Chapter 1

Miranda's POV

I felt like I had a long sleep. I slowly opened my eyes and was shocked to find myself in a confined coffin. Not only that, but I began to shake it vigorous, hitting the wood had and hoping the voices of the people I was hearing underground would come to my rescue, but none did.

"Help me! I'm not dead, help!" I yelled out.

I saw a man's face stare at me in shock and disbelief through the coffin's transparent glass.

"Help me!" I pleaded with my eyes, but as he was about to open the lid of the coffin, some people objected.

"Don't open the coffin, Tesh. She's dead".

"Grab a hold of yourself, son. That is a monster, not Miranda" I guess that was the father of the man.

"She is a demon! She had refused to rest in peace after she died".

I had no idea why I was in this coffin in the first place, but I was happy and thankful that I had not been buried. The young man, however, discarded the words of the people and opened the coffin; I was almost suffocating.

I sprang up to a sitting position, grasping and panting for air. The man patted me softly on my back. He does not seem scared of me, unlike the others, and this baffled me a bit.

I tried to get out of the coffin and he held my hands. Countless people stood away from us as I got out of the coffin. Of course, they would be, I would do the same if I was in their shoes.

This was obviously a burial ceremony, I was not expected to come back to life. But how did I die? That was a question I had no answer to, but I hope to find out, at least, with this man beside me.

I turned and looked at the coffin, I looked above it and was more than surprised to see that the picture of the dead person wasn't mine.

"Are you okay, Alison?" the man asked, and I couldn't hide my shock.

"My name is Miranda, not Alison. How come he's calling me Alison?" I thought and looked at him, simply lost in all that was happening.

"You can talk to me. You aren't dead, are you?" he asked, with beads of fresh tears forming in his eyes again.

It was obvious he had been crying for a while, his face was swollen, and he looked almost like a mess, but I care less. I needed to understand about things first.

"Why are you calling me Alison?" I asked, and everyone's jaw dropped.

"Capture that beast! She is not Alison, Tesh" his dad said, and some guards moved closer to get me.

Tesh stopped them.

"Stop it, dad. She was dead and probably in shock of what had happened to her, or maybe she lost her memory. But I won't let anyone hurt her, not even you" he said in a firm and deep voice which I admired how he managed to hide his pains.

"Let's go. I'll explain everything to you" he gripped my wrist before I could say anything and took me out of the hall.

People gave way immediately as we walked out, not of respect, but of fear of me.

We got to a car, he opened the door for me and went to the driver's seat.

"Fasten your seat belt" he said to me and ignited the car.

He drove out of the hall premises. I wondered why I don't have any memories of this strange man who cared for me this much. I looked out the window and mistakenly got a glimpse of my face in the side mirror, I was shocked at what I saw.

I saw the same woman whose picture was hung over the coffin. I screamed out loud and Tesh pulled over.

"This is not me" I thought as I held my head tightly, thinking of what was going on.

"What is wrong? Are you okay?" Tesh asked, but I just stared at him as tears rolled down my cheeks.

How would I explain to him that I don't know what is going on with me? I looked at myself in the mirror again.

"Have I aged this much?" I asked, almost inaudibly, and he let out a huff of relief.

"Yes, love. It's been five years since we started dating already, so you don't expect to look the same. But you're always beautiful to me. You care too much about your looks" he scoffed at the last sentence.

"Love? Dating? How come I have no memories of you?" I asked, distorted.

"I can't explain that, but I know you'll remember me soon." he said and I nodded.

He ignited the car and continued driving. As the gush of air hit my face, mild hard, I began to remember some things. It was the last night I could remember......

That night, Alexis and I had decided to run away from the orphanage that used to be our home since we were very little. It was also a full moon that night. I stood by the window in the room and stared at the moon while Alexis was getting ready for the escapade.

"I'm ready, sis" she shook me out of my admiration for the moon.

I was three years older, so she called me "sister".

"Yeah but before we go, do you remember what I told you about the full moon?" I asked, one of my hand on her shoulder.

But she rolled her eyes, she had never believed in the myth.

"Sis, there is nothing as soul shifting into another body. It's just superstition."

"No, Alexis. It's real"

"Have you witnessed any?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"See? That is because it's not real. The next full moon would be my eighteen birthday. I feel so blessed that my birthday falls under a full moon. I can't wait to feel the gush of strength that would rush through my veins." she said in a fantasy way.

"It's not as fun as you think" I said as I walked away from her and looked back to meet her glare.

"I mean the first experience isn't that fun" I forced a smile and stepped out of the room.

We managed to escape from the orphanage and went into the woods. We had plans of spending the night in the woods and finding a better life in the day, but things didn't go as planned.

While in the wood, Alexis told me she was pressed a day as a shy girl that she was, she could not pee in front of me. So, she walked some miles away from me to pee.

The next thing I felt was a bullet that pierced my heart and my soul, slowly evacuating my body. I fell lifeless to the ground.