Reuncarnated

I stepped back, feeling the energy leave my legs as I stared at the man towering above me with a stern expression on his face. "Who were you expecting?" he questioned, taking a step in and already invading my personal, private space. I stepped back and maintained the distance between us as much as I could.

He smiled slightly, stepping into the room and backing up to close the door behind him. I was still speechless, but I tried to compose myself, knowing that I might have to present a defense if he questioned me about what I thought he was here for.

"You've done wrong," he said, though it was more of a question. I didn't know what to think. Did he really want to hear my opinion on the matter, or did he want a confession? "I'm sorry," I said after a while of contemplation.

He raised an eyebrow at my apology, like he didn't know what it was for, before he reclined on the bed. While I stood facing him, I wanted to sit also. My legs felt like they would give away any moment. It wasn't an interrogation, not formally, but it felt like it under the scrutinization of his hard eyes, and I felt like I was soon going to be punished. And what more, I felt guilty.

When I thought of it, I couldn't figure out any other way Rachel would have gotten hurt if I hadn't said anything. It was all my fault. If I had kept my emotions, my pains to myself, then nothing would have happened and everything would continue. Now I had disrupted the natural order of things, and the consequences were coming.

The worst part of all was that there wasn't going to be any change. Not at all. I had started all this chaos, and there would be no reward whatsoever. No. Only punishment.

"Tell me what really happened," he said slowly and deliberately. "I've heard from Freda. She said you rebelled." He continued, "Insubordination, was it?"

I observed his expression wearily, trying to release every emotion because it was basically my only chance at survival. If I could appease him, I could get out of this with minimal damage. But if not, well, I was going to see his other side.

"I'm really sorry," I said. "I don't know what came over me." And my voice broke off at that moment, wondering what was coming over me right now. I couldn't figure out why I was acting so guilty, why I was making the situation worse for myself. But yeah, I was doing it. Maybe I was just a bit too nervous. So afraid that I was making myself the villain, even though I was anything but that.

"What exactly did you do?" he questioned sharply, his voice rising. "I'm not here to punish without reason. I just want to hear your side of the story. If I wanted to punish you, I would have done it already."

I thought about it all and couldn't really figure out what to tell him of my crime. The only thing that I could really point out was that I had revealed his dealings with me to Rachel. But I knew better than to actually say that to him because that was going to make him angry.

I couldn't say nothing either, or say that I hadn't done anything, because that was going to make me look stupid, and I was pretty sure he wouldn't believe me either. Lying to him was another issue. I was pretty sure it wouldn't take long for him to find me out, and then the punishment would be even more severe.

"I said I was not a slave," I said finally, not able to come up with anything better in the nick of time. I had kept him waiting for so long now, and if I waited any longer, he'd probably take whatever I said to be a lie that I had carefully crafted.

He was silent after that before shaking his head. "If you're not a slave yet, what are you?" he questioned. "So that's what caused the chaos now, isn't it?" I nodded slowly, wondering at his judgment. He didn't seem to be taking any action, not yet.

"Trivial matters," he said, finally taking in a breath. "I can't believe it caused so much chaos, but it did. Really, I don't know how you girls think." I laughed nervously, but he wasn't smiling at all. So I stopped abruptly, suddenly realizing that the situation was still uncertain for me, and Raph was probably still somewhere around the corner, just waiting to be unleashed on me.

I put my hands behind me, awaiting his next words. It was the only way I could stop them from shaking uncontrollably, though it didn't really help much. It only put them out of his sight so he didn't have to see me nervous, though it was completely portrayed by my body language already.

"Trivial matters, yet my sister got injured because of it," he said, rising to his full height and walking towards me. His gait was somewhere between menacing and casual. The light balance struck between the two left me uncertain of whether to stay or to run, because fighting was definitely out of the question.

"You have to be punished for it," he said slowly, and then smiled. "But you already knew that, didn't you?" I nodded slowly, accepting my fate, as he smiled even wider. "Good girl."

I was wondering how he wanted to take it out on me when he put his finger on the rope of my dress, sliding the arm off my shoulder slowly. "Don't worry," he said, "I won't harm you. This would only take a minute."

I felt a surge of frustration welling up within me into a flood. This was exactly what I had complained to Rachel about. Yet, it was happening again. It happened that I was right. Nothing had changed, and nothing would either. I was helpless as he slowly slipped it off. But that's not the worst part. The terrible part about it is that my breathing hastens and I blush. Despite myself, I was eagerly anticipating whatever comes next.