Maliah didn’t know how long she had been staring up at the ceiling before her dark chocolate eyes blinked. Awareness began to seep into her body making her realize she was currently lying down.

She also didn’t know how long it took before thoughts started pouring into her empty mind like tea in a teacup.

Maliah couldn’t escape the feeling that something had happened. But what?

What?

With a blink, she sat up. Looking around she realized that she recognized the room as her bedroom and that she had been laying on top of her bed. With a furrowed brow she looked down at her herself. She wasn’t dressed for bed, instead she was fully dressed for being outside with faded blue jeans and a blue shirt with a huge flower pattern on it. She was even wearing her blue sweater tied around her waist. Instinctively she looked around, her small backpack that operated as a purse laid on her desk.

Further observing led to her twitching.

She still even had her tennis shoes on.

She never walked around with her outside shoes inside her apartment.

With a mutter she reached down and pulled them off. Such a small motion had a small groan escaping from her full lips. Why did her body ache as if she had been hit? She straightened before standing, shifting her weight first on her right leg and then on her left.

Maliah gazed down at the carpet, her socked toes wiggling unconsciously. She hefted a sigh as her twitch came back. She would have to spray her carpet to get the outside dirt cleaned.

With a cock of her head another thought came to her…..she didn’t even remember walking or stumbling into her apartment to bed.

In fact she didn’t even remember arriving back at her house at all!

Shoes in hand, she looked at her bedroom door that stood wide open. Slowly she crept to the door and gingerly poked her head out looking left and then right. After a moment she stepped out and began walking down the short hallway. Passing the bathroom, she pushed the cracked door open with a pointed index finger that revealed no one. Continuing she eased down the hallway before stopping. Once again she gingerly poked her head out and looked to the left and right.

No one.

Maliah let out a soft sigh before she walked brazenly into her living room, her gaze sweeping over to the kitchen she could see clearly from her vantage point. She couldn’t tell if she was relieved or disappointed. At least if someone was in her house, she might be able to explain her strange situation.

All the blinds in her house were closed though she just realized that it was mid-day based on the light that came through the blinds. She had closed them when she went on her weekend trip but oddly still she couldn’t remember returning back here.

Deep in thought she walked over to the front door and put her shoes on the mat before walking to the closet and opening it. She untied the sweater from around her waist and hung it up. Then she closed the closet door and turned back to face her living room, arms crossed still deep in thought.

Almost absently she walked over and opened the blinds in her living room before walking to the island of her kitchen with only her socks.

It was quiet.

Just the way she liked it but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that something happened.

She just couldn’t figure out what….

With a sigh, leaned on the island of her kitchen, figuring she should just forget about it or at least figure it out later. Right now she was going to spray her floor for her own peace of mind. She bent down to the island cabinet taking out the spray bottle.

Closing the cabinet she stood intending to turn away but her hand caught her eye. An odd gold spiral-like symbol lightly pulsed on the back of her hand. She lifted and watched as it faded away almost as if it had never been.

Hold on….

Didn’t she see this symbol before?

And then suddenly, it all came back to her……...