She frowned at the weak body she was in. it was her body, the same weak body that was beaten to death. There was nothing she could do at the point she now in. The self-defense teacher she asked Mara to get was yet to come and she was getting impatient.
After complaining to herself to her satisfaction, she took notice of her environment and she was surprised that she was not in her room and she was not alone. The room was painted with a dark shade of purple and the couch she laid on was lilac. She sat up and stared around. She was in the living area of an unknown room.
There was girl lying asleep on a bed with monitor beside the bed in the bedroom. She got up from the chair and walked to the bed where the girl laid on. The girl was beautiful and her pale skin could not hide her beauty. The girl looked just like snow white straight out of the fairy tale. Her hair was ink black and she had pretty, long eyelashes.
The girl had to be no one but Miss Anna. She stepped back startled by her realization. It was not dream? She really thought she got lucky and escaped her horror. She moved further away from the bed backwardly. What the hell was she doing in Anna's room?
Did she sleep walk? If she sleep walked then she must find a way to prevent it from happening again. She turned and immediately ran out of the room to her room and closed the door. She hoped that no one saw her come out of the room or the madam will get angry and perhaps sends her back to the orphanage and that was the last thing she wanted since things were going smoothly for her.
She pressed her back against the door placing her hand on her chest. Her heart was beating hard she could almost feel it trying to pop out. At the moment when she succeeded in calming herself down and walked to the living area of her room, she heard a loud but gentle knock on the door.
This time, she literally felt her heart fly out of her chest. She walked back to the door reluctantly and opened it slowly. Valerie stood in front of her with a not very good expression on her face. Rose bit her lower lips and bowed her head as her fingers fought against each other behind her. She made sure she looked like a sorry little child about to be scolded.
"I am so sorry, ma'am," she began apologizing in a very soft tone. She felt she must have caused trouble despite how hard she tried to avoid causing one.
"Mum," Valerie corrected immediately before caring about anything else. "You should call me Mum, Mummy, Mother, anything but my name or ma'am."
Rose raised her now saucer shaped eyes and looked up at Valerie in total confusion. How did the whole plot change? Shouldn't Valerie dislike her? Shouldn't she be scolded for going into Miss Anna's room? There are a lot of things on her mind that should be happening right now but why was something else happening?
"Are you okay," Valerie had to ask when Rose stood watching her unmoving. "Should I get the doctor?"
"I am fine, ma'am," Rose answered her hastily taking a step back to arrange her thoughts. Was she reborn in another dimension?
"I . . ."
"I am very fine. I am really sorry about going to Miss Anna's room. I only woke up and I was in her room. I did not know how I got there. I will try to not to do sleep walk again," she apologized bowing her head.
"I . . .," Valerie began explaining and moved close to Rose to feel her forehead. She had a mild fever earlier and she was worried that Rose still had the fever.
Rose froze visible when Valerie got close to her. She brazed herself for a slap hoping that since Valerie was a well-bred and pampered woman, the slap won't hurt much. Despite living in her second life, she felt she was just too pathetic. Her eyes slowly got misty as she hated herself for being weak.
Seeing her reaction, Valerie stepped back to give Rose some space. She also bowed her in guilt. She must have worn a really scaring countenance around the innocent girl that the girl believed she could raise her hand to hit her. "I think there is a kind of misunderstanding between us. I carried you to Anna's room when you fell asleep in the elevator."
Rose lifted her head sharply and her mouth opened slightly in astonishment. When did she fall asleep? The whole thing became clear to her and she closed her mouth immediately when she remembered what happened after her lesson in the elevator. She could not help but look at the feminine delicate body of Mrs. Whitfred and wondered how the woman could carry her. Perhaps, she was assisted by someone else, right?
"I am sorry," she apologized for being so stupid although she did not tell Valerie that.
"No, what are you sorry for?"
"For the inconvenience," she lied immediately not to make things anymore awkward than it already was.
Valerie smiled brightly and held Rose hand. She was seriously not saving it from getting awkward because now it really became awkward as Rose instinctively pulled back her hand but Valerie insisted on holding her hand.
Rose had to smile back despite how weird she felt everything was. The two stared at each other, each thinking and making calculations on what to say and how to say it right. Rose simply concluded there was nothing she would say at that moment that will be right after making her own calculations.
On the other hand, Rose's new mama was piling up a lot things she wanted to say to her new daughter. She had found Anna interesting and pitiful due to her nightmares and she wanted to get to know the girl more.
Just the way Rose cringed when Mr. Whitfred stared at her at the orphanage, she could not help but cringe from the way Mrs. Whitfred stared at her. It was as though she was a lab rat in front of a scientist or to be more precise, Mrs. Whitfred stared at her as though she was a large piece fabric on her work table and she was holding her scissors ready to cut and shape it out to be what she wanted it to be.
"I have been a little too negligent about you and I am sorry. I want you to feel free and confortable around me. I might not be your mother but I love you just like one. I want us to get to know each other and I could make up for all the wrong I have done to you during the past few weeks."
It took a lot of energy to prevent sighing. She could only guess this was where her cutting and shaping will officially began. It was the best disguise for her although she felt it might be a little hard to put on such disguise.
"I think you should also spend some time with Anna. I am going to be very busy and I won't be able to come home for some time. Read her some stories and celebrity news. Talk to her about motorcycles too, she loves them."
"Yes, ma . . . Mother," she quickly answered stiffly. The first step of her 'disguise' was to be a perfect sister to her new sister. She almost chuckled; the first stage was actually not hard. It made her conclude she will keep going on with her new lessons on 'disguise' with her new mother.
"Also . . . I don't know how to say this in the perfect tone," she said softly as she struggled visibly. "My therapist will be coming."
'Why should I care?' Rose wondered gazing at Valerie with a very confused look on her face.
"She will spend an hour with you. It will help you a lot. Feel free to tell her anything. I won't ask her about what you will discuss together."
Rose nodded with a forced smile masked up as an excited smile. "Thank you." She bet that she will be sent back to the orphanage or sent to a psychiatry hospital if she tells the therapist the truth about her nightmare or worse they will simply hand her over to an exorcist. She shivered at the thought of all these possibilities but still wore a smile and could not refuse.
"If you ever need anything, call me," Valerie told her and gently pat Rose's head before walking out of the room.
She shivered immediately rubbing the goose bumps on her arms. That was so confusing and scary. Mrs. Whitfred had to be the weirdest person she had met in both of her lives. She went back to the living area and tried to figure out why Mrs. Whitfred suddenly became nice to her and why she had suggested she sees a therapist but she really could not figure it out.
She really wished she did not fall asleep. Or was it because of the very sorry state she was in when she fell asleep? Never mind it could be counted as a good thing that she was now accepted officially, right?