Chapter 3 – Awoken to a Mystery

Her eyes flutters open to a strange, vibrant room. The bed is strangely soft too, and the air smells like the freshness of dawn, gently tickling her senses. It does not smell like her room engulfed in fumes from the exploded laptop. She puts a hand on her head, “Where am I?” Her voice is barely a whisper. She stiffens as she begins to assess her surroundings, mildly hyperventilating. Her eyes move in crazed motion, and she grabs a blanket out of fear. She does not remember the smell of the blanket; it doesn”t smell like her.

She remembers being deluged in the smoke from her laptop. “Where am I?” she repeats. This is not my room. Everything about this place feels so unfamiliar.

She begins to rise and feels the touch of something soft slowly kissing her shoulders. She turns to face the creature, but she sees only hair. It is long, dark, and its texture mimics silk. It is different from her plain hair with a lighter shade of brown.

“Oh my!” she says a little loudly now. She clasps her hands to her mouth. My voice! It was thinner and high-pitched, like a songbird’s.

She glimpses around her and begins to feel her body. Under the silk nightdress, it does not feel like her. The dress was not hers either. She could never afford such luxury.

“What is happening?” She holds her face tightly and desperately. Her mind begins to race in directions. “How did this happen?”

“Maybe I was sold off to someone for an experiment. Did those people finally do the deed? They did complain recently that the money was short and maybe decided to just sell me off.” She slaps herself severally hoping to wake up from the dream.

“They changed my hair and body, changed my vocal cords. They decided to go all the way, huh?” She looks around her for some sort of clue.

It is a beautiful, tidy room. It looks nothing like a human trafficking lab but feels more like a rich lady’s room just as she had seen in many Korean dramas.

“Was I shipped off to a foreign country?”

Human trafficking is dangerous within the country, so they must have sold me to someone in a foreign country that would pay handsomely. Is this probably the United States? Europe? Some third-world country?

“But I don’t know any English.”

One can survive anywhere in the world if he knows how to speak English. Unfortunately, she has a very limited collection of English vocabulary. She begins to wonder how she will communicate in the future to escape her current predicament.

She fervently hoped that she would not be tortured. Putting aside every thought of escape for a while, she prayed to be able to survive what would come next.

She can feel anxiety slowly creeping up her sleeves as she hears footsteps approach. She turns to face the door when the footsteps stop. She starts to contemplate different kinds of kicks and boxing styles but stops when the face of a woman slowly materializes with a creak behind the door. With a clatter, the woman moves meekly towards her. Besides her demeanor, it is her strange attire that holds her attention. She is dressed like a maid and had her head bowed like she had perfected it with years of practice. She stares blankly at the woman, letting her eyes meet the woman’s pale brown ones.

“My lady!”

What! Why am I being called a lady? Her thoughts are paid no heed. She watches in amazement as the woman drops her tray, the glitter of silver cutlery momentarily seizing her sight as they travel to the ground with the most percussive noise. Water splatters to the ground as the woman scurries out of her room.

Maybe I was sold to a rich man who lost his daughter. These sorts of things happen in novels. There’s a housekeeper, and there’ll likely be a butler. Should I be excited?

“I think I have read too many novels, but in this situation, it is quite possible,” she says aloud.

She had woken up in a strange place after losing consciousness in an accident, and she had too many concerns about her current position.

Will they wash me up now and then prepare me like a flower to be presented to my buyer? I just really hope it’s not some pervert.

Just then, the maid from before and a man who looks like the butler rush in. They seem very surprised to see her. Shocked would be a more appropriate word. Two more maids rush in too and watch on as the first maid approaches her cautiously.

“You’ve woken up, my lady.”