My Universe

5: “What the f**k is happening?”

The season was autumn as the crispy orange leaves began to fall from the trees like solid rain. The weather was perfect with the sky colored with brightness and softness of blue as the sun stood proudly above while giving the moderate amount of light down the land. It was a perfect first day for autumn as anyone could think. A perfect day for a romantic walk on the park with the love of one’s life.

There was nothing Winter could ever wish for as she was already feeling happy enough to be walking across the long path surrounded by sugar maple trees while her hand was gently intertwined with the hand of the love of her life. For some reason, they were the only people at that park as she noticed that there was no trace or sight of any figure around them but the trees with falling leaves; but none of that mattered since Winter was already satisfied having Claire with her. At whatever situation or place, no matter stinky or tight, she would always be able to have a joyful grin on her face if it was with Claire.

“I remember our first date being here,” Winter spoke when she finally realized why the place looked extremely familiar to her.

The red-haired woman widened her smile as she turned to look at the face of her girlfriend who looked back at her with a gentle smile on her face though she did not utter a word. It was fine though since Winter could read Claire’s respond from her stare and smile as if words were forming on her light blue eyes that only Winter could see. Without saying any more words, the both of them continued to walk with their eyes roaming around the place to admire the beauty of the bright trees while the leaves fall on them like flower petals tracing the path that they were going as a couple reaching the altar for them to finally reach the last stage of being in a romantic relationship.

Winter suddenly stopped on her tracks, making the taller woman stop too as she turned to look at her with questioning eyes. She wore a huge grin of excitement on her face as she turned to face Claire and held her free hand out while looking at the falling leaves with hope for at least one leaf to land on her palm. When she noticed that the latter was just staring at her quietly with wonder, the red-haired woman turned to look at her as she let out a chuckle and pulled her other free hand out.

“Some people say that if a leaf lands on your hand while you hold it out, you should make a wish and it will then be granted,” Winter said as she patiently held her hand out while attempting to bring a falling leaf to land on her hand with her intense stares.

Winter could not help but let out a chuckle at the adorable sight of the taller woman suddenly getting curious and interested with the theory that she just told her as she held her hand out to catch a leaf eagerly while staring at the falling leaves with determination. The red-haired woman turned to continue watching the falling leaves when she accidentally looked directly at the sun, making her immediately squint and turn away.

Questions started to fill her head when Winter felt Claire’s hand slowly let go as it slipped off hers, making her immediately turn to her as she saw the taller woman staring at the fresh orange leaf lying on her palm. The soft sound of her hand dropping down to her side made the taller woman turn to her as nervousness filled within the red-haired woman when the once gentle warm eyes of Claire suddenly turned to cold orbs that Winer could not recognize.

For the past minutes that they had been together, Claire finally spoke, “I caught one. So, my wish will be granted now, right?”

“Y-Yeah,” Though she was confused on what was happening and why Claire suddenly changed into someone that Winter barely knew, she still answered her question as her heartbeat began going faster.

“Then I’ll reveal my wish now,” Claire spoke as she took a step back away from the shorter woman and looked directly into her eyes. “I wish to be free from you, Winter.”

Winter knew that she heard it right, but she refused to believe that she was not overthinking things. It felt as if everything was moving too fast when Claire turned her back on her right after saying that as Winter tried to call her name to stop her but her voice was inaudible, no matter how loud she tried to scream. Tears started to roll down her cheeks when she could not even move her legs to try to catch her as it was like her legs were completely stuck on her spot. Winter had no idea what exactly was happening as she only knew that the situation which she was in was totally heartbreaking.

“Claire,” Winter mouthed as no sound left her lips while her lips quivered uncontrollably when she saw a woman with a blurry face standing on the end of the path.

The stranger held her hand out as Claire accepted it and intertwined their hands together. The both of them began walking away without bothering to throw a glance back on Winter, who was crying helplessly as she could only watch them hold hands and walk away from her whether she wanted to or not since she could not move her body.

Her consciousness was coming back as her eyes slowly opened for the white ceiling to be the first thing that appears in Winter’s sight. She was unsure whether to feel relief or not since she realized that it was just a dream and that she did not actually witness Claire walking away from her while holding another woman’s hand. But then again, the dream and reality made no difference because in the end, Claire really broke up with Winter.

Her eyes were shut tightly again as she moved her hands to her face, feeling her cheeks being wet from the tears as more liquid began pouring down until sobs escaped from her mouth. Being dumped over the phone call was probably much less painful than witnessing Claire leaving her with another woman though it was still painful enough to make Winter cry for more than a minute. It was basically another morning to cry.

After ten minutes of crying, Winter’s eyes seemed to have dry up as she decided to get up when she got the call of nature. She might be miserable, but that did not mean she would let herself wet her bed.

As soon as she sat up on the bed, that was when she realized that something was wrong. Roaming her eyes around the room, there was definitely something wrong.

“W-What is this?”

Alert started to rise with her heart beginning to beat faster than usual as she confirmed that she was not in her dorm room. The room that she was currently in looked normal with no hint of it being in an abandoned house in the middle of a forest since there was a window and the sight outside was a bunch of buildings, which meant that she was still safely in the city. But what made Winter wonder the most was that she was having a sense of familiarity in the room like she had been in that room multiple times already even though she knew that it was her first time to see and be in that room.

Still, Winter could not feel a sense of safety as she got up from bed and began to walk around the room to look for clues on where she might be since she had no proof that she was not kidnapped as well. For some reason, the room that Winter was in was like a simple dormitory room for two people because of the things that were around. There was one single bed on each side of the room with a bedside table and two study tables on each side as well. There were two small wardrobes as well and Winter hated to admit that her assumption of the room being a normal dormitory room might be right.

As Winter looked around the room more, her eyes suddenly landed on the small mirror on the study table as she widened her eyes in disbelief when she saw her reflection. Quickly, she walked toward the table to take the mirror as she held it in front of her face, making her think whether she was still unconsciously dreaming or not.

“W-Why is my hair like this? Since when did I have these moles?” Winter spoke in disbelief as she stared at her reflection on the mirror intently.

Instead of long scarlet red hair that she spent a lot of money to permanently keep the perfect color, her current hairstyle was raven black cut in shoulder length with side bangs. Another mystery that she could not believe was the disappearance of the mole under her left eye and the appearance of two moles one centimeter apart under her right eye. Winter basically had every right to be utterly confused and terrified at what she was currently seeing.

Thinking that the moles could be drawn and covered with a concealer, Winter rushed to the bathroom and started to wash her face eagerly. She herself actually knew that none of the moles were drawn or covered since her face was completely bare, but she did not want to believe any of what was happening as none of it was making sense in the first place. The now raven felt like crying again as she had no idea what was happening.

No matter how much she wanted to convince herself that she was just in another realistic dream, Winter could not do anything as everyone felt literally real; from the sting of excessively rubbing her face with water to the heavy feelings that she was currently carrying as she paced back and forth in the room while trying to make up with an answer to the questions that she doubted to ever answer by herself.

“What the f**k is happening?” Winter mumbled as she bit on her thumb in panic.

The bedside table next to the bed where she woke up on suddenly caught her eyes as she approached it and opened the drawer to find a simple black leather wallet in it as if she had already known that it would be in it. Winter gulped in nervousness as she reached for it and opened it for her to see a few cards in it. As if it was a matter of life and death, Winter slowly pulled one of the cards out as she saw her hair until she saw her face and the basic information next to it.

“What the?” was the fifth question that Winter asked so far.

On the identification card, the basic information was completely different to Winter’s actual identity as she widened her eyes in disbelief and started to pull out the other cards from the wallet. All of the identity cards had the same basic information with her face on it as she found herself dropping them back in the drawer and taking a step back.

Instead of Winter Kali, the full name that was written on all of the identity cards was Summer Kiara.

Sure, Winter still had the same face with the moles and hairstyle being the only changes on her physical appearance but that was basically the reason why she was totally terrified at that moment. Winter did not have at least one clue about why she was suddenly a different person with the same face as soon as she woke up from the heartbreaking dream with Claire.

Winter was still frozen on her spot while staring at the drawer when she heard the door creak from behind, making her immediately turn to find a woman with short black hair and blonde streaks just entering the room.