'It's cold.'
The chilly breeze accompanied by a heavy rain sent chills right through her bones. A strong scent of wet forest ground filled the air. The heavy rustling of leaves was surrounded by an eerie silence. Not a bird chirped nor any animal grumbled. She doubted her hearing clarity, but her heart felt restless about it. With a jerk, she sat up straight.
"Where am I?"
It felt like reality kicked in with full vigour. She felt the rain water running down her face along with a heavy fluid which irked her to rub it out. She gazed blankly at the reddish-black fluid which covered the tips of her fingers. Her vision kept focusing in and out. She felt restless but didn't know the reason why. It felt foreign.
She was up on her feet, her mud laden hair stuck to her torn peach-gown while her wounds jerked open and spilled blood faster.
"Hiss!" It hurt.
'Why do I feel so….small?'
Her eyes fell everywhere, her breaths grew rapidly while the feeling of restlessness still resided.
A faint sound felt out of place. It must be a twig or two that got crushed under someone's feet. Immediately, she went alert.
'What was that?'
Her body faced the direction of the sound. Her instincts were on high alert. Every sense started to get clearer.
Her heart started racing anxiously.
'What is this feeling?'
She started feeling flustered when another sound followed. This time, the body paid no heed to its owner. It frantically ran.
'What the hell am I running from?'
Her instincts knew it was dangerous to stop now, but it also seemed to tell that there was no place to hide. There was no destination.
'I can tell they are catching up.'
The noises gradually drew nearer while her feet seemed to run faster than before. She had no idea how she smoothly travelled across the unpredictable forest land.
'If this is a dream…'
"Princess..!"
'...I wish I could wake up now.'
…
*Gasp*
Stuck in a thirteen year old, the 20 year old Evelina sat up straight. Her eyes were wide open while her breaths were haggard . Her back felt sore and her throat ran dry. She tightly shut her eyes when the dizziness hit her. The jerk-like motion caused a rush and gave her a headache. It was too much.
Instinctively, she reached out her right hand to where her bottle should be, but her fingers grasped the blank air. Through the slits of her eyes, she spotted a glass of water kept by the bedside table. She drank it in a gulp and cleared her head.
There was a fresh scent of lavender surrounding her. The air as well seemed damp, as though a humidifier was kept at a corner. Cool breeze flew in from the east, which made the curtains flutter and let in the soft sunlight of the dawn.
The room was spacious. Lavishly decorated with laces of silver and gold, while the tapestry had red and gold linings, the room gave off the perfect royal look.
French doors and windows, which resembled the early 19th century, while artwork decorating the room resembling the true essence of victorian era, Evelina gaped in awe and anxiousness. However pretty the room might be, she recalls her latest memory to be purely based on survival and death.
"What kind of joke is this?"
She mumbled then clasped her mouth with both her hands.
'My voice?'
Her voice had a higher pitch in it and sounded as though she was no more than 12! She immediately brought her hands up and examined the petite frail hands, which seemed as pale as…
"...Moonlight."
'Why did that word come to mind?'
A sudden creaking of the huge french doors brought her back to reality. A woman in her twenties hurried up to her. She wore a white apron on a black frock, which was lined with frills. Her light-brown hair neatly tied into a bun and her dress flawlessly pressed, she seemed like a proper maid.
"Your Highness! How are you feeling now?"
She spoke in a tone filled with a sense of worry. Her expressions were exaggerated so were her actions. Yet there was elegance in every little action she made. Her way of words seemed like a play of the gossip-mongers who talk sweetly in front of you, but wouldn't think twice when it comes to back-stabbing.
Evelina carefully noted down every behaviour of the maid. Her words were filled with sympathy while her eyes spoke otherwise.
"A fake.."
Eve mumbled.
"Your Highness?"
"Nothing." Eve sighed and asked,"What's your name?"
The maid blinked at her blankly, as though astounded by the stupidity of the question.
"Liana, Your Highness."
Her scorn yet compliance clearly portrayed in her words.
Eve felt a chill run through her spine, when a whisper hissed by her ear,
"She thinks you are insane!"
Instinctively Eve spun around to her right, where she heard the voice. She searched for the source for a second before spinning back and facing the shocked maid. The strange words repeated in her mind,
'She thinks you are insane! She thinks you are insane! She thinks you are…'
"Get out." Eve mumbled .
"Pardon?"
"Out!" Evelina yelled while the maid froze on her spot and her face turned white.
"Un-understood, Your Highness!"
Saying so, she rushed out of the room.
No sooner had she closed the door, Eve felt a splitting headache. She shut her eyes in pain and held her forehead with both her palms and let out silent screams of anguish.
'Run!'
'Run from there!'
"Argh!" Eve growled under her breath. No sooner, the voices stopped. Her breaths were haggard while her splitting headache slowly faded.
'What was that?'
She distinctly remembers the throbbing pain and the creepy voice of a young girl. It at first sounded like a whisper, but now it sounded more desperate and distinct.
She shakes it off her mind and takes a look around her.
A queen sized bed covered with soft purple silk, an attached balcony overlooking a garden outside and a classy lavish room which gave off a Royal- feel.
"This is- this is not-"
Stuttering with her words, she jumped down the bed. Her feet wobbled under her as she held onto the furniture lining the bed and headed up to the balcony.
A fresh breeze brought in the scent of the wet garden soil while the sunlight softly fell on her skin. It felt too real to be true.She rushed to the nearest mirror, which was stationed at a corner of the room.
"This is not a dream."
Eve spoke under her breath as she saw herself in the body of an unknown little girl. Her skin was bright Ivory, which gave a rather lively glow, as though it shone under the moonlight. Her hair was jet black and nearly reached till her knees, while her eyes were a brilliant turquoise.
"Pretty…"
Eve mumbled as she was enchanted by her own reflection. She averted her eyes from the mirror and looked at the door.
Curiosity kicked in.
She reached out for the handle and gave it a strong push. The doors soundlessly made their way to the corridor outside. Covered in red and gold carpets and flags, along with some more paintings and murals lining up the porcelain white wall, the corridor gave off the same vibe as that of the room.
"Your Highness!"
A yell came from a few feet away. The elegant-yet-rude maid rushed over. She seemed utterly shocked by the sight in front of her. She was about to crash on to Evelina but surprisingly paced herself.
"You're Highness! You must not disgrace yourself!"
Liliana spoke, flustered. It wasn't appropriate for any noble lady to be seen in her nightgown outside her room, let alone the Crown Princess.
Yet to Eve, something seemed more off-putting than her clothing.
"Choose your words wisely."
Eve spoke coldly. It seemed like the maid was looking down on her as well as being rude to her naturally, as though it was a habit.
"It was supposed to be, you must present yourself properly, rather than you must not disgrace yourself.
Rude." Eve mumbled then paused suddenly,
"How do I know that?"
"My apologies, Your Highness!" The maid apologised immediately, making a complete 90 degree bow.
"You are excused." Saying so, Eve shut the door on the maid's face and headed up to the dressing table.The dressing table was opposite to the bed and adjacent to the larger mirror she checked herself out on a few moments ago.
She seated herself elegantly , to an extent that she shocked herself. She usually had a habit of having her legs face the opposite direction and have an ample distance between them. But now, it seemed like she was way more comfortable with her feet squeezed together, facing to her left while her upper body was facing straight ahead.
'If I were to try sitting like this in my old body, I can't even begin to imagine the pain my hip would give in an hour.'
While her eyes lingered around her feet, she noticed the delicately designed handles of the dressing tables drawers. Miss Curiosity kicked in once again, for she opened the first drawer without a second thought.
Surprisingly, the drawer had nothing but a piece of paper, which looked distinctly similar to what she knew was a talisman. 'A talisman, familiar ways of apology, yet a victorian-era styled room. Why does this keep irking me as though I should figure it out?'
Ofcourse, instincts must have yelled at her not to touch the talisman, but Miss Curiosity would win the fight nevertheless.
She picked up the talisman and started examining the talisman. A yellowish-white paper with a texture of those of handmade-papers, along with symbols in blue ink, it was the first talisman Evelina had ever seen in real life.
"Tear it!"
The crackling voice of the young girl whispered against her ears once more. After instinctively turning around and checking her blank surroundings once again, the voice repeated in her head like a rhythm.
'Tear it! Tear it! Tear it!'
As though she was possessed, once again, her new body paid her no heed and tore the talisman.
No sooner, the body fell limp.
Losing balance, she fell towards the dressing table with a thud. The bottle of perfume and a glass bowl containing a fragrant powder which were dangerously balanced in the corner of the crowded table came crashing down, thereby alerting the maid outside.
"Your Highness!"
…