Chapter 5: In A Strange Body

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

“Uhh- what's that noise?” 

I tried to open my eyes but everywhere was spinning. My head felt like it was going to split in half. I placed my hand on my head, trying to stop the loud ringing, but it wouldn't go away.

And worse, someone seems to be banging loudly on the door.

What's going on? Where am I this time?

I tried to look around again but then a loud angry male voice came from outside.

“Rubyrose! Open this door right now!”

Rubyrose? 

Who the hell is Rubyrose?

“Baby, please!” a woman’s voice cried from outside. “Don’t do this again! Please open the door!”

I tried to look around despite my head spinning. Was someone in here with me? Is that who these people are calling out to?

The room was blurry but I could tell I was alone in a bathroom.

Does that mean I wasn't in the afterlife yet?

“Rubyrose! Rubyrose! Rubyrose! Goddamn it! Open this door or I will force myself in!”

I wanted to speak, to answer, but my throat was too dry.

And just then, with one hard push, the bathroom door burst open.

CRASH!

A man and a woman rushed inside immediately. Their faces were pale, their eyes swollen and red, like they had been crying for hours.

“Oh my God, Ruby!” The woman fell to her knees beside the tub, grabbing my face with trembling hands, her eyes glistening with tears. “What have you done to yourself again?!”

I stared at her, confused and frozen.

“I…” My voice cracked. Why was she calling me Ruby? Could she be mistaken?

“I'm sorry ma'am, but I think you've got the wrong person. I… I'm not Ruby.” My voice trembled as I stared at those tearful eyes. 

This Ruby must have made her so worried. 

But who's she?

Who are they?

My eyes moved from the woman to the man who entered with her — maybe he's her husband.

The man’s eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched tight. “Ruby, don’t start this,” he snapped angrily. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?!”

I shook my head, still confused. I could see the anger in his eyes.

But why's he angry with me? I don't even know him.

“Take a good look at your wrist Rubyrose! When will all these end!”

My wrist?

I looked down and that's when I noticed a large slit on my wrist.

“Aaaaaahhh!” I screamed in shock. 

The bathtub was covered with blood. My blood.

“Wh-what happened to me?” I asked.

The man and the woman both exchange confused glances.

“Baby you don't remember? You just tried to kill yourself again.” The woman said in a shaky voice, as if the thought of saying that broke something inside her.

I shook my head. “Me? Slit my wrist? Why would I want to slit my wrist? And besides, who are you guys? I don’t know you! I don’t know any of you!” 

The woman froze, her hand trembling against my cheek. “Sweetheart,” she whispered, her voice shaky and weak, “it’s us. We’re your parents.”

Parents?

Is this woman kidding me? Like I don't know what my parents looked like?

“My parents are dead,” I blurted out. “In fact, I'm supposed to be dead too.”

“You’re not dead, Ruby,” the woman cried harder. “But you will be if we don’t stop the bleeding!”

The bleeding, yes. Guess that's the reason why I'm feeling so dizzy.

The man quickly grabbed a robe from the shelf and wrapped it around my naked body. “Stand up,” he muttered under his breath, his voice tight with anger. “We need to get you out of this tub.”

My legs shook violently as I stood, but somehow, I managed.

Then my gaze landed on the mirror above the sink.

And then I let out a loud scream.

The man and the woman froze immediately.

“Ruby, what's wrong?”

I couldn't answer. I couldn't speak.

The reflection staring back at me wasn’t mine.

That wasn’t my face.

I could only raise a trembling finger and point towards my reflection.

“Wh-who's that?” I asked, my voice shaky.

“Thats you, Ruby,” the woman whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. “You’re our daughter. Please, stop this, baby. You're scaring me.”

No. That wasn’t my face.

That's not my lips.

Not my hair.

Not even my eyes.

“What the hell…” I whispered, my voice shaking.

I stumbled backward, pressing a hand against the wall for support. My breathing grew shallow, my heart pounding so loudly it drowned out everything else.

“This isn’t me,” I said, shaking my head. “This… this isn’t my body. What have you done to my body?”

The couple exchanged worried looks. The woman reached for me, but I jerked away. “I'm not your daughter. I'm not Rubyrose. My name is Amaris! And I’m supposed to be dead! He killed me. They killed me!”

The woman broke down in tears as she stared at me as if I had gone mad.

The man cursed under his breath and stormed out. “I’m calling the doctor,” he said sharply.

“Ruby—” the woman reached out again.

“No,” I rasped, my throat tightening painfully. “I’m not Rubyrose. I'm Amaris.” 

Panic clawed at my chest as the horrifying truth slowly sank in.

My soul… my consciousness… whatever I was… wasn’t in my body anymore.

Somehow… I had woken up in someone else’s skin.

“Ruby…” The woman’s sobs broke through my spiraling thoughts. “Sweetheart, stop scaring us like this. You can’t keep doing this to yourself. Nine times… Nine times, Ruby! How many more before we lose you completely?!”

Nine suicide attempts?

My stomach turned violently, bile rising in my throat. What had this girl — this Rubyrose — been through to result to commiting suicide?

*****

Minutes later, the woman led me into a bedroom, tying the robe tighter around me. I sat on the bed, shaking, while she cleaned my wrists gently, her hands trembling the whole time.

My mind was spinning, drowning in questions I couldn’t answer.

A tall doctor with a sharp gaze arrived shortly after. He examined me and asked me a series of questions, one after the other.

I couldn’t answer any of them.

Hell, I don't even know the answers to them.

But the more he asked, the more his frown deepened.

“Do you… remember anything from before?” he slowly asked gently.

I shook my head slowly, numbness consuming me. “I don’t remember because…” My voice faltered, but I forced the words out anyway. “…because this isn’t my body.”

The woman gasped softly, clutching her chest.

Finally, the doctor leaned closer, as if he was trying to get his last diagnosis. “Do you remember why you slit your wrists?”

I stared at him, really hard, my eyes could have bore deep holes into his thick skull. “I have said this before; this isn’t my body. I will never slit my wrist. Why is no one even listening to me!” I flared. “I’m not Rubyrose. What have you all done to me?!”

The doctor froze for a moment before muttering to the woman, “She’s showing signs of dissociative amnesia. Likely from trauma.”

Amnesia. That’s what they thought this was.

I almost laughed, but the sound died in my throat.

Before I could speak again, the woman held my hands tightly. 

“She’s here,” she said softly. “Your twin sister is here to see you. She just returned and heard of this incident . She wants to talk to you.”

Twin sister?

I turned my head slowly as the door opened.

And just then I saw her.

Lilian.

My best friend.

My husband’s mistress.

My body instantly went ice cold.

Rage boiled in my blood, I didn't even realize my hand was clenched into tight fists and this woman was holding me tightly as if I was going to commit another suicide if she lets go.

Hell, I wouldn't have committed suicide, I would have committed murder.

But wait a minute.

Did she say twin sister?

The world

seemed to tilt beneath me as realization hit me like a punch to the chest.

I wasn’t just in a stranger’s body.

I have been reborn in Lilian’s twin sister’s body.

And she has no idea who I really am.