~ Belle, Luxeville ~
" Ugh. My head." Ava said softly, massaging her temples at the same time. ' Damn. Why does my head hurt this bad?' she thought to herself, with her eyes closed. " Ouch'' she hissed before she managed to open her eyes.
But she shut them immediately, due to the harshness of the light sourced from the sun. She did not expect such intense light, since she couldn't sense it was that intense when her eyes were closed.
' But there used to be a ceiling , how come_' she paused as the back of her palm touched the ground.
Her bed certainly wasn't as hard and rough as the concrete ground.
Abruptly, Ava held her hand over her face to obstruct the light from entering her eyes again, before she opened her them. ''Ah!'' Ava yelped, literally flinging her hand across because of shock and fright, thinking it was someone else's, since the hand she saw was no where near plump.
Raising her head, Ava saw no one in her line of sight.
But that became another thing on the growing list of things she had to worry about, because there was something about the place she found herself. The vicinity was very unfamiliar, yet it felt like she knew of it's existence before now.
Impulsively, Ava stood up as fast as she could, but staggered in the process such that she almost collided with the wall because she lost balance.
She didn't expect standing up would be so effortless, and so she pulled herself up from the ground like she did when she was four times her current body mass.
For a couple of seconds, Ava relaxed on the wall, with her eyes closed to avoid losing balance again as she felt like a 4-4 kick drum was pounding in her head, causing her to wince a couple times.
After a while, she managed to straighten up before she began scanning the outfits she was wearing, especially her body which was unusually easy to move.
' Pink silk palazzo pants, white top and a cream colored flat slipper. Light skin, long pair of legs, sleek arms, well defined glutes, ample boobs and a shoulder length pitch black hair.' she observed.
'' How can this be?'' Ava asked, while beads of sweats had formed on her forehead at this point. If her body changed this way, then what about her face?
'' What happened to me!? I'm not dreaming am I? Why am I looking this way? Who...who did this to me? Why can't I remember a thing?'' Ava asked with a look of terror, while she felt her surprisingly smooth face with both hands.
She didn't even know how to react or how to go about what happened to her. What word or phrase would not be an understatement to describe how dumbstruck she was at the moment!?
But as if all of that was not enough, a phone pinged suddenly, causing Ava to jolt. " Who's there?" Ava asked, but got no response. ' Where did that sound come from?' she wondered.
It pinged again. " Come out and face me whoever you are!" she called out, turning 360 to see if there was anyone in sight.
" I know you're there, so stop being a coward and come out!" she shouted, hoping to see who was behind all of whatever was going on.
But still, no response.
How the heck was she in the middle of a narrow lane, in a different body, unable to remember what happened before she seemingly fell asleep!?
While searching for the phone, Ava's eyes landed on a black purse lying a few feet away from where she stood.
She thought it was a good idea to just forget about it and probably run away, but she couldn't hold back.
She was aware curiosity killed the cat, but she's not a cat anyway.
And so with cautious and slow steps, Ava got to where the purse was lying and bent to pick it.
Holding the tip of the zipper, she managed to open it while her thumb and index finger held the base of the peer shaped purse.
" This should be it'' Ave muttered, accompanied by an exasperated sigh, before dipping both her right thumb and index finger into the purse to bring the phone out.
Double tapping on it, the smartphone screen displayed 12:12 PM and nothing else.
" It's afternoon already." Ava said.
" Good afternoon Ava." the virtual assistant greeted Ava who flinched in surprise. Thinking it was probably someone on the line, Ava held the phone up to her ear.
" Umm, good day miss." she greeted but received no response, so she continued '' Umm, who are you? And how did you get my number?" she asked.
" Hi Ava. My name is Keys, and I'm your virtual assistant." the artificial virtual assistant replied.
" Huh.''
" My name is keys and I'm your virtual assis_ "
" I heard what you said!" Ava chimed in. '' How do you know I'm the one?'' she asked, glancing at the screen which displayed just time and a colorful background.
" I recognize your voice." Keys replied.
" Miss is something wrong with you!? And you can't be my virtual assistant because this is not even my phone! What the heck is going on!?" Ava asked, gritting her teeth.
" This phone belongs to Ava Cassius, and I have been programmed to assist her." Keys the AI replied.
" I need to go back home. I don't understand what is happening." Ava said to herself, before flinging the purse away. She was tempted to do the same with the phone before Keys spoke up,
" Retrieving house location."
" What location?" Ava asked with a quirked brow that had pretty much been that way since she regained consciousness.
" House location of Ava Cassius." Keys answered Ava who said nothing. She decided there was no point in telling an AI she was going to take a cab instead.
Ava briefly decided she was going to take a cab home so she could clear her head and try to make sense of everything. She was also going to_ ' The transport fare Ava.' a voice in her head rang.
'' I totally forgot." Ava said, shutting her eyes in disappointment.
" 009, Winsteria street, Belle LV." the virtual assistant Keys, said. But her words were immediately greeted with a nervous laughter by Ava.
" Nice. Now you're just gonna read out an address from my novel, isn't it? You should've just told me you're a fan.'' Ava said with a scoff laugh before she held the phone to her face to look at it.
But she froze suddenly! The face Ava saw on the blank screen had almost no resemblance with the one she knew looked like her, over the past years.
Ava touched her face slowly, to confirm if the lady on the screen was truly her. Perfect symmetrical contours, flawless skin with a natural glow, almond eyes, rosy lips... When was she ever this beautiful?
'' Is all of this a dream?" Ava thought out loud, with a look of an unamusing surprise.
" I Have a Dream is a public speech that was delivered by civil rights activist and Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on for Jobs and Freedom, on August 28, 1963." Keys answered. " Do you wish to know more?" the AI added.
Ava felt like crying. She was sure she didn't offend anyone to deserve all she was experiencing at the moment. To ease her stress, Ava turned the phone off.
' I have to leave this place regardless. I have to go home.' Ava thought to herself before she started walking, heading for where she hoped led to the expressway since it seemed like the environment was anywhere but a trench town.
' I'm just gonna plead with a cab driver to let me pay when I get home. I'm sure at least one is gonna take pity on me.' Ava concluded in her mind.
In less than 30 seconds later, Ava sighted the expressway, and couldn't help but smile. It was looking very beautiful too, and that captured Ava's heart.
From the beautiful and lush buildings, including sky scrappers, to the breathtaking green landscaping, Ava was sure she was going to take a walk around such a beautiful and well planned city, the one she had always desired to live in. She was definitely taking a night walk. She needed it.
But at the moment, all she wanted the most was to go home. So Ava walked up a little so she could flag a cab.
" Boris street, Lantern." Ava said to the cab driver through the front passenger window.
" Uhhh... A minute ma'am." he replied.
With creases on his forehead, the driver typed away on the display screen.
" It doesn't exist ma'am." the driver said, moments later.
" Huh. But I live there."
" I've never heard of it before and it's not on the map either." the driver replied.
" Oh. Okay then. Thanks." Ava said to the driver who gave a light nod before zooming off.
The next cab driver Ava stopped, insulted her for wasting his time. So Ava decided to ask pedestrians for directions instead.
But they all told her that a place like that doesn't exist, none that they knew of anyways, a few of them added.
Sighing in exasperation, Ava looked around for a street seat and sat on it when she found one.
' It can't be what I'm thinking could it? I.. this... this real life Ava! It's not possible. Maybe I was kidnapped and.. and dumped and...but my body... It's a dream. This can't be real...so wake up Ava!'
Turning the phone on, she intended to check what the time read, but before she could even do that, Keys the 'AI' said " I told you so." to Ava who was startled and shocked, since she was sure she turned the phone off earlier.
She was also about to spew some words of her own, when she saw a couple of girls approaching her, causing her to wear a neutral expression on her face. She pretended to be on her phone to avoid looking at them.
'' I know right?'' a girl from amongst the group said with a wide grin on her face.
" I wonder what kissing Prince Kinsey must've felt like.'' another girl said, getting giddy. But Ava on the other hand, froze!
There was no way she was not going to find out the Kinsey they were referring to. She immediately stood and walked up to them.
" Excuse me." Ava said to the girls who stopped and turned around.
" Any problem?" one of them asked.
" Umm, I hope you all don't pick offense but, what... what Kinsey were you talking about?" Ava asked.
" Prince Kinsey of Duskhill." another girl answered.
" Is his brother Caspian?" Ava asked.
" Yes, who doesn't know Prince Caspian?" the girl said with a shrug while her friends nodded in agreement.
" Thank... thank you." Ava said weakly, before she turned around and took to her heels without slowing down.
She didn't stop running till she got to a quiet and lonely street. Panting furiously, Ava shook her head before grabbing a fistful of her hair, holding the phone with her other hand.
" It can't be. No...no..." Ava muttered before her knees grew weak.