⚠ WARNING ⚠: light viol°nt content

I began to feel better a couple of days after my suspicious conversation with Alice. 

When I moved around, I felt less discomfort, and Alice's treatment no longer hurt. It was so unexpected that I assumed the woman was a nurse or some other type of medical practitioner. I had even expected her to make a mistake in how she treated me, but she did not, much to my surprise.

Regardless, I was feeling better. I then decided to exit the bedroom one fine morning.

“Morning,” I greeted James and Alice.

They were in the kitchen. James sat in front of a dining table with a cup of what I assumed to be coffee, while Alice was busy cooking pancakes on the stove.

There was something else I noticed in the house. Along the way to the kitchen, there were a couple of picture frames on the wall that had photos of the younger versions of Emma, James, and Alice.

So it was not a stretch for me to assume James was Emma's father. That fact disappointed me because it made me rule out the possibility that they were kidnappers.

It also showed it would be difficult to escape their grasp.

“Good morning, Emma,” Alice smiled towards me, returning my attention to the kitchen. “Here, have a plate.”

She had arranged a stack of pancakes on a white ceramic plate. I moved to get a cup of coffee, intending to go to the dining table where James was.

But then I stopped. 

Apart from my suspicions about him, the air around James felt unwelcoming. I knew little about the guy, and I did not want to make an effort to get to know him because of how I felt about him.

So I turned to the woman who was cooking on the stove.

“Mom, are you a doctor?” I questioned Alice. 

“No, honey. I’m a nurse. Why, did you forget?”

Despite the question, Alice felt friendly enough. 

I didn’t want to create a scenario where I would have to interact with James. So I talked to Alice about her job as a nurse while mentally selecting questions that would keep her talking for minutes on end. And I pretended to listen attentively while eating my breakfast.

Alice did not seem to mind, and in fact appeared to be enjoying her conversation with her daughter.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was keeping you from your breakfast,” Alice suddenly noticed.

‘Fuck…’ 

By that point, I was halfway through my meal and starting to feel full.

“I don’t mind—”

“Why don’t you go sit with your father?”

I tensed up at that.

“I’m about done here. I’ll join you guys at the table in a minute.”

There was nothing I could say to that, and so I turned to head to the table. James was still present, and he began to stare at me as I moved to a seat that was not close to his.

I ignored him as I resumed my breakfast.

However, James was still eyeing me to the point it was getting uncomfortable.

He was really not helping with the suspicions I had about him.

‘Creepy fuck.’

“… greet your father?” I heard James murmur. I paused my meal, unsure if I had heard correctly.

“You won’t greet your father?” James repeated. He was still muttering, but it was louder than before. 

Those were the first words he had spoken to me since I became Emma.

“Huh?” I asked in the middle of my meal.

That was a bad decision on my part.

I didn’t get the chance to act, because in the next instance, I found myself on the floor. I didn’t even have time to figure out what was happening before James was above me, raining punches on my body.

“No! James! Stop it!” I heard Alice cry frantically.

I thrashed beneath the guy, screaming and turning on the floor to avoid his blows.

“She just got better! Get off of her!”

James was suddenly off of me. And once he was, I hurriedly backed to a wall, panting loudly.

“You won’t greet your father? Are you mad at me because I punished you? I won’t tolerate this level of disrespect--”

I had tuned out James’s ranting. Adrenaline hit me, and it felt like I was having an out-of-body experience.

‘What the fuck?’

“What the fuck?” I voiced out, touching my cheeks and feeling a fresh bruise swelling on the skin. My body was trembling from what had happened, astounded by the sudden outburst of violence.

I then turned my attention to the couple in front of me.

James stood tense, glaring at me. Meanwhile, Alice had her hands on her husband, ready to stop him if he attempted to pounce on me again.

“Emma? Emma, darling, are you okay? Please understand your poor father. He didn’t mean it…”

I earlier only suspected James was to blame for Emma's condition when I took possession of her body. But now I was certain.

Everything injury on Emma's body.

They all came from that man.