of how the hell I could be in a situation like this. With no recollection of where I am, who I am, this unfamiliar body and that witch of a woman. Now I'm going to be sold off. Like cattle. For what? I didn't understand.
It was confusing. My brain couldn't quite comprehend, the fancy fixtures in the room, the regal setting. Had I magically transported into some different time period? This was absurd. I rustled my head in frustration.
Then it hit me. It could only be it. The memory I was able to piece together, the water, that infamous hand and what that lady said were interconnected.
I'm dead in my world, and now I'm occupying someone else's body who may also be dead as well. This was insane. The idiocy of this. Now what the hell am I supposed to do. I only saw snippets of what looked to be the way I died but telling by the way that women was talking it seemed this place would be even worse.
At this very fact. The feeling of fear crept into me and knotted my insides, the fear of not knowing, the feeling of being alone, started to sink in. Did I have family? I couldn't remember. Maybe another side effect of reincarnation? Reincarnation. It couldn't believe it myself. I gazed at my hands once more, traced the outline of my small face. I wonder where the owner of this body is now. This body isn't mine; I should make sure to keep it safe. Keep myself safe. I don't want to die again another pitiful death which I may not remember. This is my second chance, to live, to survive...