Meredith:
I opened my eyes and looked around. Everything around me was different...or was it my vision? The place was compressed, dark and cold. Where am I? The fire! What happened after the fire? Something felt off - like I wasn't myself. My body was badly bruised and heavy and I felt so disoriented. What was going on?
In the distance, I noticed a man proceeding towards me. His figure was unclear, but when the dim light struck upon his face, I noticed the evident look of worry plastered all over his face.
"Tigress!" He crouched beside and made an attempt to lift me up. Tigress? I felt a sharp pain in my ribs. Gasping, I reached for my side. Blood! I was bleeding! "Gosh! What did they do to you?" His voice sounded desperate and worrying. Who was he? Where was I? Did he save me from the fire?
I struggled to speak, and the only word that was able to come out of my mouth were, "Fire." Even with that, I didn't sound the same. My voice sounded different.
"Sh..." He helped me up gently. "It's okay." I noticed how he frantically kept looking behind him. Was someone after him?
As I sat leaning against the brick wall of the grimy alley, he edged closer, planting a kiss on my lips. I turned my head away on instinct, shocked at his action. He noticed it, but chose to ignore it though he looked slightly confused as to why I did that.
To stop the bleeding, he tore a part of the rim of his shirt, and tied it tightly around my waist. I flinched, feeling the intense pain in my side. Then he slipped his arm under my legs and lifted me up with ease. I had to throw my arms around him to keep from falling over. Someone please explain what is happening. He took me to who knows where. I couldn't speak. I couldn't ask him who he was and what he was doing with me.
There was a smoky black van waiting at a corner. He took his time placing me at the back and then slipped into the driver's seat, looking behind him for the 100th time. He started the engine, and then drove off.
What is happening?
"Hang on, love." He was speeding, overtaking cars ahead, oblivious to the insults rained on him by the irritated drivers. How did I end up in the back seat of a van of a man I barely knew? Who was he?
My head spinned...my vision became blur. Before I knew it, I had succumbed to unconsciousness. What is happening?
* * *
I was awoken by the strong smell of burning plastic. I looked to my right side, and that same man sat opposite me on a wonky chair, his head bowed, staring at the cemented floor. Was he looking after me? He noticed me reposition myself and immediately pulled his chair foward.
"You're awake!" He took my hands and sighed. "I thought I'd lose you."
I realized we were in a dingy motel room with no proper lights, just a dim lantern hanging in a corner.
"Where am I?" My voice came a little clearer.
"I know all this may seem confusing." He sighed again. "I don't how but we got splitted during the escape. I think they found you and stabbed you in the side. I'm only glad I saw you just in time to save you." He kissed my hand passionately. What?
"What escape?" I replied. "Who are you?" He looked at me. I noticed his facial features a little clearer this time; he had fierce eyes, giving him a fierce look. His gaze was like a laser that could burn a hole through anything he stared at. His eyebrows furrowed.
"You need rest." He said. "You may still be intoxicated after the attack."
"What attack?" I became more curious. I didn't have the heart to wait for who-knows-when for him to explain what was going on.
"Please explain." I realised I actually had a different voice. It was stronger and sounded more confident and sassy. He stared at me and sighed.
"We are here because of the chase. We were framed and accused of stealing a diamond necklace during a courier delivery and those people are after us to get it." What in the world?
"So what about the fire?" I asked. Maybe he did save me from the fire.
"What fire?" He chuckled. "Love, there was no fire." He frowned. He scanned my face.
"So why am I here?" If he wasn't here because of the fire, then who was he? Why did he bring me to this place?
"Piper you seem confused. You need to rest for a while."
"Piper? I'm not Piper." My eyes widened.
He chuckled, "Stop playing games hun. My head's already heated."
"I'm not Piper." I sat up this time, ready to confront this kidnapper or whoever he was. "My name is Meredith. I am not Piper." He saw that I wasn't joking, actually.
In an attempt to calm me down, he leaned foward and slowly kissed the side of my lips. I inched backwards, "Please don't do that." I felt a tingle in my spine.
He stared at me confusingly, "Piper?"
"I'm not Piper." Fear suddenly gripped me. "Take me back to my home. I don't want to be here!" I yelled. He grabbed my face in both hands. "Sh!" He looked through the window. "Don't yell. They might still be around."
I slapped his hands away and managed to stand up, reaching for the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" He trailed behind me.
"Home." I replied.
"What is wrong with you?" He blocked my path and stared at me. "Do you not recognise me?"
"I don't. I don't even know you." I felt a sharp pain in my side where I was wounded. I grabbed the handle of the wardrobe in pain, trying to swallow everything in. When I looked at my reflection in the mirror on the wardrobe, my knees weakened. My body...that wasn't my body!
"What is happening?" My stomach twisted. Then I began to understand everything. The man, his actions, his words...he wasn't referring them to me, but to the body I occupied. That meant...I had entered someone else's body!