Unpleasant memories

It didn't take long before Circe found the street. She would never have done such a thing as walking while eating but it was a matter of urgency. She felt like if she didn't eat she would faint in the middle of the dark street.

This part of the city was a place where the old and the new clashed in a chaotic mess. The buildings were a mix of medieval and modern architecture, with stone walls, wooden roofs, and colourful banners. They also had broken neon signs, electric lights, and holograms that flickered and buzzed. The street was littered with trash, broken glass, and syringes. Circe avoided eye contact with the shady figures that lurked in the shadows.

After a while, she reached the building. It was a rundown apartment complex that looked like it could collapse any minute. She heard kids crying, couples arguing, and TVs blaring from the windows. She pushed the door open and entered the dimly lit lobby. The motion sensor lights were broken and flickering, casting eerie shadows on the walls. The staircases were cracked and droplets dripped down from the ceiling. She had to climb five flights of stairs to get to the apartment.

She sighed and began to ascend the stairs, holding her breath as she passed by the stench of urine and vomit.

In her past life, she had times when she went into hiding and was forced to live in caves. Compared to such a hellhole she would much rather be in a cave. After climbing two flights of stairs she saw a couple entangled with each other in the shadows. They just glanced at her before continuing to eat each other's faces. Circe's brow twitched after passing them.

"Yet I was the vulgar one," she muttered to herself. She was rumoured to be a vixen with a lascivious nature when she had only kissed one person in her past life. She chuckled softly recalling how they would yell for women to hide their husbands and sons as the minx was in town.

She reached the fifth floor and pushed the door open. Circe checked the numbers on the doors and three doors later she was standing in front of the apartment. She reached out to knock on the door but retracted her hand as she recalled the key card in the wallet purse. The runes on the key card matched the ones on the lock and with a click the door opened.

Suddenly sounds of lewd cries and heavy gasps flooded her ears as she closed the door behind her. She took two steps forward entering the small sitting area and her body froze.

In the dimly lit room, a woman with dazzling red hair was straddling a man on the couch. Her robe was slipping down her shoulders revealing smooth jade-like skin as she writhed enthusiastically. The man's big hands grabbed the woman's perky butt and squeezed roughly. The woman let out an exaggerated moan and tilted her head while her breast bounced with her movement.

She suddenly caught a glance of Circe standing at the door and instantly panicked.

She hastily tugged at her robe and got off the man who sat up curiously.

Circe suddenly felt a surge of anger and disappointment rising within her. This feeling wasn't her own but coming from the original owner of this body. Before she could even process the scene the woman's eyes locked with hers, and with a sudden motion, she grabbed a nearby couch cushion and flung it at Circe.

"You!..." Circe began, her voice trailing off as her mother's furious yell cut through the air.

"Didn't I fuckin tell you to find somewhere else to sleep for the next two days, huh?!" the woman shouted, her face flushed with anger.

She flung another cushion at Circe but Circe managed to dodge before retreating silently toward the only closed door in the apartment. It had to be her bedroom because the other room was too disorganized with clothes and underwear strewn everywhere.

She reached for the doorknob not wanting to confront this crazy woman but this crazy woman wasn't done with her. Fueled by rage after being ignored she leaped over the couch and grabbed Circe by the arm, preventing her from leaving. The air crackled with tension as the woman's voice continued to pierce the room, drowning out all reason.

"Where the hell do you think you are going? Go sleep at your fathers. Didn't that bastard give you enough money? Go go get out," she said trying to push her out but Circe felt an overwhelming feeling of disgust. She shrugged her hand away her jaw clenched as she fought to contain the torrent of emotions threatening to consume her.

"Don't touch me!" she spat out before slipping into the bedroom and shutting the door with a loud bang. She locked the door with a soft click and leaned her back against the door.

She could still hear her voice still echoing through the bedroom door while cursing her. She suddenly heard the voice of the man speaking in a croaky voice,

"Perse, is that your daughter?"

Circe didn't hear exactly what the woman responded with but she heard the man's response clearly and almost threw up her dinner.

"How about you bring her to join us? I will triple the payment," he said and the room fell silent for a while before a loud shrill voice roared.

"Get your shit and get the fuck out you pig!" The man tried to reason with her but the woman named Perse was furious. She grabbed his pants and shirt before tossing it outside.

"GET OUT!" she bellowed. Soon there was a loud bang from the main door closing shaking the walls slightly.

Suddenly there was loud banging at the door of Circe's bedroom. She was kicking and slapping the door hard while yelling, "Ci Ci, you brat. You owe me the money that I lost. Don't you dare think of staying in my house without paying me for ruining my deal? Do you hear me you bitch..."

Circe didn't hear the rest of her nonsensical rumbling. She slid down the door and sat on the floor her hands covering her ears.

She was used to such chaos but instead of her mother yelling at her it was her mother protecting them. Her mother always used magic to create a sound barrier around their bedroom preventing them from hearing the ruckus outside. The next day they would find their mother with bruises and sometimes broken bones.

Soon enough, Circe learnt how to break the spell. Since she was only seven years old and unable to match her father's strength she tried to learn white magic spells to increase her strength so she could fend him off but she found it incredibly difficult to learn. So like before she turned to dark magic and got into the forbidden arts.

She drew runes with a sharp blade and began to recite an incantation. With the same blade, she cut her palm and added a drop of her blood to the runes. It failed five times but on her sixth try the runes emitted a dark purple light and entered her body.

She felt a burst of heat and force in her hand, enhancing her magical power and endurance. The spell would last her half a day so when she sensed that her mother had erected a sound barrier to protect them she didn't hesitate to break it.

She opened the door and found her father beating her mother. Filled with rage she grabbed a knife in the kitchen and lunged forward cutting her father's arm. Her father struck her sending her flying a few feet but Circe was like a little beast on a rampage.

She persisted in her attacks and forced him to use his full strength. She was kicked into the wall. The effects of the spell wore off. Filled with rage her father picked up a fire poker and walked over to her cursing and swearing at Circe. Her mother rushed over to beg for her daughter rubbing her hands frantically with tears streaming down her face. She knelt between them blocking his path but she was struck in the face and fell to the side.

Circe watched as the fire poker descended upon her and struck her. Several times her mother shielded her but she would be shoved away and her father would strike her again. She moved her gaze and caught sight of Ayra standing at the creak of the bedroom door frozen. Her protective instincts kicked in and she mouthed for Ayra to close the door. Ayra slowly closed the door looking terrified.

Circe touched her abdomen recalling the sensation of her skin being torn that night. The scar that she carried with her in her past life was no longer there. Such unpleasant memories were buried deep in her heart ages ago but now they came gushing out like a geyser. Maybe it was because her emotions were being affected by this body that she couldn't control her emotions. She struggled out of her clothes. The damp fabric clung to her skin, and she hastily discarded them, shivering in the cool air coming from the open window. With a rough tug, she wrapped herself in a thick towel, vigorously drying her hair.

A feverish heat coursed through her, rendering her limbs heavy and her thoughts murky. She stumbled to the bed, collapsing upon it, her body aching with the remnants of both physical and emotional strain. She ignored the wounds as weariness enveloped her like a heavy cloak, and she quickly fell asleep.