A boy lay on the bed. Pain shot through his skull as he opened his eyes. His head rested on a soft pillow, and a throbbing ache blurred his vision.
Above him was an unfamiliar white ceiling. He guessed it was the kind you'd find in a hospital.
"What am I doing here? What is this place?" he muttered. He turned his head toward a beeping sound and saw a machine tracking his heart rate. A drip bag hung above, releasing fluid drop by drop.
His head pounded as he tried to remember how he ended up in a hospital.
"Last thing I remember was dying. Did I survive?" he whispered. He glanced at his weak hand and noticed it was a shade darker than his own.
"This isn't my hand," he said, his voice sounded different but filled with confusion. Slowly, he pulled himself up, groaning, his body feeling foreign to him, and stared at a dirty glass window across the room.
"What?!" he shouted. "This isn't my face, either!"
"This isn't possible" he continued "This has to be a dream or I'm probably on drugs because people do not just wake up from the dead right?!" He said as he reached for his cheek, it felt real and not a dream, he even tried pinching it but only screamed.
"This can't be happening, this isn't real.. this can't be real," he concluded.
Memories began flooding back. He felt a car crash, familiar faces laughing as he faded away, and a man gripping his forehead, blood trailing down.
"These emotions and memories aren't mine," he muttered. "This isn't my body, what happened?."
You might be wondering what's happening. Let's rewind a bit.
His real name was Raphael. He was a 25-year-old cyber technician in another world. He worked at a tech company, doing his job without question, until one day.
While passing his boss's office, he overheard something he shouldn't have.
"Okay, I hope the females are virgins. The children shouldn't be less than ten years old. My client doesn't like noisy ones, and make sure there are no men either," his boss said, speaking low on the phone.
Raphael should have walked away, but curiosity got the better of him.
Maybe his boss was talking about something else. Promotions? But nothing fit.
This was a tech company. What did virgins and children have to do with it?
So, he stayed and listened closely.
"Yes, that's all. I'll send the boys to pick them up. Make sure they're all blindfolded," his boss continued.
Raphael should have left right then. But curiosity gripped him, and he stayed a while longer.
Just as he was about to slip away, a co-worker blew his cover.
"Raphael? What are you doing at the boss's door?" Jinnah asked.
Raphael froze. "What do you mean? I was just passing by," he replied quickly, trying to play it cool.
Blackbeard, their boss, overheard them. Out of caution or suspicion, he called them both in.
Raphael walked in slowly, nerves twitching.
"What's the commotion?" Blackbeard asked, hands folded on the desk, eyes sharp.
"Sir, I caught Raphael eavesdropping," Jinnah said bluntly.
He turned to Raphael. "Is that true?"
"Of course not, sir. I was just passing by," he answered quickly, keeping his tone steady.
If Blackbeard was who he suspected, knowing his secret could get Raphael killed. He needed to stay clean.
"Don't lie, Raphael. I caught you listening," Jinnah pressed.
"Enough!" Blackbeard barked. "Both of you, leave. And don't repeat this again, Raphael."
"Yes, sir," they said in unison and left the office.
"Snitch," Raphael muttered as the door shut. "Couldn't keep your mouth shut."
"Why do you think I'm always employee of the month?" Jinnah snapped back. "Because I don't let rats like you sniff around."
"Well, eat your employee of the month!" he shouted after her.
He let out a deep sigh of relief. "Phew..." he whispered. Saved by a hair.
He skidded back to his workbench and got busy.
By closing time, he was the last to leave. It was his turn to lock up.
"I wonder why Miss Employee of the Month never volunteers for this," he muttered while waiting for his boss.
Minutes passed before Blackbeard emerged.
Raphael didn't eavesdrop this time. He had to be careful.
"Alright, Raphael. Lock up. Let's go," his boss said, heading to the exit.
Odd. Normally, Blackbeard leaves without waiting. This time, he stayed behind.
Raphael quickly locked all the office doors and handed the keys to the security guard outside.
His boss waited in the parking lot. "Come, I'll drop you off," he said.
Suspicious, but Raphael followed. Why waste money on transport when this ride was free?
He climbed in, and the driver pulled off.
Silence filled the car, awkward and tense. Then Blackbeard broke it.
"So, about earlier..." he began. "Were you really eavesdropping? You can tell me, It won't affect future promotions."
Raphael almost rolled his eyes. That tactic never worked. His mother used it all the time when he was younger. "Come on, just tell me. I won't punish you," only for her to whip the truth out of him minutes later.
"Sir, like I said... I was just passing by," he repeated calmly.
"Okay, I trust you," Blackbeard replied, but it didn't sound convincing.
The driver glanced at them through the rear-view mirror, as if waiting for a cue.
Then, they made a left turn instead of a right, away from Raphael's normal route. The car picked up speed.
"Uh... sir, my stop was back there," Raphael said carefully.
"Oh? Is that so?" Blackbeard responded, voice casual, but too casual.
"Yes. And you know that," Raphael replied, unease rising.
That's when the smirk came. A quiet, knowing smirk.
Raphael leaned back, heart racing. His palms grew damp. He could swear a drop of pee was fighting its way out.
"I'm sorry, Raphael," Blackbeard finally said.
Raphael turned to him. "Sorry, for what?"
"For this," he said, pulling a gun from the seat pouch.
As if on cue, the driver slowed down and stopped near a riverbank.
"Step out of the car. Slowly and no noise," Blackbeard ordered, gun aimed steadily.
Raphael obeyed, stepping out. "What... what brought this on, sir?" he asked, trying to stay calm.
"No one knows my secret life. Not even by accident," Blackbeard said coldly.
"What secret?" Raphael asked, feigning ignorance.
"Don't act dumb. I saw the CCTV footage of you eavesdropping," Blackbeard said, lowering the gun to Raphael's stomach.
Raphael clenched his jaw. He'd forgotten about the hidden cameras, the ones only Blackbeard had access to.
"Please, I didn't hear anything. I swear," Raphael pleaded.
"I really am sorry," Blackbeard said again, then pulled the trigger.
Everything went dark, and then he woke up here. He didn't know how that happened. Miracles don't just happen; They have to be caused by something.
While he tried to understand his new environment, someone walked into the room.
He looked up and saw a woman in her mid-thirties, her hair tied back, wearing gloves and a white dress that resembled a nurse's.
"Oh, you're awake," she said. "Your vitals seem stable, and your health is good." She stared at a document. "Well, that means you're getting discharged today."
He stared at her, confused. Wasn't he supposed to stay for a few more days until they were sure he was healthy enough to leave?
"Uhm... nurse. Could you please explain what I am doing here?" he asked, his voice still laced with confusion.
She skimmed through the reports as if she weren't being paid to do so.
"Apparently, you were in a car crash. A passerby found you unconscious and paid for your treatment," she continued. "Luckily, there were no severe head injuries. Just some internal bruising, cracked ribs, and a broken leg."
He stared at her, trying to process the information.
"Any family?" he asked.
"None listed here. Just the passerby who paid for your treatment. After they found out you were out of danger, they stopped visiting."
He thought, "What a Good Samaritan. I wish I could see them, even once."
"What about my accessories? My wallet? My phone? No calls?" he bombarded her with questions.
Grunting as if she hadn't slept for weeks, she slowly replied, "None were found, sir."
"Alright, thank you," he replied kindly, trying to act normal, even though he knew everything that had happened wasn't normal.
She scribbled something on a clipboard and placed it at the foot of the bed.
"The doctor will be here shortly. Please rest as much as you can," she insisted, then walked out the door.
He stared at the door for too long, wishing it would come alive and answer his questions.
Apparently, he had transmigrated or reincarnated. That was the only reasonable explanation, but that thought sounded so ridiculous. Body swapping? Transmigration? That crap only happened in novels and animes, and this wasn't any of those, but the mirror wasn't lying.
A family member appeared to have killed the owner of this body, according to the memories in his head.
"I wonder why they would do such a thing," he muttered, detest lacing his voice.
Memories flooded back, and he felt a growing desire for revenge, a leftover emotion from the original owner.
"These people are heartless, and it's all for money?!" he exclaimed, staring at the white bedsheet covering his legs.
According to the memories flooding his mind, the original owner of this body was Liam Maddox. He was the son of a billionaire.
When his father died, leaving him at sixteen with his mother, his uncle took over the business, even though Liam was the heir. He didn't fight; He let it go.
After years, his uncle finally decided to step down, which makes him the next successor, but apparently his family didn't want him to succeed his father, they wanted his cousin to do so instead, but his father's will had said otherwise.
So, they plot to kill him and take away his property, which eventually plays out, leading to his death.
His dying image flicked through his mind, his cousin laughing as he kept kicking him in the gut, along with his henchmen, as his consciousness faded away...
His sister was standing in the corner even though she wasn't involved, she didn't help out, either.
His mother was sitting in the car, watching her son get beaten to death... all of them were family members, tied by blood, but they all behaved like strangers.
He bit his lower lip, his anger rising "Such evil shouldn't be let to live," he said, "Don't worry, Liam, I'll definitely get revenge for you, even if it's the last thing I do"