Page 1 of Dirty Behavior

Ivy

The Rebirth

Rebirth: After death, the soul begins a new cycle of existence in another human body.

Reincarnation, nascence, resurgence. . . There are so many different words to describe someone being reborn.

But is there a word that fits what I went through?

What would you call me?

I had been reborn, but it wasn't the hand of death that took my breath away. I wasn't resurrected, I wasn't given the choice to come back. For me, I was forced to transform from one person into another.

My body was the same, but my eyes held a dullness that didn't reflect the person I used to know. To survive, I had to change, and to change meant leaving behind who I was.

Being reborn into someone you don't recognize and don't sync up with is the hardest thing to overcome. It was a revival of learning and culture, leading me into a new world.

I thought that life was built from dreams and goals. That family was the root of who you were and would always be there to lift you up and carry you along when life hit you hard.

I was alone. I was sold. I was forgotten.

That wasn't living. And because of that. . .

I had to change.

I was reborn.

My story didn't end. But the man who changed it, changed me.

This was the day I took my last breath; but it would also show me what I harbored inside.

Strength.

Reality can be a nightmare that even sleeping couldn't transform into a brisk dance with happiness.

How do you handle a dream that doesn't even end when you shut your eyes?

My advice; Don't close your eyes, don't turn your back, don't trust the wicked.

—Ivy

Opening my eyes, the air was starchy and filled with a strong cinnamon aroma. My nose burned as I took in a long and sleepy breath. Blinking rapidly, I felt the warm blankets under my fingertips and the thick pillow that cradled my head.

Where the hell am I?

Lifting up on my elbows, I twisted to look around the room. The walls were a deep mahogany with large tapestries hanging as an eyesore in the center. The windows spanned the length of floor to ceiling, with thin, sheer curtains riding long silver rods across the top.

They were wrapped and weaving around the metal, each one meticulously perfect from every angle. The long arms of the drapes were even to the very millimeter, hanging dangerously close to the floor.

The room felt old and aged, like I had been dropped into an ancient castle hidden behind a fortress. Everything looked so clean and perfectly set into this home as if the creator had deemed the object's place before it was ever touched.

I didn't like it. I didn't enjoy waking in a place I had never seen before. But I couldn't figure out how or why I was here. So I stayed still, frozen in the cocoon that trapped me in place.

“It's about time you woke up.” The voice crept in from a dark corner, a figure emerging to glow under the faux candle lights dangling above. “I was starting to worry.”

My chest tightened instantly as his face slinked up into that devilish grin I had seen right before everything went black.

As if my head was suddenly struck by a million closed fists, everything came flooding back.