My eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden change as the light that streamed through the door filled my sight.
I felt nauseous and my vision became hazy and filled with dark spots, prompting me to quickly close my eyes.
This dazed feeling was oddly familiar.
I spent most of my life cooped up inside a dimly lit room, my surroundings illuminated only by a monitor's light.
My eyes were always glued to the screen as I consumed cheap entertainment and stacked empty cups of noodles, wasting away the hours.
Stepping outside my room into the daylight for the first time after such a days long binge elicited the same uncomfortable feeling.
Just how long have I been out?
'Ughh... My head is killing me.'
I let out a soft moan as I clutched my throbbing head.
I tried to sit upright on the bed, but my head felt immensely heavy, as though it was glued to the bed.
My entire body was numb and feverish, and my sore muscles weren't doing what I told them to do.
'I need my medication'
With my eyes still closed, I instinctively reached for the bottom drawer of my night stand.
My movements felt sluggish as my arms blindly flailed around for a while trying to find the night stand, but I caught nothing but air.
Thump thump thump
My head continued to throb loudly, so much so that I thought my heart had swapped places with my brain.
Each thump sent a sharp pain reverberating through my skull.
Sigh
Just how much did I have to drink last night?
I swear I'm never drinking again.
'Hold on...'
I don't remember drinking last night.
I don't remember coming back home either.
Come to think of it, I don't remember anything at all...
Even thought my head was killing me, and I wanted nothing more than to fall back asleep, I had to figure out what was going on.
I gradually opened my eyes, and the bright light assaulted my retinas once again.
I stomached it this time, and waited until the visual displeasure had passed.
Once my vision cleared, I started to scan my surroundings.
'This isn't my apartment.'
Instead of finding myself back in my single bedroom apartment that was so small and suffocating that it was hard for me to even stretch without touching both corners, I found myself in an unfamiliar place.
'Where am I?'
I wondered as I stared at the unfamiliar ceiling that, instead of being lit by a pair of cheap fluorescent lights that gave an annoying buzz, a staple of the twenty first century, had a large chandelier filled with half melted candles.
As my confusion grew, my eyes darted around the spacious room, and I paid no mind to the antique furniture and strange glowing stones carved into the walls and pillars as I quickly noticed that this room lacked any sign of the modern age.
There were no modern appliances to be seen. No television, no fridge or any other device.
Hell, I couldn't even see a single outlet around.
Did I travel back in time?
Suddenly, a tingling feeling crept up into my mind, and with it surfaced a fragment of memory.
'Aren't I supposed to be... dead?'
The memory of my death.
I strained my mind, trying to recollect my scattered thoughts and retrace my steps.
My most recent memory was that of the truck crash, and I had no recollection of being rescued.
So how am I still alive?
"Young master William, are you looking for something?"
A warm yet firm voice echoed across the room, startling me out of my thoughts, and I turned my gaze towards it source.
An old man, probably in his fifties, with a well kempt beard and wearing a butler's uniform stared back at me with confused and worried look.
"Gustav?"
When the voice that escaped my lips reached my ears, it sounded so unfamiliar.
It sounded soft and high pitched, almost like a child's.
More importantly, how do I know that name?
And why is he calling me William?
Suddenly, after repeating that name, strange memories that weren't my own forced their way into my mind.
"Aaaaarghhh..."
I screamed in pain and clasped my head with both hands as the flood of memories felt like it's going to shatter my skull.
Several years of memories became condensed into mere seconds that soon passed, and the sharp pain slowly subsided leaving me struggling to keep my sanity as I absorbed memories and emotions foreign to my own.
For a few minutes, I simply sat there, dazed and confused.
I couldn't even formulate a single thought as my mind was scattered into a thousand pieces.
"Young master, are you all right? You've been staring blankly at the wall for over ten minutes!"
I finally looked up after recollecting my thoughts, and was met with expecting eyes.
I swallowed my saliva and opened my mouth.
I had a thousand things I wanted to ask, the questions were almost racing down my throat.
Spilling out of my mouth.
I started to move my lips to ask them...
But I stopped my self at the very last second.
I wore a contrived smile.
"I'm fine, Gustav. Don't look so worried. I just need something to drink, my throat feels dry."
Gustav simply stared back at me for a few seconds, as thought trying to read my expression.
I met his gaze, not looking away, and strained to keep the smile drawn on my face.
"Very well, I shall fetch some water."
Eventually he bowed and left.
Creaaak~
As soon as the door closed behind him, I collapsed back into the bed, exhausted.
Sigh
'It's better this way...'
Even though I was in desperate need of information, it would seem suspicious if I started asking questions outright.
'So I really did die huh?'
It seems that I have been reincarnated as William, or would it be fairer to say that I took over that existence?
Things are still muddled and unclear, maybe I was William all along, and I only just awakened the memories of my past life?
I needed time to collect my thoughts and sort through William's memories to learn more about my surroundings, so that people who know me won't get suspicious.
You might be thinking that I'm being way too calm about this, considering my current situation.
It's actually really simple.
In my final moments, I realised how stagnant my life had been, and how much I hated it.
While the crash may have ended my life, I had been practically living dead long before it happened.
Though the memories are beginning to slowly fade, I recall being clearly annoyed.
Not because I was about to die, no.
Frankly, you wouldn't even want to survive a crash like that if you saw the battered state my body was in.
No, I was annoyed because I had betrayed the vow I made to myself.
I was annoyed that I had picked the worst possible time to die.
Too late to gaze upon the stars shining brightly in the sky. Too early to watch the sunrise one last time.
All I could see in my final moments was a bleak sky hesitating between night and day.
I was also annoyed that at the brink of death, the only thought I could have were those of the past.
A dreaded past that I thought I'd left behind.
Regret?
Why the hell would I feel regret?
Regret is reserved for people who could have done something different, who could have chosen a different path in life, not for people like me who never stood a chance.
So in a way, being reincarnated to an entirely different life is actually the best scenario for me.
Strange.
Try as hard I might, I can't seem to remember what my name was.
Though that maybe for the better.
I will sever all ties with my past life today.
I vow not repeat to the same mistakes. This time, I'm going to live for myself.
There's no time for me to be hung up on the past, it seems this life came with its own fair share of troubles.
Because William...
William has been murdered.