"Okay, girl. You should probably take a week off work." Ivy stopped the car in front of a tall building stacked with apartment units.
I was slightly confused. Why did she stop the car abruptly? Could this be Bella's home?
"Aren't you coming down?" Ivy asked, narrowing her eyes at me.
"Oh," I managed to say as I regained myself. "Let me guess, we're at my place?"
"Of course."
I muttered a thank you to her and alighted from the car.
"Damn," I muttered, staring at the towering building. I turned backwards but Ivy had already zoomed off. Great. Now, how was I supposed to find which apartment was mine?
I dragged my legs inside, scanning the numbers on each door. This wasn't going to work. I wasn't a magician that could just guess which number my apartment was.
I waited for the voice in my head to say something about my predicament. When it didn't say anything, I was forced to ask.
"My house number, don't you know it?"
I heard something like a robotic scoff in my head, followed by a statement from the voice. "The system will only offer guidance on sensible tasks and not mediocre activities."
What!
"Excuse you?" I blurted out, staring at room 501 that was opposite me. "I don't even know who you are or what exactly is happening to me. Answer me this instant!"
That robotic scoff echoed in my mind again.
I let out a defeated sigh. I was stuck in a strange body with a strange voice that called itself a guide, but refused to guide me to my apartment.
I was too caught up in my frustration that I didn't notice when the door behind me opened.
"Is everything alright B? I heard you shouting."
I turned to see an older woman facing me, not too old though, maybe in her forties.
"Uhmmm. There's no problem at all."
No, Bianca, this is your chance to ask for help.
I switched up nervously and rubbed my clammy palms together. What was I thinking? I was supposed to ask her where my apartment was and not fumble with lies.
She was about to shut her door when I stopped her.
"Do you mind escorting me to my apartment?"
The woman arched her brow. I bit my lower lip nervously as I wondered what was going through her mind. I knew I sounded stupid.
"Sure," she finally responded. I sucked in a breath of relief. "That's an awkwardly strange request." She added as she walked beside me.
"I saw some rats along my corridor on Monday. I've been having PTSD since then."
"Monday? I thought you travelled by then."
She stopped in front of a door that had room 307 boldly written on it.
"Thank you so much," I said in relief.
"Don't mention." She said, adjusting the bulky frames on her face. "By the way, you should call the exterminator to get rid of the rats."
"I will."
When she left, I was faced with another problem. The door was locked and I had no idea where the key was.
How worse could my day get? I still held a small bag with me that I suspect Bella carried to the hospital. I searched through the bag and even emptied its contents on the floor, but there wasn't any sign of a key.
I let out a frustrated sigh and packed the few items sprawled on the floor into the bag. I might just end up breaking the door.
As I lifted the carpet to pick a piece of paper that had slid under it, I saw a metallic piece glinting under the light. It was a bunch of keys.
I picked it up and nearly bursted from excitement. Although, that was quite an awkward place to keep the keys to your house.
I tried two keys from the bunch before the third one did the trick.
I walked into a colourful space filled with designs of all shades of purple. My tummy growled in hunger and I hurried towards the fridge. I swallowed my disappointment as I met a packet of donuts. It was more of irritation than disappointment because I hated donuts, especially the glazed ones with toppings of sprinkles. They were enough to make me puke.
There was a snack of chips and I pulled it out and helped myself together with a cup of milk.
I needed to know what exactly was happening to me. A rebirth, a plastic surgery or just a crazy hallucination? But people don't eat tasty chips and savour all the spices while hallucinating.
I heard a loud ding in my head that almost made me trip over.
[rebirth mode successfully initiated. Bella died from head trauma. Body now inhabited by Bianca.]
I paused eating and processed the words that the strange voice said. I was reborn? Just like in the novels and the movies. Unbelievable.
The voice continued.
[In order to survive in this body, tasks must be completed. Task one: get to know about the previous owner of this body]
This computer in my head was bluffing. That wasn't even a task. I already knew enough about Bella. She was a stripper and I planned to never continue with such a job. She also loved donuts which I intended to discard as I hated them, and she was obsessed with the color purple, well I didn't have a problem with that. I loved purple too, but I never decorated my entire house with different shades of purple.
I sat on the lavender hanging egg chair that was near the window. It felt so plush and relaxing to settle there. I wondered if I would ever see people from my previous life again. If I saw Steve, I definitely was going to have my revenge on him for killing me.
I never knew he could be so wicked to do such. My thoughts drifted to my twin boys I'd left behind.
"They would be fine," I muttered to myself. Steve was a bad husband, but he wasn't a bad father.
Something hard poked my hip. I reached under the cushion and pulled out a notebook.
On the cover was written— my diary.
Interesting. What more could I know about Bella?