Two souls in one body

Lena turned around and spotted an old grandma behind the fenced area. She was on the other side of the garden. The fence was large walls but each section had a large circle cut with three bars.

"Are you asking for me?" Lena stood up and walked to the fence. She grabbed onto one of the bars with her hand.

"You are a blessed child." The granny spoke softly.

Lena paused and just stared at the granny. She didn't say anything but just weakly smiled. 'What is this granny talking about?'

The granny suddenly grabbed her hand and stuck her face out of the space between the bars. "YOU… are a blessed child!" She screamed to Lena.

Lena quickly moved back her hand from granny's hold. Lena was creeped out a bit. She smiled again and swiftly turned back to walk away.

'Yup, this granny is crazy… just walk away.' Lena thought to herself.

"You have two souls in one body." The granny quickly yelled.

Lena stopped her footsteps and turned back to face the granny. "What did you say?" Lena replied. The part about two souls in one body had gotten her attention.

The granny beckoned Lena to come back which she did but Lena made sure not to be too close this time to the fence.

"I can see it. You have one strong blessed soul emitting from your body. But in your heart, a dark soul resides there. Two souls in a body."

"What does that mean?" Lena was curious. Ever since she arrived here, nothing had helped her obtain clues about her "unique" situation.

She knew that some part of herself currently still had a presence of the old Lena. There had been some times she acted out of control.

"The dark soul controls the fate of the body." The granny replied.

Lena was still not understanding what the granny was saying. She moved a bit close to the granny because the granny was talking soft again.

"A dark soul has a cursed fate... Those who are meant to hate you will forever hate you. And those who are meant to love you will forever love you. They can't break the cycle. And you cannot break the cycle either or bad things will follow you."

"What bad things?" Lena asked. 'Was this granny referring to her kidnapping and what is now currently troubling the Shen family? Was it because of me?'

"If you defy your fate, you will suffer the consequences."

"How do I break the curse?"

"Die and be reborn. Only then will your true soul be fully merged with the body."

"Die? Wait, are you saying that because I don't want to be like the original Lena that I will suffer?"

Lena thought that it was stupid. She wanted to be nicer but she will be punished for doing that?! What kind of b*llsh*t voodoo is this? The granny turned around to leave.

"Wait granny!" This time it was Lena who put her face through the space between the bars and yelled.

"What do you mean by die and be reborn? Didn't I die already?" Lena yelled back but the granny continued to walk away and not reply. The granny hummed and nodded her head side to side as she strode away.

Lena quickly ran around the fence to catch up to the granny. It took some time to get to the entrance that connected both gardens. When she arrived at the location the granny was standing before, the granny was nowhere in sight. Lena ran a few times around the area to look for her.

Lena was panting really hard and trying to recall everything that the granny told her. She placed her hand on the wall for some support.

"Lena? Are you okay?"

Lena turned around and it was her grandmother looking worryingly at her.

"I was looking for you for some time now." Grandma Shen walked over to Lena.

"I am fine." Lena quickly smiled. "I was just relaxing in the garden."

"You are sweating."

Lena touched her forehead. "I splashed my face with water a while ago. I made sure not to get myself to wet."

"Let's go home, then."

"Ok." Lena replied. She put her arm around her grandma to help her grandma and they both walked back to the main entrance of the shrine.

Lena looked back one more time before leaving the entrance. She stopped to look at a stone engraving on a statue by the entrance.

"Red thread of fate." Lena read it out loud.

"That's right. This is a shrine for the diety Siming. People come here to pray for a good fate for newborn babies, marriages, and the afterlife. Legends say this is where the diety last resides before returning to its realm." Grandma Shen spoke.

"I thought this was a normal shrine. What did you come here to pray for?" Lena looked down at her grandmother.

Grandma Shen cleared her throat. "Nothing in particular." She evaded the question.