New World, New Life, New Me (OLD)

Chapter 8: Safe for now

I woke up gasping for air. I looked around, and found that I was in my room. "How did I get here? I was in the pond." I thought as I got out of bed. I got dressed and went off to find a maid for some breakfast. Could somebody brought me from the pond?

As I was wondering the halls, one of the maids took me see my parents. Maybe they want to check up on me? But they never cared about me before.

When I walked into their office, I got hit with deja vu. It was an exact replica of yesterday morning. Blake was standing between my parents with his blank stare. My father was talking about him being my new older brother.

"He is your big brother, understand?" Father said.

I nod my head yes, but inside I was confused. Did I die and start the day over? Will I keep waking up on this same day? Is it like Ground Hogs Day? Or is it like Happy Death Day, where I only repeat days that I died in?

I was thinking about all this when my parents pushed Blake and I out of the room. I didn't want to be alone with him again. I think he was the one who drowned me. But I couldn't just ignore him.

So I gave him a tour around the manor, just like last time. But when I went into the gardens. I didn't mention the pond. Instead, I stared rambling about all the different flower types.

"Over there are the roses, and next to them are the tulips. And after that are the dai-"

"What's that?" Blake asked as he pointed to something.

I gaped at him. This was the first time I heard him speak. Maybe we could be friends after all. But then I saw what he was pointing at.

It was the statue. I started to panic. That was where I was killed. I need to get away. Right now. So I said the first thing to came to mind.

"Oh that's just a statue of our family's first chicken farmer. All the chickens got loose in the Coop Incident of 1289, and he was the one who wrangled them all back. So they built him a statue. Pretty stupid, huh?"

Blake looked at me like I was an idiot. Which, to be fair, I was. Really? A statue of a chicken farmer! Nobody would believe that! Maybe he's going to kill me because of how stupid I sounded!

But then the unexpected happened. Blake started to laugh. His laugh was so light and joyful, could it really be from the same boy? But it was, and soon I started to laugh too. We laughed for a good while.

After we were done laughing, Blake asked me. "What is that statue really about? Because he doesn't really look like a chicken farmer?"

My smile dropped, and I said in a quite voice, "It's a statue of our family founder. I thought you would get mad, so I lied. I'm sorry."

Neither of us said anything for a moment, but Blake finally said "You don't have to lie to me. I won't get upset at you."

"But you already did. To the point of murder!" I thought. But I smiled and said "Thank you. I haven't finished showing you all the flowers, follow me!"

We spent the rest of the day out in the garden. I did most of the talking, and Blake just listened. But that was fine, as long as he wasn't hurting me, he could do whatever he pleases.

Eventually, the sun began to set, we went inside for supper. After eating a delicious meal, and thanking the chief, which really surprised Blake, we went off to bed.

"Goodnight Blake, have sweet dreams" I told him before closing my bedroom door.

"Goodnight little sis, have sweet dreams too." He told me with a small smile, before closing his door.

I waited an hour to make sure he was asleep before going to Theodore, but while waiting, I thought about Blake. He called me little sister, which never happened in the real game. So I think I was making progress with him, but I still felt unsettled about yesterday.

When I made the journey to Theodore, I kept looking over my shoulder. I knew no one had followed me, but still. I opened the trapdoor, and ran and gave Theodore a hug.

"Whoa, nice to see you too Maria!" He said hugging me back. But he became concerned when he saw my tears.

"Are you alright? Did something happen?" He asked me.

I looked into his pleading and trusting eyes. Yes something did happen. I died. Twice. The second time was yesterday, or maybe today. I was drowned by my own brother. And now I'm so scared.

But I couldn't tell him that. It never really happened. So I lied and said, "No. It's just that I got an older brother today, and I'm just a bit tired of showing him around the manor, that's all."

Theodore didn't look convinced, but he just said "Well, if something ever is wrong, feel free to tell me, okay?"

He sounded so genuine, that he made me feel safer, I told "Of course," and he smiled again.

"So tell me about this older brother of yours?"