《Juniper's Quest》


 How It Started

    "Owwwww.... MY HEAD,"


    My sudden outburst made my pain 10x worse, making me rethink the shouting. It wasn''t like yelling was gonna fix my head. What did I even hope to accomplish? It wasn''t as if anyone would know. They made sure of that when...


    When what?


    I couldn''t really remember what was going on. Only that.... that... the floor felt wrong.


    Now that I thought of it, the floor felt disturbingly soft. not unpleasant, (it might be the best thing I ever felt in my LIFE) but I was certain I should be on something harder than this. WAY harder.


    No matter how hard I struggled, the memories weren''t coming back. it was like trying to hold on to a bar of wet soap. With oily hands.


    I groaned loudly, for some reason feeling certain that no one would hear me. and even more sure that they wouldn''t care if they could. That, and an unreasonable sense of anger, resentment, and fear.


    Those feelings made me jump at least a foot high when I felt someone touch my head.


    I opened my eyes to see someone with an odd, black and white outfit. I also registered the huge and gaudy room behind her.


    Where am I?


    "Are you ok My Lady?"


    Lady?! who even says that these days?!


    Somehow though, this woman was able to say that with a completely straight face. Which was really weird. especially since I finally recognized the maid uniform she was wearing. I have no idea who this woman was, but as she continued to fawn over me, I couldn''t help feeling impressed. Her acting skills were top-notch. There''s no way I could do what she''s doing without cringing and blushing the whole time.


    I followed her directions as she fed me some porridge and a bottle of nasty medicine. I had no idea where I was, but considering my headache we''re probably at some hospital. Most likely a children''s one if the costume was any indication.


    Don''t get me wrong, I was suspicious. This whole situation felt weird, but who was I to deny free treatment?


    The woman who must have been a nurse told me her name after a lot of begging (a surprising amount actually, something about it not being proper)


    It was Felicia, such an unassuming name. For all the fuss I went through to get it, I thought it was going to be embarrassing, but no. Felicia is a fine name. A strangely familiar one but... not a bad name at all.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ....Unless she was lying to me. I would''ve totally done that if I were her.


    Either way, whatever Felicia did seemed to be working. To the point where my head cleared enough to compute that I had been accepting stuff from a stranger.


    The hospital theory was slowly being disproven as I looked around at the too big room. Way too fancy for anything my parents could afford, and we certainly weren''t hard on cash...


    Although, we weren''t rich either. So maybe I was in a special room. They''ll probably put me back when my condition stabilizes, which was happening surprisingly fast. Shouldn''t I be in critical condition?


    Before I could figure out how I knew that, Felicia curtsied.


    "I''ll be taking my leave now My Lady," she said. (seriously, rich people were on another level)"Before I go, your brother would like to see you,"


    I sighed in relief. Felix can tell me what''s going on!


    "Let him in,"


    Before I could decipher her hopeful expression. she turned away and opened the humongous doors behind her. Before she could exit, a little, wild-haired boy came rushing in.


    His face was covered in snot and tears. His puffy, Turquoise eyes crinkled with guilt and sadness as he wailed.


    "I''m so, sooooo sorry!"


    Wait. This kid isn''t Felix, my brother is older than me!


    I looked towards Felicia for help, but she was busy staring at the crying boy with a mixture of pity and hope.


    "I''m sorry... who are you?"


    The child looked surprised and tentative when he said "I''m Colton... your...brother?"


    I stared back at him. This boy was obviously aware that he made a mistake, considering his evident fear and uncertainty. So I tried to be gentle with my reply.


    "I''m sorry, I don''t have a little brother."


    His gasp was so loud, it triggered my headache. Colton''s already puffed-up eyes welled with tears as he turned and ran out. His wailing echoing back into the room.


    I turned towards the frozen figure of Felicia standing in the doorway.


    "Seriously though. Who was that?"


    I recoiled at the look of barely contained disgust I received


    "Denying his existence won''t make him disappear, Lady Juniper,"


    She shut the door behind her before I could reply.


    I sighed before slowly laying my head back down on the pillow. Thinking about what just happened.


    Where was Felix? I get mom and dad not being here, they''re on a business trip. But shouldn''t My brother have at least made it? I know college keeps you busy, but I''m pretty sure your sister being in the hospital was a good excuse for missing classes. his campus wasn''t THAT far from home.


    Why was this hospital so weird, and who was that kid... Colton? Also, my name isn''t Juniper...


    I gasped and shot up from the bed. immediately regretting my actions as I grabbed my head to lessen the pain.


    But... if I was right...


    Ignoring the pounding of my skull, I got out of the bed and surveyed the room. rushing to the nearest mirror.


    Any doubts I may have had vanished as I stared at my reflection- and a stranger started back.


    Dark, wavy brown hair cascaded past her waist. The girl''s eyes were brilliant hunter green. They were stunning, even though they were clouded with pain. She was slender and delicate and pretty


    And she was copying my every move.


    The pain on her face gave way to shock as she sat hard on the ground. This girl was me! Or I was this girl...


    But... my name is Bianca...


    I gasped, and the girl in the mirror''s hands shot up to cover her mouth. Tears sprung from her eyes as I remembered why my head was hurting.


    Why I thought I was in critical condition.


    Why Felix wasn''t showing up.


    Why my parents won''t either.


    That''s because Bianca is dead.

 Chapter 2

    Juniper...


    As I tried to figure out where on earth I heard that name before, memories of when I was Bianca came flooding in.


    It took all my willpower not to start bawling. Not because I missed my past life, but because I never got to say goodbye to my family.


    I really did love them. Even though we rarely spent time together. My parents were always out on trips, and Felix started college when I was halfway through middle school.


    That''s when my life took a turn for the worst.


    The person my parents hired as my babysitter was clearly only in it for the money, and in the interest of keeping my life private, we had a mutual agreement to pretend when my parents were around.


    It was stupid of me. I should have let them know about the bruises.


    Shivering, Juniper... no... I rubbed my arms as goosebumps erupted across my skin. Even though this happened in another lifetime, the memories still haunted me.


    After defending the new transfer student. the bullies started to pick on me too. It went on for weeks, but I figured I could wait it out until high school. especially with my new friend.


    The poor kid wasn''t as strong as me, so I did whatever I could to ease the burden. from taking the brunt of the abuse, to giving him a portion of my allowances each week. despite whatever else I needed the money for.


    It wasn''t until the first day of high school did my already fragile world finally end.


    I squeezed my eyes shut. Trying to drown out the horrible memory. I slowly took in deep breaths as I tried to calm down. I got up and managed to make it to the bed before collapsing.


    On the first day of high school.... that memory was as clear as day. Despite how I wish it weren''t so.


    ...


    "Please, STOP!"


    The boy in front of me laughed. Big and burly, his huge arm holding on to the neck of a fragile-looking boy, whose tears slowly ran down his cheeks. his eyes shut in defeat


    "Why are you so set on saving him? didn''t he betray you?"


    That reminder was like a punch in the stomach. and when I faced the kid in question. he turned away, guilt and sadness clouding his face.


    That kid... My only friend, Leo. Why...


    The older kid laughed at my expression.


    "That''s right? Weren''t you suspicious of how he KEPT needing money? Did you not wonder how he was able to find his way to us, no matter how much you tried to avoid us? That''s because he struck a deal. and it''s been going on for almost 2 months now!"


    Two months... that''s about a week after we became friends... Has it really gone on for as long as he claims?


    Apparently so, because that speech just caused a fresh wave of tears to fall down Leo''s face.


    I sucked in a deep breath. That may be true. But I decided to help him. it was MY kindness he took advantage of. And I was the one being thrown away, seeing as Leo was moving soon. So...


    "What gives YOU the right to decide his punishment? you''re worse than he is!"


    The guy (Acacius, such a dumb name, right?) Just laughed at me, slowly pushing Leo''s trembling form closer to the edge.


    "LET HIM GO! YOUR GONNA KILL HIM!"


    Acacius snorted.


    "Why should I care?"


    The worst part was, I was only half sure he was bluffing.


    My breath caught in my throat as I realized what I had to do, I nearly threw up my breakfast at the mere thought of the risk I had to take.


    All for that idiot.


    But as I stared at the trembling, guilt-ridden form of Leo, I calmed down. I would''ve done this for anyone, I''m sure. Besides, whatever the reasons, Leo was my friend.


    I sighed, accepting my decision. Trying to fool myself into thinking that things going wrong wasn''t that big a possibility


    Being a good person sucked


    With a scream. I rushed over towards the edge of the roof where they stood. taking advantage of Acacius''s surprise to pry open his hand. in a matter of minutes, Leo was free.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Leo shouted at me, and Acacius roared in anger. "I''M NOT WORTH IT. YOU SHOULD''VE JUST LEFT! DO YOU KNOW WHAT MIGHT''VE HAPPENED!"


    Before I could remind the dumb kid of our situation, Acacius, His thoughts clouded in anger, pushed me off the ledge.


    I grabbed his arm, desperate to hold on. Leo grabbed my other, desperate to save me. we almost made it.


    I almost sighed in relief.


    Stupid. Clumsy. Me.


    I managed to slip the same moment Acacius twisted his arm free. I feel down, dragging Leo along with me.


    The last thing I saw before dying was Acacius'' horrified expression, as he realized what he''d done.


    ....

 Chapter 3

    did seem like a there wa a lot of work left for him to do. Not that my attempts to remind him were of pure intent.


    just maybe i could learn somthing through fathers job. It was a pretty convincing performance.


    finaly ended for the day, I was stuck reading such. small. text. in the candlelight. signing papers the way my father taught me.


    THE Father. He was not MY dad. That position was already filled. Thinking of my old dad wasn''t making the reading any easier. so I wiped those thoughts away along with my tears and continued reading.


    this family has over the kingdom.


    HERE than maybe i dont need to reoin soicity"