My consciousness faded in and out as I tried to focus, but the pain was too much. All I could do at that moment was concentrate on what was being said around me.
But even then, I could not understand most of what was being said. But I did catch small pieces of information here and there in between.
"Oh god—! What if she's dead? Did I kill her—?"
"Calm down, Karl. It will be fine. You don't recall what happened, right? Maybe she killed herself?"
"B-But that wound."
"Leave it to me. I will call for a doctor."
Then my consciousness faded out. The next time I felt conscious, another conversation was taking place. I could still not open my eyes, but I could hear the details… a little.
"Diagnose her death as suicide. We can use that."
"Miss, are you sure—?"
"I am paying you for it, right? Then just do as I ask you to."
"Fine, but I won't kill her. You will have to find someone to end her yourself."
"Don't worry, I can take care of that. Just allow me to prepare her body for the funeral."
That voice… sounded like Rose's. But it was too far away to be able to tell properly. The other person must have agreed to whatever she told him.
There was a third person in the mix as well now, and it was all starting to hurt my head.
Before I could wake up, I was given another dose of medicine, and I lost consciousness.
The next time I woke, it felt suffocating. Breathing was hard but doable. There was silence around me… until I heard someone pushing something apart.
"Oh my—! So you did survive that. I have to commend your drive to live. Unfortunately, your life is not going to get any better from here on, Miss. You should brace yourself because the next time you wake up, you won't be your own self."
"But don't worry. I have prepared a new name and a new identity for you. You shall take the place of your distant relative—Jenna Lorance, who's already dead. She looked just like you, so it will be easy as well."
"And one last thing. If you can hear me, then don't be alarmed when you wake up and see that your face is not… exactly the same. I can't profit off you if you still look exactly the same. We need to sell the illusion that you are a different person with a similar face, after all…I hope you enjoy your new life Jenna Lorance."
The voice told me, and I remained asleep… until I felt myself waking up one day.
I had no idea how long I had been sleeping or why I woke up. I just knew that I was in an unfamiliar place.
Pain was a familiar companion to me, and when accompanied by fatigue, it felt like home. The searing pain in my head was gone, but the bone-deep exhaustion I felt in my body was familiar and welcoming.
However, that was the only familiar thing I found when I opened my eyes.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a room filled with white. The curtains were white, the walls were white, and even my bed was white.
There was so much white that it was beginning to hurt my eyes. It was not a color I was particularly fond of either.
"Oh my—! So you are finally awake? Good. I need you to give me a number to call right now. We need someone to come and fill out forms for you and pay up your medical bill as well."
A female dressed like a nurse told me as she stepped into the room. She was wearing white as well, but her darker complexion made me blink.
I looked down at myself before connecting the dots together.
"Oh, sorry—! Am I in a hospital?"
I asked, and my voice sounded different than how I was used to hearing it. But I chalked it up to medicine in my system.
The nurse gave me a look filled with pity before she helped me up.
"Oh dear—! It seems that the impact on your head was much worse than we expected. You might have developed partial amnesia. Don't worry. We will do everything in our power to help you out… as long as you pay your bill."
However, my phone was nowhere to be found.
The female nurse did not look happy to see that, and she let out a sigh.
"Miss, we already checked your record and you have no money. Since that was the case, we had no choice but to take out a loan in your name. You already had some debt with these people, so they are coming to take you away for payment now."
The nurse told me, and my head spun.
'What is going on? Am I in some nightmare or so? What debt…?'
I wanted to ask, but then my eyes fell on the mirror on the other side of the room and I took a look at myself.
My body looked much thinner and fragile compared to before, my hair had lost its shine, and my face looked mostly the same with some… slight adjustments. My nose was a little higher compared to before, but it made just enough difference for people with a sharp eye to think I was someone else.
I suddenly recalled what I had heard in my sleep, and my head hurt.
The nurse gave me a sad smile full of regret.
"I am sorry, Miss. I would have done anything else if I could. But this is the only choice we are left with. I hope you understand…"
She told me seconds before someone knocked at the door. A rough man entered and looked at me.
"So, that's the girl with the debt? She sure has a… remarkable face. I am sure she will perform just fine."
The man told the nurse, and I had a feeling I was in trouble. I thrashed to get away as soon as that man touched my arm, but the man had a solid grip on me.
"Miss, you better stop struggling if you want to live. You will have to pay up your debt to us either way. So either sell yourself alive, or we will do it once you are dead and in pieces."
The man told me, and I calmed down a little.
As much as I wanted to protest and cause a scene, I felt like it would be better for me to still be alive to do all that first.
"Listen here, Jenna Lorance… wow—! Talk about a coincidence. Anyway, you are here to pay off your debt. You will be sold to anyone who is willing to pay for you. And don't even think about running away, because if you die, no one would be responsible for you. Do you understand?"
Those were the last words I heard before I was given something to knock me unconscious and dragged away.
The next time I opened my eyes, I was in another new place, and this time, it was the auction hall.