City of the Fallen - unedited

Chapter Fourteen

P A R T T W O

I wake up to the smell of fresh pine trees and pancakes. I cuddle up into a ball, hugging the white comforter that always fails to keep me warm in the morning. The morning sun has already woken me up, and I roll onto my side, still barely awake.

My legs ache while I stretch my body, as does my head.

Did I drink last night?

It was all a blurry vision, one minute I was with Brooke and the next I was with some really handsome guy with whom I watched the stars with. Was he real or was it a dream?

I slide out of my bed, my mouth basically watering at the smell of my mother's pancakes. They sound really good, even right now, when I'm not hungry.

"Whose dress..." I think out loud and my voice trails off as I examine the white dress on my body. I have never seen it before. "Mom?" I call. No answer.

She must be listening to music or something, that's what she did when she cooked sometimes.

I place the slippers that always sit next to my bed onto my feet and walk towards the door to go downstairs.

First, I have to deal with the bird's nest that sits on my head. I'm a heavy sleeper, so my hair always gets tangled after a night's rest.

I approach the mirror and my mouth drops. My hair is perfectly laid against my chest, smoother than I have ever seen it before. It's a lighter blonde than usual. I also notice the pimple that was on my forehead earlier is now gone. I take a few steps forward to examine my skin and then I see my eyes.

I blink a few times in utter shock. I look down at my body to make sure this isn't some crazy dream. That's when I see my arms. They're perfectly smooth and normal, which doesn't sit right in my head.

I gasp when the memories flood into my brain all at once. It's overwhelming, so much that my body goes weak. The fire. Dying. Becoming a stage two. Tanner, Brooke, Jack. Nick. That's why my body hurts, it's because of the procedure that girl was talking about. What was her name? Lorena? She never told me it was going to lead to severe memory loss and confusion when I woke back up again.

I forgot that I died.

I run my hand over my wrists. They're smooth. No scars. Nothing but the small fire engraving. I can't believe this.

I turn to face my large bed.

Why is my room the exact same as it was when I was alive? What happened to the communal bedroom that I was in? I want to find Brooke, or anyone that would make me feel sane again because nothing is making sense.

I look back up at myself in the mirror, and examine my eyes. Instead of being brown they're grey. Not even a blue grey, just grey. An absence of color. Like Stacy, they have flakes of color in them, but mine are dark red and a peachy orange instead.