The sunlight filtered in
through the windows of Ruby Banfords’ home, illuminating each and every room. In her bed, the flame haired warrior lay
stretched out next to her beloved Giacomo…or so it seemed.
Hollie opened her eyes, and immediately closed
them again. Sure is bright. I’ll have to remember to close the blinds at night. She yawned and stretched, and
groggily climbed out of bed. Hm…that’s funny. I don’t remember the floor being that far away. Oh well,
doesn’t matter.
She made her way to the washroom. Eyes barely
open, she studied her reflection in the mirror. I don’t remember getting a tan. Huh. Must be the work of the grill.
And my red highlights are really standing out today. Nice. I’m a bit thinner today too. Thank you oh healthy yogurt
diet! No acne…that astringent is working wonders. Oh well, back to sleep.
Yawning she made her way back to the room, now
noticing uneasily that the path between the washroom and the bedroom was different. Wow…I really am tired.
She climbed back into bed, and snuggled up next
to the warm body next to her. “I love you,” she murmured contently.
“Isn’t it a bit early for such sentiments
Ruby?” replied the man, someone whom Hollie wasn’t expecting. She jumped up immediately, screeching.
“WHAT IN THE NINE HELLS ARE YOU DOING IN
MY BEDROOM?!” Hollie yelled at Giacomo in alarm. And then she noticed everything. The African style design, the King
sized bed, Giacomo looking surprisingly in place. She turned and gazed into the mirror over the dresser. Rubys’ shocked
expression met hers.
With shock and confusion overwhelming her, Hollie
passed out.
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“Ruby, wake up,” a voice called to
her.
Hollie grimaced in annoyance. Her name wasn’t
Ruby.
“Come on Ruby, snap out of it! Wake up!”
“You aren’t helping her boy! Back
off and let a real man take care of it!”
Hollie opened her eyes in time to see Giacomo
and Kaisuke glaring at each other.
“Back off?! You’re the reason why
she fainted! I guess she finally came to her sentence and noticed she was dating a pig.!”
“Maybe if she didn’t have to take
care of a baby like you, she wouldn’t have been so stressed out!” Giacomo shot back. Hollie groaned, and the two
men turned to her.
“Hey, welcome to the world of the living
sleepy head!” Kaisuke said, a grin stretching across his features.
“Ruby, are you all right?” Giacomo
asked, a slight note of concern in his voice.
“Why do you two keep calling me Ruby? I’m
not Ruby…it’s me, Hollie!” Hollie said, exasperated and worried. She wasn’t the only one. Kaisuke
and Giacomo exchanged a quick glance.
“Hey Ruby, are you feeling okay?”
Kaisuke asked, definitely anxious about her now.
“I’m not Ruby, really!” Hollie
insisted. “And I’m fine, I’m not crazy. Quit looking at each other like that!”
“Hm. Right. Hold on a moment Ru-…Hollie,”
Giacomo said curtly. He motioned Kaisuke to follow him outside the room. The two left.
Hollie glared, and went to the door to eavesdrop.
“It’s obviously the stress of the
baby and all this charity work she’s been doing,” Giacomo was telling Kaisuke. “She needs to start taking
it easy.”
“I know, I know! But you know how she is!
She’s too devoted to just stop.”
“Well, for now we’ll just have to
humour her. Then when she least expects it, I’ll take her back to Alfard and-“
“Whoa whoa whoa! What are you talking about?!
You can’t just take her!”
“There’s no other way to stop her.
It’ll just be until she has her child.”
“Yeah right. I’ll believe that.”
Kaisuke snorted.
“You have a better plan?”
“Yeah, I do. We take her to a hospital
or something and see if she’s okay.”
Hollie went to the bed scowling. She didn’t want to hear anymore. She didn’t know how or why, but she knew
that she was trapped in Ruby’s body. And given Ruby’s absent presence, I guess it’s safe to assume she’s
in my body. But what to do? Hm… She closed her eyes. Well, for now I’ll have to assume Rubys’ identity,
otherwise Giacomo and Kaisuke are going to haul me off to a nut house. Okay okay…so I gain their trust, track down Ruby,
and then figure out this mess. Or something. With a quick nod to reassure herself, she waited for the two to return.