Chapter 1 - Waking up

The tickling sound of the man's vicious laughs echoed through her ears making her flesh creep. Looking amused at what's in front of him, he leans towards the bloodied girl who's sitting in an iron chair.

Her back was pinned against the spike of the iron chair, her wrist is screwed, few of her fingers are missing and both her feet are crushed. Blood oozes every part of her body. The sight of her is extremely gruesome yet the diabolical man in front of her seemed very amuse. His lips that were curled upward resembling of a smile, he spoke.

"My Sera... dear, don't dare forget this.. hmm?" His bone-chilling voice without any trace of humanity drifted through her ear.

His voice, his laugh, his touch, his presence are all imprinted on her mind. Her heart is filled with hatred; nothing but hatred.

Feeling a cold metallic pressed on her forehead, Seraphina slightly raised her head, though she could not clearly see his face, she still smirked mockingly at the man.

'Yes, I will not forget you.. even in my next lifetime, I'll definitely make you pay a 1000 times!'

BANG!

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Tuuut, tuuut, tuuuut

The digital sound of a heartbeat resounded across the four corners of the brightly lit white room.

A girl lying on the bed with a monitoring arterial blood pressure, ECG and also mechanically ventilated, slowly opened her eyes.

'Too bright!' She thought.

Aside from different high-tech monitoring machines beside her bed, even a speck of dust can't be seen inside the room. As the pitch of her heartbeat increases, the variables present at the monitors start to abnormally change. Her eyelids start to flicker as an alarm reverberated across her room.

Slowly, opening her eyes and shutting them once again.

A series of footsteps rushed to her. She could vaguely hear them uttering some words terms she couldn't understand. Thus, she attempted to open her eyes, again. She blinks constantly until her blurry sight adjusts to the light.

"She.. she's a- awake!" A stuttering voice made the busy crowd paused. They subconsciously shift their gazes on the girl's blinking eyes. Then, the abnormality of the variables in the monitor gradually reach normal limits and her heart rate stabilizes.

Stunned for a second, a man that appeared to be in his mid 20's wearing a white lab coat approaches her.

"Hello, Ms. Yue, I'm Dr. Jin. Can you hear me?" The man's monotone voice inquired as he leans closer to her. He added,

"Please blink twice if you can hear me." Instinctively, she slowly blinks twice as instructed.

'What the heck? Did I survive hell? Hehe.. that sc_u_m he should have killed me! I'll make him regret letting me live!'

Losing herself in her own thoughts and murder schemes, a light pinch on her hand brought her back to reality. Startled, she involuntarily withdrew her hand. The man called doctor Jin nodded in satisfaction. A series of the test went on for who knows how long, then, she once again heard Dr. Jin's voice.

Hearing him uttering some familiar medical terms, she pondered,

'Did I become Aurora(1) again? Just how long have I've been unconscious this time?'

"Inform Chairman Yue that Seraphina is awake. She—" before Dr. Jin ends his sentence, an audible noise made him stop midway. His attention turn to the white-haired man standing outside the transparent glass window -- behind him are few doctors who seem to have a hard time explaining which made the old man frowned even more.

"Continue to monitor Ms. Yue.." after saying a few notes with the other female doctor, Doctor Jin glances at her for about two seconds before leaving the room quietly.

Just as Dr. Jin stepped outside, Chairman Yu inquired with a rather annoyed tone.

"Doctor Jin, what happened to my granddaughter?" He asked. In spite of his white hair and visible wrinkles on his face, the way he causes a ruckus contradicts his appearance.

"I apolog—" before the other doctor behind Chairman Yue can fully explain the situation, he was interrupted once again by Chairman Yue.

"I don't need your goddamn apology! I want my granddaughter's life! I will burn this place if—" as he starts to vent his anger to everyone's present, Chairman Yue was abruptly interrupted by doctor Jin.

"She's awake." Without a change in his expression, Doctor Jin stared at Chairman Yue who seems to be shocked by the news. He repeated, "Chairman Yue, your granddaughter regained her consciousness."

Chairman Yue assumed that something bad happened to her beloved granddaughter, enough reason for him to go crazily mad. He is ready to burn this place with everyone who let her granddaughter die in it. But the two words that he's been waiting for the last one and a half year -- he thought he heard wrong.

Following Doctor Jin's gaze, the female doctor that has been monitoring the girl inside and unintentionally blocked their view, move aside revealing the girl who was lying on the bed. Her eyes kept on blinking making the old man eyes well up.

"Sera.." Chairman Yue softly called out her name with a rather gentle tone. His hand slowly touch the transparent glass window.

"Seraphina's vitals are now stable. Chairman Yue, Your granddaughter's chances of recovering are high. She can still live like a normal lady, however, we still have to keep monitoring her condition if any other brain stems are damaged." Doctor Jin's voice drifted through Chairman Yue's ear yet nothing seems to matter to him.

"I want to see her." Without leaving his eyes on her; Old Man Yue demanded.

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After Doctor Jin left, Seraphina tries to move her body but to no avail, she can only manage to lift her fingers. Her body felt sore and numb at the same time. Since her bed is slightly inclined, all she could do was to observe her surrounding.

The room has no decorations. It only has white walls, white ceiling, even the floor is white. She also notices a few transparent windows and door via her peripheral vision. Seraphina observed the female doctor monitoring her. The female doctor seems to do her job diligently, she sometimes writes or checks on her. Though receiving no response from Seraphina, the female doctor still occasionally talks to her.

"Your vitals are stable now and finally you're awake. Your grandfather is too worried about you." The female doctor reassured.

'Grandfather is too worried about you..' hearing a familiar sentence, Seraphina inwardly finished the rest of the sentence.

There and then, Seraphina felt something's off. Seraphina peered at the female doctor. She's writing something but the moment her pen stopped, she looked at her and offered a warm smile. The female doctor then slightly bowed her head before preparing to leave. Alas, before she reaches the glass door, the female doctor tripped.

'Eh!? Deja vu?'