chapter 2

Dalia continued staring at the woman in the mirror. A face that belonged to someone else. She stayed against the tiled wall untill her breathing evened out . She forced her emotions back under control.

After years of discipline she learnt that staying shocked was of no use and panicking solved nothing.

What she needed to do now was find out what exactly was happening. If she was no longer in her body , then she needed to understand whose body she had inherited.

She needed to work with logic and facts even though whatever was happening was more on the illogical side.

The she had to find out how and why she died.

she looked at her her reflection one last time and proceeded to washe her face. the features felt so unfamiliar but they still remained .

she dried her hands and stepped out of the bathroom.

the doctor entered almost immediately, with a nurse with a tray of medication following closely behind him.

His expression held panic as he looked between her and the hanging IV needle.

"I was just coming to check up on you....did you remove the needle, you shouldn't have......"

"id like to be discharged" she asked, cutting him off.

He blinked in shock

"well you can't be discharged yet, we still have to do some examinations and tests. besides you've only just regained consciousness." he tried reasoning with her

"I am fine" she said looking at him blankly

"Being fine is not the same as being medically fit. those are two very different things" he countered

"my body is functional and I don't need anything serious " she said in protest

"that may be true but we still have hospital procedures we must followed"

She stared at him, studying him.

She knew that he wasn't doing this on purpose to keep her here, he was just doing his job, but she still had to leave as soon as possible.

"Haaa" she let out a sigh, "if everything is normal, how soon can I go?" she tried again

" If we do all that needs to be done and everything is indeed ok, then you can be discharged in two days."

Okay that didn't seem too long, she would just be patient and wait. She had to leave soon, staying here for too long didn't sit well with her.

After the test, they began with the same questions, but she answered obediently.

"Any headaches , dizziness or blurred vision..?"

"No"

"How about memory problems?"

That question made her stop

"Only regarding how I got here" she answered slowly

Okay, That's fine. A head truma can sometimes affect recent memories so there's nothing to worry about.

Yeah sure....truma

If only he knew that truma wasn't the problem right now. She remembered everything, every language she learnt, every combat technique, every escape route and she remembered how to kill. Yet she couldn't remember the moments leading up to her death. This wasn't just ordinary memory loss, there was more to it.

She didn't respond

They continued all the examination in the days that followed.

Blood pressure,reflexes,vitals and anything that would mean she could walk out of here.

Everything was normal.

The doctor seemed impressed, " your recovery is extraordinary. Your vitals are excellent, better than we would have expected considering the state you were brought in."

She just sat still

He closed her file and left to prepare the discharge papers.After he left, she looked around and her eyes fell on her medical chart. With no hesitation she picked it up and flipped through. If she wanted to learn about this body she needed to at least know her name. It's funny how they didn't call her any name once.

So her name is Avery Carter, she was 24..hmm she was older than her. Dalia was 29.

Was.....

She had no emergency contact. As she went further she found an address. Good now she wouldn't have to walk aimlessly. She finished and placed the chart back where she saw it.

The doctor walked in again.

"Everything is ready and your discharge has been approved" he said as he handed her a brown bag of medication.

He also asked that she come for check ups at least once a week. She said yes just to get him off her back.

As she stepped out of the hospital, the cold air hit her face. For a while she just stood there and observed. People carried on with their lives, only hers had changed completely.

She hailed a taxi and handed him the address. Her eyes remained on scenery outside. The further they drove , the narrower the streets became. Ageing buildings,cracked side walks, graffiti on the walls and neglected stores...

This convinced Dalia of one thing, this was a place she had to be careful of. She surveyed her surroundings as she stepped out of the taxi, finding possible escape routes..a narrow ally, a fire escape and rooftops. She just couldn't help it, old habits die hard.

Her apartment building stoot at the end of the street. It was old and weathered. The stairway smelt like damp wood and cigarette smoke. She climbed to the second floor and opened her apartment with the keys she found in the purse.

Silence greeted her as she walked in and the door closed behind her. The apartment was tiny with just a bedroom, a compact kitchen, a worn out sofa, and a small book stack at the side.

It looked clean and lived in. It was far from luxury but it was cozy. Just not for Dalia.

This suited you more than it suits me " murmured as she walked around.

She placed the brown bag on the sofa as she began her search. If she wanted to know this body very well she had to learn about the owner.

She searched drawers, cupboard, and every shelf.

She found nothing until she checked under the bed. A small box that had a picture of a woman who looked just like Avery but older. It must have been her mother. Another picture of a young Avery and the sam woman.

Then a small worn book, a diary.

Dalia flipped through it and hesitated to read it at first but all resistance was removed when she realized this was the only way to learn about her and besides, she is Avery now.

The earliest entries where from her childhood and different achievements.

Avery was a smart girl, she was so intelligent that she graduated early. She stated that mother was so proud.

Then it got darker, her mum got sick and her father accused her of lying, she got worse and her father, an alcoholic and a gambler, gambled away their money and said they couldn't afford hospital bills.

This happened until her mother died.

Her entries became shorter, only stating how her father continued to gamble and drink and how she felt responsible for him...

This made Dalia's brows scrunch. She was just a child , how could she be responsible for a grown man. Slowly her entries went from guilty to fearful. Her father's debts had caught up to him and she began writing about debt collectors and how they started appearing at their house. She stated that they were dangerous and she overheard them threatening her father.

Then suddenly, she stopped until a month ago when the only words on the page were 'He's dead ' .

She didn't know what to feel, sadness or relief. That was her last entry.

This made Dalia frustrated and angry on Avery's behalf. Her father had put her in situations that she should not have been in.

As she paced around thinking of her next move a thought popped in her head.....If the debt collectors killed her father for the money he owed, that means they would come for her...... again because the bruises on her body were already warning for the payment.

So now she had to find a way to get money. She could access her old accounts as KARMA, an assassin, she had enough money to build her life again but that would require high grade equipment. She didn't want to go back to her old apartment because if she was killed , the people would probably be watching her house for anyone who was even a bit connected to KARMA. That would get her killed before she could even get used to her new life.

She had to find people who could help her without putting out her identity. She had a lot to do with so little time because anyone could have had a problem with this girl and righynow she had no strength to deal with them.

A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts. Her mind went blank as her body froze and her eyes wide. Her heart beat increased like her heart was about to jump out of her chest. Dalia recognised this feeling, it was fear.

But it wasn't her, it was Avery's. Even though she had died ,her body didn't forget.

Raw fear, like Avery knew who was behind the door, and maybe it had something to do with what happened to her. Maybe they were the ones who attacked her.

She stepped back as the knock came again. This feeling irritated Dalia but she had to calm down. Fe

ar would do nothing, she had to figure out how to get out of the situation waiting for her. If they were here to kill her, she had to escape.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Even though her body protested, she still walked towards the door with shaky hands.