The woman in the portrait looked exactly like the head I had seen before in Owen's suitcase. The only noticeable difference would be her head still attached to her body and her face glowing with a look of satisfaction.
I cautiously took two steps forward, the knife tainted by the maids' blood still resting in my hands, ready to cut down any adversary that may appear.
Beside the bed rest, many more small portraits were hung on the walls, some contained images of two kids sitting together in the grass, while others contained Ayla holding Owen's hand along with a man sharing striking features as them.
"Is he the previous head?" I asked.
But obviously, no answer came, after all, I was alone in this room.
…Or was I?
After Owen's initial attack, I could not help but be paranoid. Maybe I was being watched more than I had thought so previously.
"This is Ayla's room…" I looked at the bed, which contained many dolls of different animals, some that I knew about, some that I didn't.
I looked at one of the animal dolls shaped like a horse, but with white and black stripes all over it, and then grabbed it
"Now, what's this weird creature?" I grumbled and tossed it away.
Once again my eyes darted to the portrait of the woman.
I frowned and looked closer before coming to a single conclusion.
"It's her mother, isn't it..."
Ayla's mother's head was in Owen's suitcase, and he was aware of it. But why was his office empty? I had searched every corner and found nothing.
"What kind of sick game is even going on here…?" I said and shook my head.
A small headache started to build up from the moment I came here, these sudden twists of nature of these places were certainly not very helpful.
"Why did Owen attack me…? Previously he was not very interested or even showed the slightest bit of reaction no matter what I did but the moment I hit the desk…"
'Oh, that makes sense.'
I had tried to break something inside the dream, something I had never done in the previous loops. So, the retaliation came due to breaking things inside, huh? That was an unexpected discovery. If I had known this before, so much of my blood would have not been shed.
Sadly, I am a curious cat, who always ends up in trouble even after knowing the danger.
I turned to face another corner of the room, being alone had given me the much-needed relief and silence to introspect myself once more.
Seeing more bookshelves I licked my lips and moved toward them. Every step felt heavy, the fights have left me in a tattered condition, even after healing all the injuries.
First I was thrown like a rag doll by Owen, then he broke my ribs and tore open my shoulders, then I got stabbed in my guts and almost died. The last one's blame solely lies with me but, really… What kind of life am I even living?
'If Grandpa, Kit or even Mily ever saw the current me, they might have a heart attack.' I chuckled at such nonsensical thoughts and took the support of the wall, dragging myself onto the cold floor.
Sitting in silence for a moment, I moved my hand back and grabbed one of the books. With a small tug, I held it clearly in my grasp.
Tak—
And opened it.
It was empty…
'Are all the books blank?' I frowned and closed it immediately.
Then my mind wandered to those foggy rooms, the explanation I had come up with at that time was 'These rooms are foggy and hazy as the ghosts' memories of them have been lost.'
Can't this be the same for the books and other things, since the day is repeating, the ghost doesn't really need to remember all those things or even know about them.
I leaned back, resting my head gently on the shelves behind me. Rubbing my eyes, I felt tired, the blade left my hand as it fell with a tinkering sound. Feeling my hands empty, I clenched and unclenched my fist several times, they looked okay but only I knew what I had been through.
Being powerless was something I never expected to happen, yet I felt a bit of calmness. The realization that I am not just defined by my abilities was blissful.
"Haa… Huh?" Releasing a small sigh, I turned to look sideways to my right, the bed which was adorned by toys had something hidden in its corner. Raising my brows, I dragged myself there and pulled it out.
A small box rested in my palms, as I again leaned back on the walls.
The box looks like it has been taken care of a lot and not at the same time. Licking my lips, I opened it with a soft clicking sound.
Click—!
The box cap jerked back, inside there were photos of a birthday, Ayla stood there along with Leo in it, and in front of them was a cake. Leo had a big smile on his small face, meanwhile Ayla looked at the camera with a stoic and forced look.
I looked for more photos in it, but they all were the same with Ayla being alone with Leo, their parents were not present in any of them except one.
I took out the photo and looked at Ayla and Leo holding a knife together while cutting down a cake. They both looked much younger than now, beside them stood many figures, everyone was smiling. Even Owen and the woman beside him with grey eyes were full of smiles. Looking at both of them my stomach again churned, they have messed up not only their life but their children as well.
Sigh…
At the end of the box a small book remained with an old leather back, without much expectations I took it out and put the box beside me.
I opened it slowly feeling a worn-out material roughly on my palms.
[Grandfather bought me a diary as a gift, Yay! He is the best!]
I blinked.
The book I had opened turned out to have some words written over it. But it was written weirdly, the page has a single sentence over it in messy handwriting.
'Is it due to only remembering important details?'
I opened the next page, my heartbeat rising suddenly in excitement.
[Mother made me a cake… It was so tasty!]
Beside those words, a small scribble of cakes was drawn over it, looking at it a small smile appeared on my face.
Flick—!
Then I turned over to the next page.
[I am getting a baby brother, father said he is going to be my precious gift!]
Like before, small drawings of flowers were drawn over the letters, but the timeline didn't match with the context, it would not be wrong to assume not every detail was inscribed in this diary.
Flick—!
[Leo is so cute! I played with him all day… Mother kicked me out of the room for not studying, bad mother, humph!]
"Haha…" A small chuckle left my mouth, as I stared at the drawing of a pouty Ayla on the page.
Flick—!
[Wahhh, Leo called me Big Sis, mother was so happy!]
Flick—!
[Mother caught me playing, again… Father saved me... Hehe!]
Flick—!
[Grandfather came back on Leo's birthday! He said he will come to mine as well…So, happy!]
The next few pages were empty as I turned them over and over again. Then a new page came, it had tear stain marks all over it, my heart started to feel heavy as I read the words, whose handwriting had considerably improved.
[Grandfather has died…. Everyone is sad.]
"Ah, so it did happen," I muttered, to be honest, I was skeptical about his death since all the things Franz told me had been wrong till now.
Flick—!
[Father is not talking with anyone… He is crying all day,]
Flick—!
[...Father has been working nonstop for two months, he doesn't play with me and Leo anymore.]
Flick—!
[Father and mother have an argument…]
As I crossed each page, something more sad appeared, unlike before her words didn't hold the same joy and innocence. Realizing that something bad was about to happen soon, I steeled my heart and turned to a new page.
[Mother has left, it's been five months… Leo is crying, Father is ignoring us.]
Flick—!
[Father didn't come to my birthday… I want to cry.]
Flick—!
[Mother, when will you come back…?]
Flick—!
The pages started to feel moist as I moved to the next one, a little bit of pages seemed to have been torn away in frustration, as their remains still exist.
[Father slapped me when I asked about mother… I hate him!]
Flick—!
[Father has left the mansion, he warned us to never go out… I am scared.]
I gulped and turned to open the last page.
[Father bought another woman after returning…. Mother didn't come back.]
Just when I thought the diary had finished, a new sentence started to form. The words appeared with a blur of ink as they stated a single sentence.
[Father hit Leo… Please, just never return, please leave us forever.]
My eyes widened as I let go of the diary immediately.
Ba… Thump!
The silence that followed after was so deep that I could hear my heart beating.
"It's written now, does that mean…?"
No, not only that. I had forgotten it on the run, but since the ghost— Ayla can only remember the things she knew from before, doesn't that mean she will become aware of her mother's death today as well?
I grabbed the knife and got ready to leave. There was no time left to waste now.
Going out of the room I pondered about where to go next, then decided to go down.
Owen has hit Leo, this was written in the diary. Doesn't that mean instead of coming my way, he had gone for Leo instead?
Just as I stepped down the stairs, countless glares fell on me.
I froze.
My eyes moved to see not just the maids but other male servants had also come down in the hallway.
"Franz, man where have you gone…?" I couldn't help but remember him now, at least if he was here I could have thrown him down to run away.
I took a step back, then ran for the corridor. Leaving no chance for them to follow me.
Just like before someone came running in my direction from the open hall that exists on the side of the corridor.
He wore white clothes and torque. The chef held a blade the size of his arm and swung it down once.
I glanced at the pesky knife in my hand and then at his butchering blade, comparing them both.
'Ah, I am in trouble.' I thought to myself.
A small door was behind him, and behind me was an upcoming wave of new servants.
"I need to be fast…" I raised the knife and got ready as the chef lunged at me.
I dodged to my left and tried to stab his hands, but he kicked upward to my side leaving me no room for further attacks.
Staggering back, I didn't let him move first, instead, I rushed toward him. My knife went for his throat, to cut it open.
Thuck—!
He grabbed my hand and raised me up effortlessly.
"Argh!" I let out a groan of pain, as he gripped my hand tighter, making the knife fall from my hand.
I kicked him, holding his hands to get some support. Seeing my kicks having no effect, I got ready for another hit.
But instead, the butchering blade moved towards my neck. My eyes widened instantly in fear, as cold sweat started to trail down my neck.
Thuck—!
The blade hit me, and as I raised my left arm up in defense, the blade sliced through my flesh and bones, cleaving it away from my shoulder.
"Aaagh!" I cried in pain as my left arm fell to the ground.
Thud—!
I felt myself down in pain, as my vision started to blur, blood was going away like a river through my shivered limb, pooling it in the chef's footing.
I was going to die…