Awake

     It all started at that moment when my eyes opened, gazing at an unfamiliar ceiling. My head ached, and my body felt stiff and tired. For a few minutes or two, I laid still, staring up at the ceiling before my mind clicked to wonder where I was.

The room I was in was as unfamiliar as the ceiling. It was big and had things a nobleman from London or Italy would fancy. A chandelier, wall ornaments, paintings, and even sword decorations; all things I didn't recognize. My head pulsed as I tried to figure out how I got here. I looked around the room until my eyes locked on someone's head bent on the bedside. Their hair was caramel-colored, maybe brown but it was long and a female's for sure.

I lifted myself gently on the bed making sure not to disturb whoever the girl was as they slept. The room seemed to be much wider when I sat up with a dresser and a table in its corner. This place really didn't resemble anything I remembered. 

My attempt not to work them up seem to fail as the girl whimpered in their sleep turning her face to turn towards me. She looked young. She blinked from the haziness of sleep before sitting up to rub her eyes as they tried to focus on me. They slowly filled with tears.

"Big brother!" she cried, leaping into a hug. The girl looked to be around eight, and I, for one, didn't remember knowing a girl of that age. My head still refused to think out of pain as I tried to remember anything that might help me in this case. The little girl's hug only got tighter around me, with her tears and snot staining my white clothes. I didn't even remember wearing those clothes.

Her cries weren't loud be seemed to have got the attention of someone as footsteps got closer to the room.

"Lina! Lina! Look, big brother is finally awake!" the little girl called out to the woman who walked in. She was young and held a small bowl of water with a towel in her hand. But for some reason, what my eyes were drawn to was her maid outfit. It looked like the usual color and design of black and white I was familiar with, yet old. My eyes led back to her face as she looked at me and I at her, staring longer than I was supposed to. She wore a similar expression of relief as the little girl before finally speaking.

"Young Master is finally awake."

The maid stood there dumbfounded for a second before realizing it and moved to place the bowl of water on a table in the room.

It was all confusing and unreal to me, almost like a dream. I had no idea what was happening and couldn't figure out who was what and how I got there. I didn't even remember what I did the day before. It was a haze trying to remember. Lost in clueless thought, the maid had made her way close to the girl and me. She now wore a sad face as she looked at us both. She closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them to speak again.

"I thank the heavens the young master is safe."

I slowly nodded without thinking as I looked at her, wondering why she called me Young Master. And why did this little girl also call me her big brother? She still hadn't let go of me, and it started getting uncomfortable.

"Miss Nyla, I think that might be enough. Young Master still needs to rest. ", the maid said, noticing my discomfort. "Why don't we-"

"No! I don't want to! I hadn't seen him in a long time, and he just woke up! I don't want to be left alone. I don't want to be alone again!"

It caught me off guard, but I had a meek smile on my face for some reason, thinking she resembled my little sister as her grip only got tighter, refusing to let go.

Wait, little sister? Why did I think that? And why couldn't I think up an image of her, whoever it was? It was as though I refused to remember—a state of delirium as it is called. I looked up to find the maid looking down at the girl quietly, tightening her lip and grasping both hands.

"Miss Nyla, I understand, but Young Master is still tired and needs to rest."

"But!" the girl sniffles and tired to retort.

"Miss Nyla!" the maid called sternly, making the girl turn her head to the maid. "Please, he needs to rest now."

As the girl wiped her tears, the maid moved closer to her, gently patting her head. "Albert needs you downstairs to get ready for your lessons. Why don't we go to him? And Young Master would still be here when you return, alright?"

The girl nodded with a red, teary face, sniffing as she walked away with the maid. The thought that she resembled my sister in that deminer suddenly popped into my head once more. 

As they left the through the door, the room quickly fell quiet as I sat still on the bed. I once again tried to piece together what on earth was going on. But still with the headache I had, my mind just spun> Like that feeling of falling asleep sick and waking up in the afternoon, nothing wanted to click.

I touched my head to the pulsing pain and pulled off the bandages about my head. My hands, as I stared at them, seemed different. They both seemed smaller. It was a given to know something as well as the back of your hands, so there was no way I imagined it. They were definitely much smaller and, different.

The feeling of both fright and curiosity raced through me as the hands moved on their own to feel my face. I couldn't feel it properly, but I knew it also felt different. I needed to see it for myself.

Without looking, I jumped out of the bed to my bare feet, falling hard onto the woodwork floor. My legs were weak and numb, and they responded but only to the degree of a newborn infant's. And just like my hands, my legs also were small, hiding in the white clothing I wore. My heart began to race at the sight of it, filling me with more fear and curiosity. I needed to see it!

I managed to make it halfway from the foot of the bed, struggling to reach the dresser before the maid got back to the room.

"Young Master!" she rushed to my side, sounding motherly. "Are you alright!?"

I wasn't anyone's Master, and it wasn't my name. I knew that there was something wrong. I just needed to see my face and body in a mirror. That was all I felt I needed to do to bring the curtains down on this dream, but as she held me up, all my strength gave out. My heart was burning and beating fast.

"You are still not fully recovered to move. Where were you going?" the maid asked. It was almost ironic that with everything that had happened, I hadn't uttered a single word and only watched.

I sat on the floor and clenched my hands, trying to make words flow from my mouth. They felt heavy in my throat like a bloat of air was blocking them from coming out. I released my hands and tried again, finally hearing my own voice.

"Where...where and what is this place? Who are you people, and who am I?" The voice was crackly and fragile, as though it would break if I raised it any higher. Without the mirror to show my face, I could tell that the body I was in wasn't mine.