The cold night air nipped at Kedra's skin; she was panicked and running to a destination she did not remember. Her feet were aching, her breath ran thin, and as she reached what she assumed was her goal, the sounds of wailing sirens filled her head.
She felt dizzy and confused. In front of her was a strangely familiar brown-haired man, kneeling on the cold ground and staring straight forward at the scene in front of them. Kedra's eyes focused on the man; he had broken out of his stupor and was now staring straight at her.
"Who are you?"
The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity; at some point, it felt as if they were but one; each passing second blurred the line between their two consciousnesses further and further until, at some point, Kedra felt as if she were staring back at herself, her eyes wide in shock.
Kedra gasped for air as she awoke from the strange experience, her heart practically beating out of her chest. She sat up on the edge of the bed and stared at her hands, remembering yesterday's events.
'I'm... Bryce; no, I was Bryce; now I'm Kedra. Alright, let's just calm down for now. Deep breaths.' She did her best to calm herself while mulling over the strange dream for a few minutes; however, her thinking was suddenly interrupted by a knock on her door.
"My Lady! What would you like for breakfast?" Kedra had recognized Maria's enthusiastic voice.
'It seems she lacks proper manners, or perhaps this world has different rules of etiquette than mine.' "Meat and bread; whatever else is up to you, and you better not do anything to the food!"
"Of course, my lady, right away!"
Kedra hopped out of bed, grabbing the kitchen knife from under her pillow. She would be a fool to already start putting faith in the loyalty of the three servants, after all.
As she prepared to reach for the door, a stray thought surfaced. She remembered murdering two people in cold blood. She expected to hurl in disgust, but she remained steadfast. What shocked her most was not the memory of the killings; it was her lack of guilt and empathy for the two maids.
'I'm sure I could've done things differently if I had thought of things better, but they deserved it; I mean, they sure enjoyed tormenting a child after all.'
"Ah, no matter! I need to focus on the future now. First things first, I need to properly take care of this fragile body of mine. I'm so weak that just standing still takes energy." Kedra was unsure as to why, but talking to herself had become much more natural than it was before.
"I need to work on strengthening myself, and while I'm at it, I should also try to find out more about this world." Kedra sighed heavily, dismayed at her daunting workload, her frustration magnified by her stomach's low rumbling. 'The first thing I need, though, is a proper meal; it seems that this body hasn't had anything decent to eat in a while.'
Kedra unlocked the door to her room and made her way down to the kitchen. Looking around the room, she first noticed Maria grilling pieces of cured meat on a wood oven. She then saw Mona trying desperately to scrub out blood from the kitchen tiles; however, she saw no sign of Lucie.
Then, remembering the night before, she looked around but saw no trace of the two corpses. Wondering what had happened to them, she innocently inquired:
"Maria?"
"Oh? Yes, my lady?"
"What did you three end up doing with those bodies?"
"We buried them out in the garden, my lady." Maria replied in an equally carefree tone, as if the weight of the subject had been completely erased. Mona had noticed the pair's strange behavior but preferred not to speak up.
"Moving on past that, breakfast is ready. I understand if you don't trust me, so I will prepare your plate in front of your eyes." Maria had already grabbed a plate from a nearby cupboard, placing the grilled meat on top and fetching a slice of fresh bread from the pantry. As she plated the meal, she ensured that Kedra saw every last detail in the hopes that she could earn her trust.
"And here you are, my lady; do enjoy."
Kedra simply took the plate and walked back to her room. Reaching her destination, she locked the door behind her and began scarfing down the food. She had been starving and had not eaten anything since yesterday. It was of passing quality, though it was much better than the meals the original Kedra had been eating all her life.
As she finished, she licked the plate clean and placed it on the floor. Without a moment's rest, she picked up the kitchen knife and began swinging it, reenacting the drills she had learned back on Earth. She made sure to move her entire body, switching from one hand to the other and trying to rebuild a fraction of the muscle memory she once possessed.
Not even a minute had passed before she began growing fatigued, but she pushed on, occasionally stopping to rest for as long as she needed to recover and continuing straight after. By the time she felt satisfied with her efforts, it was already noon.
Panting, she sat on the floor, her muscles aching. 'Alright, this is doable. If I keep training like this, I should eventually reach at least passable strength.'
'Alright, I need to learn more about this place now. As they say, "knowledge is power" or something along those lines.' Kedra pondered the easiest way to acquire more knowledge and, most importantly, learn how to read.
'I suppose the only way would be to ask one of the maids. I can already rule out Lucie; not only is she not trustworthy, but she's the most defiant of them all. Mona, on the other hand, is too timid; her fear of me would get in the way. My only option is Maria, then.'