Chapter 8: New Person

"Mom....," Mira spoke in her sleep . Her voice was so faint that it seemed like her whisper was carried away by the wind.

Her body was covered with cold sweat. Her hair was damp and messy. She clutched the sheets tightly as she tried to calm down her erratic breathing.

"Mom.... don't..leave..me," Mira repeated her last word in a whisper. The tears were streaming down her cheeks as she kept on repeating the same phrase.

"Mom!" her eyes opened and she gasped for air. There was a warm liquid flowing down her cheeks and her body shaking with fear.

She could hear her heart beating wildly inside her chest.

Mira sat up quickly as she wiped away the tears from her cheek with the palm of her hands. She tried to calm herself down again.

The nightmare had disappeared. Mira wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her arm as she closed her eyes slowly.

"It was just a nightmare Mira," Mira muttered softly.

There were few moments where Mira couldn't sleep. Most of the time she dreamed about the past, which included her childhood days. When she did sleep, she always dreamt about her mother. She tried hard to forget about her but whenever she thought of her, she felt her heart ache as she remembered how her mother died right in front of her eyes. And how helpless she was at that time.

"Mira picked her long brown hair that was falling on her shoulder and covered it in a messy bun with a claw clip. She looked at the time it was about 5:00 Am in the morning. She put her feets in her slippers and entered the bathroom, grabbing the toothbrush from the cupboard as she washed her face with cold water. Then took a shower to calm her nerves.

After drying her hair, she walked into her closet. Her hand roamed through her clothes until it hit upon a black silk top with black shots. A knee length beige blazer on top. She took out her clothes from the hanger and slipped it on. She took her dryer from a drawer and started drying her wet hair.

After drying her hair she loosely curled her hair, which stood loosely on her shoulder. After getting done with her hair she applied make-up on her face. Placing her sunglasses on her nose and grabbed her purse from the corner of her room, she went out of her bedroom and down the stairs. As she was walking downstairs, she heard chattering that was coming from the dining room. Entering the dining room.

"Come Mira, we were all waiting for you," she heard her grandmother's cheerful voice echoing in the dining room.

"You guys can continue grandma. I have some important work to deal with," Mira replied as she waved off her grandma.

"Will you leave without meeting me?" a voice suddenly asked. Looking towards the direction of the voice, Mira saw the back of a man sitting at a table as he was sipping some coffee.

His back was familiar to Mira but she couldn't place her finger on where she saw him before. The man whose back was in front of Mira rose up from his chair, turning towards Mira and gave her a smile.

"Aiden! when did you arrive?" Mira ran towards him and embraced him tight in her arms.

Aiden was her best friend, his crime partner, and cousin. They have spent their childhood together. But they have drifted apart after he went abroad to pursue his dream.

"Why didn't you tell me? I would have come to the airport to pick you up," Mira punched his shoulder playfully, smiling brightly.

"Well, I wanted to surprise you," Aiden said as he winked at Mira.

"Well I would have given you the privilege to have breakfast but I have to reach the office before that devil," Mira responded as she pointed at her wrist watch.

"Mira!" her grandmother gave her a glare . Mira chuckled at her grandma's comment.

"Okay okay, grandma. I have to go now." Mira kissed her grandmother on the cheek.

"Goodbye grandma," Mira said as she headed out of the house.

...

'Lewis Villa'

Mira stepped inside Lewis Villa. She removed her heel so that they would not make noise as she wanted to surprise someone.

"Mir...," Nora was about to call her name but was cut off by Mira, who was standing in the hallway with her heels in her hand. She slowly strode towards Nora who was surprised by her actions.

"I am here to wish Grandpa. I forgot to wish him yesterday because of your devil brother," Mira whispered in Nora's ear.

"Okay, okay," Nora gestures to zip her lips while whispering.

Mira nodded her head and slowly paved her way towards the living room where grandpa was sitting while reading the newspaper.

Mira slowly hid behind him without making any noise. She extended both her hands to cover grandpa's eyes.

Mira's Grandpa (Elijah Harris) and Harold Lewis were best friends. Elijah loved her granddaughter Mira so much. After his death Harold became her grandpa.

"Mira," Grandpa moved his left hand to touch her hands that were covering his eyes.

"Grandpa, how do you always recognize me?"

Mira questioned as she pulled her hand away from Grandpa.

"Because it is only you who always covers my eyes," Grandpa answered softly in an affectionate tone as he clasped Mira's hand and made her sit beside him.

"Happy Happy Birthday Grandpa!" Mira cheered happily. Grandpa smiled at her and squeezed her hand that was holding onto his tightly.

"Has Zion bullied you?" Tell me I will scold him," Grandpa asked Mira with worry written all over his face. He knew about Zion's behavior with Mira. They would fight with each other whenever they met.

"Grandpa, I haven't bullied her but she had been bullying me," Zion's voice rang in the living room. Grandpa and Mira turned to look at his Zion.

"Grandpa, he is lying. Yesterday he insulted me in front of everyone," Mira said, as she rose up from the sofa.

"That was your own mistake. Grandpa she ruined my car yesterday," Zion defended himself.

"Huh! Do you have any proof that I ruined your car?" Mira asked, raising her brows.

"Both of you stop," Grandpa ordered them with a stern look in his face, which caused both Mira and Zion to shut up immediately. Grandpa cleared his throat as Mira and Zion stared at him nervously.

"Let's eat breakfast now," Grandpa commanded, taking a glance at Mira and then at Zion.

"No, I have lost my appetite," Zion declared and strode into the hallway to exit.

Zion came out of the villa with his hands in his pockets. His mood was very bad. Whenever he sees Mira his mood automatically turns sour. He hated her attitude toward him.

He then strode towards his car taking the key from the driver, he stopped in front of his car when he noticed Mira's car beside his. The smirk appeared on his lips when an idea flashed in his mind. He crouched down in front of Mira's car and punctured her car's tires.