Miho wakes kicking and flailing in the dark, gasping for every breath she can muster, the fear of death consuming her as she struggles to dislodge the hands of the man who is trying to choke her. Finally she ceases struggling, she ceases fighting against... Nothing! Her eyes open wide, her mouth hangs open, she's not choking, not being assaulted. "Where am I?" she wonders staring into the darkness,
What's the last thing you remember?
"It was...it was someone... someone... I think... Oh, I don't remember for sure." She mutters to herself staring blankly, her hands around her neck.
Car tires screeching on the pavement?
"No. I don't re...mem...ber that..." her thoughts drifting, confused, trying to remember what had just happened. Before she can continue the voice continues.
Fire? Gunshot?
"No." she mutters in a voice barely audible even to her. "I was... OMG!" she screeches, "I was being choked."
It's fine if you don't remember. But you will.
"What?" she asks nervously, realizing for the first time that she can hear a voice. But, she doesn't think anyone else is in the room. The voice feels more like it's in her head. "Am I going crazy?" she wonders.
Before she can continue her thoughts the voice returns. Tell me, were you bullied? Maybe you were the bully."
"Bullied or bully? I... I guess I was bullied." she nods now certain of that. "You see, I was..." she starts to explain when the voice interrupts.
Regrets? Oh yeah, everyone regrets it.
Miho sits still, her hand massaging her throat while balancing her body with the other, "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do. I regret I was always the weak girl instead of being stronger." she whispers.
Listen here. Apparently everyone deserves a second chance. Yeah, even you.
"Who are you?" she blurts out looking around the room. "Where are you?" She calls taking stock of the darkness, trying to figure out where the voice is coming from, if it's safe to get off the the bed she's sitting on.
Then the lights come on. Miho covers her eyes as her pupils contract trying to protect themselves from the painful light that is washing into them. When they finally adjust, she takes stock of the room she's in and more importantly, trying to find the person attached to that voice. Miho has never seen a room this grand before. The room is huge, with a large oak dresser, a beautiful mirror, lovely works of art that she has only ever seen in books. The bed she is sitting on appears to be very old, it's large canopy overhead with beautiful curtains hanging down, drawn open by gold spun ropes that give her a view of the dazzling room. The sheets are soft and sheer, the pillows fluffy and seemingly brand new and a white stuffed bear laying on the pillows, reclining against the headboard as if this is his room. She picks up the bear and stares at him, she squeezes the bear trying to find a microphone or something where the voice could have come from, but finds nothing. "You're cute." she says bouncing the bear. "Do you know where that voice came from?" she smiles at it. "Didn't think so. Oh, God! I'm talking to a stuffed animal. I knew I was going crazy." she laughs. "I'll call youuuuu... Gom-sa." she says laughing again. "You are cute." she says hugging her.
At the other end of the room, across from the bed is a large picture window. Miho slowly slides off the bed and, hugging the bear to her chest, walks over to the grand looking window. "Wahhhhh!" she gasps as she gazes at the large garden outside. The trees, the bushes, the lawn, everything is so beautiful and so well cared for. When she looks left and right she realizes just how big this house and estate must be. "Amazing!" she gasps, "This must belong to someone very rich." she decides, showing the outside to the bear as if it could really see, "It's beautiful. Don't you agree Gomsa?"
Miho looks down at her body and stares. noticing that she's wearing her full school uniform. She stands puzzling; she remembers...she thinks she remembers taking off the tie and her skirt, that she was unbuttoning shirt, "Maybe it was a dream?" she wonders aloud. "Or maybe who ever owns this house saved me?"
Miho returns toward the bed and sets Gomsa down on the bed against the pillows, "You should probably stay here. I'm gonna go check and see what's in the house." As Miho gets to the door she chuckles briefly, "I am crazy!" she shakes her head, "Talking to a stuffed animal.
Miho opens the door and slowly slides into the hall. She looks both ways and sees no one, "Hello!" she calls out softly. "Hello." Receiving no reply, she walks her way toward the stairs, her socks softly padding on the floor beneath. "This place is so huge." she whispers. When she reaches the stairs she stops and gazes in awe at the beautiful craftsmanship of the center area of the estate. The fine etching, the beautifully painted walls, the gorgeous paintings that hang on them, everything seems so carefully designed she could stand and gawk at the foyer all day. "If only I had a camera or a sketch pad." she muses.
Miho reluctantly returns to the issue at hand, finding the owner. "Hello?" she calls out a little more loudly than before. She waits briefly for an answer, receiving none, she heads downstairs. She slows briefly a time or two to marvel at the artwork on the walls and to stare at the fine sculptures and woodwork this place has. When she reaches the bottom she thinks she hears something, voices maybe. She stops and listens again, it's voices, "Oh, thank God!" she exhales. Normally the thought of meeting new people would intimidate her, but she is now sure she nearly died the other night, that someone was choking her. So, whoever lives here must have saved her and dressed her back in her uniform and laid her on the bed. "He or she must be a good person." she concludes.
As she gets closer top the room, she slows, there are several voices coming from inside the room and they don't sound friendly;
"Who are you people?"
"Well, i'm Jesse. You also should try on o new shirt. I don't think red suits you."
Miho stops, nervously debating whether to continue, "If they're having a family fight, I don't want to intrude. They might yell at me." she worries. "But, I'm already this far. They have to know I'm here. I mean, someone brought me here. It'll be okay." she tells herself, trying to get the courage to continue. Taking a deep-breath she continues walking, as she reaches the corner of the entrance she checks herself; She fixes the white shirt of her sailor top, pulls the wrinkles and adjusts the pleats of her navy blue skirt, pulls up her navy socks just above her knees and straightens her red tie. "Perfect." she mutters, "Or as perfect as I'm gonna get."
"Here we go." she sighs. Miho steps into the room, bows, then rises and waves with both hands, "Hi. I'm Miho Haragawi. I want to thank whoever saved me." She stops abruptly, looking around the room at the group assembled; not only do they not look like a happy family, they don't look like a family at all. A chill runs up her spine, "This was a mistake." she says to herself, her smile still planted on her face.