Second Chances

Carina woke up in that same, cold bed that she died in, and felt immediately that something was off.

Instinctually she knew some things. She knew that she was Carina Rayburn, that she was the daughter of Robert Rayburn and Felicity Rayburn, that she had black hair and brown eyes and that she'd just had her eighteenth birthday recently, but somehow it all felt wrong.

As if her mind was slowly catching up with her, other memories began to drift to the surface. Memories of a different life, in a different time, of her with a different face. She watched the memories play out in her head, and realised with a start what it all meant.

Somewhere in the midst of the memories of her karate tournaments, the big family dinners she had with her loved ones every new year, the school she went to and the friends she made there, she remembered dying. She remembered the sounds of the city around her, the cars driving by, and then the bus that hit her. She remembered the pain, the blood, the feeling of her consciousness slowly drifting away from her.

Her chest constricted, tight, her breaths coming out quick and shaky.

Carina Rayburn was supposed to be dead, and whoever she was before she became Carina was supposed to be dead too. Just what was going on? Why was she here, in Carina's body? Why was she alive?

The door to her room burst open then, her maid rushing in with a tray balanced carefully in her hands.

"You're awake then." The maid commented, her tone cold and emotionless.

Carina gripped her sheets tight, her throat feeling strained and closed up. She attempted to take calming breaths, but it did nothing to help with the rising feeling of panic.

Thankfully, the maid barely spared Carina a glance. As soon as she placed her breakfast tray onto the table, she simply walked back out again.

Carina shut her eyes tight, moving her right hand over her chest, feeling the unsteady beating of her heart under her palm.

There was no doubt about it. She was alive. She was Carina Rayburn and she was alive.

Was this God's way of giving her a second chance?