The Switch

Faint

Bringing this story back after what..like 10 months of a break? Hope you all like it

*Raina's P.O.V*

As I drag Mama back to my room, I can't help but feel a little weird. It doesn't quite hit me until we enter the room but I feel uncomfortable all of a sudden. It's like a sudden sense of awareness that this isn't my place. That she shouldn't be playing with me but rather with Anastasia.

"Let's play with your dollies sweetheart," Mama says lightly as she tugs me along, trying to get me to sit by the dollhouse. I shake my head, trying to tug my hand away from hers which makes her give me a confused look. My chest feels heavy, like the secrets are weighing down on my chest so that I can't breathe.

"Not mine," I mutter, hating how I feel right now. I feel like I'm in the wrong body, the wrong place. I just feel so wrong all of the sudden it feels like I need to get away. I hate that I am in this castle, that I am in Anastasia's place. I'm just an imposter, someone that shouldn't be here.

"What do you mean? Of course they're yours Anastasia," Mama says and hearing her call me that name makes me flinch away.

"'m not her, 'm not and you know that," I mutter, tugging my hand free as I curl in on myself. I see her eyes soften when she registers what I said.

"You know?" she asks, making me nod. I watch as she tears up, trying to hug me. I jerk away from her, a small frown on my lips as I try to ignore the hurt look in her eyes.

"What's wrong Raina? Tell Mama," she says. Her words make me spill how I feel, even though I don't want to.

"I'm not Anastasia. This isn't my room, I'm an imposter and she deserves to have all of your attention because it's not fair that you just abandoned her and we switched places before you got back. Even though she's still in the castle, her time is limited with you because of me and I hate that! She's your daughter," I say as I reach up, tugging at my hair in frustration. I hate admitting it but the pain helps clear my mind.

Mama doesn't say anything so I know she agrees. She agrees that she should be spending more time with Anastasia than with me! She hasn't said it but she knows it's true.

"Maybe you're right? We haven't been very fair to you girls, having you be separated means that we only get to spend a little bit of time with each of you," Mama says, making me shake my head. She furrows her eyebrows when she sees me shaking my head.

"Should spend time with her, she's your real daughter. She deserves all of your attention," I say, making Mama frown.

"You are my real daughter too," Mama says, making me shake my head. I back away from her when she tries to get closer, not wanting to be touched or held at the moment. "Raina, please. Let us sit both of you girls down and we can work through this," she states, holding out her hands for me to take. I shake my head as quickly as I can, feeling dizzy from the fast movement.

"Sit down at least sweetheart, you look like you're about to pass out," Mama says. I shake my head, my breathing picking up as I walk in a small circle to try and calm down. Her voice distorts in my ears, sounding all muffled the more and more my breathing hitches. It's like I can't breathe properly, like my chest is being pressed on so that no air enters my lungs.

My hands are shaking as I try to calm myself. I hear Mama's voice but it's just background noise, something that's there and yet isn't at the same time. I feel her hand grab my arm right as my knees buckle, my vision going black as I hear her voice raise.

The next time my eyes open, I'm laying in a bed. I look around, expecting to be in Anastasia's room but I'm not. I'm in a new room, one that's kind of devoid of color and looks like it is in desperate need of redecorating.

"You're awake," Anastasia's voice is quiet, right next to me. I flinch as I turn my head, seeing her laying curled up next to me. I see that she looks worried, that there's a tiredness in her eyes that shouldn't be there.

"What happened?" I ask after a moment, my throat feeling dry and I frown as I hear how scratchy my voice is.

"You fainted...you do that a lot," Anastasia says, resting her head on the pillow that she is laying on top of.

"Happens when I get stressed out. I know that I'm weird," I mutter, flinching when she flicks my forehead like I've done something wrong.

"You're not weird. Nanny does it too sometimes. That's probably where you got it from," Anastasia explains as she kicks her legs slightly. Everything is sort of coming back to me and I let out a small noise.

"I told Mother that I knew that she knew about us," I mutter.

"I know, she told me," Anastasia says, making me frown.

"Sorry I ruined our secret," I say, making her let out a huff of amusement.

"I don't care about that, no one else does either. Mother said that you were right, that keeping us separate was wrong and that since we're twins we need to spend time together. They've announced everything to the kingdom," Anastasia says. "Besides, they've been stuck with me for the past couple of hours worrying about you so they don't really care that both of us suck at keeping secrets," she whispers, making me smile slightly.

"I think it will be good to have my name back," I murmur, earning a chuckle from her.

"Lucky you. I'm always getting in trouble though so they'll probably call you Anastasia sometimes. Unless you become more troublesome than me," she teases with a soft smile.

"I think I already am more troublesome than you with the whole fainting thing," I point out, making her grin.

"I know! That's what is so wonderful about having a twin. You can be the one that gets all the attention when we're in trouble," she says as she sticks her tongue out at me, making me laugh as I curl up slightly.

"I don't think so," I disagree, making her huff.

"Way to not take one for the team," she fake shoves me, making me sit up. I grab a pillow smacking her with it. One thing leads to another and suddenly we're surrounded by feathers and broken open pillows and standing on the bed. Of course, that's when the door opens and Mother and Father walk in.

"My goodness," I hear Mother sigh, making me freeze as I look at Anastasia.

"Sacrifice," I shove her forward, knocking her down as I hide behind the pillows.