Chapter two

Serena opened her eyes. Death was indeed very painful, being shown just how miserable she had lived her life without the power to change anything, was torture.

"Wait, is this heaven?" she whispered.

She lifted her head and narrowed her eyes taking in her surrounding. Everything looked familiar to her. It was the replica of her room in her maternal home. Way before she got married and had to move out.

'Maybe there is more for me to see of my life before I move on,' she thought.

She threw her body back onto the bed and froze. Wait, body!!!. Her mind went wild when she felt the bed underneath her. Unlike in the resort where her soul moved through the wall like it wasn't even there. It was shocking.

She held her breath and brought her hand to her chest and poked herself. She could feel the skin under her finger, her finger didn't move through her body as it should have.

She got up from the bed and rushed over to her dressing table and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. She looked alive, her face was a little red from how flushed she was.

"Do dead people have bodies?" she asked confused. It was her first time dying so she had no clue what happens to the dead after they pass.

She picked up a sharp hairpin from the table and brought it to her palm. She pricked a small part of her hand. "Arggh," she let out a scream from the pain.

The doors to her room were pushed open and a woman in her mid-thirties rushed into the room, with maids running behind her.

"What happened sweetheart?" she asked in a worried tone of voice. Serena froze holding her hand.

That was a voice that she hadn't heard in forever, her stubbornness and foolishness drove her to become the prodigal daughter of her family who never found her way home until she died in the middle of nowhere with no one to mourn her death.

"Mo..mother," her voice trembled as she turned around to face the woman who rushed into the room.

"Get the first aid kit," her mother ordered and took hold of her injured hand. "When you know that you can't handle pain, then why hurt yourself," her mother scolded.

Serena's eyes watered. She had missed her mother's voice so much. It felt good to be scolded by her, in the past, her eyes were clouded to see the love behind her words and worries. She had only seen her in an evil light.

She took her hand back from her mother and gave her a tight hug. For five years after meeting her husband, she forgot the importance of a mother in one's life. In the loneliness of her last moments alive, she had realized what she had thrown away to please the fool who ended up killing her.

"Dear, are you okay?" her mother asked. It was unlike her daughter to embrace her or let her touch her. She hated it when she took care of her, saying that it was lame and outdated. So that moment surprised her a great deal.

"I don't say this enough but I love you mom," Serena cried on her mother's shoulders. Ivy stood still, her daughter's words rang in her ear for a long time. The words that she had longed to hear from her rebellious daughter were finally uttered.

It left her speeches without knowing how to react. "I love you too baby," she uttered hugging Serena back.

Mother and daughter stayed in each other's arms enjoying the long-awaited and well-deserved hug. A mother who had lost her daughter had found her once again and the lost child found her way back to her mother.

'Thank you death, for giving me a chance to make amends with my mother,' she thought. It was only after death that she came to her senses and had her eyes opened. She was glad to have that moment and express her love for her mother.

"Now, let's take care of that wound," her mother said and tried to break the hug but Serena wouldn't let her. She had longed for that moment more than she realized. She was afraid that letting go would mean losing her mother again.

"Let's stay like this forever," she pleaded.

"Forever?" her mother asked and chuckled. "If we stay like this then what about your 18th birthday party. You went to the trouble of making it perfect," she told to her. Serena broke the hug and gazed at her mother.

A glint of realization flashed before her eyes. She let go of her mother and returned to the mirror. She looked younger and was in the pajamas she wore the night before she came of age.

She furrowed her brows in confusion. She had died, she saw it herself that she had died and was buried. She looked at the calendar on the wall. It was the fifth of May, the year 2016.

She couldn't believe her eyes, she had done back five years before her death. Either that or she was dreaming. She grabbed her car keys.

"I will back mom," she said as she rushed passed her mother.

"But your wound," her mother let out but she was in too much of a hurry to care about the small wound on her hand.

She ran into her father on her way out."Happy birthday sweet..."

"I love you, dad," she said rushing passed him. She ran out of the house leaving everyone startled. It was her birthday and they expected her to start giving orders as soon as she woke up. But instead, she was running off as if being chased.

Serena got into her car and drove away from the mansion. She wanted to confirm a few things. She could feel pain so she wasn't dreaming, everything around her seemed so real. But it was all too good to be true.

She drove the car for hours to the outskirts of the city to head to the place where she was killed and buried. Her heart was bitterly returning to that place but she had to check if her grave was still there.

On an empty stomach, she kept going until she arrived at the place where she was brutally run over by a car and left to die. As her enemies enjoyed the sight of her drawing her last breath.

Her hands on the wheel trembled to see the place on the road where she lay. Tears flowed from her eyes, recalling how helpless she was at that moment. Feeling the pain from her wounds all over her body threatening to take her life.

The memory of that night that to her happened only yesternight numbed her body. She remained in her seat, afraid of walking on that path, she feared that her enemies might be hiding around waiting to kill her once more.

"I can do this," she said and got off the car. Her knees felt weak stepping on the ground that promised her end. She braced herself and took steps walking closer to the place.

She stopped at the exact spot where she lay, looking down on the ground, she could see her helpless self staring back at her.

It was just as her best friend/ her husband's lover had done as she watched her die. She moved away from the spot to avoid breaking down, she stretched her feet to the place where she was buried.

Like the road that had no blood or traces of the accident. There was no grave. She went down to her knees and touched the place. Her anger burnt her skin third-degree recalling her rushed burial and the things that were said as the last words of goodbye.

Thinking of all the people at the resort who toasted to her end. She clenched her hand into a fist grabbing the leaves and sand under her palm. Her eyes were bloody as every inch of her body yearned for their blood.

She was never one to ask for what wasn't hers but the fact that everyone came together to take what belongs to her, irked her. She was furious.

"Is this my second chance?" her voice came out as a whisper.

She got up from the ground, the sand on her hands was a mark of what she had gone through. The pains, betrayals and hurt that she went through in the hands of those she trusted.

At that moment she vowed never to trust anyone blindly. She had been hurt for the last time and she was done taking it from people. It was time for her to take the fight to her enemies and make them regret ever playing with her.

Her life was not a game and those who treated her as such were going to regret it for the rest of their miserable lives.

"If it is true that I have been given a second chance then I will not waste it," she said staring at the distance. "My only interest is showing those people that I am a princess and my reign will be endless," she uttered in an icy cold voice.