Chapter Two

/-Aria-/

My eyes fluttered opened. An excruciating pain shot up my sides and I hissed in pain. My mind was foggy and a terrible migraine shot through the sides of my head.

What is happening? The last thing I remembered was the anguish of burning to death. My chest tightened as I remembered the shrill cries of my baby.

I glanced around but all I noticed was the surprisingly large bedroom with a strange girl sleeping by my side.

This didn't seem anything like the afterlife. I looked down at my body, expecting to see a burned skin but I was taken aback by the flawlessness of the pale milky skin.

“W…what is happening…” I croaked. My throat hurt from extreme dryness.

The girl by my side raised her head and yawned tiredly. When her eyes connected with mine, she let out a scream, startling me.

“Jasmine?!” She was already off the bed, at a reasonable distance. Her green eyes were wide in shock and slight panic.

“You're awake?” She mumbled skeptically.

Who is Jasmine?

“Aria…” I drawled in something that was barely above a whisper.

“Oh my goodness, you're awake?!” She exclaimed, the initial fear was replaced with excitement as she ran to me, squeezing me in a suffocating hug.

“I thought we lost you,” she sniffled. “Don't you ever do that again!”

I blinked in confusion. Was this some sort of dream? It felt way too real. She released me and stared wide-eyed at me.

“I need to inform everyone!”

“Water…” I forced through the burn in my throat.

“Right!” She chuckled, “I'm sorry I'm just so excited to see you alive.”

Her back was turned to me as she poured me water from the jug.

“Your mother almost had a heart attack when she heard you tried to kill yourself. We know Adonai is nothing to your liking and forcing you to marry him was not very ideal but that is no reason for you to take your life on your wedding day!”

Okay, what the actual hell is she talking about? Who is Adonai? What wedding? The last thing I remember was burning and screaming not suicide…

I wouldn't walk myself into the fire with my baby, would I?

I accepted the water and gulped down the contents.

“I will be right back! I need to spread the good news,” she said, exiting the room before I could utter a word.

I dropped the glass on the tray beside my bed and tried to make sense of everything she said. When I tried to move, a sharp pain shot through my sides again.

It felt very unnatural so I pushed down the duvet and was taken aback by the blue dress. I didn't own anything half as decent as this.

My mistress would seize and make sure the only clothes I could boast about when tbe worn out clothes discarded by the female members of the pack.

Anger burned through my chest.

Shaking my head, I reminded myself that now wasn't the time for that. I needed to figure out what she was talking about before she returned.

I raised the gown up my sides and stared in disbelief as the trail of flawless skin. All the scars I acquired while growing up were no where in sight.

But that wasn't what surprised me. It was the bandage that ran from my waist up to the sides of my breast.

A memory flashed in my head of a large piece of glass buried deep in my stomach, then a slender hand grabbed it suddenly and pulled it up to my chest with my screams echoing throughout the room.

I let out a gasp as my head pounded heavily.

The most frightening part was the fact that it wasn't my memory.

Panicked shot through my chest and just then, the door flew open.

“Jasmine! You're awake!” the exclamations from strange faces I didn't recognise increased my headache.

Who are all these people?

A middle-aged woman with stunning blue eyes and auburn hair, packed into a bun, rushed to me.

She hugged me and took my hand, kissing like her life depended on it.

“Jasmine, dear! I thought I lost you. The doctors said you wouldn't make it till morning and…” her voice cracked as tears ran down her cheeks.

I stared blankly at her. Was this the woman the girl from earlier was talking about?

“Why would you do something like that, Jas? You promised me that you were okay with marrying Adonai,” she sobbed. “Why would you try to take your life?”

I barely got a word out before someone else ran in. She had pale blue eyes and blond hair, just like the woman before me.

“Jasmine? That's impossible! How can you be alive?” She blurted and my eyes narrowed at her.

“Ariel, get over here! Your sister just woke up!” My supposed mother spoke and she walked in, shutting the door behind her.

She poked me and her skin paled a little.

“You're really alive but the doctors said you lost so much blood and wouldn't survive the night,” she mused then smiled, “but I am glad we didn't have to go through that grieve, Jas. It would have been quite unfortunate,” she placed her hand on arm.

The red stoned ring on her finger caught my attention. It was just the same on the hand that pulled the glass in the memory.

It didn't make sense. Why would Ariel try to kill her sister?

“You seem lost, Jas. Is everything alright?” My mother asked.

“I… I'm just surprised…” I finally spoke. “To be alive…” I added.

“Same as we but we are happy you made it. This calls for celebration, don't you think?” Ariel grinned.

“I guess…” I forced a smile.

“Before you celebrate, you need to offer an explanation!” My mother cut in. “Why did you do that? Do you know how traumatizing it was to find you in a pool of blood on your wedding day?”

I panicked. I couldn't let them know I wasn't the Jasmine they thought I was.

“I… I can't really remember. Everything is a blur… my head hurts…” I stuttered.

“As it should. The doctors said you suffered a severe hit to your skull, leading to internal bleeding. Maybe that's why you can't remember anything, but you do remember us, right?” Ariel asked.

I was still uneasy around her. Especially because of the possibility that she might have tried to kill her sister.

The door opened once again and my breath caught my throat when my eyes locked with an icy set of seafoam eyes.

“Your highness,” everyone in the room bowed, except me.

A dark commanding aura infiltrated the room and I found myself trembling like the rest of them.

“Your fiance is awake.”

“I can see that,” the silky tone was laced with harshness as he took long strides towards me.

Fiancé?

With long grey hair and a masked face complimented by a tall lean muscular frame, I didn't know what to think of this man except for the fact that he frightened me.

Frightened everyone to be precised.

He stopped in front of me.

“It is good you are awake. Someone has to pay for the humiliation you caused me yesterday.”