ASHLEIGH.
The cold, clammy weather wrapped around my arms like a blanket of silk. A puddle sat underneath me. Chills spread around me like a peaceful sleep in my Queen's bedroom. When I opened my eyes, my arm was shielding my face from getting soaked. It was dark, and my vision was blurry, like an undecipherable mosaic.
A drop of water journeyed their way on my ears, and I tried to decipher if there was another sound I can make out from that room. But there was nothing.
The other side of my arms and legs slept, and when I tried to move them, it was numb, and it sent an electric sensation all over my body. I can't help but to squeal, trying to catch my breath. I held my arm and thighs. I bit my bottom lip as I felt that sensation for seconds.
"Dang it," I cursed underneath my breath. My sight started to clear out, and when it's magnified to my pupils, I realized... I was not where I should supposed to be. The numbness and pricking sensations in my arms and legs disappeared. I looked around, and my jaw dropped.
Where am I?
I looked down at my clothes. Why am I wearing a white dress? A long sleeved blouse? And why I don't have any shoes on? I touched my hair, and it ended right on my chest. What is happening? Why am I here? And...
Who am I?
I stood up, looking around the vast and empty space, not sure where to walk into. If I don't even know my identity, how can I... even reach the exit of this place? Or do I even have an exit to this room? Is it even a room? What is it?
Then, as I took a step, I was in shock to get caught up with the ringing sensation in my head. It spread towards my ears, and I can't help but to cover it with my hands. I don't know what I should do, but before I can even stop my knees from folding, I was already at the floor.
"Go away!" I shouted. A few moments later, a light glimpsed down, and it caught my attention. The ringing stopped simultaneously. I looked far ahead, and there was a mist of cloud suspended in the winter air. I let go of my ears.
What's that supposed to mean? What is that cloud? Was that supposed to show something for me?
I don't have any idea what's happening.
Few moments later, scenes appeared in the surface, as if I'm watching a movie, and that it was on speed. I don't even know what they're showing. When it blacked out, a voice came. It was a whisper, a soft one, close to a hush.
"You are here as you desired. Your wish is to alter your life."
I gritted my teeth. What did... I just hear? Alter my life? I gasped, searching for the woman who was speaking, as if she's around me, consuming my thoughts. I pursed my lips, waiting each tick for her to continue.
"Your wish will be granted. Do you have another wish, Ms. Ashleigh Olivia Howell?"
Ashleigh. Who is that Ashleigh? What is this woman has been saying? I turned around and realized that the cloud hanging in the air disappeared. What kind of room is this? Did someone try to pull a prank on me?
"First of all!" I found my voice, and I was shocked to even hear it, too.
Confusion creased along my face. "I don't even know who I am, and you're asking for my wish!"
The woman didn't even answer. Instead, the cloud showed up in front of me again. And it completely showed a different perspective. I saw kids crying at the bedside, and that they're bawling their eyes out. They were holding someone's hand.
"Who are they crying to?" I asked myself. I watched that scene unfold. And after that, it disappeared. Who are those? I was left in a trail of bewilderment, trapped in here. I creased my eyebrows, and asked the woman what is all of this nonsense.
"Just tell me what it is! I don't even know my name and you're showing me kids!"
"You have a mission."
Her answers doesn't even relate to my questions. I rolled my eyes. I crossed my arms over my chest and tried not to listen, but the woman has stopped. I was left wondering where she has gone again.
"You had to choose."
Now, I have to make choices?! What nonsense is she implying right now?!
"Your death or altering your lives?"
Wha... I was completely stunned. What is this woman implying towards me?
"My death?! Why are you..." I scoffed my frustration out. I just woke up and these are the choices I have to pick. I can't believe it now.
"I repeat. You had to choose between death and altering your lives."
Who would want to choose death? Every person would have chosen the latter.
"No one would even choose death. Do you think altering lives would be better?"
I think it would. I sighed and just answered the latter in a whisper. But my voice was amplified, and that I'm already on the gist of getting out of this room. When I answered, she didn't even confirm the choice. I was left dumbfounded in that room.
After a few more minutes, "You've made a choice. To change the future, you must not fall in love with the same man over your 6 lives. You have to cut ties every life, so that the fate of Ashleigh Olivia Howell will change."
Who is that Ashleigh? Is that even my name? What is the woman even implying?
"I don't get it. Who is Ashleigh Olivia Howell?! Is that me?! What you're calling me?! How can I even know that it is my name?!"
The woman didn't even answer my question.
"I'll repeat. To change the future, you must not fall in love with the same man over your 6 lives. You have to cut ties every life, so that the fate of Ashleigh Olivia Howell will change."
Same man over six lives? That means that all throughout her seven lives, that man the woman is saying... existed? What am I going to do then?
"But why? Who is Ashleigh Olivia Howell?" I asked. Nothing can bring back the memory I have, even the woman who was blabbering nonsense things.
"Your mission will end after your journey. Have a good stay!"
And I was befuddled. What the hell is happening?!
Then, a deafening sound came. I dropped to the floor, writhing, as if trying to remove the sound from my head. I don't even know what I am doing, but my vision got lost, and before I even knew it...
The birds chirped. I opened my eyes. The silence roared and my vision stabilized, I was staring at one of the curtain holders of a King Bed. I sat up from the soft cushion and immediately scanned the whole area. What... in the world... am I doing here?
Like the first time I woke up in that dark room, I inspected my clothes. And as a surprise for me, as always, I was wearing a turquoise nightgown, but this one seemed conservative. It doesn't show too much skin. It was made with thin silk and ended just at my wrist. The comforter was a velvet type of cloth, and yes, it warmed me.
I shoved it away to see the rest of my nightgown, and it ended just above my knees.
The nightgown was alluring. It cloaked towards me like an air of mystery. I moved my legs, and the gown rustled softly, clinging towards me until it becomes its own again. It was alive for a moment that hinted a faint trace of magic.
I looked around the room. The walls were white as marble, as pale as the moon light. The floor was covered in plush rugs. It was woven from the finest fibers. It shimmered with patterns resembling the flower fields and the thorns of roses, and I do not think turquoise can ever be in compliment with these rugs. Or it should be called as carpet?
The door was ancient. It stood at the far end of the stone corridor. The presence is commanding, as if it was born with secrets. Even at my place, I can see the thick and uneven gran of the wood, like a twist of knots in a tree, telling the whispers of the unheard conversations.
I was inspecting the soft armchairs when suddenly, that door opened.
Before I can even react, a man emerged from outside. And...
He's naked on top.