The Princess's Stolen Body

Chapter 3: A New Body

-Liana-

I was lying in my bed, feeling so tired from everything that had happened. The necklace was warm against my skin, and gave me a calming feeling, but maybe it was also knowing Gawain was right outside. He always made me feel so calm, yet why was I still having trouble sleeping? Why couldn’t my body find any rest?

I sighed deeply, turning to my other side, my hands under my head, while I got this bad feeling inside. Would I ever experience a good night again? My powers had always been making trouble for me. They weren’t so bad when I was a kid, but they grew in power as I got older, and often they were really hard to understand. A bad feeling was sometimes a bad feeling, and not always a warning. And sometimes the bad feeling wasn’t just a bad feeling, but something in me telling me not to trust this person.

It was how it had been with Sebastian. I didn’t want to believe he was a bad person either, which made me want to listen even less to the feelings he brought out in me. The bad ones, but he had also brought a lot of good ones out as well. He had made me happy, at least for most of my life. Then he took so much. My father … God, I missed him so much it hurt.

I had even almost lost my brother too. Cole had luckily survived, but Sebastian had died. I was not sad about it, I just felt a little stupid. I should have known. I was the one with the gift after all, but I failed to listen. I failed to understand.

Now my dreams were haunting me. Usually, it was very rare that I even dreamt of the future, and I never did it as much as I was beginning to. It could only mean something bad was coming … something really bad.

I yawned deeply, finally feeling just a little tired. My eyes got heavier, and after a little while, darkness pulled me in.

***

I was very confused, as the darkness around me started to take shape. Was I awake? No, something felt strange about this. It felt like I was falling, or twirling around or something like that, and I could hear a voice. A mumbling voice, speaking in a language I didn’t recognize.

What was happening?

Suddenly, it felt like I was being pulled forward, and through the darkness, smoke appeared, suddenly taking over, and then … a face. Someone was in front of me. The smoke took another form, like a mirror. I walked closer, seeing this other person coming closer too. She was on the other side, looking at me confused. Wait …

I ran over to her, seeing her run towards me, and then I stopped right in front of her, looking into her scared eyes, as she stared back at me … that was me! I was looking at myself! She mimicked what I was looking like. Scared and confused. Nothing made sense, as we stared at one another, and then the mumbling voice got louder and louder, making it feel like an echo inside of me. I looked around confused as to where it came from, but I couldn’t see anything but this smoke world I was trapped in.

I turned to my reflection, but it wasn’t me standing there any longer …

It was the girl from the stall. The one selling me the necklace. She smiled a cruel smile, as she suddenly reached out. I screamed, taking a step back, but her hand was already wrapped around my wrist, pulling me towards her, and then …

I blinked away the sleep, opening my eyes. My body felt so heavy. I groaned, as I sat up, rubbing my face with my hands, and feeling the blanket fall from my body. I stretched my tired body, confused as to why I was feeling like this. It had to be another nightmare. I had to have had another nightmare. Why else would I feel so exhausted, even though I had slept through the night?

I sighed, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and getting up. The nightgown I was wearing was strangely itchy, I noticed as I scratched my back, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. It was most likely just worn down.

I walked over to where I could see a small bowl and a jug standing on a table, right under a big mirror. Everything around me was a bit blurry and confusing, and I felt slightly unsteady on my legs, but I still somehow found my way over to the bowl, pouring water into it, and then splashing the cold water in my face, before reaching for a small cloth drying my face and then …

I froze.

My eyes caught the image in front of me, and that was when I remembered what I had seen in my dreams. She had been looking through the mirror in my dream too. I let out a small scream, turning around myself, but no one was there.

I turned around again, seeing her look through the mirror. Scared, I took a step back, thinking she would grab me again, but she just stared back at me, not doing anything. I looked behind myself again, and that was when I saw it …

This wasn’t my room!

This was a very small room with brown wooden walls, and a small door, where you had to duck to get out. I ran over to the mirror again, reaching out for the glass, touching it and …

“No, no, no, no,” I whispered, shaking my head.

It was not possible! Something like this was not possible! It couldn’t be … but then how else did I explain what I was seeing? How else did I explain she was looking right back at me with the same scared and shocked expression as me?!

“Oh no. It can’t be,” I whispered. “I just … can’t.”

“Elisa!” I heard someone calling.

Elisa?! Was that her name? I looked around, not knowing what to do. What did I say? What did I do?!

“Elisa, are you up?”

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. What was I even going to say?! But then I heard someone come up the stairs, and before I knew it, the other woman from the stall. The older one stood in front of me. She had the same kind of hair color and bright green eyes.

“You are up,” she said. “Did you not hear me calling?”

I just nodded, not knowing what to say. Would she believe me if I said I wasn’t her daughter? Would she … help me? Her daughter had to be the one doing this to me, right?

“I need you to go out and buy something for me,” she said.

I didn’t move or say anything, and her eyes suddenly narrowed a little.

“Elisa?”

I had to say something, right? She would listen to me … yes?

“A-Actually.”

I was so shocked when I heard this strange voice coming from me. That was not my voice. It was deeper and a bit hoarse actually. I didn’t like it. I wanted my voice! My voice! It was mine! Not this one.

“I am not Elisa …”

The woman looked at me confused, blinking her eyes as I said this.

“What?” she asked.

“I am not your daughter. I am … Princess Liana,” I told her.

The woman came closer to me, and I backed up against the small table where the bowl stood. She was so tall, and hovered over me, as she inspected me. She even reached out, tilting my chin from side to side, her eyes just running over me. Did she believe me? Did she know I wasn’t her daughter? She would help me now, right? I mean what her daughter had done was technically stealing … or was it k!dnapping? I wasn’t sure and I didn’t care, I just had to get back!

“I see,” she said. “You really aren’t her.”

“You don’t sound shocked,” I said as the woman took a step back.

“Elisa is … well, she is a special child,” was all she said.

I wasn’t sure if I would use the word special, but didn’t every mother out there believe their children were special?

“Well, now that you know that I am not your daughter, you are going to help me, right? I mean, no offence to your daughter, but I would very much like to be back in my, body,” I said.

It was strange to say. Be back in my body … it sounded so weird, but that was what had happened. Elisa had taken my body, for some reason. I hoped she wasn’t planning on hurting my family. No, that made no sense, my family had made peace, but then why?

“Oh, I will help,” the woman said.

I breathed out relieved.

“Thank you, I don’t know … hey, what are you doing?!”

The woman walked towards the door and started to close it behind her. I ran towards her, calling out to her, as I slammed my hands against the door and heard it lock.

“Hey! Open this door!”

But I just heard the sound of someone walking down the stairs.

“Hey! You can’t leave me here! This is … k!dnapping!” I yelled.

But was it really? I was in her daughter’s body, and she was locking her daughter in her room. Oh sh*t. I was really in trouble now.