"Pack these for us." Steve handed the clothes to the store attendant. Steve was here, standing by my side. My legs began to tremble like they were made of water.
Beside him, the woman he had cheated on me with, was present. Beads of sweat began to form around my forehead. This was my husband, the man that cheated on me, divorced me and even killed me—he was standing by my side, oblivious of who I was.
"Bella, is there anything you'd like me to help you with?"
"Oh," I let out a nervous chuckle. It was that moment that Steve turned to look at me. I felt like his stare would pierce through me and he would instantly recognize me as his wife, or ex-wife rather.
Instead, he collected the package and walked towards the exit with his hand draped around the woman's waist.
"Bella, you've been a bit weird today. Is…"
"It's nothing," I cut him off instantly. "Thank you for the service."
I hurried towards the exit, and my knees still knocked against each other. How could I possibly tell anyone that I had undergone a rebirth and I had a stupid voice in my head threatening to kill me if I didn't do its bidding?
[I'm not stupid] The voice snapped in its robotic tone at me.
Interesting. So it could also read my mind.
As I headed back home, I tried on the lingerie again to properly analyze how it fit. I had no idea about this Mr. Dom who loved yellow, and the voice only made things worse by refusing to feed me more details on the reason behind this awkward shopping.
The lingerie clung to my body, and it felt too real for me to call this a hallucination. Bella's body was more curvy than mine. Her belly was toned and her waist was thinner than mine. Her hair was also longer, shinier and it streaked with deep gold highlights that blended into the blonde.
I actually loved her body, and for a moment, I smiled as I stared into the mirror.
Unfortunately, my smile faded as I recalled my encounter with Steve. He went clothing shopping with that woman— something he had never done for me.
His hand was draped around her waist, whereas he'd never do such with me. I sucked in a frustrated breath. I felt pained and betrayed. He never loved me all those years.
Even while I had caught him in bed with her, she had said that he told her that we were divorced. That alone broke my spirit. It was no wonder that he decided to divorce me first thing at the hospital.
I knew my body was mutilated with several burns. Maybe it was even a good thing that he killed me so I could get a new body.
The voice beeped in my head.
[Task two successfully completed. Reward: The system would read you an audio essay on the history of the purple color which the previous owner of this body loved.]
I scoffed in disbelief. What sort of reward was that? It was better I was rewarded with a chocolate bar than a boring history on colour. Does color even have history in the first place?
[Should I begin reading. Something tells me you're not interested in the reward.]
"Just skip it," I muttered in response.
[Noted]
I slumped into the soft bed, still wearing the lingerie.
[Body requires rest before carrying out task three.]
"There's a third task?" I snapped almost immediately. What could it be this time? I should shop for shoes and not lingerie?
It was already a few minutes past 4pm.
Bella's phone was seated pretty in my palm. There wasn't any password on any of her apps, not even the messages or bank apps. That was a bit careless of her, but I was grateful because it gave me easy access to most of her details.
The evening seemed to drag on forever, and I didn't know what more to do with Bella's body. If I stayed at home, I would end up sleeping off the boredom, and if I went out, I stood the risk of acting awkward to someone who already knew Bella.
"Bella, I've been calling you all day." A message popped on the screen of Bella's phone.
I squinted my eyes as I scanned through it. The contact was saved as Ivy, with a goofy emoji by the side. From the display picture, I could tell that it was Ivy from the hospital that the voice introduced as Bella's best friend.
Before I could think if I should respond or not, another slid in.
"I know I told you to get some rest, but tonight is the only chance for this big deal. Madam Betty has managed to secure a deal with a super rich client, and tonight is the only time to audition for his role."
I raised my brow at the text that I was still trying to put together the pieces.
"Does this have something to do with the strip club?"
"Of course." She replied almost immediately. "If you're not feeling well, maybe you can sit this one out."
Good riddance.
I heaved a sigh of relief. I almost thought this was a compulsory thing. Of course I'd sit this one out. There's no way, I'd go audition for a strip role for some careless man who didn't know where to throw his money.
I was about setting the phone aside and slipping myself under the covers for a good evening rest before I heard that silly voice.
It beeped in its usual robotic way.
"What is it this time?" I snapped aloud without even waiting for it to say a word. "I'm not interested in hearing about the history of a color."
[Task three: Go for the audition and try to impress the client. PS: Mr. Dom likes the color yellow.]
"A third task already. There's no way I'm resuming Bella's life of being a stripper."
[Failure to carry out this task would lead to regular head concussions and eventually death. Countdown to ten for a decision to be made— 10…9…8…]
"Wait," I knew I was defeated by this so-called voice in my head. There really wasn't a way out of this, was there?