Chapter 3 - Second chance or second hell

The smell of roses filled the air and a refreshing breeze brushed through her hair like the gentle hand of a mother caressing her child. The blinding morning sun forced her eyes to open and she finally woke up as if from a long, resting dream.

“What is this? I thought I died. Is this a dream or is it hell in disguise?”, Aira wondered, looking at the ceiling and around the strange room as she slowly got up. “When did my hair grow so much? Was I in a coma or something?”

She held locks of the dark hair in her hands, inspecting them while looking again around the room. The first thing she tried to do was walk, but her legs gave in from pain, dropping to her knees. She did not give up and soon got up, heading towards the open window, her body trembling as she tried to move.

“What is this? Where am I?”, she asked, pinching her cheeks, in an attempt to find whether she was dreaming or not. “Was I…? Was I kidnapped? This is not the hospital.”, she gasped at the unfamiliar scenery outside, then rushed to check the door. Of course, how could she rush? She barely walked. Her mind was the first one to reach it, while her body the last.

She pulled the knob, and not long after the door opened, her head bumped into something. She fell on her back and the one she bumped into almost did the same.

The tall young man she saw clenched his teeth in extreme anger.

“Are you crazy? Useless bitch!”, he yelled, slapping her face.

Aira din not have too much time to react.

Shocked, while still on the floor, she stared at the strange clothes the boy was wearing. They were not the usual clothes modern people would wear. But, she did not dwell on it too much. Her rage was greater than her curiosity at that moment.

“You little piece of shit! How dare you hit a lady?”, she yelled, grabbing his hair, then proceeded to  drag him chaotically across the room.

“Let me go, dirty bitch!”, he yelled back, struggling to escape her strong clutches.

“I won’t let you go until you learn your lesson, snotty, shitty little brat!”

“Let… go!”, he screamed. “I’ll kill you!”

“I dare you to try.”

The chaos continued until two people, another young man and a woman appeared in front of the door, bewildered by the scene in front of them.

“Aira! Let him go! Please!”, the young man said, trying to stop her.

“You bitch! Let go of my son’s hair!”, the woman yelled, joining the circus spectacle, although unable to remove the girl’s hands from her precious son’s head.

Aira did not let go, of course. Why would she? Instead, she also grabbed the woman by her perfect coiffure, which started to resemble a bird nest after a few moments. The mother and the son kept screaming and Aira did not give up on her plan to leave at least one of them bald. She did not succeed with the noodles thief, so she had to take her chances with those strange people at least.

“Ah!”, the woman cried in frustration. “Adriel, don’t just stand there. Take this thing off of me and Noah!”, she ordered.

Strangely, her grip was so strong that even Adriel and his father, who finally arrived, barely managed to make her let go of the two.

“This bitch went crazy! Dad, throw her into the basement and let her starve!”, Noah fumed, arranging his clothes and what was left on his scalp.

The man, seeing the mess before him, firmly slapped Aira who rolled once on the floor.

“How dare you do this to your brother and mother after I raised you, fed you and clothed you? Is this how you repay us for allowing you to live here comfortably?”

Aira did not say a word. She only stood there, wearing a defiant look on her face. What was there to say? She did not know what situation she was in, yet. She only knew she was extremely angry.

“Please let this matter go this time. She’s not well. The doctor said it might take weeks or months before she could regain her memories and be herself again.”, Adriel begged his father.

“Nonsense! She’s pretending. I will teach her a lesson right now. Move!”, the man yelled.

Aira was prepared to fight this time, unwilling to receive even one slap.

“Please let me talk to her first!”, the young man begged again.

Aira was astonished at his act, not being able to understand why the young man would be willing to be on his knees for her.

“How dare you defend this ungrateful bitch?”, the woman said, slapping Adriel while he was still bowing.

“How long are you going to take her side?”, Noah asked. “For seventeen years our family raised her and she is still ungrateful. She even dared to touch me. Look! How could a lady do this? She’s clearly demented. She should thank us we did not abandon her yet.”

“Thank you for what, you little piece of crap? Is this how you raise children? By beating them up?”, Aira asked then gasped as she noticed her image in the mirror on the wall.

She approached the mirror to check whether she was seeing an illusion. “This… this is… The girl? Or me?”, she asked confused.

She froze, unable to think properly anymore. She had so many questions mingling in her mind. Although a little better, she looked like herself when she was around  fifteen, but also resembled the girl she saw while wandering into darkness after her death, with the same bruises now on her own body. Or was that even her body? She wondered.

“Do you still insist on pretending on losing your memories?”, the father asked, raising his hand in an attempt to hit her once more.

But the hand did not reach Aira because she was soon embraced by another woman, trying to cover her from dangerous ferocious hand.

“Please leave her alone! She is still hurt. I beg you! Hit me instead!”, the woman said, crying, embracing Aira as tight as possible, the girl’s head buried into her voluptuous chest, leaving her close to no space to breathe.

The man stopped his hand, reluctant to touch her.

“I will let this go right now but I will call a healer and we will see whether she’s speaking the truth or not. Do not let her leave this room until I say otherwise! I wil think about her punishment later.”, he instructed.

The man took his wife and young son out, leaving Adriel and the woman behind.

“A second chance!”, Aira mumbled. “What the hell is this? I asked for abundance in money, not abundance in abuse.” she screamed, still holding the locks of hair from her two targets between her fingers after realizing she either crossed dimensions, reincarnated, or her soul was sent somewhere else, but not very sure where exactly.