CHAPTER THREE

SHARLENE, SHARLENE. She woke up because she heard a voice calling her name. She scanned her surroundings, only to frown when she caught sight of someone staring at her.

"Grandma? "She immediately stood up, her grandmother didn't speak, she just walked. Her mind was telling her to just follow her grandmother's soul.

When she followed it, he ended up at a large mansion. She searched for what she was following, but it suddenly disappeared from her sight. Sharlene scanned his surroundings again, she was in a room, a very large room, and she knew that the bed was soft too.

A woman entered, happy and smiling, sitting on the edge of the bed, her beauty captivating.

She gasped, because she recognized the woman she was seeing now. She sat down and happily admired her appearance in the mirror, took the comb, and her joy in her eyes. With great care, she combed her hair, still humming softly.

She sighed and immediately returned to the bed and lay down. It seems that what she sees now has immediately changed.

The face is sad, staring into the distance, holding its stomach, tears streaming down.

Why? Why, did you do this to me? Even to our future child, you didn't show any mercy. She whispered, tears welling up, and she heard every sob.

Sharlene heart was pinched then, she was catching glimpses of the past again in a woman named Leah. She didn't know what her true intentions were towards her. She was consumed by darkness.

She saw her grandmother back then, no matter how close she was to her, she always kept her distance. She just looked at her without saying a word.

"Grandma, what do you want me to do?" Sharlene could only ask to her grandmother.

It didn't answer, she just looked at her intently.

Suddenly, she heard a cry, and she was startled, causing him to turn her gaze. He saw Leah and a man he didn't know.

I'm no longer happy in our relationship, Leah. Don't you see? You're just pretending not to see. Accept that you were just used for our mutual benefit, I didn't love you. That was what Sharlene heard from a man who was sharply staring at Leah.

It did not respond to what the man in front of it said.

I know that, I just can't help but love you. Look, all I'm asking from you is love, why can't you give it to me? This question, filled with sadness, when Leah asking that question.

I am ready to forgive you for what you did to me, I am ready to accept you again, just don't disappear from me, I am ready to give you everything again! Everything – everything! I am begging you not to leave me. She even saw Leah kneel.

The man he was talking to didn't say a word and left Leah in tears. As a woman, she felt disgust and anger at the past she was witnessing. Even though she didn't know them yet, she wanted to slap the man who left Leah and shout at that man, but who was she anyway.

That's in the past, it can't be changed anymore, it's like it happened to her too, but her husband didn't leave him, yet the outcome is the same, she just sighed.

He felt someone shaking his shoulder and softly calling her name. So, she woke up leaning against a wall, scanned her surroundings, and immediately saw his two sisters, Vivianne and Tashia, in front of her.

"Sister, you should rest for now," her sister immediately said.

Sharlene felt dizzy, so she held her head and stood up slowly to avoid falling. Tashia just assisted her inside the house. She was made to sit on the couch inside.

"I'll leave you for now, ate." Tashia said goodbye to her.

She just nodded. "Thank you, Tash." That's all she said. Tashia immediately left and went to arrange their grandmother's funeral.

She didn't see his parents.

Sharlene just sighed.

I won't expect them to come anymore. Sharlene just thought to herself.

She assessed herself to see if she was strong enough to stand up and go to their room where her daughter Ashley was resting. She gripped the window grills, so if she felt dizzy, she would have something to support her.

She had been standing for a long time, and when she no longer felt dizzy, he watched the guests arriving outside their house, and their visitors were slowly increasing.

Someone caught her attention, and her brow immediately furrowed as she frowned at a visitor. She saw wearing mourning clothes, and she couldn't make out his face because it was turned away from her.

She was even more puzzled because no one was paying attention to what the woman's wearing. Sharlene just watched to see what it would do. Now she just noticed that she was carrying a bunch of roses, but they were already wilting. Suddenly, something stirred in her mind, a familiar occurrence that she had seen that rose before, but she couldn't remember where.

The woman walked towards her grandmother's coffin, only to be surprised when a visitor passed by her and bumped into her, she was stunned, the woman in mourning was walking in the air, leaving a trace with each step.

She couldn't understand, all he could see was blood mixed with mud, his hair stood on end, a cold wind brushed against his neck, causing her to touch it.

She feels bad about the visitor she sees now, she's afraid to step outside. So, she just watched to see what would happen.

The woman stopped at her grandmother's coffin, placed the rose there, seemed to be whispering something, and she noticed her smirking after whispering to the coffin. Sharlene gasped when he saw her face, a woman without a face. She knew she was staring at that woman even without eyes, but she felt her gaze upon her.

The woman smiled meaningfully to herself, calming herself not to be overtaken by the emotion that wanted to break free. Her hand trembled.

"Ma?" someone called her.

She turned around thinking it might be Ashley calling her.

"Why ---" she suddenly stopped when she saw who called her, a child wearing a hospital gown, about the same age as her own child.

Suddenly, it was replaced by the face of her child, Ashley.

Mama. This is what she calls her.

She gasped, surprised to find herself asleep on the couch.

Am I having a nightmare again? Sharlene asked herself. She hears the conversations of their visitors who are sympathizing with them.

She looked at herself, still not dressed, her dizziness gone, which is why she fell asleep on the couch. She immediately went to their room, where her child was soundly sleeping.

Sharlene sat down on the edge, watching her child sleeping soundly. She quickly got dressed to face the guests outside.

She can no longer understand his dream that is turning into a nightmare for her.