The Bird and the Garden 2: Restart!

Chapter 33: Everything is Wrong

Verde woke up with a start, sitting upright in a cold sweat, breathing hard. In her panicked state of mind, in her terror, she looked around the room in terror. She did not know this room. She did not know the bed she was sitting in. But it didn't look like the rooms of the ramshackle houses of Innsmaw. It was not her prison, that cursed cellar she had been trapped in moments ago. This room felt... Different. It felt safe.

Had someone rescued her? Then why wasn't she in the hospital? Where were her wounds? The scars left behind from Hazel and Cinder? She reached her hand in front of her left eye. She could see her palm. Didn't it get gouged out? She stared at her fingernails. They were all there. No scars, no burns. And finally, she looked towards the window, staring through the glass pane. She could see trees outside, hear the birdsong. Where... Was she?

The door creaked open, and Verde pressed against the headboard. She was trembling, terror building up inside her. But instead of Hazel or Cinder, a face she didn't recognized peered at her. A little girl, maybe around nine or ten. She had dark red eyes and black hair like Verde, except the child's hair was longer, falling to the middle of her back. She wore a blank expression as she cocked her head to the side.

"... Good morning, Mother," she greeted monotonously. "Father told me to tell you breakfast was ready. Please come down as soon as you can - he worked really hard on it."

The girl disappeared soon after, leaving Verde with more questions than answers. Who was that kid? Why did she call Verde 'mother'? The artist looked around the room, finally taking in her surroundings.

There was the bed she was sitting in. The blanket was white, and the pillows soft. Next to it was a nightstand with a lamp sitting on it, a picture frame next to the electrical appliance. Verde picked it up, staring at the photograph. Her heart began to race.

In the picture, she could see herself wearing a white dress. And standing next to her in a black tuxedo was Vao. They were holding hands.

Verde lowered the picture frame to her lap, staring at the walls. There were many more photographs hung up, photographs depicting similar imagery. One showed Vao and Verde standing behind two children; one was the girl from before, and the other was a girl with shoulder-length hair and a case of heterochromia - her left eye was green, and her right was red.

Verde stared back at the picture frame in her hands. This... Had to be some sort of joke. Some way to twist her, orchestrated by Cinder and Hazel. Or maybe even Russell. Slowly, Verde climbed out of the bed, her bare feet touching against the carpeted floor as she crept the the door, peeking her head out before stepping into the halls.

The floor was clean, kept tidy. She didn't understand what was going on. But as she moved to the stairs, a new smell flooded her nostrils. A delicious smell. Verde followed it warily, her heart beating a mile a minute. And when she reached the last step, she could hear someone humming to themselves. She poked her head through the doorway...

... And felt her heart break into pieces.

Vao was standing over a stove, occasionally squinting at a cardboard box before returning to... Whatever he was cooking. It wasn't clear if it was meant to be pancakes or potatoes, but it smelled delicious. The girl with heterochromia was standing next to him, watching his movements. Vao picked up the box, showing it to the girl. "Hey, wot does this say?"

The girl glared at him. "Dad, you're a Huntsman. How the bloody hell are you not able to read?"

"I skipped school, bruv."

"... That... Makes an alarming amount of sense..."

The girl noticed Verde staring, breaking into a smile. "Mummy! You're awake!" She cried. She hopped away from Vao and skipped towards Verde, wrapping the woman in a hug. Vao looked away from the stove, his own smile worn.