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I wake up in a bathtub.
Marble digs into the skin of my back. There's the scent of melted wax. Then, the chill of water, followed by an awareness that, besides a bra and underwear, I'm completely naked.
It's the last thought that makes me stir. My eyelashes feel like a ton each, keeping my eyes shut.
"I hope you're happy. I hope you're happy..."
I awake with a gasp, my knees jerking up. The black water ripples, causing the rose petals on the surface to drift together. With a violent shudder, I sit up and, with a violent headache, scan my surroundings.
That's my ringtone.
Where's it coming from?
Where am I?
I think it's a bathroom, more luxurious than anything I've seen. The water smells like roses. The mirrors have little sapphires pressed into their silver edges. The bathroom is beautiful. I feel like I'm a princess.
In a horror story.
"...how would you grovel in submission to feed your own ambition..."
The voices from my ringtone, Defying Gravity, blast repeatedly in the bathroom. I need to find my phone before somebody hears it. With numb muscles, I push two of candles out of the way to make room for me to move.
They fall onto the black and blue tiles, shattering.
Rose petals stick to my legs as I swing them over the tub, which is the size of a pool, and onto the chilled tiles. I cross my arms and shiver.
"I hope you're happy right now..."
Damn it. Where is my phone? What am I wearing? Vague memories of Blair, Wilsion and I chatting on the train, back on our way from classes, float around in my head. But what happened after that?
"Elphie, just listen to me. Just say you're -"
My phone cuts off.
"No!"
I turn in a full circle, searching for my phone.
Instead, I find my reflection.
My own figure stares back at me with terrified eyes. My hair is twisted into a bun I don't know how to make. My body is dressed up in lingerie that I don't own. All my freckles, that dot my entire body, are for show.
Maybe somebody's watching me right now.
I scan the corners of the room, searching for a blinking red light or the tint of black glass, anything that would hint at a camera. All I catch is something shifting from the corner of my eye. A looming figure. I gasp, whip around to see - oh -
