Standing in front of the mirror, with my eyes barely open, hair fuzzy, and vision blurry. Like any other day, I stared at myself until I gradually awoke.
It was a weird ritual that I had been doing since I started remembering things.
Before I could fully awaken, a raspy voice like that of an old man sounded in my left ear.
"What do you see?"
"H-huh!?"
My eyes shot open, and I froze on the spot. Everything became clear in an instant, yet I found nothing strange about my reflection.
I spun around, and a cool breeze greeted me from outside. The window set in the brick wall was still there. The plentiful field of crops outside swayed with the wind like waves on the sea.
Everything was perfectly in order.
Seeing the familiar farm calmed my nerves.
"What was that?"
I blinked rapidly in disbelief.
Am I going crazy? I thought to myself.
I took a deep breath and scanned the room closely. No one was here. I peeked under the bed, but found only old books and clothes.
I must have been half-asleep.
Ghosts? Demons? I tried to push the possibility of them existing out of my mind.
I scooped up my cat and left the room.
"Oh, Revvie, what happened to you? Why are you carrying Mimi?"
The sweet voice of my step-sister greeted me. Gem wore a light dress, suitable for sleeping; she must have woken up about the same time I did.
"Oh, nothing." I carefully placed Mimi on the floor. "Is my hair messed up?" I asked, knowing the drill.
As I sat on the chair, Gem kept staring at my chest. It was weird—that's not where my messy hair was.
Following her gaze, I looked down at myself.
It was strange.
My clothes were in tatters, as if I had been in a street fight. I grabbed my shirt and spread the rip, exposing my bare skin.
"What the—?"
"Did Mimi scratch you while you were sleeping?" Gem asked.
I rubbed my chest, feeling for any scratch or wound. There were none. It wasn't painful at all.
"I don't know."
Answering absentmindedly, I retreated to my room to change my shirt.
Once again, I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked the same as always, but the words I heard earlier echoed repeatedly inside my head. For a brief moment, I thought I saw something different in the reflection, but it must have been my imagination.
"Who am I?"
The words slipped out of my mouth on their own. I didn't know why I said them, and they filled me with a sudden confusion. It felt like I was on the verge of waking up from a dream, but couldn't quite break through.
"Revvie, are you okay?"
Gem's voice from the hallway pulled me out of my trance.
"Y-yeah."
I shook my head and walked out of the room.
That day, my mind was swarming with questions. I couldn't focus while I was tending to our farm animals.
Gem's parents had adopted me when I was little, and she had never treated me like a stranger. She remained sweet even now, despite us reaching that awkward age where step-siblings usually drift apart.
When night fell, I went to sleep, forcing myself not to think too much about the morning's events.
I didn't know that was a mistake.
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