Phantasmagoric

"My lady, please wake up." Wow. This must be the afterlife. Imagine being woken up by my sister and on top of that, being called my lady? But I also wonder why is her voice so small though? With that in my thought, I slowly opened my eyes. Though can you even call squinting your eyes, open? Why is it so bright? As far as I can remember, my room was a dark and gloomy space with only one window and complimented by spider webs on its corners to lessen the mosquitos inside. What's wrong with my bed? Why is there laces? And what's that...? Ribbons...? Wait... This is... not my bed? "My lady? What's wrong?" Said by a girl whose face is on top of mine. She had brown flowy hair and a little bit of freckles sprinkled by her nose and cheeks. A humble nose and small lips. It is DEFINITELY not my SISTER. My eyes slowly widen in shock and with my mouth agape, I could not help it. I screamed. The girl scrambled away from me just as I did which resulted me falling from the bed. She's looking at me as if I have gone crazy. Maybe I am. I have been called crazy by others before. "W-who are you?!" "My lady-" "W-where am I?!" She held her hands up by her chess as if telling me to relax. I could not though. Not when I don't even know where I am and who she is. And why does she keep calling me "my lady"?! Are we in Europe or something?! Am I royalty?! I looked at the blanket from the bed I fall from and scurry to grasp it and held it by my chest. Since I was young, I have had this habit to hold something in my hands and hold it against my chest. Whether its my phone, a pen, a towel and now, a blanket. They said its a defensive measure. Well, I guess I'm defending my self from this strange girl in front of me. "My lady, please relax and take a sit. If you do, I would answer your every question." She said kindly, as if she's talking to a wild animal that would go berserk any minute if its further provoked. Maybe I really will. Like a deer caught in a head light, I looked at the door, thinking maybe I could run and escape. But I don't even recognize the door. Never mind not recognizing the door, I probably wont even recognize the hallway, the walls and the roads that would follow that. Just what heck is happening here? The girl staring at me has a fiery red hair, a pointy nose, small pucker lips and big doe-y hazel eyes. It was an unfamiliar face I don’t recognize. But even though I couldn’t, I know based on her eyes that she’s scared and on guard. I think the girl staring at me… is me. “My lady, now that you’ve seated, do you feel slightly relax?” I could barely hear her voice, probably due to shock because of how I look. This is not me. Even though I don’t know everything else, about where I am, how I got here, who this girl is, and about this room at least I could remember how I looked. Black hair, normal brown eyes and small thin lips, that’s how normally I looked, ordinarily simple. But now… No. This is not me. I don’t know who this girl is. “Who are you?” I asked the girl. “Do you truly not remember, my lady?” She answered me with teary eyes, with both hands clasp in her chest and slightly leaning towards me. She said those words as if she could not believe what she just heard. “No. I don’t know you. Where am I? Did you kidna-” The girl slumped down on the floor and as if she couldn’t help it anymore, her tears slowly fell down until it gradually turned into bawling. I was beyond shock! Wasn’t it supposed to be me who should cry here?! “Why are you crying?!” “It’s because you can’t remember me my lady.” She said as she sniffs her nose. “Stop.” And she slowly did. I pity her. She probably knows me but I don’t know her. I clench my fist against my knee and bit my lower lip. Why am I feeling like this? I don’t even know her. “Please go out.” “My lady-!” “Out!” I shouted at her Her eyes widen in shock after hearing me shout. She closed her eyes as if she’s pained by what I told her. She sluggishly got up from the floor and walked towards the door before glancing at me one last time before closing the door silently. And as if I was influenced by her tears a while ago, my tears slowly fell too. I finally acknowledge the horror of what’s happening to me. I shivered with the thoughts about the things that are happening to me. Unknown land and unknown people. I stood up and walked towards the corner of the bed. I couldn’t possibly lie on a bed I don’t own and know. I slump on the corner and hugged my knees to my chest. There, I continued crying. I’m scared. Please… Someone… Save me. “My lord!” The butler burst opened the door to the study room. There, a man with blonde hair with hazel eyes, perfect sculpted body and with wealthy beyond the imagination of those who knows him, is sitting holding a book made by Julus Frendo. “What is it?” The man looked coolly at the butler who disturbed his precious reading time. “The lady! She hasn’t been eating for a week! What should we do, my lord?!” An unknown pain clench his heart at the thought that her precious daughter has not been eating, for a whole week at that! He abruptly stood up and said, “Why am I only hearing this?!” He walked out of the room with fast paced footsteps onwards to the room of her daughter. The butler hurriedly followed the man, “I’m sorry, my lord. Her food was regularly delivered to her room and she accepts them but never allows a servant inside her room. This continued for a week and we paid no heed. But today, her personal maid made sure to carry the master key and forced her way inside her room, only to find out that her foods had rotten on the plates without being touched.” “Did you make sure to give her the favourite foods she always asks?” “Yes, my lord. I’m sorry I was lacking.” “It probably wasn’t your fault” The man became more worried as he nears the door of her daughter’s room. What is happening? Why is she acting like this? I know I haven’t been able to give her some time but to do things into this extent is just beyond me! The personal maid of her daughter stood by her daughter room’s door, and when she saw him, she bowed. “My lord, please help the miss” She said as she cries. He only listened and didn’t answer. “Open the door.” The butler opened the door and the man went inside. The room smells like dust and looks like it has not been cleaned for a while. The room is dark due to its closed windows and curtains which was why he wasn’t able to immediately distinguish the huddled shivering body of her daughter at the corner of her bed. When he saw her, he was shocked at the glare focused on him by his daughter. The pain before intensify some more almost making it unbearable. “Who are you?” An angelic voice said, but it didn’t matter. The question was more shocking to him than any other question he has heard and answered. It seems his own daughter don’t even recognize him. “Open the door” As I heard that voice, I slowly came to woke up from my nap. My stomach is empty but I couldn’t find myself to have an appetite from those unknown food they deliver to me. The door opened and because I haven’t been able to see any kind of light for days, the light that accompanied the person who came inside the room seems to be brighter than it usually is. He looked around my room as if wondering what kind of mess it is in. I made sure to curl up smaller so he wouldn’t be able to see me. But to my dismay, he was still able to see my small figure. “Who are you?” He looked as if he was struck by lightning. His eyes widen and his mouth opened and closed as if he’s a fish. And what is that? Pain? “What happened to you?” He asked while slowly walking towards me. My heart started to thump fast and I could feel my panic slowly coming back again. The only moment I could relax were the time I was asleep but after waking up, the panic would build up again and I would shiver until falling back to sleep. “Stop. Don’t come any closer!” As if sensing my discomfort, the man immediately stopped. “Do you not recognize me? “I don’t.” “Do you know where you are?” “I don’t.” His eyes widen once again as if he’s more shocked than me. “The rest of you, get out and close the door.” He said without looking at the people behind his back. The maid and an older man I don’t know again. When both of them got out and slowly shut the door, the man in front of me sat on the floor a few meters away from me. Maybe perhaps not to scare me further? I don’t know. “I am Adelmo and you are Alzbeta. We are members of the family Cyrilo. Do you still not remember?” Why? Why does it sounds so familiar even though I don’t recognize them? “The maids name is Diane from the family of Count Fernandez and the butler is Enzo from the family of Count Ferdo.” So her name was Diane. I am sorry Diane. I don’t even know who your lady is and here I am in her place. My tears started to fall again as my thought goes to question how I have arrived here, in this body and in this time. The man who calls himself my father is looking at me with a loving gaze that is full of pain unable to help her daughter. “Please. At least eat. It doesn’t matter if you don’t go out and meet people. Just please stay healthy inside this room. And… Use the bed.” Those were his last words before he left last night to leave me sleep on my own. The girl called Alzbeta was lucky. She has a caring and loving father unlike mine. With the small conversation we shared, I realized how deeply the man cared for her daughter. I both envy and pity her. I envy her for her father but pity because she isn’t here anymore. They say old habits die hard because even though I’m in an unfamiliar place, I still woke up before the sun could rise. And it makes me miss my home more. I turn sideway and looked at the rising sun on my right. If I was at home, I would have been going to school already because I have to walk, but now I’m lying in bed and nobody is shouting at me to wake up and go. I miss my sister who I would always leave behind because of how late she wakes up. Feeling melancholic, I can feel the tears slowly building up in my eyes. But I have been crying for a week and more… So I should stop now and maybe go out? There was knocking on the door in the study room even though it’s early in the morning. “My lord. It is me, Diane.” Adelmo looked at the door with questioning gaze for the maid who’s too early for a visit. “Come in.” The maid slowly got inside and closed the door silently. “What is it?” he asked without looking at the maid, flipping through papers she wasn’t able to finish last night. “I… I have been always loyal to my lady, my lord.” With those words, he looked up and saw the trembling Diane while biting her lips. “I know Diane. And I also know you love her like a younger sister.” He said as he stopped and clasped his hands on top of the table. “Yes, my lord. But now… I don’t know if I can heed her words anymore.” His gaze sharpened with those words. “What do you mean?” “My lady told me to never tell anyone of what is happening to her. Even to you, my lord.” He could almost hear her gulped. “This is about your wife, my lord.” It seems this body will always remember even though she is a stranger in the body of Alzbeta. When she thought of going to a relaxing place, an image of a garden immediately formed in her mind. With that, carrying a blanket to cover her body, she went where her feet carried her. The garden was beyond beautiful with roses in different colours. It was pleasing and for the first time she arrived in this place, she felt comfortable. I guess this is a safe place for Alzbeta. “Ha! What could you possibly be doing here in my garden, you stupid girl?!”